Art

Hi Wiz, There is a lot of good info in here, but perhaps you would want to consolidate that into a new topic which we could pin and lock down right away. There is so much back and forth in here that it might be just a little too much for someone to find the info they need so they just start asking questions. Let me know, Art

Much of what is written about leatherworking, especially for the hobbiest and even the entry professionals came out of the original Tandy. They, using Al and many others, produced printed information to keep leatherworking alive (and hence Tandy Corp.) I have much of it, acquired when Tandy was closing stores. It is great to teach scouts about leather, although it is much harder to get them to read nowadays, they want to watch the video, which TLF is trying to provide. If you want to throw away all those AS books, give them instead to your local Boy Scout Troop, or the Girl Scouts, both fine organizations that will put them to good use. Art

Hi Wiz, You're the OP, do you want me to close it? Art

On big Delrin stamps, I find it easier to put them in the arbor press. I use a 3 ton press so it is easy to get the stamp under the press. I haven't tried it on the clicker press, but if I was going to do a lot of them, I would shorten the stamp to a little less than my clicker dies so I wouldn't have to keep resetting the height or stroke. For small Delrin stamps, you don't have to do any of that, they work just fine as they are. I use the press on my steel maker stamps too as they work better that way. Art

Prime is usually the compound which can have other petroleum oils in it or anything really. Pure neatsfoot oil is just that, neatsfoot oil with nothing in it. Get the Pure. Art

The Cobra 17 does not have needle feed but does have walking feet. If you are thinking of a 206rb, then get the Cobra 18, it does have needle feed in addition to a servo motor and speed reducer. You need to have the smooth feet and slow speed, so don't buy an out of the box 206RB5 because they come with clutch motors and no speed reduction. Buy from a dealer on LW and you get a machine set up to sew leather. Art

You really can't say ouchmyfinger till you run one thru a stitcher. Short answer 138 bonded nylon or poly. Eddington for a little looser wound look and Coats for tight wound. American and Efrid is also good if it is still made here and not in China. The real answer here is whatever is aesthetically pleasing to you and your customer. I know guys that have never had anything but a patcher that runs 69 Black. And he ain't gonna change, and does everything with it. I have never seen anything of his come apart either. For a Western look, try larger threads like 277 or 346, where the threadwork is part of the package and look of the item. Every piece of leatherwork is in some ways artwork, and the choice of thread has to fit the look and function of the item. Dress belts, 69 to match the item, gunbelts 346 white/straw/sand/deer to look like it can do the job and then do it again. Colors if important are a contributing factor. In sizes over 138, Black, Brown, White, and White/OffWhite/Sand are fairly easy to find, Red occasionally. More colors in 138 and 92, and 69/46/33 have about anything you might want. Poly generally has more color availability than Nylon. Don't spend a lot on thread all at once, just get what you will use to start and go from there. Many of us have thread gardens we will never use. Some companies like the Thread Exchange will have smaller spools so you can keep the inventory down, used to be you could only find 1lb spools, now a 1/4 lb is not uncommon. Art

Brass hammer will flake occasionally. Rawhide inserts for the split head, although for any serious tooling, it will be tiring. Art

RJF Leather should have that for you as will Luke at Sheridan Leather Outfitters and Kevin at Springfield Leather. Call them and ask, the best way (and sometimes the only way) is by phone. A double shoulder is about 13 sq. ft. or there abouts. If they start asking questions, they are just trying to figure out what you need, this is normal and I would be suprised if they didn't ask. After a while that will get old, but to start it is really helpful. If they ask me (they seldom do), I tell them I am making a sailboat out of it or doing a locomotive interior, that shuts them up. Art

For those that do a lot of template work, contact Jeff Mosby at Grey Ghost Graphics. http://www.greyghostgraphics.com/ In addition to templates, he makes maker stamps or for that matter any stamps. He will also make you tap-offs and other stuff. Jeff is a premier guitar strap maker and does some really sought-after guitar neck inlay work. He stocks some templates for guitar straps, a complete set that contains everything, with instructions. Good guy and great artist. Art

Hi Patti, The Adler is a good machine, if in good condition the price is ok, you will have to swap out a few parts to make it sew leather well. I don't know if you can get a roller foot for it, but it would be nice for sewing up to edges. The roller foot is not really an option for the 206 either. They are good machines, what we call medium duty. A lot of shoe and bootmakers I know use the old Singer 31-15 or 31-20. Equipped with a roller presser. It handles from 69 thread and down easily and will sew everything but side seams on boots (although I know folks that do it). A Singer 110w can also be used, but I would have a 31 also (fixed gears for feed in the 110w). Another choice could be the Singer 236 post machine, or a Pfaff 491. If you are more comfortable with new machines (I recommend you get a new machine if you are new to industrial machines), The Cobra 5550BB is very similar to the Singer 31. Techsew and Cowboy probably make something similar or even identical, I just don't know their numbers. Best thing to do is to call Steve, Bob, or Ronnie and have a talk, their phone numbers are on the banner ads at the top of the page. These machines are around the $1200 mark delivered. It never hurts to have a lifeline (brick and mortar dealer) with your first machine. Art

http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/ Art

He is probably using Vergez Blanchard Pricking Irons. Steven Siegel may have some left, call him at 805.570.5251 or 336.293.7624. They go by spi and number of teeth. Art

If you want good tools, the first stop should be a used tool seller. There are two that I trust: Bruce Johnson and Vandy (for Bob) Douglas Your quest for something should start with an email or a phone call. Shears are probably one of the things you should buy new. CS Osborne (CSO) shears are very good and comparable if not a little better than Gingher. I have both and use them interchangeably. The Weaver Catalog has useful tools, the first two shears are the ones I am referencing. Contact Kevin at Springfield Leather for these or any CSO tools. Kevin can be a wealth of information for a beginner and also sells cut leather (you don't have to buy a whole side). When starting out, stay away from kits of tools, the quality is generally lower than buying signally. Buy only the tools you need to accomplish the project, when you start another project, buy the tools to fill in what you need. Always get advice here or from Vandy, Bruce, or Kevin, we will send you to other makers if needed. Art

To cut in the sole, use an American Channel tool. You can get one of these from Bruce Johnson. They run about $65 or so. Then cut the edge down with a French Edger with a little grinder work to make the toe of the edger ride in the channel. A tool was made for this, but they appear infrequently. If you are not a toolmaker, you might want to have Ron's Tools make one for you. Art

Why not just order a $10 box of Blau Ring pegs from Panhandle or Southern. Get short ones if you are doing soles and longer (not much) if you are doing heels, or at that price, one of each. Art

Not flip flops, but Jordan made some Jesu Christe sandals that were pretty cool. Art

Hi Andrew, The needle feed moves the material well and the roller keeps it from flagging. On veg tan you have to use a smoother wheel or back off the pressure. Remember, the 491 is a light to medium weight machine and should not be asked to muscle around heavy leathers. Art

Hi Andrew, The roller feed gives a better view of the stitch line. The 491 has a gear (as opposed to belt) driven roller on both the top and bottom (some have only an undriven roller on top and feed dogs on bottom). You can stitch VERY close to the edge with the roller setup. This is really important with shoes and boots. The needle enters the work a hairs width away from the roller. There is a little drawback in that it takes some sewing practice (as with most machines) to control this system. Art

Hi Curtis, The 491 is a good machine (needle feed, driven roller feed top and bottom) for as much as 10-12oz combined, but it is comfortable with 8oz all day. I have used 138/138 occasionally in mine, but for most purposes it is loaded with 69 and even down to 33. You can push most Pfaff machines thread size wise so 207 might be possible, but I just have never needed it. Leather sheaths can go anywhere from 8oz thick to 16oz (more common) and often to way more than that; so the 491 is probably not a good choice for sheaths. If you can get a working 491 for a song then do it as they are right handy for many things, especially repairs on handbags. For sheaths, I would recommend a 441 or other large stitcher. You can tune it for the type of work you sew and it can do really big stuff when you need it. Art

It is labeled GA2688-1. Artisan sold it as the 4000P, I have one of each, they are identical. I have the 2688 set up with blanket feed (triple feed and big presser feet. Art

Highlead makes a big heavier 441 for production work. I use one for blankets. It has a clutch motor and runs about 900spm. A regular 441 gets a little bouncy above 500-600spm. The big Highlead scares the women and children so I run it in a separate space, I had an schizophrenic shepherd that would run to our bedroom and hide under the bed when I ran it. It runs smooth though, doesn't jump like the 441 did. Art

You can get a voltage converter here. I have a 1000w of the same brand and you can run practically anything on it except a heater, stove, or kitchen appliance. They make much bigger ones too. Art

Don't know for sure, no spec on thread size. The Mando unit is 0-20V output the Janik unit is 0-12V. Thanks for the pdf, Art

Then a standard voltage doubler would do the trick. Just watch the power rating is enough, some of them are meant for little motors and the like, but 190W isn't a lot however, I would double that at least. You can make one pretty easily and the parts are available at most electronic shops. Art