Andrew Chee

I'm the guy royal's talking about. Here's the listing for my machine if you're interested. I've dropped the price to $1100. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/app/4035528478.html Andrew

I have needle positioners on my machines and I like them. I set them up so they stop needle pound down. This helps me see tight curves and corners. I don't need tO hand wheel the corners cause I can move the material, tap the pedal and have the machine advance exactly one stitch and repeat. At the end of the stitch I tap the heel of the pedal and the needle lifts out. For me it was very helpful. Certainly a bit more work to install and adjust but I like the results.

The interior details are pretty nice. The pricing is about right (I was thinking about $300 for the big bag when I saw it). Is this going to be manufactured in the US or overseas? At the price point that you are selling at (plus the fact that the hides are probably not domestically tanned) you can't really go against the higher end craft market. With that said, $300 or so is not a bad price. One thing looking at the big bag, are the edges skived on the turned gusset? The way the pics look with the edges folded in it looks like it might not be skived. If it's not, you might look into that since it will let the gusset sit much more nicely. The back gusset looks like you have the fabric lining stitched right into the gusset? It's kinda hard to tell from the pics. But if that's the case, you might want to use a leather binding or something because the exposed fabric will fray over time and it just doesn't look very finished considering the rest of your bag looks like it has turned edges. What leather are you using exactly for this bag? The pics make it look almost like a buffed grain latigo or something like that. Not bad looking and about what you would expect on a $300 bag. As for the women's bag, it's a nice design. What kind of leather are you using? Andrew

A lot of servo motors have a problem with their linear speed control. Go to YouTube and search for a DIY mod to fix this. It's pretty easy and I've done it to two of my servos already. I decided to go for the ultimate in convenience, power, and control. I got a consew needle Positioner motor and a speed reducer. I did the speed control mod and now the motor will basically go at a snail's pace if I want it. Andrew

There are basically two types of bell knife skivers; Bottom feed and Top and Bottom feed. Basically there is a knife shaped like a bell that turns round and round. There is a roller (usually made with some type of stone although other types of materials are also available) underneath the blade. That roller has roughly the same curvature as the blade and is powered and rolls towards the blade. Above the blade is a presser foot. That presser foot is also about the same curvature as the blade and is at most 2 inches wide. Basically the leather fits between the upper feet and the lower roller and is cut by the blade. The distance between the upper feet and the blade determines the thickness of the skive. The feet and roller can be adjusted to different angles to get different skive angles. The difference between a bottom feed skiver and a top and bottom feed is that the top presser feet on the top and bottom feed skiver is also a roller and is also powered. This allows that type of skiver to successfully feed harder, heavier materials. I have a bottom feed only machine. Usually the skives I do are about 1/2" wide skiving veg tan from about 5-8oz down to about half thickness. For something like that, a bottom feed only machine works just fine. If I tried to skive veg tan leather for the full 2 inch width (if I want to split 2" wide strip down thinner) then my machine will not feed the material. I have an upper foot that is a roller (but not powered) and using that foot, I can skive maybe a little over an inch wide strip of hard veg tan. If you need to skive wide swaths of heavy leather, get the top and bottom feed. If you only need to skive edges for turning or gussets, the bottom feed only will work just fine. And they are cheaper. As for all the different makes and models of skivers, they are basically all the same. While some may say that some machines are better made (I cannot attest to that), they basically all use the same design. Andrew

I don't like those Teflon glue pots. The plastic ones with the long stem lids work much better at keeping the cement from drying out... Andrew

I don't really have a solution to this particular issue but if the bottom won't be seen then toucan just tie it off and leave. For stitch ends that will e visible I would suggest hand backtracking those few stitches. The stitching is stronger and aesthetically more pleasing. More work of course but better results. Andrew

I haven't tried stones yet but the drums seem to work just fine and the sandpaper is replaceable. I think probably any trim router will work but the deemed ones work nicely cause they are small and have small openings. Larger routers will have larger openings to accommodate larger bits so they might not work as well. Andrew

What wiz is saying (i believe) is that there are some machines that are automatic oilers. They have oil in the pan under the machine and they use a pump to move the oil to the extremities of the machine. The pumps are powered by the movement of the machine. If the machine is not moving fast enough, the pump may not be able to move oil everywhere. If my 206 you mean the consew 206rb, then that shouldn't be a problem because I don't believe that machine has an oil pump. Please correct me if I'm wrong. As for regular straight stitch machines, are there different classes of machines like a walking foot? Are some designed for heavier materials than others or are they all kinda the same? Andrew

Will basically any straight stitch industrial machine work for this application? I'm not very familiar with the different classes of non-walking foot industrial machines. There's a brother db2 and a mitsubishi ls2-180 for sale near methat I'm thinking about. I would figure that you could get any industrial machine and swap out the presser foot and feed dog/plate for an roller presser foot and you would be set. Am I wrong about that? I'm looking to get one as well that would have to sew through maybe 10oz veg tan max with up to a 138 thread. any advice? Andrew

I made this machine today so I thought I'd share it with everybody. When I make turned gusset bags, I find that the glues out there don't hold the grain sides of the pieces together well. I've tried all sorts of glue and none of them hold the pieces together. Please say to rough up the grain side so the glue absorbs and holds. The problem with a turned bag is that you usually do something like a 1/4" or 3/8" seam allowance so the width of the roughed edges have to be less than that or else the roughed area will show up with turned. I've taken to using a sanding drum on a dremel to rough my edges. Much faster than doing it with sand paper. It's a pain to make sure that you're hold the dremel to the right width. I wanted a way that I can rough up a consistent width from the edge and also be able to handle different types of leather. I've been thinking about how to do this for a while and I came up with this solution today. It's a dremel with a sanding drum and the router attachment clamped horizontally to the table. I added a thin strip of metal to the guide to slide my work against. I now have a machine that will consistantly rough up the edges of a piece of leather to a consistant width. I adjust how far the sanding drum is exposed and that adjusts the width of the roughing. I adjust the position of the guide to adjust for thicknesses in the leather. I have just tried this out on a bag I'm working on and it works like a charm, you just feed the leather through and it roughs up the edge to the required width. Andrew

Sedgwick bridle is a very firm leather with a hard waxy finish. The flesh side is very waxy as well. Just very different in feel to American "English bridle" leather. Andrew

I'm not selling the needle plate. I had a local machinist make it for me. The needle plate was one that I bought off eBay. Not sure what machine it was for but it had the same exact dimensions as the consew plate except instead of a slot for the feed dog, it only had a needle hole. I had the machinist mill out a slot for me the same width as the feed dog but a few MMs shorter on each end. That way, I could take an outer presser foot, grind of the toes and it will work just fine. With the original feed Dog and slot the outer toe heel would press down on the feed dog and it wouldnt feed. The only other thing you have to do is to grind down the feed dog so it clears the slot. Hope this helps. Andrew

Price: $1200 I am selling an excellent condition Consew 206RB-5. It comes with: Complete machine with table Consew needle positioner servo Speed reducer Adjustable drop down edge guide Custom made feed plate I have modified the machine in several ways. I have modified the servo motor for better speed control. You can see info on that here: I have also had a feed plate made for me that has a smaller opening than the existing feed plate. coupled with a modified smaller feed dog, the machine can handle thin material better. This also allows the use of a no-toe outer presser foot for situations where you have to sew in a really narrow area. The machine is currently set up for 138 thread. I am in the SF Bay area (near Oakland airport) and am only able to sell to someone locally since I am not able to pack and ship this machine. This machine basically has everything you could want to sew leather. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks. Andrew

The machine does not skip on firmer material. I can sew canvas on that machine that is thinner but firmer and it doesn't skip. Only happened with this soft chrome tan leather. I would be interested in trying a feed dog with a smaller hole. I'll try calling touts later. Thanks. Andrew

When it comes to non-walking foot machines, does needle feed give you as much advantage as it does in a walking foot machine? Andrew

I have a consew 206RB-5 all set up for leather if you're willing to come to Oakland to pick it up. Andrew

It might be better to find some machines and then ask if they are appropriate rather than to ask which machines are good since there are just so many. If you let us know what types of things, type and thicknesses of leather and thread etc.. You would like to use then people can give suggestions as to the general type of machine you might need. Andrew

Thanks Eric. I guess I can look around for smaller feed dogs but I'm not sure where I'll find one for that machine...is there a different type of machine you would recommend for this type if situation? Andrew

If you are primarily going to be sewing the thicknesses and temple that you mentioned about, don't get a Juki 441/Cobra Class 4 type machine. They are too much machine for that weight of leather. The feed dog and presser feet are too big for such soft leather and getting the tension adjusted for thread light enough for that leather will be difficult. The other Jukis in your list are more appropriate. I'm not too familiar with the particular machines themselves but they are lighter class than the Juki 441 clones. You mentioned sewing holsters. For holsters, the 441 clones will work well. The thing is, you're not going to find one machine that will both sew holsters well and sew 3oz soft chrometan leather well. They might be able to do it with a lot of adjusting, but they won't do it well. Andrew

Hello all. I have some white leather craft cement that I get from Tandy and it's in one of those plastic dispensers with a brush. Lately I've noticed some greenish stuff floating on the top of the exposed area of the glue. Does this stuff mold? If so, is there a way to prevent the molding? Andrew

Hello all. I have a Consew 206RB that I've set up with 69 thread and an 18 needle. Most of the leather I sew is in the 5oz+ veg tan range and the machine works just fine. I am making a bag right now out of very soft 3oz leather and I notice the machine is skipping stitches a lot. I think the problem is that the leather is so soft that the needle is lifting the leather on the upstroke thereby cause the lifting. In some areas I will use a double toe outer foot to hold down the leather on both sides while the needle is lifting out and that helps a little but it still skips stitches. I've resorted to putting a piece of masking tape and sewing over that to keep the material down. This is on the inside of a turned bag so that's not a big deal visually. At some point I will have to top stitch the edge of the bag and at that point I cannot use tape nor can I use a double toe outer foot. Any suggestions on what I can do to avoid skipped stitches in the situation? Is this simply a limitation of a combination feed walking foot machine? Will I need to go to a regular non-walking foot machine to do something like this? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew

At least get a right toe and left toe outer feet. That will get you through most situations. Andrew

What about Ohio travel bag?

Are these reproductions or used or new old stock? Andrew