Mark842

That is not a good machine for leather work. It may make a decent stitch for about two hours of sewing and then the motor will be junk. The seller does a good job of not letting you see the whole machine but what he does show is that it does not have a walking foot. For $350 you can do a lot better.

For me to ship one board it would cost $52 each way. Shipping all 60 would be laughable. At 25lbs each and taking a whole pallet space on a truck I'm sure it would be in the 6-800 range. Guess I have a bunch of trash. Just hate throwing stuff out that still has life.

There are several places I know of that do it for $5 a square foot like Weaver does. As for time, last time I saw it done it took about 5 minutes to do both sides. It's the shipping that kills the deal. Maybe I'll just wait till I go to the next Weaver leather auction and I'll just throw 20 of them in the truck when I drive out. Was really just hoping somebody was doing it out here in Utah or maybe a neighboring state. Thanks for the replies!

The boards are 36" x 15.5" x 1" polypropylene. As for trying to plane them myself, not interested. I already work 14-18 hours a day 6 days a week. I don't need another project. I'm just trying to find if someone close to me can do it cheaper than I can buy new ones for. If not I'm going to throw them out.

Just wondering who people use to plane there clicker press boards? I actually have a stack of about 60 boards in the shop as I trash both sides in about six months. I have a place that sells new boards that is close by for $100 so it is cheaper for me to just buy new. Everyplace I've ever looked at that planes them, it will cost me more to ship round trip and pay for the planing service then to buy a new one. Keep hoping a place will open up close by and I'll never have to buy a new board again... Anyone know of anyone that does it near Utah?

I just put a small piece of double sided sticky tape on the back of what I'm tooling. It keeps it from sliding around and pulls off easy when done.

And for the record, I buy from LeFarc and they will sell one hide at a time.

Since Bob hooked you up and the manual and supplies I'll just add that you will love the machine for doing patches. I have two hand crank patchers that I take on the road with me to several rally's a year. Usually have a line in front of both machines dawn to dusk with people waiting to get patches sewn on. Paid for both a gazillion times over at $10 a patch.

I use one. Also have the self healing mats with grids. By my from uline, not sure who makes them but they are very good quality, better than Olfa. Use a 36 x 4 omnigrid. Super useful for marking my cuts for large sections requiring 90% cuts as you can lay a square across the end and know you are definitely square.

Put up a photo of your leather, lets see if we can tell what your working with

Skiver is a rebranded cobra. Uses the same 50mm size feed rolls that every other Chinese/Japanese/German Fortuna knock off uses.

You are threaded incorrectly on your top thread. I found this video for you (skip in to about 20 seconds) . It shows very clear how to thread it and it will make a big difference in your tension. If you have adjusted the tension to get it stitching better how you have it now you will probably have to adjust it again after threading it correctly. Things I've learned in years of sewing...always try to correctly adjust your tension by adjusting the top thread tension. You should seldom if ever have to adjust the bottom tension. I have machines I've been sewing on since the 70's that I have never touched the bottom tension on. Think of the tension as a tug of war that you want no one to win. In your photo the top thread is winning the tug of war pulling your bottom thread to the top. Reducing top tension should resolve the problem. The incorrect way you are threaded is probably the cause of too much top tension. In a perfect stitch the knot for the lockstitch is in the middle of your project where it can not be seen. Things that are important...the right needle size and thread size for what you are sewing. If your needle is too big you will have trouble hiding the knot. If it is too small you will have flagging (what you are sewing will be lifted off the plate when the needle comes up) issues and thread fraying. If your still having issues it would be helpful to know what size needle, thread, and how thick the leather you are sewing is.

Hi all, I'm looking for a stateside supplier for a steel feed roll for my skiver. Needs to be a 50mm roll, aggressive enough for veg and Latigo without marking too badly. Found several overseas but ordering them is problematic because of language translation. I've heard that Campbell Randall has them but I can't find them on their website. What I'm looking for will look like the attached pic.

I never change my tension when using the holster plate. I do highly recommend you practice quite a bit before sewing your finished product. It takes a while to perfect because you are sewing without bottom feed and just using the walking foot to feed. You must learn to keep your work level and feed neutral.

I'll ask the obvious question first. How thick is significantly thicker? Is it over the limitations of your machine? Max lift is 1" on that machine and it is designed to sew a max of 7/8". If you are under that thickness check the banana slide on the back of your machine. You can adjust the height of your lift here. Going down on the slide gives you more lift and vice versa.

Hi Rob, Welcome! every time I'm looking to do something for upholstery I visit one of my favorite Youtube guys channel. Here ya go..have fun. https://www.youtube.com/user/Cechaflo

I believe it is a strap embossing machine. It looks like it is missing the guide that sits in front of the roller and holds the strap where you want it. Mechanically, it looks like once the strap is in position and you adjust the embossing roll where you want it, turn the machine on and the roller that is sticking up through the slot in the table will feed the strap.

Nothing special about it, no tricks, just straight forward sewing. I do it all the time.

Thank you! They do have some excellent prices it appears.

I've had wholesale business pricing with Tandy for at least 20 years. Someone is blowing smoke if they're telling you its only been available for 6 months. My local Tandy gives substantial discounts beyond what is listed in their wholesale price list for bulk purchases. problem is they really don't have much worth buying anymore IMO. The few leathers that are quality are so overpriced that I can usually get them at either Hide House, Weaver, or ALD at their regular wholesale cost for less and I don't have to buy 500sqft at a time. That being said, they did do $225 for 1000 line 24 snaps for me the other day which was better than I could find anywhere else.

Pm sent

I purchase from them regularly. Great prices and quality, fast shipping, etc. Call and ask for Kim, she is awesome!

I use an El cheapo electric hot plate. Think I bought it at Target 10 years ago for $15 or so. I have the heat adjusted to where it works best and when I need to crease I just sit the creaser so the tip lays on the hotplate and I just leave it there till needed. Keeps the tip at a steady temp.

Do you have a link to the listing for these? I'm interested but what have to have it shipped. Likely still be worth it at this price. I did a search on Kijiji for them and came up empty.

Looking at their website it looks like the Thor GA 441 is basically the same clone of the Juki 441 you can get from several different places. Looking at different things on the machine though, it does not appear to have been set up to sew leather as good as it could be. Price looks to be on target. If you can check how they are on customer service it might be worth it as it looks like your close and it would save you on shipping.