Andrew Chee

Yes. A skiving machine will give you perfect edge skiver in a few seconds. Andrew

Hello all. I see that there are some mentions of "Neoprene Glue" for leather. I currently use contact cement (barge type stuff) and PVA type glue (white glue) for my leather work. The contact cement holds great but is a pain to work with (gets everywhere). The white glue is easy to work with but holding strength is not as great. Does anyone use neoprene glue and can talk about its properties? I have a particular problem when I want to glue two grain sides together, especially if the leather has a finish on it. Anyways, any help would be great. Thanks. Andrew

Check out this thread: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=38750&hl= Andrew

Most of the machines listed here won't do zig zag. How thick do you think you will be sewing (total thickness)? The Sailrite machines may work if you only sew thin stuff. Most people here will recommend something like a Consew 206RB type of machine. Flat bed, will sew a 40 or 69 thread which is pretty small. Keep in mind that people on this board tend to lean towards heavier leathers so their machine suggestions tend to be heavier duty than you may need. For a flat bed, check out a Consew 206RB. Any of the subclasses (1-5) will do fine. There are better machines in that class but they are more expensive and the Consews will sew just fine. If you buy used, you may be able to get it with a servo for $600 but that would be a pretty good deal. I've seen them more in the $800 range. If you can spend more money, check out something like a Consew 227R. Basically the same machine as a 206RB but with a cylinder bed which can be useful for sewing tricky gussets in bags. Flat bed attachments are available for them so they can work like a flatbed machine. More versatile but again, more expensive. There are more expensive options out that there are better machines but these machines are already very good and their prices are going to be lower. Check out the dealers that are linked to on this board. They all sell either these exact machines or their own versions of these machines (basically the same thing but rebranded). Their service is good and if they have used machines, the prices won't be bad either. Cheapest prices will probably be found on Craigslist but then you'd have to know what you're getting yourself into. With these dealers, you'll know that you're getting a working machine with support behind it. Andrew

Hm... Maybe score the grains side of the leather (cutting maybe halfway through), and then ripping it the rest of the way? Try that. It might work... Andrew

How is the welt attached to the upper? Did you hand stitch that? Andrew

I've used a sewing machine without thread to punch the holes. They come out nice and neat, evenly spaced. Then when you hand sew it, you can't even tell that the machine made the holes. The only problem with a machine js that it cant get into some of the tight areas that you can by hand but the you can always use your awl at that point. You should try it. Andrew

Wow. That looks very nice. Do you have any pics of your construction process? I've seen videos on hand made shoes that are Goodyear welded and they all look incredibly difficult to do. I'd be interested in seeing how you did yours. Andrew

What do you sew? If you're trying to sew wallet interiors that are like 3-4oz total with 69 thread then the 441 clone won't be able to do that. On the other hand, if what you've been using is a Boss then you're probably sewing heavier stuff and a 441 will do just fine. Andrew

Not sure if its a thread problem cause several cones of thread have this same problem. Maybe he needle tip splitting the thread? If so, any remedy for that? Also, this is generally not an issue of needle size/ Esther thickness? Andrew

Hello all. I have an intermittent problem with my thread unraveling in the middle of a line of stitches. Doesn't always happen. Just once in a while. It happens on all my machines. I usually use eithe 69 thread on a size 18 needle or a size 138 thread in a 22 needle. Usually when this happens, is it a problem of the needle being too small for the thread? I don't know how to diagnose this problem since it only happens sometimes. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew

Nice. Do you have a pic of the back? Andrew

Hello all. Just finished this messenger bag for a friend of mine. 6oz honey colored latigo with a grey wool lining. Some mistakes but turned out ok I think. Andrew