Anne Bonnys Locker

A CB250/GA5/45K25 will handle any thread thickness you want up to 415 (maybe even 500 at a stretch) Yes, the 441 clone is the ducks guts but it comes at a price. When people come to me looking for a machine I start by looking at what they really need to do and their sewing experience. If they are just starting out and really don't know how much work they will eventually do then often I will suggest the GA5 route as an inexpensive way into the game. While most saddlers I know have a Pearson 6 or a 441 clone they all have a 45k25 in the workshop that gets used on a regular basis it isn't as if it will be wasted. On the other hand, if it has been been set up properly from day one, it will always have a good resale value. A flat bed has a lot of limitations but a cylinder bed can always be fitted with a flat bed attachment - even if you make it out of plywood. Just my 2 cents worth.

There are bargains out there but you need to have patience. Put your $500 in an envelope in a safe place and every week throw in another $20 to $50. In six months time you will have enough money to buy a machine which can do things beyond what you currently require.

I'd pay $20 just to have a look at that attachment. It seems to be worked off the foot lift mechanism.

What the others said - when you get to know your machine it will talk to you. I am modifying and testing up to 20 of my little hand crank machines per week and I work as much by sound as anything else. If it doesn't sound right then it probably isn't.

Trox, I agree with you 95%. The 5% is that I would say over 100 years rather than 50!

You won't get a better offer than that!

Have to agree with Al. It is a wonderful bit of iron and as a collector I am really happy that I now have a 7-5 but I would not pay $1000 for one and I would not buy it at all for leatherwork as there are much better machines for the money.

The cowboy 7300 is not in the website but it is in the catalogue and is basically the Puritan OS36.

Hell yes! If it goes for less than 1 quid who cares about the needle price. Even if needles were unavailable I would buy it anyway - but then I am mad.

And of course Steve may have a Pearson 6 or two (or eight) in stock soon so he could give you some measurements!

Cowboy make a version of the 36" OS that Wiz linked you to but two grand won't go far. There was a 36" arm machine sitting in Lefflers in Melbourne that belonged to a customer. He wanted over 3k for it.

One of the most common leather sewing machines ever built!!! It is most certainly suitable for leather sewing.

There were plenty of variations of these machines and a surprising number of parts are still made. On the go for customers right now are a 31k47 walking foot and a 31k18 roller foot/roller feed. The 31k18 was widely used in the shoe industry.

I have all but hung a sign on the door to tell people who have dropped shipped a Chinese patcher to "Go Away". The last three that have approached me have left with their machine untouched except for me to stick my finger into it and pull it out covered in metal shavings. Most of the ones arriving here now are virtually unworkable and I would have to completely strip and flush the machine body, replace all springs, shuttle carrier, gears etc with Taiwanese made equivalents. Let us just say the cost is more than they paid for the machine.

I think you just very politely said what I am thinking about most Chinese patchers.

I import my own High Tenacity Polyester out of China. It is the same composition as Serafil which is a lovely thread. I did ask why nobody else uses Serafil on another thread (no pun intended!) so I am glad the somebody agrees with me. While not as strong as a bonded thread it feels lovely and has excellent UV properties. As somebody said on another forum: the best thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from!

I was asked to build one of those pedal bases recently but turned the job down. There is a piss weak version built in china now for the GR1-8 machine. If you do get them made in China then I can sell them!!

As I said, in an ideal world the 441 or 205 is the ducks guts.

It has kept me awake a couple of times worrying whether what I get and what wanted are going to be the same thing!

If I told you I would have to kill you afterwards. Trade secret.

My apologies, yes Phynx. A red wine or two may be slowing me down. Check my signature young lady