Sylvia

Tanglefoottraders had a rivet domer that was branded with a maker's logo. It's on this page. http://www.tanglefoottraders.com/#!__knife-sales-page

You could try proleptic for manuals. You could also try Osborne for manuals.

What my belt sander came with. 80 grit. It makes quick work of the fuzzies.... then I hand sand with 150 grit if it needs it. Do protect yourself with a face mask...

Raven has a great idea. I've used University students for auto repair before and it was very inexpensive compared to the local auto shops. Since their work is supervised by the instructor I felt very comfortable having them do the work. Maybe if you can locate a Machinist in your area since they typically have the necessary tools and are used to working with precise requirements. You'll need a clear idea of exactly what you want the die to do and be able to articulate that to the machinist. Expect to spend a little more on the custom dies. Just having that hole drilled and tapped for a set screw in that arbor press of mine cost me $30 here locally.

Meagain: A Piercing die pokes a hole (as in piercing an ear...) that's what David calls his hole dies. They are cone shaped and the bottom die has a hole in it so the top die can push the leather out the bottom. (not great for our leather cutting and hole needs) BUT If you didn't have the bottom die, it would just leave a funnel shaped depression. Scroll and/or click back to page 4 (I think) to the pictures I posted about the results of the hole punching test on thicker leather, you'll see the divot it makes on the front of the leather.

Meagain: The threads for the screw in dies is 10-26. If you buy from ebay or elsewhere make sure the threads are that size and it should be ok. If they can't tell you the tread size/type... then don't buy unless you want to take the chance it won't fit, or they are willing to let you return them if they don't fit. As for your crystal issue... I suppose you could use the piercing dies for that but not use the die for the bottom in that set, use the rivet set bottom or one of the others... that would make your divot but then you would need to know how far to press and that would take practice.

I totally agree. So much more fun. When I first got mine I sat down with several "bracelets" and set snaps for 20 mins. It probably would have taken less time if my leather wasn't slightly too thick requiring me to skive a bit first. But I got 25 of the things done in no time.... even with skiving and manually punching holes. Life is good.

I found this set of templates for wood workers, inside and outside corners in different radius' http://www.rockler.com/quick-corners-set

That's not the same machine. It's one he bought off of ebay, probably an older one. I know for a fact that the Tandy tubes he's using do not fit... because I tried.

Yes, I did. It took a great amount of effort to make holes in the 10oz leather. All it really did was put a divot in the front and squished out a bit on the back, no hole when I did it by hand. Then I tried with all my weight (and I am no skinny minny) jumped up and down too. No hole. I finally got a whole when I helped it along with a 4lb single jack hand sledge...and smacked the handle, which I don't recommend since it buggered up my rubber on the handle. The hole was still not cut properly... still divoted and I had to pull the slub thing off the back. It left fibers behind, in my opinion you should save your cash. pics attached The arbor press was originally bought for those stupid 3d stamps Tandy sells, but I used it for my short logo stamp too. Now that it has a hole drilled I can use it to punch, stamp, chisel, etc. As long as a handle will go up in there, I'm good.

Regarding whether or not Goldstar piercing dies will punch leather. I had David send me a set. The things I do for you folks. lol I got the piercing dies and give them a good old college try... on 1/4" thick (9-12oz) saddle/tooling leather. I'm sorry to say but they did not do a good job. I can be done, BUT and it's a big but...it requires just as much effort if not more effort as using a hand punch and hammer. In fact, I put the dies in, gave it a good squish with my hands and nothing, Next one I gave it a good squish with all my weight, even jumping up and down, nothing. Next hole I got out my single jack hand sledge with a weight of about 5lbs and whacked the rivet press handle! (damaged the rubber part) that barely worked, I had to literally pull off/out the plug from hole... and it left all kinds of fuzzy fibers that the die did not cut. I was unable to get a good clean cut hole with these piercing dies on thick tooling leather. Photos attached. The last photo is of a tube punch result.

You got lucky that it fit.. now, where are those punched out pieces going to go?

Kristen? Talk to Cobra Steve ask him to see if he can find you a USED leather machine. It might take him a couple months but he'll find you one.

Meagain. I've got one of the those "piercing die" sets coming. I should have it by Thursday. I've got all kinds of thick 13oz leather here so I'll test it for you... we will find out for sure if it will work. If it does and doesn't require a sledge hammer to get it to cut we'll find out.

Yes, he JUST told me that... however I really doubt that these will cut through your thick leather. Take a few deep breaths... this is a learning experience.. being confused is normal.

Yeah, that was my idea to fit those tubes to it. . The problem is that the height between the top die and the lower piece is too short. And these dies' thread is 10-26 an odd size; especially in the USA. And you'll have problems with the tubes clogging up since there is no where for the punched pieces to go. What I ended up doing was spending about $30 to have my arbor press' Ram drilled with a 1/2" hole to fit the Tandy punch set handle and a set screw installed. (Although my darling husband had the guy put the screw up too high) it actually works better for me because not only can I use the mini and maxi punch sets, I can use some of my other Stamps too ... AND I don't have to remove change out the dies a lot.

If you do collars now... you could make bracelets and use the snaps. Men tend to like the bigger snaps. Ponder on that a bit. Crystal Rivets? I would use a lot of caution using a press on Crystals. Wear eye protection, etc. I've never heard of anyone setting Crystals with them. That said the 6mm items would work ok with the 8mm die. Talk to Dave about the crystals though he may have something or can get something that is better. DO NOT buy the hole cutter. It's made for fabric or canvas... does not work on leather. You'll hand punch like normal until you find another option. See black river laser for alignment and centering templates

Hey we've all been there. And for a lot of us setting rivets by hand is or has been the bane of a lot our leather journey. I've seen online at youtube where some folks attach their rivet setter to the plywood like I said. I have mine bolted to an old sewing machine table. Don't be afraid of chicago screws though. All you need to "secure" them is some Loctite brand "Removable Threadlocker" It's important that you get the removeable...remember that. 1 drop on the threads and it will take some good force to get the screw to back out.

It's pretty heavy but I would at least screw it down to a hunk of 3/4" plywood if you need it portable and stable. The trick with rivets even with a setter is that the stems need to be just the right length for your leather. If you don't have the right length the caps pop off or the hole thing goes sideways.

Try Angelus dies.

Raven: It's amazing isn't it? Install the dies, put the hardware in, put the material on it... squish squish squish.... and done. I tell ya I hug mine every time I set a rivet or snap. A friend who got one of these used the 8mm rivet set of dies to set a brown stud. He emailed me asking if I had ever set one of those by hand because he couldn't figure out his hand setting anvil... uh nope...never used them at all. Then it dawned on me that a brown stud is just a "bulbous" rivet... I suggest that he use the rivet die. He reported back that it works great.

Wow, that has to be old. It looks like some of the Mid 1800s sewing machines. Have you considered asking CS Osborne about it.. perhaps they have some old literature on it.

That sounds like it's slipped time.... The hook should be fairly close by the needle as the needle starts to travel upwards, so it can catch the loop the thread makes.

Here's an online copy of the manual for this. http://www.manualslib.com/manual/522852/Singer-211g155.html?page=6#manual On page 6 it shows this area. I can't tell what's going on with yours but it looks as if something isn't quite right.