Art

Hi Roy, It really helps if you fill out info on yourself, like where you are located. No use sending you to Texas if you are in Kalamazoo, cause Bob in Ohio is a lot closer. Unless you are experienced with sewing machines, I recommend you go to a dealer, one who specializes in the leather trade, as there are mods that need to be made for working with almost all leather. Where are you? Art

Bob has them. Art

Hi Paul, Back in the early '90s, Seagate came out with the 74MB SCSI drive. I think it cost around $800 then. We thought it was huge and we all wondered what would we ever do with all that disk space. If I put every piece of software I had on that drive, I still couldn't fill it up. Needless to say, I would have a hard time just getting the operating system on it today. 1TB is a good match today, but if you really have a lot of stuff, 2 TB might not be a stretch. The WD MyBook series of drives fills the boat for an external data store. The consumer products (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) aren't blazingly fast running through a USB pipe, but then it IS a warehouse, where you store things, not work on them constantly. Western Digital makes other products in that lineup with Firewire and eSata capability for faster access. I think 1TB goes at around $105-$140 and 2TB under $200. I wouldn't even bother with the 500GB. I have a coupe of these (WDs) and a Maxtor OneTouch (Seagate) on my home computers and haven't had any problems with any of them. Art

This is a great deal, and available from most of the vendors out there, sewing machine, leather, findings. Most of the time you are not a burden to good vendors. Sure they want you to buy, but honestly, they are lonely and have nothing better to do during the day than to talk to you, even about the weather. That may be a stretch, but most of the vendors you see on leatherworker will take the time with you and are happy to do it. They love sewing machines and leather and most of all people. So give Bob, Steve, Ed, Ryan, Connie, Kevin, Ron, Eric, or any of the others too numerous to mention a call and put a little sunshine in their lives; these are lonely, lonely men who need some company or they might start running off the path best traveled. Truthfully, some of them have been running off the path for some time and need your help getting back on. Please tell them I sent you, I'm sure they will thank me later. Art

Hi Patrice, A 3 or 4 ton Arbor press (ratcheting one is better but more expensive). As this is a standard machine shop type of thing, used ones are readily available and the Chinese ones are ok too. The ones that use a hydraulic bottle jack also work and are maybe even cheaper for the load rating. Art

Hi Barra, The side stitches are the failure point on any of the Ws. I've seen Ws done all in zigzag, some straight for the Ws and zz for the edges. This is all for sail work where they use all dacron which doesn't stretch at all. For nylon, you can do it any old way, there is plenty of stretch although I still like the zz for luffs, leeches, and feet (on mains), but luffs and feet primarily; wire halyards and outhauls can put a lot of pressure there especially when they have a winch attached. If you straight stitch in the direction of the tension, the stitches can pop quite easily. Art

Hi Regis, Unless it is a serger or some wierdo thing, it is doing a 301. Art

Hi Regis, The specs for Stitches and Stitching are in ASTM D6193-97, it is everything you did or didn't want to know about the subject. This publication is invaluable when writing a specification or order for garment work or leatherwork (although to a more limited degree, like that? more limited -- love my oxys). There is a free copy on the web here. It is a pretty big document and takes a minute or two to download on my high speed lines, just wait for it. Art

Hi Barra, I think he is referring to the fruit salad of numbers and letters that Pfaff put after the model number to denote which optional equipment the machine had installed. Here is the current brochure for the new model 1245, the numbers are close to the old models. Art Pfaff1245brochure.pdf Pfaff1245brochure.pdf

Ain't it Grand! Now who carries it? Art

Hi OE, Welcome aboard. If you got a red one it is probably a Classic. The No.9 was an ASE machine and was black. The Classic has a few upgrades to the No.9 like the ability to use two different needle systems (screw placement). I have a No.9 if you have questions, but the video pretty much says it all. The Classic is one of the best threaded needle harness machines out there, and you got one helluva deal at $1500. It can be easily motorized for around $250 (servo and speed reducer), but even hand cranking, it is way better than a Boss, and faster. Everything is pretty much out front and easy to fix. They like fresh needles when things start acting funny, and get new thread or strip off the first 100 feet or so of that 10 year old stuff. Art

I don't think you will be happy with the Artisan 3000 or the Cobra and Cowboy versions of the short arm 441. With your list of questions you will be sewing what most of us consider medium weight material. The only reason for going to a bigger machine is to get the ability to handle larger needles and thread, 277 and 346 in particular. Some of the medium weight machines will handle 207 quite well, some will only go as high as 138. The best machine for you, given what you have written is the 618-1SC made by Huigong No.3 in Shanghai, this machine is badged Highlead. Artisan and Cobra both sell this machine under their own badges, but they are (the last time I looked) Huigong machines. The Cowboy 618 is made by New Century (can't remember it's Chinese name) and the ones I have seen are pretty good. Some other manufacturers make this design and one of them I have seen is bloody awful. Sometimes you see them on eBay, be careful here. The 618 is not designed to sew leather so the dealers (Artisan, Cobra, Cowboy) have to do some work on them and replace some parts to make them work well for leather. The 618 is a triple feed machine and sews multiple layers well and goes up and downhill easily. It is a flatbed machine which does intricate work better than a cylinder bed. The 618 uses the 111 foot system and you can buy feet to do darned near anything for this machine, they're not that expensive either. Make sure your machine has a servo motor and a speed reducer, a must for leatherwork. Intricate and close work requires a roller foot machine which the 618 is not, however by going slow you can do some acceptable close work with it. There is also the 1245 Pfaff and a clone of it. The clone is sold by Ferdco and is a well made machine with a little more thickness capacity. It uses Pfaff feet, and Pfaff parts can be a new level of pain threshold for Pfaff users, both in availability and price. Then there is the Adler 867, which will do everything the 618 or the 1245 will do and will cost as much as both of them together, nice machine though. Weaver sells the Adler line. I hope this helps in your research. Art

You can't make that deal more than once.....Paypal is easier. Art

Hi Josh, There's no question that Kevin is one of the "good guys" out there. I'd like to invite Kevin to come on and give us some facts on a replacement for Neat-Lac, we've heard rumors that someone is making the stuff again. I know it is not "eco-friendly", but it just plain worked. I've heard that LCI is making something almost identical and other products that are quite close, but I'd like to get info from someone who has to listen to us complain all the time. Art

Hi Anne, If the leather has good uptake, overnight will do and it begs for a second coat, I've had some stuff that needed two days in the furnace room and I wasn't going to chance a second coat. I am sure Pecard doesn't want to hear this, but don't give Pecards or Montana Pitchblend (especially the oil) to a customer, they will try to apply it as a weekly maintenance when they should be doing it once a year. There is no way to fix that other than moving to Phoenix for a year. Art

Hi Attila, Welcome aboard. First of all, I am a Pfaff lover, I think there are no machines better than the industrial Pfaffs. My lightweight machine is a Pfaff 142, a very nice machine that will sew an armslength in about 2-3 seconds. Pfaffs are usually setup for the factory when you get them and usually for the garment trade, sometimes the upholstery and trim trade where they always want it to sew faster. To be useful for leatherwork, they need to be slowed down; also smooth feet and dogs need to be installed and some slight timing adjustments made. So check your 335 to make sure these things have been done before you buy. Needle positioning motors are also nice, but most of the Pfaffs come with Efka or Pfaff motors that are quite expensive. If you are buying a used one you can have a servo motor installed for about $150 for a much more manageable machine. You should make sure the machine will sew the thickness of leather you want, if not buy bigger. Also, Pfaff parts are quite expensive, and Pfaff machines use Pfaff feet, other machines in the above trades generally fall into category of a few general types, therefore are much cheaper. By any means buy a machine, but eventually most folks end up with two, a medium machine (like the Pfaff) and either a larger or smaller machine as their work dictates. Art

Hi James, HDPE sheet from U.S. Plastics. When it gets buggered-up, use the belt sander to make it like new. DO NOT hammer on it. Art

I've dyed with an airbrush and a small sprayer, they work pretty good, but practice some first. I cut them way back (50%) with DEA, they just go on too dark otherwise. I haven't tried the Preval sprayers yet, but with a little practice they would probably work ok for general work. The airbrush or small sprayer is really good for fades, but for one color work like a holster, I just immerse or flood the dye on, but for belts, spraying is really the easiest way, well except buying the leather drum dyed in the first place (I'm lazy). Art

Great work as usual Bob, I love your scrollwork. Art

Hi Holly, I've used Murphy's and it worked very well. I have also used the soap that Montana Pitchblend makes and it was very good also. Anything that is mild, foams pretty good and gets the gunk free. Art

The rawhide center is from insufficient tanning and I have experienced it occasionally from HO and never from W&C. I use more HO than W&C. When this happens, it is usually in an isolated spot usually not very large. I did buy a full thickness bull hide once and the whole thing was that way, no way to get a knife through it. But........I remembered a couple of boxes of knife edge blades for my bandsaw and after putting a 120" blade on (wife said I looked like I had just taken the Tomcat to the vet), I revved her up (the bandsaw) and it cut the bull just fine. I used the whole hide for stirrup leather and I wish I could get more of it. Good stuff in the right application. Art

Hi Fraser, It takes a standard Singer round belt that you can find at most sewing machine stores. There will be a clamp on the end. You will cut it to length and put on the clamp. That's all. Art

Hi Steve, The letter stands for where manufactured; in the case of k, it is Kilbowie, Clydebank, Scotland, which until 1980 was the largest (and still would be the largest if it was still operating) sewing machine factory in the world. In its heyday, it produced 15,000 machines a week, comprised 46 acres and had a 1 million square foot factory. It was built in about 1878 or so. A w would stand for Elizabethport, New Jersey U.S.A. Art

Hi Steve, A very good light to medium weight machine. Won't do 207, not at all in my experience. All that I have seen complete run quite fast for leatherwork, the need to be slowed down or hand wheeled for close work. They don't have reverse, and will sew about 5/16" of most anything. Parts may be a little difficult to find. Art

I'll be there all three days, then off to Wichita Falls. Art