Ferg

I assure you, other folks have the same problem including me. My old eyes are a little tired and I need brilliant light to see what I am doing. I become frustrated when I think I am at exactly the right spot. Practice has a lot to do with it. I try to train myself with odd ball methods to accomplish things like this. The marks are the most positive so far. BTW: You could certainly make the notches with the Dremel. If the notch across the top of the foot doesn't help you, try making a little groove on the side of the foot. ferg

Google "Sewing zippers in Leather" Also: "Sewing with Zippers" BTW: I am sitting here looking at a commercially available zipper and the only thing I see as hard may be the 1/2" ends with no zipper teeth. That should be no trouble at all. If you want a nice clean end on the zipper ends, I hate the metal stops and ends, Cut a piece of very thin leather twice the length of the end of the zipper beyond the last teeth and exactly as wide as the zipper cloth. Lightly glue the thin leather onto the fabric at the end, turn it under gluing that side also. Now sew through the thin leather as close to the last tooth as possible crossways. The zipper slide will not go beyond that point. Do this on both ends of the zipper. You can use most any kind of lining leather that is only about 1oz - 2oz in thickness. ferg

Problem with cutting the feet short is, will the leather still be pulled through under the feet. If your needle foot doesn't have a slot in it, very carefully file a small "V" notch directly in front alignment with the needle and exactly in the center "Left to Right" on the top of the needle foot. If your foot is black the file will show a bright line. If the foot is already bright metal, using a permanent marker with a fine point, make a thin line inside the little groove you made with the file. BTW: Use a three cornered file and don't do the filing while the foot is on the machine. ferg

Bob, I agree. I have a Consew 206RB5 - Flatbed medium weight leather Seiko CW 8B - Medium weight leather. I want a Singer 29-???? I have no intention of making heavy leather products. ferg

If the reverse stitch is the only thing not working quite right, I would get used to turning your piece around and stitch in opposite direction. I am somewhat confused about your mention of a spring when the knee lift is engaged. Where is this spring? I think a few photos of the works in the left end of machine would help. ferg

For me, the shipping or going to get it would be prohibitive, I live in Ohio. Also: You know nothing about the machine other than what you had been told. The best thing for you to do is maybe sell it to someone for a boat anchor. LOL If you can get it out and onto a truck you might get a scrap dealer to take it off your hands. ferg

I would say 90% of the Kangaroo comes from Australia. That said, I don't think you are going to find Kangaroo in weight more than 2.5oz to 3oz. It is a fantastic leather and wears like iron. Suppliers: Packer Leather, David Morgan, leatheroo.com ferg

I don't understand what you mean by the "Hard Spot". Are you referring to the actual teeth of the zipper? If you are using a nylon zipper the machine will normally sew through it with little difficulty but the knots may not look exactly the same on the bottom as you sew through the nylon. If you are using a brass or aluminum zipper I would suggest you remove the teeth from the ends for about 1/2". There are several methods for sewing the ends of zippers. ferg

I can't help you with the fwd/rev problem, Wiz is the one for that for sure. I have a Consew 206RB-5, I think it is enough like yours that I may be able to help with some of your other problems. You can adjust the height of the feed dog. Raise the machine on the hinges and let it rest on the post in back. Looking under the machine almost directly in front of the feed dog you will note the rod connected to the feed dog clamps onto the shaft running horizontal or left to right. That has an allen wrench fitting in the screw. You can loosen the clamp and move the feed dog up and down. If it is too high just adjust down a little, don't get carried away with the amount of adjustment. You may need to do this more than once. Make sure you tighten the clamp. Your thread tensioner adjustment may be too tight on the thread. Very small thread, such as #69 or #92, can become tightened to the extent you cannot pull the thread through the needle when ending your stitch. Three things you need to check. Number one, how did you weave the thread through the post on top of the machine? Come through the back of the top hole around the post and out through the bottom hole so the thread is heading towards the tensioner. Lace the thread through the three hole holder which should be vertical, so the thread is coming towards the tensioning discs. Make sure you pull the thread between the discs. Down under the bottom tensioner and up towards the take-up at the top of the machine. The thread wants to be pulled vertical so it drops over the little finger sticking out on the back of lower tensioner. Now, all that said. You may need to release the tension at the bobbin to make the thread pull through easily but slightly taught. Don't turn the screw in the bobbin more than 1/8th turn at a time, it is very short. It is not unusual to need to pull some thread at the end of stitching so you can pull your work piece free of the needle etc. Don't pull on the leather piece as it may bend or break the needle. I reach up to the thread to the left of the tension discs, and pull some thread free at that point. You can safely pull your workpiece without messing up the needle. In some instances you may need to change the way you lace the thread through the top post. That will affect the tension also. Remember to have the top take-up in its highest position when you pull the thread loose. Otherwise the bobbin thread will be all messed up. Hope this helps and hope I didn't make this more complicated than it is. LOL ferg

We ship many packages via USPS Priority and First Class. Out of 25,000 packages shipped we might have half a dozen damaged at most. Seldom use UPS, they are simply too expensive. ferg

Double check your info for them. They definitely are in business. ferg

I have used the Thread Exchange several times. I am certain some of what I have is "Service Thread". Haven't had any problems. ferg

137 would be a good choice. ferg

Put the leather in an oven you won't use for your next family meal. It kinda stinks up the place. As above, heat makes the leather shrivel and get very hard and ugly. White Doeskin turns a yellow shade of beige after 3 minutes in a 150 degree/65 degrees centigrade oven. ferg

Seems that I bought something from them a long time ago. Don't remember what. Glanced at their site. Looks very much like an "Elderly" Tandy site. Many items, most on the lower end I would think. Only way to see what the leather is like? Visit them or buy a piece or two. ferg

I have to agree with the English gentleman. That is the weakest point in the entire stitching. ferg

Programming is something I always wanted to learn. FileMaker and others make it possible for folks like me with brain cells in short supply. LOL ferg

I am not sure what all you are wishing to accomplish but..... I wrote all the programs covering about 15 to 20 years using "Helix". Don't use them anymore for reasons we will not get into now. Apple began a program called FileMaker when the Macintosh first came out. We used it then but I never liked it. That is when I began with Helix. FileMaker is: Database management for iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web Several years ago we were getting requests from companies we do business with to handle all the ordering, billing, inventory, shipping, etc. without them sending any paper. I went back to FileMaker but use FileMaker Pro now. Steep learning curve, I never attended any classes just devoured several books written for the program. I have written programs to augment our Postal Software. We receive orders via Excel, some are .csv a few are .xls. I convert to .xls in all instances with my changes to the program. My wife comes to me quite often with a problem. Such as, needing a list of all orders with only enough info to make it very easy to see if we have indeed received an order and where it is in the manufacture flow. I wrote our General Ledger. I can print checks, I do labels. There are literally hundreds of different types of companies using this software. Please understand, I do not work or represent this company in any way. I think you would be able to do anything you wish with it. This is the link to their web site: http://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro/ ferg

Have never experienced a fire loss. I can only imagine how terrible it is to lose your home and so many of your personal items that some folks wouldn't even consider. This community will do what has to be done to help you, just let us know. ferg

You know what they say? "Whatever floats your boat!" 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