Ferg

Rayban, Your query is not up to your standards of logical thinking, I will answer it anyway. I remember a home we were repairing after a Tornado tore through our area. I had a number of workers, we were extremely busy. I had left several to apply a shingle roof on this home. When I checked on the job they had almost finished the roof but one entire side had been screwed up. They removed the shingles and redone them correctly, ON THEIR TIME! ferg

Any of you who are printing your own USPS postage, read this carefully. Dymo owns Endicia, don't know when they acquired same. We decided to ship via USPS several years ago. Three years ago we began printing our own stamps that we bought from a third party company that was/is approved by the post office. They cost about $50 per 7000 stamp blanks, we use between 20,000 and 25,000 per year. Dymo Endicia charges about $55 for 200 stamp blanks, I don't need to do the math do I? We received an e-mail from Endicia today that they are no longer accepting the third party stamps, we have to get a new activation code each time we buy a roll of 200 stamps, put into the computer so they can check it's validity and then when you ask for release of the next 200 count roll you need to wait until they contact you with the activation code. During Christmas season we ship 700 to 1000 parcels per day. Have an idea how many we would ship with all this crap? The postage is higher and higher and they want to pull this on us. Seems to be the mentality of a number of people I could mention. Several third party stamp suppliers have already quit selling blanks for fear of having excessive inventory unable to get rid of. Sure does help the small business community. If you use these people, please let it be known you will not stand for this. Totally unacceptable !!!!!!! BTW: They did not contact us today, my wife seen it on FaceBook. The "Change" will be Monday. ferg

From what you are saying you definitely need a machine with the capabilities of the Cowboy 4500 or one of the other makes that are clones of an original. I am sure Art, Wiz, Ron and others will chime in on this. ferg

Mine is stored in a closed closet. That heavenly smell just lingers in there until you open the door, then you really get hooked. LOL ferg

Looks good Fred. Beautiful work and craftsmanship. ferg

The default setting on the servo is 5. If the servo is moving fast enough for you just leave it alone. In the event you wish to slow or speed it up just follow the directions Bob gave you with what you are seeing don't worry about the other digits. ferg

I still have mine setting on another wooden chest I made about 45 years ago. I would have bought that little metal drawer cabinet about 1953 or '54. Wonder what I paid for it. Hadn't opened it for a long time. One drawer has some mirrors in it as well as the good tough plastic we used for ID card windows. They are still clear as a crystal. Guess I need to use some of them. ferg

Beavercreek ferg

My first thought is that you didn't "case" wet the leather. If you no nothing about preparing leather for tooling please access Bob Park's "Casing Leather". Second thought: If you did wet the leather, you tried to tool with the knife when the leather was too wet. ferg

Fortuna machines are over $4000 new. New and better clones can be had for about $1800 to $2300. There are a few that sell for around $1300. From what I have gathered they aren't much plus they are normally only bottom feed. ferg

I fiddled with my moms old treadle Singer sewing machine when a kid, have been fascinated and aggravated by them ever since. Have wanted a Skiving Machine ever since I bought the last sewing machine. A very useful and fascinating machine as well. Bob Kovar had a new Cowboy 802, top and bottom feed, which is a clone of a Fortuna. We picked it up the 22nd of January. Being 165 miles from Bob's shop makes the trip a necessary one. No manual available for the machine as far as I know. About 8 pages of necessary information but nothing on lubrication or much about what different knobs and screws affect functions. Operation of the machine is a lot easier if you visit every web site you can find that has anything about the machines, all makes and types. There are a number of videos on You Tube that are helpful, some not so much. The machine came with a clutch motor, a very fast clutch motor. Being old and more than a little slow I like to sew and skive slooooow. I should have had Bob exchange the motor while I was there but I wasn't thinking much about anything except, I finally had my skiver. Two weeks later I returned to Toledo with the entire machine, table, legs and motor. There was a problem with the adjustment of the bell knife mechanism, I wanted Bobby, Bob's son to look at it. Thought he might be able to fix it while I waited. Swapped the clutch motor for a digital brushless servo which they installed on my table. Bobby determined the machine would need to be torn down to fix it so we left with everything but the head. When we got home I called them about something else, they had fixed the machine about 15 minutes after we left but didn't have our Cell number. Bobby brought the machine to us the following evening and carried it up the stairs for me. That is service with a smile!!!! I spent about six or eight hours over several days playing with this machine. Adjusting different knobs, grinding the edge on the bell knife, and slicing about 5 pounds of leather scrap. Unit is available with three different shapes of top feed rollers. Straight, tapered, and a concave roller that is equal to the radius of the knife. That one is being ordered for me. I can skive to paper thin on the edge with gradual skive back to bout 1/2" from edge with the tapered roller. This makes a skive you can fold over itself, "rolled edge", that equals the thickness of the body of the leather. This feature makes it possible to accurately skive a small amount of thickness of the edge of purse parts so a seam is not so thick where more than one comes together. Wallet backs skived to make rolled edges. Wallet interiors thinned at edges. I even took a piece of 1 1/2 - 2 oz leather and shaved the "fuzz" off the back side. I have read these machines scrape the leather. This is not so with this one or any others with a bell knife, it cuts the layer. Was informed you needed the speed of the clutch motor to properly skive. That is not true. I can slow the servo to where the knife is turning very slow and the feed roller (steel) is turning even slower. Viewed professionals getting the beginning edge of leather caught under knife or other part of machine as it exited the knife. Slow feed eliminates this entirely plus I can change direction of feed if I wish without mutilating half the piece. Keep the knife sharp. You only need to barely touch the grinding wheel to the knife to sharpen it. A sharp knife cuts any of the leather like soft butter with the remnants falling through a whole under the head, down a chute and into a waste receptacle. Some have vacuum attachments. I viewed a number of these machines. Many are exactly the same with different names on them. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if most are made in the same factory in China or Formosa. Construction of this model appears to be well done. No noisy bearings or vibrating parts. The head weighs 100 pounds so decide where you wish to place it in your shop area. I need bright light and lots of it to see what I am doing. My leather shop is what was my youngest daughter's bedroom. Big windows to the south and east. Lamps and fluorescents a must. Am enclosing a few photos of my leather shop, the wood shop is considerably larger but not as cozy. Don't laugh at the wall paper. Remember it was my daughter's bedroom and I cannot make myself change it. I am very much a novice with this equipment as well as my sewing machines but if I can help with answers to some questions about any of them just let me know. ferg I have a double door closet with shelves where I store my leather. No sunlight exposure. Cylinder arm is a Seiko, flatbed a Consew. gear reduction motor on the Seiko, a Consew servo on the flatbed with a speed reducer. Workbench has a large granite slab in the center level with top. Stamping tools in their own holes in a block of pine timber left when building the house. Most edge tools behind leather straps on board behind the bench. Have more to put up there when the spirit moves me. Cutting table is an unused computer table with a second top that also has a slab of Corian laying on it for cutting. In case any of you are wondering about the weight on the floor that is the ceiling of our Master Bedroom. The floor joist are 4 x 10 timber 2' on center with 2 x 6 tongue and groove for a subfloor, 1/4" underlayment and the carpet. Wife can't even hear the machines running downstairs.

She is delighted with the purse. She is the very most special person in my life, never complains, works hard, and is my best friend. How can you beat that? ferg

Natural colored leather is all Veg Tanned Cowhide 5 to 6 oz. Lined with 3-4 oz brown upholstery leather. Gusset is also Upholstery 4-5 oz. All trim is Kangaroo, love that stuff. Strap is Kangaroo with cowhide on back. Decided not to stitch the strap, we will see how that wears. Can always make another strap since they are put together with Chicago Screws. The brass chain is connected to the gusset with kangaroo. Actually two layers of the upholstery leather and two thicknesses of the "Roo. My wife can get more "stuff" in her purse than I have in my shop so we will see how this one holds up. If I was making this now it would have "Rolled" edges instead of the binding. Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. ferg

Everything you do is interesting. I love the attention to detail. ferg

I seldom show anything I have done, this is only the third since 2010. There are many folks doing better work than I and I enjoy looking at theirs while trying to do better after all these years. I bought my wife Dooney & Bourke purses for years, they have gone way out on their designs so I told my wife I would make her one. Saw a photo of a purse similar to this. It is actually two purses in one with three separate sections. The blue piece is a Checkbook, card holder, etc. so she would hopefully throw her old one away. More Brass than I usually do. ferg

I have never seen it in black, never had any use for other than the white/cream color. ferg

Boris, You obviously have at least two areas of accomplishment. Your shoe making is definitely not rudimentary and your video skills are to be admired. Nice work. The shoes look very comfortable and again very nice work. ferg

You can get Chrome tanned leather with an aged look. Oiled leather comes to mind. You can actually make the lettering you wish to use with lead, don't anyone give me the "Lead Poisoning" bit, letter sets that are available on e-bay. Fake gold leaf is available at Craft Stores or you can get real Gold Leaf. Press the letter set into the Chrome tanned leather with the foil between, voila!! you have a beautiful imprint. You can actually press the letters with a simple clamp if you just wish to experiment. The leather comes in various shades of brown and black if you wish the aged look. Chrome tanned leather is available in a multitude of colors. ferg

You done a nice job. Next time make your stitches closer together. ferg

"Buckram" from JoAnn fabrics or probably any of other fabric shops. Sales person may look at you funny when you ask for Buckram but they do have it. Also tell them it is used to stiffen other material. I glue it on with a single coat of Solvent based contact cement applied to the leather, allow to dry for a bit until tacky, lay the Buckram on it and roll down with a paper hangars roller. BTW: It comes in various levels of "Stiff". ferg

Ditto on the knife cuts. You are using too large blade width for the carving you are doing. A wide blade will lift the outer edges and make them look like a bad piece of rubber. Let the knife cut "die out" towards the tip of the leaf lobes. Some cuts you simply started at the wrong end. ferg

Johanna, I believe the video is on sewing machines. ferg

Seems there is an old saying,"Know what you need before you buy." ferg

My Consew 206RB5 has a Consew Servo Model CSM550. Absolutely no problems ferg

A fellow Ohioan. Only real fault I have with your products? Too shiny. You are good enough to try some larger products. Good luck ferg