KAYAK45

What model #. I tried to expand, the image got too bluuuuuureeed for this old man! Kevin

I'm Sure Paul and Paul will smile and remember. I TRIED to skive my back panels yesterday for my first pair of boots, from buffalo from GN Leathers. Great, perfect leather! It did not go well! Well..today I cut some new panels. GOOD NEWS. Luck has it I have plenty of hide,... this time. From now on I will PRACTICE SKIVING on the scrap from cutting, BEFORE I attack my real panels! Seems every leather skives different. Again you can smile. You already know that. Looks like my wife gets her FIRST pair of short topped boots also, now. I think she will have Black buffalo Tops! Maybe with some tan vamps. Nice color combination, don't you think? Kevin, with modesty

Hi John: I'll back up the Art on the31-15/20 idea. This is an industrial machine, with metal gears and body. It was the backup in WII to it's bigger brother, the 111W155. I have both and use them a lot. They both will be sewing long after I'm gone. The Navy Marines, Army all used them. Could our military be wrong? Don't answer that. LOL! Back then it was strength they wanted. I paid ~ $100 for the head to the 31-15, and about $375 for the head, table and good clutch for the 111w155. Am NOT INTERESTED in selling either one. Kevin PS: I also have a cowboy 4500, new they are ~$2600+, Landis 12L, saw one sell recently ~$4,000+ and a seven inch Seiko Post Machine, new advertised for ~$2,800+. Still will not sell my first, the Singers.

I think you may want to rethink the 8 OZ. thing. Do a LITTLE more research and and you will find that 1 Iron is not at all the same as 1 OZ. Sole leather is also a different tanned leather and comes in IRONS. An 8 Iron is approx. 10/11 ounce. IE each IRON is 75% of 1 OZ. Kevin

What a great table of content. Now where is the book/info? Please sight the site!

A loose screw will affect a lot of us. Lucky it was on the MACHINE. HAHA That's the kind of service you get and should have. Glad you got it. Kevin

MY instinct tells me you should NOT START WITH TOOLS! You should start with books, videos and such. Search Utube and you will find hundreds of hours of video on shoe/boot making. Search for FREE books on shoe and boot making from before ..say..1920. Those are on home/hand made stuff. Decide what you want to do before you buy a single tool or supply. Then armed with information look for only the tools ans supplies needed to do the job on ONE PAIR. Go on from there if you still like the idea. Good luck and Welcome Kevin

Jack is right on with the scissor cutting. And the glue first, cut second. My problem is getting a pigskin for a 38" belt. My pigs don't come that long. LOL I start by laying out a 1 3/4 blank with a silver pen or pencil on the backside (for a 1 1/2 inch belt). Cut you strips. I then cut the ends..say 45 degrees to the edge and skive both ends. Overlap, glue and sew together (46 thread) for a long strip. THEN glue to your belt material, and after pounding and setting, simply cut the excess pig from the edges, for a perfect fit. Try that. Kevin

First lay out all the parts on the floor. Read the directions! Dry assemble by putting the parts on the floor in close proximaty to where they go. Read the directions. Look at the pictures. You will NEED a helper to mount the head. Read the directions. Look at the pictures. Before you add the drive belt, make sure it will free wheel by hand with NO rough spots. After the belt is tensioned you will need..a little power..to free the motor for hand wheel. It probably will come with thread to the needle, cut off the spool. Do not pull it out. When ready to thread follow the old thread and put new thread from spool, one step at a time. Do not adjust the tension. Something else is wrong. It came set up. .. Adjust your pedal linkage, should be ready to screw up...I mean sew. LOL Good luck, Kevin PS: To adjust your table height after starting, please disconnect power and pedal linkage, and have a helper.

Since you found the original drawings??? Could you share where?? Kevin

Sorry, I don't know a thing about presses, but I went to your site to see your product. What great work. I ALMOST want to order a backpack, and I don't hike or need one. Just a truly great product line! Somebody who knows will pick up shortly for you. Question, though about your site. Why no pictures of shoulder straps on your back packs. Are there none? Just a thought as an observer. Kevin

Yes. The burnisher should be made out of Cocobolo wood.. It is one of the most dense woods around, and has natural oils for burnishing. If..it is "finished" those natural oils are of no value. Actually, to burnish you will have any combination of things on the leather, like saddle soap and oils, maybe some stain. Any wood finish would be of NO USE. That said, check the on-line burnisher for its chuck end, if for a drill press or dremel. Wood ends deteriorate quickly! For automation work they need a steel shaft or at least a metal ferrule. If its for hand use disregard last statement, but still make sure the type of wood. Good Luck! Kevin

Go down from where you posted to LEATHER SEWING MACHINES. There is a pinned post on choosing a/more leather sewing machine(s) that will answer most of your questions. As you will see most"1/2" machines will only sew 3/8 materials. The 1/2 refers to the total clearance of the foot above the table. It will also be related to the total thickness of the leather you want to use, as to whether a bigger machine will sew lighter weights. Welts are another story, but hand sewing is not quite that hard. Several craftsmen here make all there sheaths that way. Good luck and keep searching for THE ANSWER! Kevin

Very, very nice. I want one! Don't know if I'll try to carry 23 shell + 5 in the weapon. That must be one tuff Bear. LOL Pretty nice belt work also. Bet that's your making? Kevin

Glue the FLESH SIDE DOWN to a piece of wood, use rouge on the grain side and strop away. Oil, I think just gunks (tech term) it up. There is a post in LEATHER TOOLS on here on the different color rouge and what they are good for. I use green and gray. Also SEVERAL great tutorial pins, same location. on sharpening.! Kevin

I have castors on my Cowboy 4500. Like your new machine, it is big and heavy, so moving otherwise would be a problem. Since the whole table, legs and rollers where made to work together I get no "wobble" when using. Adding you own later MIGHT be an option, like CD has done, but it will raise the height of your table. If you are vertically challenged, as I am, that could be a factor. On the other foot, ~$130 over..10 years of use..may knot be that large an issue, for the right set-up. (all puns intended). Kevin

U-LINE is the only source I've used. No problems. Probably not the cheapest. Kevin

HI NIck: Ken said it best with his "good hand" comment and maybe you didn't get what he was saying. The Servo motors give you a RANGE to operate in. The right hand on the wheel really controls your speed. In the OLD days with a clutch motors and leather belts, you would let the belt SLIP on the wheel, controlled by your hand, to set your speed. Now, I let the Servo.. SLIP. It's the right hand on the wheel that really controls the speed of the stitch. Some, are now trying to get the Servo so precise that the foot controls the speed of the stitch. I don't know about you, but, my hand is still more sensitive than my foot. Just try putting you foot all the way down, and control the speed with your right hand on the wheel. You will find it works really well. Kevin

About the only thing left is thread and thread/needle size? OR, Those elusive shop elves that keep using my knifes and not sharpening them afterword. They also will sand little teeny soft places in your thread spools. Little.. BASTARDS.. I'm going to get one of those ultra night vision camera things, the deer hunters use and photo shop those little buggers out of my basement. That's what I'm going to do!!!! GOOD LUCK! KEVIN

Depends on the size of the mannequin...? Hat stores use them on full size hats.

Dirtclod: I am setting here laughing at you first answer, which was perfect. "YES". LOLOLOL!

Water and sunshine. Buy the water, go look in vegas for some sunshine. Seriously, I would rinse it well in water and wring out what I could. Then put it in the sun to dry. Repeat if necessary until you get it (too?) dry. LOL Then lightly oil again, if needed, and start all over untill your happy. Kevin

Mike: It's kinda like a person who cannot stand a quite place and has to speak up. You did good in a lot a places, and then felt you had to FILL IN the blanks. Blank spaces are OK. It's like being quiet. A pattern flows around the focal point. In your case the shield, which was quite good, BTW. Stop when you are ahead. Just keep working on it, and keep it simple, like your first piece, which had a nice main theme. You'll get it. Keep trying. Kevin

Not quite PAR FOR THE COURSE, but this is a walking foot machine, left foot only, with probably a servo motor, operated by an expert. You too can do that with only... 20,000 hours (ten years).. experience. ON that piece of leather. Kevin