mlapaglia

Another way to do it on the buckle end. From the Leathercraft tools boom by Al Stohlman

http://stleather.com/ Have a good day Michael

There are 2 schools of thought regarding the belt curve. I suggest you make one of each and decide on its merits. You have hit the middle of a long running discussion between leather workers. At this point you need to decide which is best for you. Michael

To be clear I meant an on call number and not a personal number. It would be rude of me to want personal numbers. Anyway this can be closed as I will wait till they open.

Thanks for all the info. Read up one post where I explain how I got it fixed. It was mostly through all the information I got from you and everyone else. Thanks again Michael

:wacko:The cell phone request was for an on call person. I really did not make that point clear in my post. I totally understand home time vs work time and always tried to keep them separate in my life too. I found a small burr on the shuttle that was catching the thread as it crossed over. I got some green polishing compound and worked on it for a while and now the whole thing actually works. I will admit to getting hypersensitive to the sound and feel of the machine. I was just frustrated. I took a deep breath, and a break and then found the shuttle issue. Its all fixed now. I thank you and Denster and TwinOaks and leather legion and 50 years leather and anyone else I forgot to mention for all the great help. Now I can relax and just play with my new toy. Thanks again Michael.

Would it vary? it goes for a few stitches when I start with just a click and a small increase in pressure. Then for 5-9 stitches its really hard to push and has this grinding sound. For what its worth its worse when I use the 4 oz thread spool that came with it. When I use my pound spool it does it but not as bad. They both say they are the same thread and I have the bobbin loaded with the thread from the pound spool. The small pressure increase at the end of the cycle and the sound make sense. Its the large increase that happens sometimes and the grinding that I am concerned about. Thanks for putting up with me. Id love for it to be me over reacting but My wife and son agree that its a prettty nasty sound when it grinds. The video does not do it justice. Should I expect it to sound approximately the same on each cycle and have roughly the same pressure on each cycle During a straight stitch on 8 oz leather? Thanks Michael.

Got the new Tippmann Boss on Saturday. I cant use it due to a problem discussed in another thread. Tippmann is shutdown till the first of the year. If anyone has a cell number of someone there Id appreciate it. Right now I have a new sewing machine that I can not use and wont be able to use until at least next Tuesday unless I can contact someone there. If someone wants to call me about it or can pass my number along to someone at Tippmann its 303 eight eight one 1045. Thanks. Michael

Wouldn't the thread unravel when you cut the keepers to length? Michael

Excellent dye job. How made the green? its got great even color. Holster looks good too. Michael

Denster, Yes it was threaded wrong. I know it goes in front but messed up that time. That didnt change the issue. Yours hangs up just about the end of the cycle and needs to be pushed harder to complete the cycle? The thread and bobbin tension seem to be right as I set the bobbin to one lb and the thread sits in the middle of the hole. no showing on the top or bottom like the manual shows when it needs to be adjusted. I have not touched the pressure foot tension at all. It is marking the leather somewhat but I figured Id worry about that later. I will increase it and see if that fixes it. The Table is a temp, its not where the machine will normally be. It just has not arrived yet. One of the reason it wiggles that much is its really hard to finish the cycle on the arm. its not even the same all the time on the same line of stitches. The stitches look good top and bottom its just the grinding sound and the hard push at the end of the cycle that bother me. It doesn't sound like the machine on the video sounds. If the sound was not evident than it was a bad recording. It's there. Thanks for looking at the video and your suggestions Michael

Is it worth doing a group buy to get some? Michael

I made a video so anyone that wants to can look at the problem I am having. You might have to crank up your volume its not real loud. Hope it gives someone an idea. Its not constant. Its sometimes less and sometimes more. The last 2 cycles show it well. Michael

'pints a pound the world......'

Mike, I have had Christmass's like that. I feel your pain. Ok I discovered the problem (the second one that showed up today). The screw for the material edger was too long and hitting the shuttle ring as it tried to go by. Backed the screw off and it unlocked and started to stitch again. Horray!!!!!!. Now in the spirit of full disclosure I have to say that I caused the problem. I had taken the material edge guide off this morning and put the screw back in the machine so I would know where it was. Right at this point I was interrupted and didn't get back to the machine for an hour. by then I had forgotten that I had placed the screw back. Tried the machine and it was locking up as described. Had I been able to try it right after putting the screw in I would have known that the change had caused the problem. It was only after I had removed the shuttle that I saw the problem. So that is fixed but I still have the problem where it catches right at the end of the cycle and clicks and becomes hard to push. Only with tension. It happens at the point of the cycle where the thread take up arm starts to move back yo. The arm is free but that is an easy way to tell you when it starts. Since it is at least working I can wait until tomorrow to talk to Tippmann. Lets hope they are open. Thank to everyone that made suggestions. Now we know that you can not store the material edge guide screw in the machine without the guide attached. Denster thanks for pointing me in the direction of the shuttle. FYI the trouble shooting video comes on a DVD with the machine and you can jump to the correct parts unlike the downloaded version. Mike, Thanks for all your ideas and hand holding. In my case its the shaft not the wheel that will not turn. But I did go out and beat on some metal with a hammer before I came back in and discovered the screw issue. That was a great suggestion. I need to figure out how to measure the 1 lb pull without buying a trigger pull gauge. I should be able to do something with a bottle of water and some string. Hmmmm.... Thanks again everyone. Michael

I can see the bottom rack gear completely and the gear it connects with from the hole on the side. There are no teeth issues. So the shuttle may be the problem. I do not have a ring pliers or I would try removing it and looking. I also found some teeth damage on the top gear on the handle might have been caused from the initial problem when I was trying to complete the cycle and the strange. noise. I should stop and let it go but its my toy and I want to play with it. Michael

Denster, Its a new Machine that arrived Saturday. I wound thing Tippman would be closed tomorrow because of the holiday today but I will call them as soon as I can. Thanks for the info. I figured it was something that beyond my ability to tinker since its in warranty. I just hate new things that break I tend to lose confidence on them. It was catching as I described in the first post from the moment I pulled it out of the box. It lasted long enough for me to get the tensions right then failed. I really wonder if this one went through QC. There are paint chips on it and the material edge roller guide shaft is frozen up and wont turn, yes I loosen the screw:).. I well. I guess I wait. I can pull the rack gear I guess and look at the teeth on the Shuttle shaft gear and the rack gear. Right now I need some coffee and a nap. Thanks for the info and your help. Michael

Thanks Mike At this time its just not working at all. The arm doesn't seem to pull as far forward as it should. The presser foot locks up and the cam is not turning enough to let the presser foot lower itself at the end of the stroke. The rack gear no longer hits the bolt in the forward position and there is no offset where the two rack gears meet. I did try putting one there and adjusting the timing and that didnt fix it so I put it all back. The shuttle position is just a mm past 12 but I have not changed that yet. Mofing it one tooth puts it at 11:00 so its much closer where it is. If I rotate the cam to normal position then I can lift the presser foot. But the first pull of the handle and it hangs up again. Remember that feeling on Christmas morning when one of your toys was broken Anyone with ideas is welcome to call me. 303 eight eight one 1045. I can call you back and make it my dime if you like. HELP if someone has an idea. Michael

I set it up per the video. Its threaded correctly including going around the secondary tension. IT stitches nicely. Bobbin and thread tension seem good. The thread crosses in the middle of the leather. Here is my problem. The machine is set up with 277 thread top and bottom and a 794-200 needle, when I pull the handle all the way down its smooth as class but when I push it back about 1/2 of the way back it starts to jam up and make a clicking noise that is not present on the video. Plus the push can not be done smoothly. If there is no thread in the machine then it pulls and pushes smoothly but with the machine threaded up and tensioned what I believe is correctly it tends to hang up when the thread tension arm starts to move back to position. I can push past it but it does not feel like it should. It gives me 2 clicks. The second one is almost a grinding sound. and it sticks for a sec but I can return the arm to the full position with a little more pressure. any ideas? Thanks Michael

The tools in the Tandy kits are the worst of the worst. They have a "Z-" in front of the standard ID. ITs not the diameter but the quality of the metal that matters. Take it to Tandy they will replace it. There are better makers out there but the diameter is about the same depending on the tool. Crafttool is the Tandy line, Hide Crafter Pro line is better and about the same price. They go up from there. Im sure someone else will be able to tell you the names of the better tool makes. The names escape me for the moment.

Just a thought, Thats a high quality belt that will last for many years. with more holes you make it easier for the customer to lose or gain weight. Something that happens to a lot of us old folks as we got old. You made it, its your call what you do with it. This is just a suggestion. Michael

Very Nice belt. Why only 3 holes on the billet? most people do 5. Is there a reason you chose to do just 3? Michael

Nevermind, I should have looked at the date. Sorry about that.

It really depends on the supplier. There is no official "Belt Grade" so it can mean anything they want it to mean. Ask the supplier how it would be graded if it wasnt for belts. Ask him for the actual grade of the leather. It could mean very good or it could mean its not good for anything else. Michael

Welcome to the best Leather workers board on the internet. Use the search, ask questions and practice practice practice. Take your time and learn how to case your leather, This means getting the right amount of water in the leather in order to tool it. read this tutorial by Bob Parks He explains all about it. Thats the first thing you should learn. If the leather is not cased correctly the swivel knife wont cut correctly, the stamps wont leave the right depth in the leather. It's a good thing to learn as a start. Michael