Art

I don't know that prices established at the Weaver auction constitutes anything but the price, there, on that day. I have seen used-up machines (still currently available) go for more than the new list price. A lot of their customers aren't generally dealing with the global reality, just the reality of that particular community. Then again, I've seen really great machines and tack and leather go for nothing. Kind of a crap shoot there, it can go either way. Art

Fill in your profile so we know from where thou art. Art

Good luck with it. Art

Give her a leather purse, give her some class; Take her out tonight, get a little .......wine and get drunk. Art

Call them again and again and again and again and again and again until the darned thing works right. If mine had that problem right out of the box, I'd pull the shafts and check them for straightness. If it doesn't work and it's Chinese, there's a good chance a bad part as opposed to a bad adjustment is the culprit. If you are close to them, take it back. If not, then you are the mechanic. Art

Could be any number of things. Bent bottom roller or knife shaft. Knives not all the same diameter. Where did you get it? Art

Hi Mike, You might want to adjust the depth of cut, or actually the bottom roller height. There is a black lever to the right of the cutting throat that should be all the way up. If that is not the case then put it all the way up and try again. If it is all the way up, you can adjust the eccentrics (like cams) on this lever (under the feed table) to give you a little more lift on the bottom roller. Art

Jane, Now putting aside a mountain of animosity between Jerry and I, it looks like he might have his act together now, and has recovered from some health problems that really got him down in the past. He has a portable machine he calls the 335 B BT Transportable which looks like son of Pfaff 335 and if it comes from where I think it does, will be a very good machine. I like his transportable/luggable setup for this machine if you have a limited space. Good strong motors too, shouldn't need the speed reducer. Art

Bonded Leather (Re-Engineered?, that's a new one) is not classified in a manner approaching the quality or handling of Bonded Whiskey. A leather "slurry" is applied (bonded) to a polyester or some other backing. This can (and has) been classified as Genuine Leather. It is generally put-up in rolls. Most of the automotive "leather" interiors are of this type. In a lot of instances I have seen, they put a tough, heavy polyester topcoat on it and often texture this topcoat. It would be almost impossible to get any kind of finish to penetrate or adhere to that topcoat. Art

A nicer man you will never meet, RIP Chuck and condolences to his family. Art

First off, the Cobra Class 18 is a flat bed, at least the two that I have are. The Artisan is the better machine for bags, and works well for flat if you make a insert for it. Maybe Jerry can get you one. The BT version is interesting, but it ain't gonna be light, then again, it will work well from a desktop. Art

A crop is generally used to "poke" rather than "swing". Crops generally have a very stiff shaft as opposed to a quirt which is generally used with a little velocity. Art

September 15 - 18, in Columbus Ohio, at the Crown Plaza I think. You have to be a member of one of the member guilds to compete. The IILG is an internet guild if there isn't one near you. This is about as big as leather competitions get with top leather artists as judges. Art

For a riding crop, to be used with horses, I like something stiff, and the fiberglass works well. I use them primarily on horses that like to bite. When you are tightening up a saddle, sometimes the crafty buggers will try to bite you and a good still crop just stops them. You don't swing it at them, you just kind of poke them when they turn their head toward you, and you'll learn to do it right quick the first time one nips you. Now, for fetish apps, you can get get a couple of pieces out of a buggy whip, and they are pretty cheap from suppliers like Weaver and Bieler's. Don't know if you have a buggy crowd down your way, but that is where I would try first. Also they make different sizes of disciplinary canes that would work, and they are rather inexpensive (they can be outrageous too depending on where you buy). This topic is headed to the NSFW forum if it gets much more detailed. Art

No, I haven't used 207 in the bobbin, but it shouldn't make a lot of difference other than tensions. If you are worried, have one of the dealers set one up in his shop and sew off a couple of yards of the kind of leather you do the most and send it to you. You should buy the machine set-up to sew the leather and thread you use. Art

Yes 207 is ok, at least it is for me. I use 207 top and 138 bobbin but it shouldn't matter. Cobra says 207 os ok. Art

The Highlead made Class 18 (0618) are very good machines that run and run. If you need a medium flatbed unison feed (triple feed) machine, you won't go too wrong with the Class 18. You'll have to get with Bob on the CB0618. Good Guy. Art

My Language????, did I spell something incorrectly????. BTW, I have two 441 clones, and I clearly have as good a depth of knowledge of how the 441 works as you do. I was in this conversation before you were. You are trying to bully the wrong person. Art

Those machines use 111 feet, and smooth feet are available, but I would suspect they are provided on the leather version of the 227R. Art

The only thing I said was about altering the rate of the spring not about anything else which you incorrectly read into it. I have altered and made many springs in my day, I don't need to try it first, been there, done that and don't need suggestions from you. Art

The illusive Secondary Bevel, what and why is it? The secondary bevel is another bevel on an edge that is at a greater angle of incidence than the primary bevel. Huh? Lets say you sharpen a tool edge to 25°, which as we know for an opposing bevel edge (bevel on each side) will be 12 1/2 degrees per side. This will be a pretty sharp edge and will cut leather well; but it is a delicate edge and will require a lot of care, stropping primarily, to maintain it, still not too much of a problem for leatherworking knives, but it will eventually wear out, no amount of stropping will bring it back to bleeding sharp because the edge isn't there anymore. This is the same for any edge, eventually it goes, and you have to put a new edge on the tool. For the same thickness of blade, the "ramp" from the body of the blade to the edge will be longer the less the angle if incidence; 25° has longer ramp than 30°. We can take the dull 25° edge and change the angle of incidence to 30° with very little removal of metal and still have a sharp edge that will have more metal behind it. Of course, if you keep adding 5° every time you sharpen, you will eventually approach the geometry of a cold chisel (not terribly sharp, but tough as nails). So what we do is use that 30° bevel (15° per side) and "ride" it back with subsequent sharpenings. You will have to remove a little more metal with each sharpening as you "ride" the edge back, the heel of your bevel will increase each time you sharpen the secondary, but a whole lot less than going back to the primary. Eventually it takes as much or more time to sharpen the secondary bevel as it would to just go back and sharpen the primary, or the secondary becomes in effect the primary (obliterating the original primary), and at this point you can add another (the "new" secondary) bevel at a higher angle, or drop back and sharpen at the original primary angle. The nice thing about the secondary bevel, is that oftimes it requires using only a fine and then extra-fine stones to attain the edge because most of the work has been done when the primary was established. This technique is used quite a bit when sharpening chisels and other working tools that may be sharpened a couple of times a day. They often are micro-beveled at a degree or two increase over the primary and another degree or two over the last secondary when a new edge is necessary. Other knives, especially head knives and other weird profiles are difficult to sharpen this way, but it can be done, although the increase of angle between the primary and secondary may have to be somewhat greater when hand sharpening. I don't use the primary/secondary system on head knives. I sharpen to a convex (teardrop) edge using a slack belt (although there isn't a lot of slack) and finish with leather or a sewn buff and .50 micron compound in the strop or the buff. Art

I am referring to a spring in torsion or compression; and I stand by my statement. When you add a spring rubber to a spring, it "deadens" one of the coils and increases the spring rate which makes for a "firmer" ride. When you compress a spring with a screw, as the coils bind against each other, coils are effectively "removed" as one collapses against the next, and the spring rate increases. Art

Not sure how it works in the Southern Hemisphere, but up here, if you cut a coil off, you increase the rate, and if you add a coil you decrease the rate. Is that what you are trying to accomplish? Art

Not sure about the pliers, but the knife is a well used rand or welt knife. Art

I have two Class 18 machines. I would gladly trade one of them for a CowBoy 227R cylinder arm machine. I would have to keep one 18 as the wife loves it, whereas I prefer the cylinder arm. Art