Art

Hi Mike, Just because the bobbin thread is white, doesn't mean the bobbin/shuttle area is clean. The top thread has to make a trip around the whole shuttle to lock the stitch. There is also the trip the top takes through the leather putting some serious rubbing action on the thread, particularly the top. That being said, I ran some 346 through the No.9 (top and bottom) and didn't have the problem, however I was lubing the top thread. Is it possible to switch to another spool, preferably Coats or Linhandl. Run a line of stitching on a different leather also, with all the contact with the leather, the top could be picking something up from the leather itself. The top has a lot more opportunity to pick something up from the leather than the bobbin which basically is just touching the leather once when it is pulled up, the top goes through the leather twice. If your No.9 is clean, I wouldn't expect your problem is there, it is either the thread or the leather. Art

Hi Kate, Go to a bike shop, if I remember correctly, the 1mm pitch was used on 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 15mm diameters for darned everything on the bike. Anyway, they may have a tap and die set with those sizes, and you can use the dies as a screw check device to ascertain the actual size. Crazy thing was, all the Italian stuff was SAE. Japanese and Chinese stuff was always metric. Art

Bob actually has his forklift follow him around, his name is Bob Jr. I have one of those too, his name is Paul, who I have seen pick up a 441, on a stand with motor, but he grunts when he picks up one of those strap splitters. Those days are gone for me. Art

Hi Reuben, OTB has some 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8" buckles on page 166 of the P210 hardware catalog. http://www.ohiotravelbag.com/FlipBook/hardware%20catalog%20p210/index.html?pageNumber=155

You need a little course in getting it running from your dealer. Most of them can help you get started over the phone in a few minutes. The GA5 is just a regular sewing cylinder arm machine on steroids, nothing special, even the local sewing shop can help. I assume you are talking about the pedals not the presser feet? Press the pedal to sew (make the motor go) press the other one to lift the presser foot. You don't press them at the same time, or there will be a mess. Art

The days of the 7 class have all but gone. It used to be a first class leather machine in the '80s and into the '90s, but has been all but replaced by the 441. I have seen museum condition 7s go (or actually not go) for $1200. I have seen one, not museum quality but with reverse and running really well with motor and table, go for $800. As a collector (I am actually more into featherweights now) I would give $100 apiece for those heads, realizing I would have a pile of work ahead of me (I'd maybe go $300 for the pair and then maybe I wouldn't). As a user looking for a leather machine, I would simply pass. There is just a lot better out there especially in the feed category, multiple layers of anything can be a problem, and you can do better. Art

Best way to finish the pictured holster. 1. Take it apart. 2. Save the nuts screws and washers 3. Save the scabbard 4. Use the leather as a pattern, or make your own, more like a CB 5. Order a pair of J-Hooks from Crossbreed, I think they are $5 6. Get a piece of horsehide from Springfield Leather (it is relatively cheap) 7. Double and stitch a new back with the nuts on the inside. 8. You don't need to dye it, the horsehide will have a nice patina over a little time 9. While you're at it, make a nice Horsehide scabbard instead of that plastic stuff 10. Just a coat of Bag-Kote or Tan-Kote will finish it, after that dries Leather Balm with Atom wax to shine it up. 11. If you get some t-nuts, screws, and washers, you can put the old one back together and sell it to one of your buddies and you will have a custom holster that YOU made. But then you'll be expected to make them for your friends. If you make your own leather scabbards, you can wet form them to any gun. Art

Wickett and Craig. They also run double backs, you might have to ask for them. Contact Matt, Linda, or Glenn. They have 15-17oz limited. Harness, Bridle, Skirting, Tooling, Black, Brown, Russet, Tan, Burgundy. No limit, one or a pallet. All veg tan. Hermann Oak. Ten Hide minimum, some finishing, skirting very firm in my opinion, W&C makes an Oak Skirting that is also firm, not quite HO firm. All veg tan. Horween. Usually a commercial supplier. Only Shell Cordovan tanner. Veg and chrome tanning. That's it for US tanners. Art

Hi Chris, There are some drawers in my toolboxes that I can look in and see way over $1500 in tools. Don't get the idea to spend your $1500 all at one time. Buy your tools as you need them, figure what tools you need for a project and buy just those. You will spend your $1500 over time, and won't buy stuff you don't need. Go to a show or two and try stuff like you were buying the only tool you will ever have. Don't look at price till you have made your decision. Go to the shops of other makers and look at their tools and ask to try them or better yet ask them to show you how to use them. Tell them what you are doing, they will help. Consider buying very good used tools, and the only person to get them from is Bob Douglas. The only set you should consider is stamping tools, and the only set is the one Lonnie sells at Gomph-Hackbarth (not related to Gomph or Hackbarth) but still good tools and prone to a little rusting (get them hot blued by a good gunsmith). Knives; Old School Rose, Gomph, Either older Osborne, a few others (ask Bob Douglas for advice) New School Dewey Peters, Bill Buchman (deceased), Bob Dosier, others Edgers; Old School Honest to God, don't bother or Bob Douglas, they just get a lot of use. New School Bob Douglas, Barry King, Ron Edmonds, Jeremiah Watt, Wayne Jueschke Punches; Old School Gomph, Osborne, Buy from Bob Douglas, it is real easy to mess these up and Bob won't sell you something unsharpenable New School Weaver, C.S. Osborne (CSO tools are not delivered bleeding sharp you are expected to take care of that yourself) Get a Weaver catalog, most of the stuff in there is pretty good, ask here if you have questions. Buy American, let the Euro folks use makers on the other side of the pond, the English (Dixon) and French (Blanchard) are fine toolmakers though. The tools you will use for saddlemaking will of necessity be bigger than those for general projects, buy those as needed also. Art

If I had to run one all day, I might get a line finisher, but for what I do the buffer works fine. Art

Hi Captain, I use a Baldor 3/4 horse 3600 rpm buffer turning a 10" loose muslin buff. This is way more buffer than I needed for this job, but it is what I had laying around and could conscript. I keep a sewn muslin wheel on the other side for doing tools after sharpening. If you could get an 1800 rpm 1/2 hp it would do a good job also, you could use smaller less expensive wheels too. You can by a 1hp 1725rpm buffer at Grizzly for $300 and it uses 110v instead of 230v like mine. Art

I've been using Pecard's for years without any difficulty. The petroleum distillates in Pecard's are food grade, they can be ingested. While I wouldn't use it on crackers, it works fine on leather about once every two to three years, if then. I have also been using Montana Pitchblend and don't know which I like better. As far as questioning David Morgan about anything braiding related, I wouldn't presume to even go there. Art

Leighton's up in Alberta might, or they can make what you need. Campbell also has the capacity to make parts. Art

I've seen 441s set up to sew 1 1/4 inch and can do a little over an inch on the No.9. Any of the big frame machines can go to or a little over an inch with minor modifications. Art

How close are you to: Curwensville, Pa -- Wickett and Craig St Louis, Mo -- Hermann Oak Chicago, Il -- Horween. Those are the only vegetable tanners I know in the US. There may be some custom shops and vegetable re-tanners, but from crust to finished product, there are only three left. Horween also does chrome tanning. Art

Mt No.9 probably would, it's like Mikey, it will do anything. On anything else, try before you buy. Art

Hi Jim, You can use 6 or 7 although I have seen as high as 10. You have to run a few lines at different spacing to see what you want, what looks good to one person may not to the next. Art

Hi Ray, This is a little low tech. Hang another spool on the machine and thread it to the bobbin winder, you can even wind while you sew. OR you can get one of the winders they hang on machines that don't have winders (they attach to the table and run off of the belt), they cost around $10. Art

It has a clutch motor and might sew a little fast for you. You can always handwheel it for the close stuff. It has a tad of surface rust, make sure it is tight, but for $300, you won't go too wrong. One of Bob Kovar's SewPro gear reduction servo motors would slow it down to a crawl if necessary. Try it the way it is first. Art

Chris, If in good shape, it is still not a bad machine for leatherwork, just forget saddles and holsters. $300 is a reasonable good price with stand and motor although a servo motor will do a better job than a clutch. If it is head only, forget about it. Great bag machine, and you can back tack different ways without reverse. Art

Take it to Bob Kovar in Toledo, he or his son (Little Bob) can fix it, and he probably has every needle ever made. You can contact him here on LW, his handle is sewmun. Art

For digital press and some editing operations, the MAC is better. For editing and composing pictures, video, and music the MAC is still a little ahead, but not much, Adobe has pretty much leveled that playing field. Premier works either way. There are a thousand things you can plug into a MAC, there are a million things you can plug into a PC. The quad core PCs are screaming fast, the Quad core MACs just are not as hot. Put them side by side, I've done it. My daughter loves her MACs, all 3 or 4 of them. Son, Wife and I love our PCs, and we're the ones in the IT business. Dollars, Dollars, Dollars, MACs are much more expensive. Look at all the shows on TV and the characters are using MACs; Apple pays those shows for that, excuse me, MAC users pay those shows for that (indirectly). I've heard all the screaming about open source, blah blah, but it is open hardware technology on the PC side that has driven the IT explosion of the last 25 years, and THAT is PC, not MAC. Still, different strokes for different folks. Logically it may be PC, emotionally it may be MAC. I don't care what you buy, put a virus checker on it, McAfee, Norton, or Trend, they all work and usually your broadband provider provides one of them for free. Sure, they slow down the box, just buy a faster box. Art

Ed Santoro (esantoro) is the primo bagmaker here, his website is: http://www.waldenbags.com/ I am pretty sure the saddleback bags are Mexican so you can expect the leather is too. Ed will know for sure. Art

I might be wrong here, but the Tandy product was a water based sealer, acrylic I think. I don't think it was successful for them and has been discontinued. Fiebing may still be making it and selling it (obviously without the Tandy Logo). Use it on a practice piece, and for God's sake don't fall in love with it, you might never see it available again. I have no idea if it was/is the same product as Drake's X1. Drake's had a following amongst the old timers, but that market has died-off (pun intended). Art

Hi Kate, Stencil ink is a specialty ink or paint they use to stencil marks on steel drums and iron castings. The real stuff is horrendously expensive, as much as $150 a gallon. They also put it up in pints for around $35. When ordering leather, you have to specify "struck all the way through". It needs to spend extra time in the drum. Holster leather is usually done this way, bridle or harness generally not. There are pros and cons to that extra drum time. So you have to be specific with the Tanner. There are only 3 left in the US, Horween, Hermann Oak, and Wickett and Craig. Of those, the only ones that will listen to you are Wickett and Craig. Call Matt Bressler at 814-236-2220 and tell him exactly what you need; and while you're at it, ask him about the dyes, he has people there that have forgotten more about them than most of us know. Jeffries uses Sedgwick bridle backs in a lot of their operations, and they dye the edges rather successfully I'd say. Since Siegel sells Sedgwick in the US, see if Steve can find out what they use. Art