Ferg

It looks similar to a Cowboy 227 maybe older. I am going to make a semi educated guess. Will sew 3/8" of leather with 138 thread but may work with #207 on top with 138 in the bobbin. Looks to have reverse and will probably sew a maximum stitch length of 5 (Stitches per inch) Has a Clutch Motor, you should get a Servo motor for it. That is a very short arm, 10.5" probably. That could be a hinderance with your holsters. IMHO, that is too much to pay for it. Contact Bob at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines 866-362-7397 . He has a complete line of machines you can chose from at great prices. ferg

Andrew, I love your belts and I definitely like that single stitch. I think the above suggestion with an awl is a good one. One caveat to this style of stitch. When you have a stitch "over the edge" it is susceptible to extreme wear. I think your single stitch coming loose is the least of your worry. ferg

HighLead may be a company who makes many skivers. I doubt there is any one skiver that is not made in a factory in China with one possible exception, FORTUNA. I researched skivers and their internals for months, actually several years off and on. I came to one important conclusion, doggone every one of them is made exactly the same except, again, FORTUNA. Consew, Cowboy, Highlead, Cobra, and several others I have forgotten their attached names, are exactly the same and are primarily sold as bottom feed only. I bought my Cowboy with Top and Bottom feed. I believe "ART" on the forum uses top and bottom feed Fortuna. $4000 plus was out of my price range but I would love to have a FORTUNA some day. There is a learning curve with the skiving machines just as there is with the sewing machines. Once you get the "Settings", oiling info, bell knife sharpening, and a few other little items in your head you will wonder what you done without it. I could never recommend one of these machines with only bottom feed. With the Top and Bottom feed you can skive most any type leather available to you. Google "skiving machine". I assure you there will be enough info to occupy your time for awhile. Select a Dealer that is as close to you as possible. Not too far away, by all means go see the machine in operation using pieces of leather you intend to use for your projects. ferg

Amen to that. ferg

Andrew, Your getting pretty good at this Leather Butchering. LOL GREAT job! ferg

Stringduster, I agree, you need to give apologies to a number of folks. Don't rag on a site you obviously know very little about. Your inefficiencies are callous. ferg

I use Bonded Nylon for almost everything similar to your venture. ferg

Alvetjarn This is what makes this such a fabulous site, we learn things. I write about 300 checks per year. Have had my Credit Card numbers stolen 4 times. Have always thought they were taken when I got gas at a station. Have never had a check stolen. One year we unknowingly dropped a check from a customer for $4500, in the food market parking lot. Next day it was in our mail box with no "Side Effects". LOL ferg

No, I wasn't referring to the upper part of the bill liner. Your leather bill liner is fine in height it is the left and right edges I spoke of. I personally think use of some cloth materials for lining the "bill" pocket is classy if the correct colors and pattern in the cloth are used. Now, you are confusing me. What do you mean by sewing the different layers? When you do the roll, all layers of the wallet, including inside pockets, are covered by the roll thus you sew through everything at the same time. Leather folks are a breed all their own. You will find that if you hang around very long but.....you will never find a place with more knowledge of an art form or the many folks that will offer some of their best secrets. ferg

I believe you will get more satisfaction if you visit the Sewing Machine Companys who advertise on the forum. Keystone or Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine. ferg

This might help on the specs. ferg

You are more impatient than I. LOL If you truly want a "mechanical" I assume motorized, you will need to spend around $2000. The "crank" skivers are $900 to $1500. The motorized is the only way to go for my money. No need to sew from the inside. If you applied the roll correctly there is no need to see it as you stitch. Use a guide, roller or straight. Your bridge in the wallet is fine. You need to use leather between 1 and 1.5oz. for you lining. Any cut edges that are exposed should either be skived and rolled or burnished. It appears to me that you didn't place the "Bill" lining all the way to the edge of your billfold back. The roll at those end junctures look pretty bad with extended width. Also makes the end of the wallet "bunch-up". If you are going to make wallets to sell any quantity of, you need a skiver such as Cobra has. I have a number of hand skivers, they are primarily used to touch up corners etc. ferg

A green cutting board, Fabric stores sell them to be used with cloth and a circular blade rolling knife. Self healing if you don't cut too deep. ferg

The cutting boards you buy in the Fabric stores is intended for the rotary cutters for cloth, leather in straight cuts. Various leather cutting knives cut a little too deep, try cutting without pressing quite as hard. There are a number of composite cutting boards available. The hard surface on some will dull your knives quickly. ferg

I agree. Turning Veg tan of any thickness at all will make it appear wrinkled. Unfortunately, the cost of good leather is some times relative. You really need to see what you are buying if you wish to make high end products or most other items worthy of your talent. ferg

Your photo appears to be "Leg" or "Belly" maybe neck, leather. You need to buy some of the better and more expensive hides if you wish to do this type of work. Cheap hides will have a lot of wrinkles. Looks okay with some goods. ferg

I walk away, grumbling probably. Go out into the yard and talk to my flowers and the birds. Works most of the time. Just think of all the practice those provided you. ferg

Pull a length of thread through the slot, 3 or 4 inches, hold onto it as you start the winder allowing it to wind several times so it will hold. I usually stop when it is winding tight, clip the projecting thread so it doesn't get tangled up with the bobbin. The slot should be on the side of bobbin away from machine. ferg

The word "Footer" is what I was referring to. If you cannot change any of the coding they have in the Template you undoubtedly cannot delete the word. Your redo of the About Us page reads much better, good job! It is a little strange the template is written with a "Hover" and an entry text. May confuse a number of folks but don't worry about it now. See how much traffic you get on the site. I haven't allowed the people that are going to contact you with all the fabulous contacts they are going to get for you, to get any further than initial E-mail. Let the Robots scan your site. If you have appropriate layout and important words in your title your site will get listed higher. May take several weeks before you find anyone "Hitting" your site, don't get discouraged. I have a site I sell one product on. Used a service to get more hits, paid them good money with little to no response. Ditched them as soon as I could. Business has been good ever since. We have more business than we want during Christmas Season. Unique product line will get you noticed quickly. ferg

Web-Site looks to be okay, a little on the amateur side but useful. I am picky about the way text is used on a site. Your "About Us" page has this line: Between helping pets and promoting the dying art of leather work I could not be happier to make these for you guys. Get rid of "you guys". Stop at "you". At the bottom of each of your pages you have "Footer". That is a coded reference more or less. It should be hidden or simply do not include on the page at all, not necessary. "Store" pages should tell your potential customers what they need to do to access a particular item to buy. Many folks would not know to "hover" over the item photo. Your order information is redundant. Your "Hover" should take the customer to the full description with information they need to give you as well as their link to Credit Card/Shopping Cart. If you wish, you could leave both the "Hover" and the Description Text under the photos, linked to the full description page. Just a few thoughts. ferg

I don't remember seeing one commercially made just like this. You can make one with steel electrical conduit, not aluminum. You can make the long cuts with a bandsaw while cutting the inside ends with a dremel tool. Sharpen the edge of the tubing before cutting the "Legs" of the punch. When sharpening for a lace punch you sharpen both inside and outside of tube. You would also need to use a small file to even up the edges of the punch. ferg

Barge will hold almost anything together if it is applied correctly. You cannot glue wet leather, it must be dry. Do not thin the glue from the can it is the correct consistency. Apply the glue to both surfaces, allow to dry until it feels barely tacky to your finger. Position exactly where you wish the pieces to be. After placing the two pieces of leather together roll it with a Paper Hangars roller. (Available at Lowe's or HD) Weldwood Gel contact cement is another great glue for leather. Same instructions apply. ferg

shooter55, Try taking vitamin B12. Weird I know, it works. ferg

Some of you gents may think the press I illustrated is slow but I assure you, it is not. "Slow" is relative to the person doing the work. Lay out the job, set-up the jig and have at it. Simple as that. ferg

My explanations of how to do things seem to be less than perfect for some folks but I will give this a shot. You need at least a 2 ton Arbor press. It will be hand operated, your arm will increase in size after you do a pile of these. LOL One piece of steel at least 1/4" x 4" x 12" One piece of steel 1/4" x 1 1/2" x 12" Two pieces of aluminum or steel 1/2" x 2" x 2" Two angle brackets intended for sliding doors (Lowe's and HD has these). One piece of cutting board surface at least 1/4" x 4" x 12" Four 1/4x20 thumb screws 1/2" long. Four other bolts to fasten upright to the angle brackets. A strap end punch of your choosing. Cut the handle completely off the punch and grind the surface level across the top of the cutting edges. You will need a 1/4" piece of steel to match the outer limits of the punch cutting edge. This will lay on top of the punch so the ram of the press has a surface to rest on. If you have access to brazing or welding equipment, the small plate should be attached to punch. You will also need access to a drill press and thread taps. Photo showing table with adjustable back stop. You will need a stop at one end to butt the strap and align the punch. Rear view. Table turned up so you can see the blocks that clamp onto the base of the arbor press. Holes in aluminum blocks are not relevant. Another shot of adjustable angles. You could add another stop to adjust to different widths of strap if you wish. Normally the strap will stay against the back stop while cutting. Tried to make this as concise as possible and still give you enough info to make the jig. The arbor press will not cut more than one strap thickness at a time but this provides you with a jig to cut every strap exactly the same. If I can be of further help just let me know. ferg