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

U-Line possibility for you. http://www.uline.com/Product/AdvSearchResult.aspx?keywords=9%20x%204%20x%201 ferg

I believe you are correct about the voltage readings, IF you read between the two terminals. When you read from ground to the terminals it is a different story. I have a 40 horse phase converter in our shop. Actually the three phase voltage is 260 Volts with no load in our set-up. I have a 220 Volt single phase sander tied to the two three phase terminals in the fused disconnect that read 120 v each, to ground. The sander is obviously grounded. This connection gives me a 220 v single phase. I can also connect to one of these 120v. terminals plus a ground to run anything requiring 120v. single phase. The best "fix" for this problem is.....buy a Servo Motor that is 120 volt single phase. Such as one Bob Kovar sells at Toledo Industrial. All of your sewing problems are solved with one simple set-up. ferg

Talk about overkill, you guys are dreaming up something that is totally unnecessary. If you wish to make a top with laminate as a finished surface, obtain a piece or 4 x 8 foot sheet of particle board 1 1/8" thick. You can build an under carriage/leg set from 2 x 4's you can buy at Lowe's or HD if you like but the "H" set of legs available that are made for this purpose, I know your wife thinks they are ugly, has everything where it is supposed to be with no interference when you mount a motor, cut a belting hole, etc. You think that 11/8" particle board isn't heavy enough? I have three of them and I see absolutely no problem with any of them. IMHO, Buy the "H" leg set and cover it with something that makes it look Industrial if you will. BTW: If I put a table under one of my machines with that black pipe for legs my wife would make it disappear. LOL ferg

I gripe all the time about purse hardware in particular. An awful lot of the pieces available are almost or are exactly like those we bought 50 years ago. Magnetic catches are "nifty" but many of them pull out of the leather the receiver is fastened to. I recently made a new purse for my wife. Used a very nice looking catch that should work well. She fiddles with it all the time to get it latched. Slots with a leather tongue for closing is often used. ferg

Years ago I used the Craftaids because it saved time. I have a "Bunch" of the old ones, some were used very little. Have no idea what they are worth these days but if they have been used a lot they tended to curl up somewhat. Definitely need to case the leather before using them. If you try to transfer while the leather is too wet, forget it. ferg

Looks to be some of the older Tandy tools. Good find anyway. ferg

My roots are not very far from the Amish tradition so I enjoy these folks immensely. Buy timber and other building materials from them as well as visiting their community in Ohio just about every year. Almost everyone going to the auction says much the same thing about the crowds. In my later years I have learned to frequent less crowded venues. Too bad about the prices things went for Art, that "kinda" negates the whole idea of an auction of used equipment. ferg

Adam, Very nice front page. I noticed one little thing. "somethings" should read, "some things". Nice photos. ferg

In my opinion neither of these knives is what you want. I have the Osborne clicker knife. If I had my druthers, it would be in the trash bin. The blades are about as cheap as anything I have ever tried to use and the handles are terrible. For a utility knife visit a local hobby shop, Michaels or others. Get a very good ExActo knife. After you use it for awhile you can think about a good knife from one of the folks on this forum. ferg

Frank, I know something of what you are feeling. In 1970 we lost both mom and dad and three other close relatives. It takes very special folks to care for the disabled. Prayers are with you. ferg

Double check your tension settings. Remember: Your stitch is only as strong as the "Least" of your thread. ferg

I guess it has been more than a year when a number of us drooled over some Italian Clicker knives among others. Clicker knives were used many years ago in the shoe industry. Trimming edges and cutting heavy leather. There are You-Tube videos of name brand manufacturers using a clicker knife to cut parts for many different items. I spoke to a good friend who makes fantastic knives about making at least two blades for me that would cut forever with nothing more than stropping. After several communications with my wishes and his knowledge I have two different blades. I have made one handle. I will enclose photos. I have made a number of wooden handles over the years and found that almost every human hand has something different about it when working with wood or leather and I am sure many other materials as well. Folks who make cutting knives for a living must try to make handles that will work for many different hand shapes etc. This handle is two pieces of solid brass with Purple Heart wood to the same thickness as the knife blade. One strip of the wood has been glued even with the two long edges of the brass plus a "plug" at the butt end of the handle. Blade and handle is held together with three brass screws. Blade has two holes to accommodate screws. You may note the handle is not exactly straight along the edges. I have found that the heavy brass and other metal handles need to "Cozy up" to your hand to be comfortable when working. I will probably do some further filing on this one as I use it. Simply a view of the one edge of handle. The business end. I wanted to show the blade entry into the end of handle not the blade itself. Time to make the handle occupied about 4 hours. I split it up into three or four sessions so I could still move my fingers when finished. I have no intentions of making any of these for sale. Am still thinking how I want to make the other handle. Questions? Just let me know. ferg

Probably didn't let it set long enough. Normally 15 minutes to half an hour is sufficient. Sounds as though you may have had some oil or other residue present. ferg

I drilled 3/8" holes at the inside corner locations of the 4x 4 post on the end plates, cut 3/8" All Thread to one inch longer than the total length of post plus end plate thickness, used Jam nuts on the All Thread tightening them to secure the plates to the post. We have a great metal supply shop close by, they cut the post and plates for me. The jam nuts rest in holes drilled into the 1 3/4" top and bottom so the plates can be lag screwed in place. This is link to finished unit. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=48492&hl=ferg ferg

Can I guess it is about a 29K-4? Small bobbin. Treadle? ferg

Wiz, I am getting 1/8" stitch length. So 7or8 to the inch isn't bad for 110 years old. ferg

Thanks Eric, your opinion much appreciated. Darren, Don't know about the binder, got it from Bob Kovar. Bob, Believe it or not it sews perfectly. The bobbin tension screw was tight, loosened it about an eighth of a turn, relieved the top tension. The directions in that old manual are very clear and easy to understand, I had no trouble with winding or loading the bobbin. Tor, No speed reducer. The digital servo is infinite adjustment from 3600 rpm down to 200 rpm plus 2" pulley on motor to the 5 1/2" pulley on machine. I haven't tried anything heavier than 8 oz veg tan, had no problem sewing it. The knots are tight and inside the leather. I have a lot of Chrome tanned, will try it soon. Wiz had suggested coating the serrated foot with "Tool Handle Dip" to get rid of the impression in veg tan. I got some the other day but haven't done that as yet. Some of us never grow up do we? The toys just change, along with my new 2014 Chevy Impala. It replaced a 1992 Oldsmobile with 50,000 miles. ferg

This is a project I have been wishing to do for some time. I believe it came out well, do not believe I would do anything different. I took some liberties in rebuilding this beautiful old machine. Cleaned and removed all old paint, repainted with gloss black, have not applied the decals at this time. The bobbin winder is new. I moved it down to the base of the machine from it's original position so the rubber tire would touch the drive wheel groove properly. A few new screws, new belt, needles, and some other items I will show you. A close-up of the bobbin winder. The bottom is of 1 3/4" Maple with casters (two of them lock). Foot control is of Cherry, I fabricated the movable parts of the control from aluminum, bronze and steel. Servo is a digital 600 watt from Bob Kovar. I slowed the top speed of the servo to 200 rpm plus attaching the belt to the larger of the two belted pulleys. I can sew i/8" leather, one stitch per at 8 stitches per inch, top speed with this setup is a little faster than I wish to run the machine at this time. Control with the pedal is excellent. I have about 2 1/2" of travel before hitting top speed. The bolts/machine screws originally used appear to be of 28 tpi, a size of thread count that is pretty much impossible to find locally. Bob has them. Bolts to hold the machine onto the original cast iron table were 3/16" 28's, I drilled them out and replaced with 1/4-20's. I attached the bobbin winder with a 10-24 bolt replacing the 10-28. Odd looking black box to the rear of machine is covering the belt. Pedestal is of 4 x 4 x 1/8" steel with 1/4" steel plates on each end. I will be making a larger than normal drawer to fit under the top table for tools etc. Thread stand was a must since the machine obviously used small spools of thread on the post. I fabricated a piece of Piano Wire to fit over the original spool post and rise high enough to keep the thread away from moving parts of machine. Top end of wire has an "Eye" for the thread. One of the most important items I found on the Web was a copy of the original factory printed manual for the 29-4. Rear view. Closeup of the control pedal. Most of the parts I couldn't get locally or have in the shop, I bought from Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Plus, He and Bobby keep me up to snuff on what I can and cannot do. Some times I even pay attention. This was a fun project, I don't think I would ever consider selling it. If anyone has questions I will be glad to attempt to answer them. Thanks for looking, ferg

Got to the campbell Bosworth site I gave the URL to above. That page has your information. ferg

Hi Ian, Welcome to the Vintage Singer Sewing machines. You can do a classy stitch with #138 thread with a "DIA" needle . Access this site for charts that will give you needle sizes for thread size: www.campbell-bosworth.com I find myself using a thread that has a gold line through a medium brown. Very attractive stitch. The thread exchange has a great selection in thread and are very prompt with delivery. ferg If you want rustic look I would use a needle such as a "TW" or "RTW". They will give you a saddle stitch.

That is a great deal! Want to sell a couple of the ones you have your eye on? Or, How bout I go together with you on an order? Just PM me. I am interested. ferg

Check with Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. 1 (866) 362-7397 ferg

EagleScout, These machines were never intended for heavy production. They are Patchers. Will sew into the end of a boot or shoe and even a glove to fix a tear or bad threads. Great for sewing recognition patches on jackets and shirts. It is said they will max out at 1/4". Anything below that would be a plus. I want to use it for sewing small items and little gussets. The needle hole in the Needle Plate is 1/8" from the end of the arm. Only one foot design available for it as far as I know, it has teeth that will mark most any leather. Wiz suggested I use the tool handle dip on the teeth to smooth it out. I think the "dip" will normally give it enough traction since the notched foot is the only thing moving the material. The 29-4 has a small bobbin, it holds 21 feet of #69 thread. With the digital servo I can slow it down to one stitch at a time if I wish. My knees and ankles have long passed the ability to sew with a treadle driven machine thus the servo. I love machinery of most any kind, this little machine is priceless in it's simplicity. That is probably why they have been around for over 100 years. ferg