Northmount

Belts don't need to be really tight. Some users leave some slack so they can use the right hand to slow the machine down somewhat, especially if they are using a clutch motor. A little slack is also good if you happen to pull the needle to one side, breaking it, and causing a jam. Then you don't have to rely as much on the safety clutch to protect your machine. Generally there is enough adjustment on the motor bracket to allow you to tighten the belt as far as needed. If the belt is not the right length, you won't be able to adjust it. Vee belts should not ride on the bottom of the pulley. The top of the belt should generally be flush or nearly flush with the top of the pulley. It is the friction on the sides of the belt that transmit the driving force to/from the pulleys. At the mid point between pulleys, you should be able to depress the belt about an inch with firm thumb pressure. Should not be hard to do. It is not like vee belts driving fans, ac compressor and alternator on a car. They need to be much tighter due to the amount of power they have to transmit. Tom

Strange about receiving emails even though you have configured your profile to not send email. I have the opposite, configured to send me emails for certain cases, never receive any. Login to your profile and give it a fake email address. That should stop them, and you shouldn't be bothered with any more. Worth a try. Tom

Fantastic work! Very well done. Tom

Wood can be quite adequate. A fireplace wood carrier uses 3/4" wood dowel. Carries a very heavy load. 3/8" might do well for a hand bag. Have also seen brass rod used. Tom

Ashley book of knots pdf and other formats at https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots Tom

Several at: https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/encyclopedia-of-knots-and-fancy-rope-work/ Tom

@Wizcrafts, in case you missed this. Debbie, Are your tension disks clean? Tom

Moved to sewing machines forum. You'll get more information there than under help wanted. Help wanted is like the classifieds help wanted in a newspaper. Tom

Here is another thread / needle chart with some additional information. Includes thread diameter and strength. http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html Tom

Thanks, moved. Tom

This design is rather large for a coaster. Shrinking it would make some of the detail very fine, which of course would increase the level of difficulty substantially. I would suggest a less complicated design for a coaster. You might look on the web for line drawings, coloring books, and such. Tom

Provided by @Constabulary and @qvt Large file 18 MB Manual Singer 132K6 Seiko SK-7 SK-8 SK-26.pdf Optimized to 400 dpi and text searchable 3 MB Manual Singer 132K6 Seiko SK-7 SK-8 SK-26 os.pdf Thanks Constabulary for forwarding the file to be uploaded here. Tom

It's a good idea to put your location in your profile. Then people know where you are and can respond with better information tailored to your location. You might even find some leatherworkers nearby. Tom

Fixed, moved picture to section 9. Tom

Great! Now complete this thread by sharing your learnings so others here could use it. Would be much appreciated. Tom

Here are pictures of one I have. 24" x 2.5". Just over 1/8" thick so 8 plus oz (4mm). Note the back of the leather strop is grooved across its width. Reason unknown to me, other than it would be a little more flexible. Leather is relatively hard. The second strap is linen weave. Very slippery like it was Teflon coated. Bought in a 2nd hand/antique store a few years ago for about $25. Had never been used. The linen weave part reminds me of the flat belting used on line shaft driven equipment, except they weren't slippery. Tom

Cut and assemble a little oversize, then trim to final size. Will help avoid problems where cement ran over the edges. Tom

Check out the sewing machine vendor's ads in the top banner. Pick a vendor close to you so you can go see and test the machines on the leather you will be using. They have new and some reconditioned machines. Techsew 2700, Cowboy 227R, etc. You need at least 3/8" capacity, and 138 or heavier thread. Should be a walking foot machine. Domestic machines will not work long for you or do a very good job. Read the pinned posts about picking the right machine. Tom

Here is a video with instructions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxf-ZboFCx0 Tom

There are other posts here about using liquor for diluting dyes. Denatured alcohol adds chemicals to to make it (ethanol, or similar) taste awful so people won't drink it. Thus the governments maintain control of liquors and the taxes. There are a number of posts explaining the difference between alcohols somewhere here too if you want to search them out. Tom

Very similar to http://www.talasonline.com/Scharf-Fix-Paring-Machine which is a well made machine priced at $375US Tom

Thanks for updating this thread. I have copied these photos into your first post. This was a prime example of what happens when using 3rd party photo hosting sites instead of uploading photos to this site. Anytime a photo on a 3rd party site is changed, moved, deleted, permissions changed, etc. the photo disappears here and is replaced with a broken link symbol. I recommend that all photos be uploaded to this site so they don't get lost out there in cyberspace. If you resize photos to 800 x 600, (which is usually adequate for most viewing purposes), you can upload many photos in a single post. It is also an assist to those people living on the fringes of the internet as they don't have to wait hours for a post loaded with large images to be downloaded before they can view them. Tom

You can also drill and tap the correct thread size in the wood, and avoid having to epoxy it. Good wood threads very nicely. Makes it removable if you want. Tom

http://isthiswebsiteworking.com/campbell-randall.com indicates the site is currently down. Registration is still valid into 2018. Web address is http://www.campbell-randall.com/ Tom

Tandy's leathercraft library has some patterns with holly, etc. Some free designed for corners that you could modify easily. Tom