Massive

I remember a time when one's work was an extension of oneself. But increasingly one is characterized by one's work. This is why brand is so important, and why we resist it. If one comes from the individualist, imortal soul characterization of the person, thinking of oneself in brand terms may seem reductive. But we are no longer citizens we are taxpayers or consumers. If you aren't a taxpayer/consumer, you don't exist. Of course there is a degree to which hand work could be seen as a rejecting sideshow to these trends, but if one wants to be relevant to the modern world one may have to find a different course.

One thing I find useful with a new machine that presumably has the factory fresh set-up, is to find a way of calibrating bobbin tension. On my big machines, I remove the retaining ring, and pull out the hook and bobbin assembly. I remove the bobbin. I take something like the 270 thread I use for heavy work and grab about 3 feet of it. I clip that thread in place, and hang the bobbin from it. On my machine it will take a bit of yo yoing to get the assembly to slide down to the floor on the thread. Be sure the floor is carpeted, and safe, as the hook is fragile. If you feel the yo yoing is not an accurate measure, find some weight that will take it down. Do this with your 138 thread, at it's good setting. Take some accurate notes and video. Be sure you are using representative thread, the good stuff. Why? Because if you end up with a cluster up on tension, it really helps to be able to get back to factory, or functional settings. The let down in that department is the bobbin tension that is not easily read off a few set screws (mark their angle with a fine Sharpie line). With upper tension one can see how it is set with dial position and turn out, etc... And one can easily crank it up or down until stitch sorts itself out. But lower tension is harder to alter, and can be difficult to read. Sewing machines rarely come with any indication of where to set it. So getting some really good, repeatable calibration for it, can save your bacon later on. You will develop a feel for the correct tension, and later just be able to pull on a thread and tell whether it is correct. But I can think of few more usefull exercises towards that end, than playing with calibration. Of course some people may never alter the bobbin tension, and it may be stable for them. But if you have a big machine that came with say 277, and you have already played at getting it to say 69, or chased some tension settings, the initial settings may already be lost. So having a baseline to measure from may be useful. On presser foot marks, the overall tension can have some modest effect. The higher you run the tension, the more down pressure you need to make that tension happen, and the more the feet will mark. This is another way it pays to be able to calibrate bobbin tension. So you can get to the lowest setting reliably. Once you have the lowest reasonable bobbin setting, then you should have no trouble getting a balanced stitch without excess tensio. When working at these lower settings, make an inch of sewing, then remove, and examine how well buried the knots are, and see whether the top and bottom thread can be pulled out, and if the two layers are well held together. If all is well you may be at the minimum setting, and the foot tension can be adjusted to match.

I would look carefully at the details. I have a Techsew walking foot saddle type machine, and it marks my work less than a lot of smaller machines with walking feet. I think it is excellent even though really hefty. But i am looking to get a needle feed, compound feed machine. I would consider the Techsew 5100, but it has odd stuff like toothless blanket feet. At times I wonder whether they really get what a machine like that needs to be. You don't want to spend 3K for a machine, and find it has the wrong components somehow. Like this earlier Techsew with a walking foot, and leather feet and dogs that have serations. while the "blanket" accessory feet at set up for leather and are after market. Little details determine how well something will work for you. Personally I haven't got great service from Cobra, I seem to have problems getting answers when I am trying to buy stuff. They are fine, not saying it is anything bad at all, but I got faster responses from Cowboy and Techsew. So I think they are all good. I have got great support from Techsew. So I am ballancing the proximity of Techsew and their service against the probability that the Cobra is better set up for what I want and need.

I don't mind hiding out in my work, and I come from a background where classic work is neither decorated, nor branded. I perfer to buy blank T-shirts and hats. My preferences aside, I see a lot of people who feel that part of handmade work is a brand. They are so fixed in the brand mentality, and in fairness the idea of brands everywhere is growing. So if you deny them brand they don't know what they have in their hand any more. I have been adjusting to the idea. I used to think only Ford, etc... had a brand, but we live in a world where brand is a thing to discuss through your resume...

I have a saddle type, though walking foot machine. It runs 69 to 415 thread. I do a lot of different things on it, right at the moment I am running small projects with 138 thread. It sews great in leather, but I am attaching velcro that has an adhesive backing. I could use velcro without the PSA, but the result would not be as good for the end user. I want to try out a magnetic oiler, since I have one. They are pretty cheap, so if I mess this one up, no big deal. I don't have any thread oil on hand, except some spray silicon for sails, that I don't want to get close to leather. Has anyone tried any domestic oils, like olive oil, perhaps thinned if required. It will take weeks to get anything delivered to the Great White North. What I am fighting is that the neeedle gets sticky, and the thread decores. I have hand applied lube, and that works for a while, but not that great.

Sailrite machines are asian imports that have been hot rodded here. Sails often have leather in them, and the places where they do have leather, are pretty thick. Sailrite machines also have optional feet for leather, to eliminate marking, there is nothing about a sailrite machine that will mark leather any more than any other machines that have walking feet. I have an LZ, whatever the top of the line model and options are. Spiniker sails have material in them as light as 3/4 oz, and that is the lower end of the machine range, so the upper end is pretty limited. Sailrite machines do not use parts that you can buy from most stores. I would not buy another machine, gulp, maybe I just did, where the basic accessories are so overpriced. I just bought a 16" saddle type machine, and cost wise, there are lots of real leather machines that are competitive with even the LZ machines. Sadly, if you want to do sails, you need a machine that does zigzag, and if you want a leather machine, they general, or probably always, do not. They are just different machines that do not overlap that well. Sailrite machines are highly regarded in the sail biz, and you can find out about them in boat forums like the woodenboat one.

I had to use a winch to raise my machine onto the second floor. Never lift anything truly heavy if I can avoid it.

I have seen pieces where someone carved a quotation in longhand. It looks as though they simply cut it with a swivel knife, and somehow beveled it. Any suggestions, as to how? Maybe swivel knife and stylus? I am talking here about a script the size and visual weight of ballpoint pen. Or possibly like a greeting card. Not something, however, where the script is outlined with lettering between two lines, and lots of double beveling. Thanks

The pattern thing is correct, the copyright applies to the instrument, the book, or paper pattern, one may not copy that. Some special categories of patterned items may be patentable, though they are essentially patterns. Boat hulls for instance. This is a change that came in about 10-15 years ago, and is not retroactive. If you made saddlebags with the Harley logo on them, and they called you on it. You could simply agree to surrender them, I would have thought. They can only come after you for copying them if they can prove you did, possession would not seem to be a sufficient basis for that assumption. Your mileage may vary.

I don't think your friend is cheating you. The thing will sew through very heavy leather with ease, a quarter inch or more, but as others have said, it may not have the thread capacity you would want for the products you are sewing. Recently I was trying to sew velcro onto a leather patch with mine. To set the tension I sewed through some heavy leather, like it wasn't there. But when I applied the velcro it would not touch it. Kinda strange. I was using ball end needles, and I haven't tried it yet with leather needles. Another limitation is that while parts are available from Sailrite, they are very expensive. While it is not a unique machine, simple parts like the foot are not available on ebay. I think it is a very useful machine around the home, and for some leather, but you are actually straying into harness work. The problem there is that while there are deals, they are not really great. Second hand machines are currently often as expensive as the better knock-offs, which can be better machines since they may have undated features and electronics. Maybe the heavy bit isn't as good as on an oldster, but your production might be better. So basically you have people who think they are giving you a great deal selling you an old machine, who want more for it than a new Cowboy or Cobra. Then you have some unique old machines that are still very valuable, over all it is just not a very easy place to find a reasonably priced machine. Cheaper than 10 years ago for sure, but not new economics cheap. So, to some extent it depends on price. If you are being offered an LZ1 for 10% vs 90%, and does it have the monster wheel, and a good electronics package. There comes a point where a deal is good enough it is no-cost to carry and later resell. These are prized machines among yachties, so there is a market. You can fill the foot with epoxy so it doesn't mar, and then when you go to sell it, just take a 3 corner file to the epoxy.

That does not look like it was bent, but sawn from a larger block. One can see the edge grain runs out below the major bend, and the dark spot on the face grain is where the endgrain is on the outside.

"Right now we're doing a line of hand-tooled collars which I have to personally make (and I love doing them) and while I think we're charging a fair price, my employees are arguing that we should charge more since I could be making 4-5 regular collars in the time it takes me to do one carved collar, but we only charge about twice as much for a tooled collar. It's a delicate balance." My rule is that if I am making money, and have only myself to please, then I can afford not to be too aware of what the specific costs are. This carries on until I go through a process of being ticked at the fact that maybe only I value the "extra", and should start charging for it. There are often ideas in a craft that don't really bear examination, create a lot of work, and don't really lead to a lot of dollars, but they amount to what the customer understands the value to be. If customers come to believe that hand sewing is better, notwithstanding that some modern machine sewable threads are now stronger than steel, and very abrasion resistant, sometimes one needs to just get out of the way, and hand sew the stuff. Or hand sew enough that they have confidence in buying your machine made stuff.

I don't have a Boss, but I do the thing with the clock face. I use a permanent marker to align with the tension screw. I journal the entries so that if some time goes by I can return to it. I also just run tests. Once you let go of the safety blanket of not touching anything, the process is simple. When moving down, you drop the bobbin tension way down, you want the lightest tension that will hold the materials together. Of course you have to drop the spool tension also in order to center the thread. The reason you want to drop the tension on the bobbin a lot is just because it tends to be easier to take a big move and find you way up to a starting point that to creep down. It is a lot more obvious when the stitch needs more support that when one has dropped the tension, but not enough. The other thing I recommend doing is buying a bobbin case for each thread tension. Then you have the Bobbin tension just so for each thread size, type, or job, and can simply leave it fixed. Unfortunately my sewing machine is an oddball and extra cases are a fortune, but if you have one of the commoner types, that is a real nice "accessory" to have. Good thing to bargain for when buying.

Are you selling it? Where, how much?

Thanks for the replies. Sounds as though I could make this machine work. I haven't got it yet, but I will pin these responses so that should I go that route I will have the required info. Trox, I will also be welding up a stand, and would be interested to see what you come up with. The installation for many of these machines locally seems to be on tables, in a factory setting. There may be pros and cons to that, I probably don't really need the clearance around the arm that a pillar supplies, but I don't have the space for another table. So I think it will work out for the best on a pillar. "With the foot supplied it will leave a tread on the top leather. (Not good)." If you don't need that feature consider just filling in the tread with some liquid steel, or other high quality epoxy. "Does not have walking foot and sometimes the needle will bind in the material and lift up with the single foot." That sounds like a presser foot tension adjustment. Did you try that?

Hi, I found a machine of this type just over the Border in NY. I want to make holsters etc... And other stuff In that weight. I also have a line on a Randall, and could end up with both. So I am not worried about the 1/2" plus stuff. But I don't need a machine that only handles moccasins either. Is that just a mater of swopping out a foot? I understand that nominally the Adler will do 3/4", but that people say it is not really capable of it, and is more a 1/2" machine. Still there is a huge difference between a high quality maybe 3/4" machine, and a never more than 1/2" machine... If I buy the Adler, I probably won't rush out and buy the Randall immediately. But If I buy the Randall I will need something to sew the lighter stuff also. People say it is hard to adjust the Randall out of it's prime use. Funny, an 18" arm is real big for shoes... Any thoughts for my use?

Most holster guys are using the Cobra 4 size machine. Most need to be able to sew a lot heavier than 2 layers of 9oz. And some gunbelt work etc... benefits form the 16" machine. Cowboy has the same thing. If you are stateside, it pays to hit the crags and ebay. I was on the verge of buying a Cobra 4, when I looked locally and found an adler 205-64, for 800. Somehow when I was willing to write Cobra a check for 4K. I couldn't pop on the adler. It was a long drive. But I am kicking myself. But anyway stuff is out there. You might think you don't know enough to buy second hand, but it is the same issue with first hand. Study it up till you really know what you need, and could buy second hand, or you risk getting the wrong machine. People can't really tell you what would be best for you.

If you look at what the Stohlman types do, they rouge the steel every time they take a few cuts. That is a pretty clear indication you have a very weak abrasive, but that isn't all bad. Barbers traditionally did the same thing (with whatever materials they use). Because every client is entitled to the perfect shave. And I guess if you want every cut with the swivel or round knife, etc... to be done with a virgin edge that is utterly repeatable, you might do the same. It is an interesting question as to why we strop. With barbers, the edge on the razor was well above what could be expected from the stones of the day, so the strop was a way of going to "11" for those with Spinal Tap references. But today that is no longer the case. There are a lot of methods for going to a super fine edge, many more efficient than most in common use. There are fewer when you get down to methods that do not require cleanup or leave residues on the edge. The strop also rounds the edge which has certain advantages in some work, and not others. The fastest compound for sharpening is diamond powder. I don't know a clean carrier, but people are doing a lot of work with it, and there are presumably wax based sticks out there. One can cheaply buy the powder, so I assume they could be made.

http://blog.papermonkey.org/kelly_papier%20plain.pdf

Was it only those patterns you were interested in? Will has a whole set of 1911 patterns: http://www.willghormley-maker.com/1911.html

The bike persona goes back to the Werhmacht. Not in a emulation sense necessarily, more in a we beat 'em, and we can wear their stuff. Normal victory behavior. The bikers wore not only skulls, but German helmets, the Iron cross (which is a broad symbol, but the version worn was from the nazi period). German officer's caps, swastikas, etc... Skulls have a wide range of symbolic meaning, from symbolism around human frailty and mortality, to the horror end of the spectrum. Leather itself is the wearing of the skins of animals for practical and other reasons. The same cultures that feel at home in the skins of others, often collected and displayed their bones, antlers, horns, skulls, etc... A recognition of one's mortality is healthy and mature. The gravedigger scene in Hamlet is part of that tone. At the other necessary extreme there is the celebration of death dealing, horror, etc... Sometimes you need to get ramped up for battle. This can descend into the celebration of cruelty, and terror, or the inference that one is one of those people who would be comfortable with that, whatever the truth. There is doubtless a whole lot more to it than that. And a whole lot less if one is just vibrating with whatever is currently popular.

I have/had that book. I was going through some leather the other day, and found several sets of pre-cut pieces for the bag, and the shogun shot pouch.. I also make some of the ball pouches. Great book, from my perspective a little more eastern or England than some of the stuff we get from the American West. The shot pouch is right out of my English hunting books in it's look.

To make a dressing in which you combine beeswax with a solvent, simply grate the beeswax first, and then add it to the solvent, it will dissolve. If they were meant for each other. No heat required.

Moore-Pearsall Leathers Limited, is the place in Toronto.

Warkov has a good shoe reputation. They have some products you can virtually not get anywhere else in the world. Like quality insole leather which at the bespoke level is getting very hard to find. There are/were some good large leather suppliers in Toronto. There used to be a tannery at the base of the DVP. The one I most dealt with moved out to the suburbs from Front street, and now I have forgotten it's name. Anyone remember? Another was mostly exotic leathers, snake skins.