Northmount

Read post 98, and several earlier Tom

What was the antique you used? Gel Antique? Helps to know what you are using to be able to answer the question. Tom

Prior to this problem starting, have you had the plate around the feed dogs off? I don't have the same machine, but had what sounds like a similar problem. When I put the plate back on, the bobbin carrier was not in the right position. A tab is supposed to be trapped and held by the plate. When it was in the wrong position, it would sew but would break the top thread. As the thread came across the bobbin, it would get tight, could hardly turn the machine over. Hope you figure it out soon. Can be very frustrating! Tom

When I read this post this morning, just a quick look at it, I misinterpreted it and thought he bought 2 shorter belts to make up the total length! It reminded me of a story about my great great grandfather. He lived in North Dakota, ranching. He was a large man, took size 14 boots. He ordered a pair of size 14 boots from the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog. When the parcel finally arrived, he opened it and found some smart aleck had sent 2 pairs of size 7 boots! Tom

Is the needle in correctly? The scarf in the end should line up with the hook. Tom

This shouldn't need much belt tension since there is not a heavy load on the belt. If you are pressing hard enough to make the belt slip, you will be deforming the edge of the leather. That said, you probably burned out the other motors due to overloading them (1/10 HP is not very much power). Also a lot of used motors have been run without being oiled for years, oiled with the wrong oil, etc. so the bushings get sticky, overloading the motor. If the bushings are an oil impregnated bronze, oiling them may actually wash the oil out of them. Tom

Sure. If your don't use a shorter liner, it will bunch up in the fold. And for the typical billfold, the more cash a person stuffs the bill section with, the liner bunches up even more. The liner needs to be shorter in the direction perpendicular to the fold line. To accommodate the difference in length, a one piece liner should not be stitched or laced to the back in the fold area. If the liner hasn't been trimmed back in the fold area at the bottom, then cut a notch in it about 1/4 x 3/4". Match the ends up, glue in place, punch the holes and lace it up. This will force a natural fold in the wallet (won't lay open flat, so don't attempt to display it that way). Some liners are an expandable type that accommodate the difference in length flat versus folded. The centre piece of the liner fits into slots cut into the two end pieces and "floats" between them. Again, this floating centre piece is not stitched or laced to the back. Tom I see Chief answered at the same time, so you got it from 2 directions!

Here is another good tutorial on bookbinding. http://www.johan-potgieter.com/bin02.html Tom

Very nice and neat work. Tom

I have noticed that during casing, if the color is inconsistent, it will be when finished too. So I often treat Tandy leather with oxalic acid to even out the colour. I decided recently to do it early, as part of the casing process. It doesn't fix all the evils, but certainly helps. Tom

Yup, the leather flap reminds you there is something under it that you need to watch out for.

Here are the pics. So if the blade sticks out, either cover it to protect your fingers, or do as Bruce says and snap off the excess so it will be buried below the top of the bar. Tom

The blade is just slightly over 1", maybe a 64th if I could read it! When set to cut a 3 to 4 oz strip and with the blade flush with the bottom side, the top of the blade is proud by 1/8". When adjusting for thinner leather, if you accidentally place your finger or thumb above the blade (when the end is buried, not visible) and squeeze, you suddenly have a nice clean cut when the blade rises above the surface. Possibly the newer models have thicker guide bars, then there would be less chance of cutting yourself since the blade would be fully buried. Any how, it hasn't got me since adding the little leather flaps! Tom

And be careful how you handle your strap cutter. The exposed ends of the blade are hard on your fingers. I glued a small leather flap across both ends of the blade. Can still replace or move the blade by folding the flaps back. A little less blood on the strap too! Tom

Agree with Particle. You need greater depth of field so the object is in focus from front edge to back edge. So with a tripod, you should have no trouble using an f-stop f16 to f22 and slow your shutter way down to what ever it takes to get enough light. Nothing wrong with using shutter speeds from 1 sec to 1/15 sec. See also this thread for more related comments and links. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=45745&hl=+tent%20+camera%20+light#entry287926 Tom

Check you needle is in the right direction. The scarf (thinned spot) should be on the hook side. Tom

For edge burnishing, see http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 Check out the forum, "how do I do that" Tom

Cute! And you better watch out for the vegans. Tom

As above, and your reach is not limited by the depth of the jaws. Rotary punch is good for a few holes just as convenience. And you can buy several drive punches for the cost of a good rotary. Tom

I'd burnish the edges after assembly so the pieces look like a single entity after burnishing. No misaligned edges. Helps to cut a little oversized as well so you have room to trim the edges even before burnishing. Tom

Looks like some pretty good guessing. Very nice cap. Tom

The $5 to $10 rotary punches aren't any good. Handles are just thin material stamped out to look like a handle. They collapse under any amount of strain. You need solid steel drop forged type handles, good and heavy. Look at $30 and up. Try this http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3230-00.aspx or Osbourne. Tom

I suspect you pulled the top thread out and didn't get it back in the same way. Don't start pulling everything else apart to fix the problem. If you take a real close look at the side of the needle, you may find some numbers that identify the needle and size. Go back and ask what thread was being used in the machine. As above, get a PDF manual. It will give you more info about the needle and the proper thread path. There are a number of threads here about needle size and thread sizes. Seems to me cowboy bob has a table of needle and thread sizes. Tom

Belts shrinking or stretching are all about health. At least if you are overweight, you know what to do. When your belt stretches 3 notches, and you have lost all your energy, dropped 1/3 of your weight for no apparent reason, then you get concerned. Neither situation is great, but I know which one I'd sooner cope with. Back to stiffening your belt. Add a stiffener between the layers, something like Kydex, or poly type sheet. Tom

Use it for stuffing toy animals. Can use some of your leather scraps to make the animals. Tom