Cumberland Highpower

Mike I am not sure if Singer ever made any hook and awl machines, even in the States?

That's pretty interesting. My Rossley doesn't have any cuts like this one does. I've got an electric heating element on mine w/control box. Ever use one like that?

I always got a laugh when I would hear on tv about the Serbs "Trying to join Europe". Chrisash I would agree. Although on a flip coin I bet even you might disagree with your point in the right context. For example, I consider Russians as Europeans, in spite of the fact the majority of Russia is in Asia and rather not on the European Continent. When it comes to Turks, I would say no. Turkey is partially in Europe, but the majority not....And in no way do I consider Turks as European. Matt I think a Pearson 6 would be pretty sharp to have. I'm never against a good classic piece of machinery. A no 4 weighing 450lbs is crazy heavy for just a head. I can't think of any quite that heavy. Maybe a Champion Wide Throat or Campbell Cyclone? I'm guessing on the Cyclone. Never owned one, but I did see 4 rebuilt machines on a pallet once. Pretty massive pieces of machinery. I'm just curious about all this, I don't think I'm "allowed" to buy any new stitching machines though as I have 10 already.....Do you find the no 6 to be a slower stitching machine than others by virtue of the design? Now that I've invoked Russia in the discussion, are there any leatherworking machines such as stitchers made either in Russia or the USSR of old?

Coming from the US, I guess I'd consider Britain "European" It is, it's not...But it is. Germanic/Latin base (by way of French) language, right on the coast of continental Europe, Settled by Angles and Saxons, Celts, etc, Cristian religion (Mostly). You're even EU. Or are/were? I dont know. I've heard of Pearsons but never owned one or seen one in use. did have a Luberto Classic for a short while, I guess that's relatively close. That's pretty unique that No4. So I guess there is one.

Hello not quite looking like what I saw (Was for certain a harness stitcher), but I learned something already. So there is at least one hook/awl machine made in Europe after all That seems to have the look of being a good machine though.

I've never owned a CH8, but used one briefly 20 years ago. I liked it from my vague memory, but I have read of many that didn't. Seems like they don't hold up or stitch as well as a Juki or Adler and have fewer feed available? Sounds like a timing issue. I believe you can balance the stitch length, but I don't have any way to help out there sorry to say.

Ok, just out of curiosity, has anyone seen a European made Hook and Awl machine made in Europe? Or are they more of an American phenomenon? Once when I was riding a slow train in Transylvania, I happened to pass a shop near the tracks with an open door. Right in the doorway was a big RED harness stitcher of some sort, that appeared to be a hook and awl machine. Kind of reminded me from that distance of something similar to a Landis 16 or Champion Wide Throat. Big, on a cast iron stand. Just been curious for years.

Other than maybe limited market ( Leatherworkers are mostly hobbyists I guess), Seems like someone would offer a clutch motor or a servo with a 4:1 gear box bolted to the face. That would be an easy solution and could be make to be drop in to a standard clutch motor. I have 3 machines with GE Gear Reduction motors on them, so obviously it's done with standard motors anyway....

No a router is crazy fast. You could probably use a shaper though, "IF" it were belt driven type and you reduced the speed/pulleys down. You'd have to buy or make a burnishing head.

I like that. Sounds like for a full range of burnishers I only need a spark plug from my Dodge C/V, one from a Farmall and one from a Cessna 150

The Atom Se25 that I have in my shop here is starting to feel a little weak.....But not a good time to send it off for a rebuild. (I can't afford the down time). It's been leaking around the top seal a little and seems to have less power to cut than it used to.... A guy not excessively far away has a Sandt Hydraulik" 20 Ton clicker for sale. Looks pretty sharp. Trouble is, I've never used a Sandt clicker. I'm guessing they might be German made? I'm curious if they're still made or old machinery that's rebuilt over and over? How do they compare to Atoms? I've only owned Atoms (Se25 and 999). Ok, briefly owned a Reece at the dawn of ages..... What is a good condition Sandt worth? Or should I stick to buying another Atom?

1993 seems just fine to me. The machine in your picture looks pretty good. But the price is excessive. That's $700 US! I'd not pay that for a Dixon splitter. Why not buy a Heritage 8" splitter from Weaver Leather? They're made in the US and well built and can also do lap skiving. If you sign up for a dealer/wholesale account with Weaver the wholesale price is about $260 lower than the Dixon you're looking at. They also seem to be made/machined much more precisely than the Dixon Splitter. Maybe postage and UK import tax is a bit high....Just an idea. With all those long bust/defunct leatherworking shops in the UK, I'd be inclined to believe every flea market in England would be awash with surplus tools...

Personally I find the splitter in the link at the top to be somewhat overly priced?? I sold the one I had in September on Ebay auction type listing and it went for $310. I was very satisfied with the price realized. I never used it. They're a very heavy cast iron frame machine. I happen to still have a pair of Osborne 86's Jcuk, and kind of like you have had it for some time. The 86 is a smaller machine than the Dixon and to be honest I prefer an Osborne. The Dixon doesn't do anything the Osborne doesn't. I paid $25 and $20 respectively for my 86's at an auction. Here is a pic of the one I sold (Nothing wrong with the blade, just the lighting):

The very late Dixon tools fell off some in quality...But who's hasn't? Osborne's quality certainly has. I recently sold a very old Dixon splitter (Same as the late model) to a fellow and while it was over 100 years old, I found the quality to be about the same as the recent models. Meaning to say, made of good materials, but workmanship a bit rough around the edges.... Sometimes those old tools weren't always as good as we'd like to think they were. Dixon is generally a good brand of leatherworking tooling. I'd buy anything marked Dixon if the price is fair.

I've got a R-32 embosser and it looks like a roller for it. There were other makes of embossers too that used similar size rollers. I don't have that exact pattern, but I do have a standard basketweave roller and 2 very slim rollers with that scalloped pattern identical to yours that you stack on either side of the basketweave. Adds up to be very very similar to your roller. I rarely use the R-32. Right now it's supporting a stack of Bridle bellies about 2 feet deep. There is one for sale on this forum. If you buy it, you already have a roller for it.

Does anyone burnish lace? I can't say I've seen any burnished lace in my lifetime...If you wanted to actually do it, I think a vertical burnisher would work better. Isn't round lace made by pulling square lace through a "die" known as a rounder? That machine posted above is just a common horizontal burnisher that someone made. Probably works well overall.

Ah, interesting. That's a binder in the photos. I guess hats have a wire inserted into a leather binding "tape" sewn onto these hats? From the OP's posting, I had the idea the OP was folding a skived edge of the brim back over a wire....

I'm a little struck at the complete lack of options for machines here in the US. Virtually nothing on the market other than Chinese/Taiwanese clutch motors and cheap servos that seem to be poorly made/designed. Most everyone with a heavier machine uses a speed reducer pulley system. I guess I understand the economy mindset, I have it to a degree. It would be nice to find something better as an option. Efka setups are very expensive and hard to find here in the US as new items. After some searching in the recent past, it appears there are Japanese made servos out there. Mitusbishi has a couple that if I remember right were labeled "G5" and were between 500-700 USD. I'd think they would have to be much superior to the inferior Chinese servos?

What is your asking price? That's a good classic machine. Did you make the flywheel? When I see clean shops and spotless machines I get pretty jealous. Everything I own is covered in oil and leather dust!

I've bought leather from Hartland Tannery off and on over the past few years depending on projects, and placed an order for a sample this week through Acadia Leather. Noticed on a few items it mentions "Made for us buy our supplier". I looked a bit online for leather they used to carry, and came across an article that the Tannery had closed in Summer of 2020! Acadia Leather is still operating with a full range of the same leathers and I'm a little surprised to hear they shut the tannery down during the Covid Panic.... I visited the Hartland Tannery in Jan 2019 and it was humming away at what appeared to be at good capacity....I'm pretty sad to see it has closed..... My big question here though, is who is tanning these leathers for Acadia Leather now??? Acadia/Hartland was/is owned by Tasman......Do they have another tannery that produces this leather or is it imported from Mexico?

It looks like a leather burnisher to me. Maybe home made. 3450RPM is really not all crazy high considering how small the burnishing head is and the fact it's steel. Maybe they had plans to install a lower rpm motor and that's what they had available. As to it being open or enclosed It really shouldn't make much difference really, given it's rather benign application. There isn't enough dust generated to really amount to anything. Most that did get created would never make it too far into the depths of that motor anyway, considering there is that lid from your Blue Bonnet or whatever Butter. Allot of leather burnishing heads have slots cut into the burnishing head as a way to channel out dust/fibers, etc. I've seen some heads made from steel, but most are wood, leather, or a combination. A spring to help assist the lift of the motor would have been a great addition. I have an older horizontal Burnisher here (Randall? USMC?) that is a horizontal type with a large wooden head, much larger in diameter to yours. it's both having multiple contour grooves and slots cut into it just like yours. I also have a newer Randall/Campbell VSB and it's also horizontal. The Newer one can go as high as 4K RPM and uses the wooden heads that fit my Galli FCE. I never run it past about 1k though (Variable) and sometimes not much over 500. Horizontal burnishers are great for smaller items or softer items that are easier to burnish on a flat surface. Wallets, Watch bands, etc. Given the size of the grooves, I'd gamble it's for belts or some kind of horsey stuff like harness or bridles. I have seen more steel burnishing heads on shoe related machinery, than on machinery for other uses, so maybe it's something to do with footwear mfg...Anyway... I've also got a Rossley folding table with a built in heating element. I had big plans for it but so far it's always just sat....Think they have any vaule? Not really wanting to part with mine, just curious

I'd maybe be interested, but California is too far... Can you freight? Would you have interest in selling just the rollers?

kgg I think the Cowboy that's sold today is made by the same outfit that made the GA5, slightly enhanced. Some have reverse for a little extra cash. What do you plan to sew on one of these? They're pretty much a copy of the old Singer 45. I'd say they're somewhat limited in practical use, as they only seem to have a feed dog. You can sew leather or nylon mostly fine, but this machine will have no ability to pull material to speak of, nor will it be able to climb at all over various thickness leather. It will probably leave feed dog marks on the underside. (Not always an issue though). I can't say it wont work for you of course, it might work on what you have planned for it. They're being made and sold, so they have to be working for some. I'd say your best bet is to buy the roller foot to go with it. Are you planning to sew leather? Sometimes you can get machine of a different flavor to work for your projects. 20 Years ago, before I had a building full of machinery and working out of a portable building in the backyard, I bought my first "stitcher" an Adler 205-25. I think I paid $800 for it not really understanding what it was. While it was made for moccasins, it did work well for what I was making at the time. That machine had a lower feed dog and "foot feed" similar to the old Singer Shoe Patchers, but no needle feed and no reverse. That combination would be slightly superior in feeding ability to your GA5, but It was very prone to slipping or not feeding and still did not climb very well. Harness or bridle leathers that were well greased up were extremely difficult to control.

How do you have them priced? Rings and Duncans.

Hello Wiz, It's only a new head I picked up. I placed in on one of the standard motor tables to test out. Same old twin belts/standard motor w/pulleys under the table. (I haven't gotten as far as the new servo motors yet) The gearing sound is in the machine head no doubt, sounds near the shuttle. I thought there might be an adjustment to raise the shuttle but I haven't seen it just yet. I'll take a closer look. I've owned UL's since 2009, having bought my first during the recession. Back then allot of shops were dumping machinery pretty cheap. I've run it a fair amount and to date only adjusted 2 points for wear and changed the stitch length. I've never had any issues, although I hear many complain about the UL's......I get the feeling that it's the heavily worn machines that are the problem machines?