Mark842

I don't know if mine is any better or worse than other models as it is the only one I've owned. I have the Cobra NP4. Purchased it used probably about 3 years ago now. It works great, gets used probably 2 hours per week and has had no problems.

Before I went the clicker die way, when I used to cut my fringe by hand I had the same problem you are having. Our solution was to put the leather on contact paper. Then cut using your template with the rotary cutter. This will stop the leather from moving around on you.

I use Obenauf's. Google it...great stuff.

If you do decide to get a sewing machine I would recommend taking a look at this gents videos. Specifically hunt up how to do french seams. He several videos on motorcycle seats and a ton on upholstery basics and his videos are excellent. Enjoy!

Ahhh..memories of moving my first clicker press into my shop. We wound up buying a used pallet jack for about $20 and with the help of a buddy we cut the pallet jack in half, took 6" out of the width and welded it all back together. This made the pallet jack as wide as the base of the press on its sideways (narrowest profile) so we could get it through doorways. We had 4 or 5 places we had to go over a change of elevation of a few inches. All of this was accomplished by either rolling the press onto pipes or using two hydraulic floorjacks depending on if we were going up or down. Took about 5 hours if I remember right with two of us doing the work, five friends who were the peanut gallery and the women who helped us by telling us we were crazy..it will never work...be careful..don't hurt yourself...and other useful advice. And then 4 years later we moved it to the new place and did it all over again. At least the new shop has garage door access and a cement floor! That being said, I just took delivery of 1600sqft of leather I purchased from nstarleather (thanks Mike!) that I have to hand carry up a flight of stairs to my leather room. Guess what i'm doing for the next hour or so. This is why I usually only purchase a couple hundred sqft at a time but sometimes you gotta take the deals when you can get them!

Thank you to everyone contributing info on this. I'm looking to purchase something this year. Ran into a local Epilog rep a few days ago and he invited us to their shop to do some testing. We are hoping to go get some laser time on our leathers with him sometime next week. I'm more interested in engraving than cutting as we have clicker dies for most of our products already but I had never thought about using a laser to cut our own packaging. We have several products that are problematic when it comes to packaging and making our own could be the ticket!

Not sure what type of sewing machines you have available but I have solved that problem on bags I've made by sewing a piece of kydex to the leather. The added plus is you can shape the kydex however you want. I use a cobra 4 and it sews right through leather and kydex easily.

https://electrek.co/2017/07/22/tesla-seat-options-now-vegan/

Yep, I'll be a third on what Bruce said adding I'll cut with my box cutter type knife on my self healing mat but not with my head knife for the reason he stated. That being said I'm partial to the self healing mats that uline sells. I can get about 6 months out of an Olfa brand mat and about 2 years out the Uline mats. https://www.uline.com/BL_1174/Self-Healing-Cutting-Mats?pricode=WU282&AdKeyword=uline cutting mat&AdMatchtype=e&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxpGw0cek3wIVIx6tBh33Jwn7EAAYASAAEgLAVPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Haha...that's would I said years ago when I moved my business from a 900sqft apartment into a 3700sqft house. 6 months later...the only part of that space not dedicated to the business is the master bedroom and the kitchen.

Go get it Big Sioux..haha..you know you want another one! If I buy another right now my biz partner will kill me.

I've has one for a few years. Don't remember why but mine came with a spare blade. I set it up with the blade it came with and remember it being dull as shit. I stropped it and it worked much better. Took the spare blade to my local blade guru to have it sharpened as I suck at sharpening. According to him it is actually a decent quality metal but wasn't sharpened worth a shit. He got it good and sharp and I've been using it for a few years with the occasional stropping. I use it for 1-1/2 straps down to 3/8" wide latigo and veg. I can get it down to paper thin although once you get that thin the leather will start stretching on you pulling it through. If you can't sharpen good, find someone who can and it will work great for what you need I think.

Yep, as Bob said it's a #1. If it has a bobbin and turns I'd do it for $500. The bobbin cases are scarce though and will likely cost you more than $500 for a good one. Of note is the base is the full treadle base with that big wheel. That was an option that is hard to find.

These are conchos I currently have in stock. The first and the last in the nickel color shown and also brass plated. I don't make holsters. I use them mainly on motorcycle related products and wallets occasionally.

Try searching eBay for them. They are called Texas Star Concho. I would (will) sell you one if you can't find one closer to you on eBay. I just looked up 1st class parcel from me to Slovenia for 1 of them and it costs $14 postage. I would just charge you my cost if you only need 1 concho...which is $1. I have a couple of different styles but before we get into that see if you can find them close to you so you don't have to pay a fortune for shipping.

Yeah, I got a black friday flier from Tandy. What a joke. My regular pricing on the few things in the flier I would purchase is better than their Black Friday offers. Nobody really does anything substantial sale wise that I know of for leather or leatherworker tools.

I know The Thread exchange carries nomex and Kevlar thread. I prefer Superior threads for whatever my opinion is worth. They carry Kevlar but do not have Nomex. I'm guessing from what your saying you are making the helmet ID's, not sure what they are called. From the ones I have seen I would probably use size 207 to 300 thread.

Contact paper works great. Holds the work and keeps it from distorting but doesn't stick enough to pull up the flesh side

I don't have the little wonder but I do have the older Weaver heritage foot press setter. I'm fairly sure that the spot setter used is the same for both. If so, works good for me. I have found that while I may be able to set spots a little faster by hand after punching the holes and putting in the spots by hand, I can do it overall faster with better accuracy and consistency with the press.

Very nice work!

Obviously you cared enough about to start the thread. I was just answering a question...Just try to help where I can. Anyway, i'll let you go back to bitching about things you don't care about and won't bother commenting.

Well then lie and make a fake account or don't. I don't care. You asked why there are closed groups and I answered. Don't like joining them? Still a free world, don't join them.

It's very simple actually. Most of these forums are trade related to a specific type of tool for the trade like stamps or dies. If you don't make them private and have a moderator you wind up having every swinging D%^4 trying to sell everything from a Matchbox car to their widget arm. If it is private the moderators can make sure the content is relevant and does not contain things the target customers are interested. I'm a member of 3 or 4 of them and have made dozens of successful purchases and also made a lot of good business contacts. I guess to each their own. The name and birthday info just keeps the bots and fake accounts out.

My understanding of how clutch motors work... When on the motor is spinning full speed all the time. When your not pressing the pedal your clutch motor is in the braked position with the clutch pads separated and either a piece of rubber or leather engaging the pulley keeping it from spinning. I believe your motor is working as it should. You should be able to put slight pressure on the treadle pedal that will release the brake and still not enough to engage the clutch. This should allow you to turn the machine by hand. I'm not positive about this but I think you should be able to do this with no power applied to the motor, just press the pedal lightly and try turning the machine. I'm sure others will correct me on the parts I got wrong. Been a long time since I used a clutch motor

Either that or a Bar tacker. Either way I'm pretty sure its a specialized machine.