Ferg

Just a thought. The jack is very heavy, shipping high, can go to a Harbor Freight in many areas of the US and pick one up with no freight charge. ferg

A small round knife will work really well for skiving. I am afraid the knife/knives you have will make it difficult to skive. Tandy has some skiving knives. They aren't great but are better than nothing. If you get one of them make it the angle blade. The edge is ground so the "back" of the knife is flat, that goes next to the leather. If you don't have any scrap to practice on, get some or cut some of the rough edges from the veg tanned you have. Skiving by hand definitely takes practice. Some of the pig skin is fairly stiff, make sure you use what is nice and soft for your lining. For a first try wallet use the pigskin as is. It will give you many ideas for the next one. ferg

I am sorry, I was thinking the hold down roller when I read your original post. I have several of the guides. Best one is from "kwokhing.com". ferg

Years ago I painted on wallets etc. Haven't done it for a long time. The old paints Tandy sold for years, held up really well. Several on this forum do painting on their leather with great results. I will leave that part to them. There are a number of You Tube videos on wallet making. View them, save them and view several times, think about it and view again. Access web sites Gucci, Cabela's, Coach, and many others. Study the way they made their product. I am not advocating copying per se. You can learn a lot about making leather goods from these folks without ever talking to anyone of them. You need to use leather that doesn't exceed 1.5oz for the interiors. Edges need to be skived, preferably with a skiving machine but you can do it by hand. Roll the edges of interior parts, stitch with #69 thread, #92 is too heavy. The outside of the wallets need to be about 3/8" to 1/2" longer than your interior. Since you mentioned you are from Down Under, study the form wallets take in your area you wish to sell to. That doesn't mean what you prefer but what your potential buyers may want. There is often times considerable difference. You should have access to some great Kangaroo leather. One of the finest leathers for wallets. You will get other ideas from the folks on here. ferg

Roller guide is not available for the Consew 206-RB5 ferg

BuckleGuy.com or Ohio Travel Bag ferg

My comments were only meant to help and to make it easier for folks to know who and what your intentions are. Thank you for your informative answer/comments. ferg

It is possible but highly unlikely since I have to assume these folks are mass producers. ferg

Toledo Industrial Machine in Toledo, Ohio or Keystone in Philly. ferg

To add and agree with above posts. Normally, the reason for using a lighter weight thread in the Bobbin is to extend the time of use. Regarding strength, the strength of the stitch is determined by the lighter thread. Also, in your pics, you show a straight line stitch in the first photo where as I assume the second image is the Italian stitch which is a Saddle stitch. They are accomplished with different style of needle. I have one machine with a large bobbin, use same weight thread in both top and bottom. My Cylinder Arm machine has a small bobbin. In some instances I will use next smaller thread in bobbin. The photo looks to have at least two sizes smaller in the bobbin, that is totally unacceptable. ferg

Figure a flat amount that is an average cost to you for your products. Sure does simplify the books. ferg

Hi Anita, Having been in business for over 60 years I am always a little skeptical about folks having web sites for businesses with no indication of where your place of business is located. I do realize your Site is a work in progress. All of the items on your site are sold out except one or two. What is that all about? Your Domain was registered one month ago and is only valid for two years. Your SSL certificate was issued several years ago so I suppose you have been in business under another name that I came across. I believe a lot of us would like to know a little more about you if for no other reason, so we can "Get to Know You". Your products appear to be top notch. Italian Leather is one of the best there is. Elk? Some good, some not so good. One Location for you is Chicago, another is Texas. Both places? Are your products actually made in the USA or across the pond? I am not "Picking" on you. There simply seems to be a number of questions that can be asked, you don't answer. I am not interested in how you make your product. I know of at least ten or so on this forum that could figure that out. Just clear the air a bit. Regards, ferg

There seems to be lots of info for parts for the machine, I don't see any service manuals at all. Certainly there are some out there somewhere. See if this site has anything helpful. http://ebookbrowse.c...-pdf-d371663446 ferg

I just bought some Rip Stop Nylon. JoAnn's has it in a multitude of colors. It is a nice fabric. Perhaps you only seen it in the expanded net type? ferg

Honey, This printer is $30,000. My new 2014 Impala won't cost that much. LOL ferg

I might suggest you talk to Steve with http://leathermachineco.com and/or Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Machine http://www.tolindsewmach.com ferg

Bob, I have used those interiors, they are a bit difficult to do much additional to them. I think your best bet is to start from "scratch" making the interior similar to this liner but accommodating whatever you need for a strap connection. ferg

Whether you buy one of the machines that are constantly talked about on this site is almost always determined by how close you are to the distributor of either of them. Shipping is a very big deal to buying a new machine. I would have to say Cobra, Cowboy, Techsew, and others are so much alike these days, service and distance from same has to be a priority. ferg

Chief, I use the Weldwood "Gel" for leather, haven't used anything but water based contact for laminate for years. I normally allow the glue to dry for at least 20 minutes with a 70 degree temp in my shop. I guarantee you the leather is not going to pull apart without damage UNLESS it is two pieces of chrome tanned glued face to face. The glue will just about peal off completely when you pull it As stated above, we use the glue to "tack" the leather together so we can sew a nice even joint. I would like to be able some day to sew as fast as some of the oriental ladies do in clothing factories. LOL ferg

Wiz is the one to answer your questions and I am sure he will shortly. With my limited experience, 2 years of having two machines, I would say if you want to sew some very thin leather this machine may suffice, otherwise, save your penny's and get a triple feed. ferg

Thanks, I took photo with my Canon Rebel T1i and Canon 70mm -200mm Ultrasonic Lens. We have two Canon Rebels, love them. ferg

We always know it is close to Easter when the Mallards show up on our little pond. They heard the cameral shutter, she got flustered and told the drake,"It is time to go!" ferg

Wiz, Have you checked these? http://www.boglegreenwell.com/ http://www.tools4leather.com/12_used_machines_available.htm# ferg

We ship about 25,000 to 30,000 pieces each year now. USPS First Class and Priority mail. Seldom use UPS although we have had a account with them for years, never use FedEx anymore. In a years time we probably do not get more than a dozen damaged packages. International mail to Canada only. ferg

kayrunp, I drilled a hole in the end of the ram of the arbor press so I could use a number of tools. The arbor presses are the cheapest snap setters you will ever buy. I ordered my stamp without the handle, never had much luck with large stamps being struck with any kind of mallet. I was experimenting with my heat press this evening. I set the temp at 400 degrees and heavy pressure for 1 to 3 minutes. I believe less heat could be used as well as less pressure and time could be one minute with no problem. I was testing on Baby Buffalo and Kangaroo. I have no use for the Branding irons. They are a waste of money in my opinion except for wood. If you ever wish to stamp with gold foil you will need heat and pressure, it is beautiful. ferg