Art

If you could come up with a really good set of English Saddle Making and Repair Videos in high definition, they would sell easily. I wish you good luck with it. Art

Verlane showed me that years ago, haven't used a strap end punch since. Round knife has to be bleeding sharp for that method to work well. Art

Jim, Bob Beard no longer makes his Mauls. It was just more trouble for him than it was worth. However, Ed LeBarre the Bear Man makes a Maul using the same head material that Bob used. Like they say, "Once you try Black, you'll never go back". The Bear Man mauls are the closest thing you will find to the solid whack or tap you get from one of Bob's "Black Beauties". Art

I don't know if you ride, but air circulates all the time, and would cause evaporation even in a humid environment. I use Pecard's on seats which get sweat wet to some degree, but here again, if riding, air will circulate, and the Pecard's protects to a great degree. I don't put Pecard's on the flesh side, if the seat does get really wet, I want to let the water out, not keep it in. The products I recommended let the leather breathe, the lacquers don't. Art

People nowadays can be allergic to damned near anything (including themselves, aka autoimmune). It is just going to happen. Sometimes it IS leather, sometimes vinyl, sometimes latex, it just could be anything. The best thing to do is not worry about it, but try everything yourself to see if something might be a problem for more than a small percentage of the population. Almost all of our items touch the body, and most times in stressful circumstances. A lot of our stuff is doubled and stitched with a chrome and sometimes veg tanned lining, might even be kangaroo, or goat, or calf. Our blindfolds are up around sensitive areas of the face and eyes, and are often 2 or 3 oz material in several configurations included padded doubled and stitched. We don't use any finish on the inside and maybe Pecard's or Montana Pitchblend on the outside. If really concerned, try something and wear it yourself to see the effect. The three products I would try would be Bag-Kote, Pecard's, and Montana Pitchblend. These are the ones I have experience with and personally don't have any reactions to. You could go the route of sealing the leather with one of the lacquer type finishes, Saddle Lac, Wyo Sheen, and others can accomplish that. A lot of things are just plain experimentation. Let us know how it goes. Art

Ohio Travel Bag Catalog We call them OTB for short. Art

I use round, the tapered ones you use your elbow a little lower, but that's just not me. Most stamping and figure carving 16 to 18 oz, Barry King or Bear Man, on some of Bob Beard's 0 and 1 bevelers 10 or 12 oz, Ed LeBarre (Bear Man) and for basketweave and larger stamps I start at 22 oz or so and go to 28 oz Bear Man. For makers marks and punching holes as other stuff I use a 96 oz Barry King. For General Striking I also like the John Bianchi designed Maul Master 22 oz which has a lightly padded handle and is comfortable for long sessions at that weight. All my Mauls are straight sided. I have way more than I need (I didn't mention five or six others). I like the striking surface on the Bear Man Mauls, it more closely resembles a Bob Beard Maul which is really just a beautiful thumpin' stick. Art

First a steel hammer like a Ball-Pien will mushroom your tools. With Mauls (the round ones), they tend to be easier to get a solid hit with and easier to retract and get ready for the next hit. With Mallets, (maul that looks like hammer) it sometimes difficult to get a good hit. If you are a little less than perpendicular to the tool, the mallet can slide and not deliver the required hit. You are generally watching the head (business end) of the tool and not where the mallet or maul will hit like they teach in shop. Some people love mallets, just not me. Art

Ok, I could go through the reasons I don't do steel toe caps other than they are hard to come by (or buy). You could do a carbon fiber or other strong material for the toe box. The problem is determining the degree of protection the customer expects which may be way more than you can provide without making a pair of diving boots. Art

Thread ages. This is especially noticeable when the machine sets unused for a week or so; all of a sudden a perfectly running (last time) machine starts with tension problems. Usually if I have thread that is going to sit for awhile, I will spray it with a silicone lube, although it is more economical in 5 gallon wine jugs from Clearco. Alternately, I just run off or pull off a layer of thread. Changes to tension should never have to be more than just a little. If you need to make serious changes to your tension all the time, check the condition of the thread and the thread path for dry, UV affected thread, or something in the thread path like burrs etc. Going through all the holes in the thread path does seriously affect the tension just like adding tension; more so with dryer thread, so much so that you may not be able to have enough bobbin tension to overcome it. Skip holes (not the one in the needle) and you decrease top tension. Art

It is top and bottom feed or used to be, you can see the adjustment for the bottom feed dangling from the left side. The Chinese clones aren't bad at all, admittedly they take some setup, but once you get that done, they pretty much run on their own. Bell knife, regular non-clutch motor; feeds, servo motor. Factories run these things till the wheels fall off....literally, like the one in your link. Check with Bob at Toledo Industrial, he might have something or know where you can find it. Alternatively, Dan Naegle at Campbell Randall for a refurbed Fortuna that will be as good as the day it defected from Germany. Art

It appears to be machine stitched, most likely polyester; I say that because it is exposed to light and that would be the logical choice. Art

If the 1445 is the same machine I think it is, it is a good 1/2" lift machine, much like the 1245. There are not many points to oil on a Pfaff, most of the shafts have needle bearings and don't need lubrication other than the grease that's in there. The bobbin race can use a little oil every 4 hours, and if it is a pumper, take a piece of paper and see if the pump is sufficient at your operating speeds. Unless I see oil dripping off of the bobbin race, I oil it anyway as I don't do much sewing at the speed of light . Like Brylcreem, "a little dab will do ya". On vertical bobbin shaft machines (that's machines with "drop in" or "horizontal" bobbins), check that there is a little grease on the gears that transition the bobbin shaft from horizontal to vertical. Look in the head (things over the needle) to see if anything needs oiling, but there's probably needle bearings in there too. Sometime the external shafts need oil (like for the needle feed) but there again needle bearings may be in use. Art

Bravo, For years I used C.S. Osborne which are just fine, and before that Whatever Tandy sold (the old tandy you could get good stuff at), which was probably CSO. Tandy always had the size 000 that you could use thread to tie up the Queen Mary with. I started with the JJ needles and they are pretty good, as good or better than CSO. If you get a pack of 2s then 0s and then 4s, you will cover all your bases. I still use CSO Glovers (curved) needles as they are the only ones I have found that I like. Everyone knows I am a sewing machine kind of guy, but when doing bags and other things that are difficult, it is so much easier sometimes to just grab an awl and a needle and thread and do the work in some hard to get at place. So don't convert over to machine until you can handsew pretty well. Art

Somehow, it ended up in Marketplace → Items For Sale → Leather and Lace

I think you are missing the point. Ron at Raphael will be the best bang for your buck, or Looney. It is not the Techsew, it is how Ron sets up the Techsew and how close he is if you have to make a road trip (seldom required with any of these machines). This is pretty much a no brainer. Art

I use Barbour's thread in my Campbell machine and find it works quite well for hand sewing. I use left hand only because it works in the Campbell machines, I have right twist 8 cord for use in the two Landis 12s (one black thread, one white). Twist doesn't matter for hand sewing. The linen thread also takes dye well, the polyester not so much, hence all the colors. Rocky Mountain carries Ritza Polyester Thread in small quantities which are not a good deal in the long run, but nonetheless reasonably priced in 25 meter lengths. Allows you to use many colors without going to the bank for a loan. They also carry a waxed linen thread that I have not tried, Waxed linen does not take dye well either. Rocky Mountain has John James Harness Needles, and Campbell has C.S. Osborne Harness Needles, both are quite good and I use whichever I have. Art

It can be a killer machine if you try and lift it. Art

How much shipped to the US Zipcode 20640? Art

That is a later model ASE No. 9, right before it became the "Classic". Great jump foot harness machine. It rightfully lives in a stable. Art

Lets face it, probably the best machines for medium duty leatherwork were the Pfaff 145, 545, 645, and the 1245. They are very well made, with roller or needle bearings on main shafts and hook shafts (and a lot of other places too). They do need a little grease on the gears where the hookshaft turns to vertical and a little oil on the hook and a few other places. There is a company in Hong Kong that makes feet for them at reasonable prices. There are a lot of 145s out there with the paint worn off and dings and scrapes still doing yeoman's work in factories and shops all over. Art

A lot of folks on here use the hydraulic shop press like this one from Texas Custom Dies. Theirs is a fine press if a little pricey. You could have one of these for about the same price. Of course, a lot of them get the Harbor Freight version, which with a little modification will do a fine job. The bottle jacks are a little slow, but they can be converted to air drive versions. Art

If you can pick it up and save the shipping, that's a walletful. Good Luck. Art

Ok, This Class 20 appears to be a newer design of the Class 18 or Highlead GC20618-1, maybe an XB variant that can run needles up to #25, maybe not, I just don't have experience with it. From the crap photos on the SLC website, Highlead may be getting this new machine from a manufacturer who is a Pfaff cloner. Note the (really bad photos) flat (drop in style) bobbin to the right of the needle and of course the access panel for same (I could be really off course here the photos are so bad). Also the traditional Pfaff pin tray (I call it a cup holder) in the center of the deck between the needle and the riser. I do know one company who builds Pfaff clones for Highlead (and others) and their machines are smoking hot replicas of the corresponding Pfaff. They are building stuff just about as good as Pfaff did, really good. That being said, I have not got my hands on one of these machines, and won't give it my seal of approval until I do. Your dilemma, will it work? Yes probably. Remember that the Class 18, Consew 206RB5, and a plethora of others, if set-up right will sew 3/8 inch, that's 24oz, and I can attest that the Class 18 can handle it. Set up right, so can a 206 and a whole host of other upholstery machines, and I know trimmers and boat canvas shops that run them at 2000 spm all day long (not sewing 24oz, but many many layers of sunbrella). A little bit of oil and they will last decades. Do you need to sew 32 oz? If so, then you really need a bigger machine as the above machines really aren't made for it, and few are setup for the higher presser foot lift. Is the Class 20 son of Pfaff 1245? Only someone who has worked with one can tell. I have two of the "old model" Highlead/Artisan/Cobra and until I need another, I don't plan on replacing them with the newer model. So put some questions to the Cobra guys, the Cobra 20 may be a good buy. Art

The only Cobra with a 20 in it is the AK-20 strap cutter. What you seem to be describing is a Cobra Class 18 machine. This machine should be based on the Highlead GC 0618-1SC machine. Make sure this is the base machine when ordering, and accept no others. I have two of these machines which work flawlessly. It would be nice if they did a Class 20 on the Highlead GC2268 which is the cylinder arm version of the 618, but haven't seen it yet. No problem though, Cowboy makes the 227R which fills that bill quite nicely. Art