Northmount

Make sure to print actual size. Don't let your software scale to fit the page/printer. Most printers take up to .25" off the margins, so letting your s/w shrink to fit scales it smaller. And I totally agree, cut the prototype to fit on paper or other cheap material before cutting any leather. CTG

If you want a case that opens like a binder or portfolio, take a look at iPad. Magnetic Screen on/off switchIf you put a magnet in the case (for ipad2) centered 6.5" from the bottom right and .25" in from the right (iPad held in portrait mode, home switch at the bottom), it will automatically turn the screen off when you slide it in the cover, and turn it back on when you remove it from the cover. The iPad and many other devices like BB phone have little magnetic reed switches embedded in them to look after the screen. You just have to find out where it is. An old case with this feature is a good reference. CTG

Welcome to the forum. Your belt and journal case are interesting and look great. Keep it up, and keep coming back here. CTG

I often cut a "U" shaped notch in the bottom edge of the interior at the fold to allow for a little differential movement between the interior and the wallet back. Makes sewing (or lacing) much easier. The depth of the (U) just needs to miss the stitch line. CTG

Let the iron cool before putting it in the bag. Hot iron may damage the electrical cord too, so another reason to just be patient and let it cool. CTG

I guess you already know that the closer the holes are, the weaker the leather becomes. Too close and the leather rips when strained. And you already know that with thicker leather, the holes should be further apart. CTG

Try this link Tools CTG

Welcome to this great addiction. If you post your list, I think people will reply with comments adding or subtracting items from the list. Else there are some lists of tools suggested for various types of work already posted here. Try a few searches to see if you can find them. CTG

Wish I was a lot closer. Sounds like an interesting event to attend. I guess it would be a good event for those that are just starting out, or think they might be interested in leather. It's really a good idea to be pro-active in promoting your business and sharing information with others. Hope the fair is a great success. CTG

Sure sounds like Trox and bdt46 are right. Makes better sense, so it looks like you are using a clutch motor. The more info a person can give when asking a question, the sooner you get the right answer. Good luck getting your machine sorted out. CTG

For the motor to continue to run, the switch must still be closed (in the on position). Sticky or worn brushes will not supply power to make the motor run if the switch is off. Most brush problems result in intermittent operation, arcing and sparking inside the motor (sometimes a smell due to the arcing) , low power output, and noise. Motor will often fail to start when brushes are worn and stuck, so then beating on the motor may get it running again temporarily. So check out the switch and the linkage to the switch. Since holding the wheel/pulley seems to stop the machine, it sounds like the motor mounting is somewhat loose so that when you stop the wheel, it rocks the motor a little, so the switch linkage gets bumped far enough to open the switch. CTG

see dirtclod's post for how to access PMs

Sending you a PM

Most of the Leather Sewming Machine Vendors in US and Canada have a speed reducer pulley of some sort. Check the vendors at the top of the page. Here is a link to a smaller operation near my location pulley John Leighton sells them for 150 $CAN plus shipping. Others here are priced similarly. Farm and Factory equipment/hardware suppliers near you should have pulleys, bearings and shaft material available if you want to make your own. Takes time, patience, and a lot of fiddling around to rig up your own. Auto supply stores have vee belts. If you are in a busy shop, then it pays to buy it already built instead of spending time doing it yourself, especially if you don't have skills or equipment to build your own. There are a few other recent posts about building your own speed reducer. CTG

An hour or so south of Vancouver is PSLAC. They seem to have a lot of interest and are really involved in their organization. CTG

I got a SEWPRO from Bob and put on my machine. It was still to fast for me, and couldn't punch through 2 layers of 8 oz without assistance at minimum speed. Today, a put a speed reduction set of pulleys on it as well. I had a 7.5" pulley and got a 2" with the same bore size, a couple pillow block type bearings, and piece of 3/4" shaft I had around. Made a frame for it and put it on my machine. Needs a couple little adjsutments yet but it works great. It will punch through 2 layers of 8 oz leather at the slowest speed with no assistance. I turned the max speed up to maximum, so I have the full range of speed available, and fast is slightly more than fast enough for me. (A little slow winding bobbins, but that's okay with me.) Now I can backstitch at the start without needing 3 hands (1 on the leather, 1 on the reverse lever, and 1 on the wheel to help it get started, and hope it didn't run away on me. Didn't relish the thought of trying to hold the reverse lever down with my forehead since I don't have that thrid hand.) So if you want to keep your costs down a bit, get the SEWPRO and a pulley reduction set. I've seen the pulley reduction set listed at $150 to 175. CTG

Tell people what city or town you are in or near. I'm sure there is somebody on LW that lives within a reasonable distance from you that does some machine sewing sewing on leather. Some might be happy just to sit with you and show you a few things. Proper method of threading your machine, etc. Then start you on some practice sewing. Just need some thread, needles, and lots of scrap. After you have done some practice, then they could come back and show you how to change tension when you want to sew different thicknesses. If no one lives close that sews leather, I'm sure that someone that does their own home sewing - ordinary cloth material - that could help you along. You might even do some practice with a home sewing machine and cloth or thin leather, then graduate to your 4500. When I was a kid, I did a lot of sewing odds and ends on a simple home sewing machine. Later I did some leather using a home machine. Last year I finally got a good machine, little lighter than your machine. But all the principles are the same. Don't give up. And when there is something new you want to try, search for it here, and then ask how if you didn't find your answer. There is lots of information here. CTG

Note pad holder / folder, photo frame / presentation folder, cuffs, simple wallet. Could be tooled or not depending on your skill level or time. Neatly stitched, nice finish, edges burnished. Could be laced instead of sewen. CTG

I think the flap should be longer so it tucks in more securely under the loop. Don't want to lose the epi pen when your life depends on being available immediately. It's a good idea and great project. Might have to make one for my daughter-in-law. Thanks for the ideas. CTG

Links are here, Link. This post also has a link to the first series too. CTG

Finish the edges of the leather, dye the edge dark to match the lace, then lace. Then no light colored leather shows through the lace. This is a tip from the Chief's lacing videos that he posted recently. CTG

I like the idea of a video camera and projector so everyone gets to see close up. It does add a cost to the course provider, and may require an additional person to keep the camera focused on the work. Students also learn from other students. When a student or 2 are ahead of the others, the instructor can assign them to help someone else catch up. It helps the instructor keep up, helps the people that are slower or waiting, and helps the faster student learn how to impart his knowledge to others. Also, the faster student that is helping others will learn other ways to accomplish the intent. Lots of ways to present training courses. Different subjects require different approaches. The instructor needs to be flexible and able to addapt to his students. Not every student is going to be happy. That is something that both students and instructors need to recognize. If a student recongnizes he has a problem with the corse material or instructor during the first hour or so, he should withdraw from the class if he can get his tuition back. Then decide what kind of class or work he should be in next. And when an instructor gets tired of his job, it's time to get out and get another job. Don't make the students pay for his unhappy state. CTG

Try Kingsmere Crafts square braid There are loads of pages on this site for lacing and brainding ... and other leather realted stuff CTG

Denise ... My son is providing a remote assistance service. PC Help He has put a lot of sweat equity into building his business and has added this service to help provide the income that sweat equity doesn't provide. No fixed hourly rate, you contribute what you think is fair. Regards, CTG

Good work Ken. I think there will be a number of people happy to see this tutorial. I think I'm about to try Mexican Round Braid on a project soon. These videos are far from bad. Your video shooting has improved since the first set. Better lighting and contrast. When you have to take the project off the stitching pony (or don't want to use such a prop to force you to stay in the frame) try setting up a wire frame that will be just outside your camera frame. Then you will have a reference to help you stay in the frame. For a couple training videos I was involved in about 20 years ago, we decided not to spend a lot of time building a fancy script. Funds were in short supply. So we did 2 shoots. The first one, I walked through performing the 'operation' and describing what I was doing. Then we walked through again, using the first one as a script, got lighting and camera angles setup and did the second shoot (recording the plant background sounds, but no narration). Then they used a professional reader for voice over and cleaned up the video editing. You might be able to do something similar so you can narrate without having to struggle with the lacing at the same time. Describe what you are doing as you shoot, then go back and replace the sound with your new polished narration. You are picking up this video stuff quite quickly. Your previous experience with photography is probably a big help. Keep up the good work Ken. I much prefer seeing videos with narration that tells what a person is doing, rather than a loud or distracting music track. And for those of you that missed it before, here is a link to Ken's previous video Lacing Tips. CTG