Gump

Chief; the difference in stitch length will be negligible, as the pivot point is about 8 in up from your work.Stitches will be shorter on thicker leather due to the action of the pivot, but it is only a minor difference. You may notice it but most will not see any difference. And besides it is easy to change stitch length with a luxury machine such as this. Gump.

If you strip it down, it will fray badly in machine use. It is spun nylon and not a continuous filament thread. Therefor it is a bundle of short fibers spun together to make a continuous thread, like wool yarn, and the wax makes it stick together. When you thin it out you lose strength dramatically. Gump.

They are capable of going to no feed dog movement, try adjusting for a longer stitch. That machine will go to as long as 10mm or longer . Not practical for any more than 8spi due to the large needles and thread they are designed for. Gump

Tandy's waxed nyltex is strictly for hand sewing, it will not run in your 206. The thickest you could run easily is 138 nylon. Also unless you are making a work belt of 2 layers, nyltex is to thick and crude for finish work. Gump.

I regularly buy nice upholstery hides at Tandy from their oddlots selection. Sometimes as cheap as $ 2-3 a ft. It is hit and miss, but if you can get in to a store now and then, they have some really nice hides from time to time. Gump.

You can also check out Miami Sewing, they have a large selection of used machines with lots of pics on their website. Good reference for getting to know what each machine looks like. Gump

On some of those machines you could adjust the hooks closer and just replace the needle bar for the gauge you wanted. I doubt you could go down to 3/16, but you may get down to 1/4, as that is only 1/16 adjustment per hook. Check with an expert, but I have a 145 singer that has quite a range of adjustment on its hooks, and is a similar design to your machine. Gump.

If you get lucky, you may find a used Sargent & Co. set on ebay or other used tool sites. They are strong and are the only ones I have ever seen with paralell jaws, allowing for straight holes in thick leather. Also I use a piece of scrap on top of the anvil side to protect the tubes. It makes for a clean cut every time, with no need to twist to get it to cut clean.I have had the same set for 25 yrs, and haven't had to replace or even resharpen them. Gump.

Tandy occasionally has some very nice buffalo calf that is quite firm and smooth, about 2-21/2 oz.. I made some pinwheel coin purses out of it and no cracks on a 180 degree fold. It comes in medium brown and black. Gump.

Check out College Sewing in the UK, they have most 29 parts listed with good pictures for I.D., and the part number and models they fit. Gump.

Buy the Toyota,the japanese make everything to a high tolerance, and use high quality steels and castings. It is hard to go wrong with their technology, they can copy anything, and make it better. Besides, Singer parts are easy to access. IMHO Gump.

You might find a singer 132 b 6, capable of sewing 1/2" with 346 thread for about $500 and up. And believe it or not , that is cheap. If you want a cylinder arm machine with those capabilities, you're looking at a 441 clone at $2400 +. As said in an earlier post, cost is relative. Gump.

There is Buckskin Leather in Calgary @ 5220 1 A street S.E., 403-253-3459. They have a large selection of hides at reasonable prices for Canada.

I used Dubbin on leather boots for years, until I found liquid silicone boot saver. It will darken the leather and collect dirt as it stays gummy/sticky. It eventually will cause boots to rot because it seals the leather and doesn't allow it to breathe. In hot weather it will bleed as the waxes soften and melt slightly. Not a good finishing product,imho. Gump

College Sewing in the UK. They have every part for the model 29 patchers. Best prices I have found and every part has a pic and part number. Gump

Grohman Knives of Pictou N.S. make an Ulu knife with just 1 post/ shaft between handle and blade.There cost is around $50 and their steel is very good, around Rc 57. I have 8-10 of their kitchen and hunting knives and they take and hold a very good edge. They were the makers of D.H. Russel boot knives of fame amongst hunters and trappers. Gump.

Well, it looks like Tandy doesn't move a lot of the pro black. I took a stick and stuck it in the bottom of the quart and the pigment was almost solid on the bottom. Stirred it hard and then shook it for about 10 mins and it now covers well with one good saturation. I've never had dye settle out like that before, usually just a couple of shakes and your good to go. Oh well, problem solved anyway. Gump

Has anyone else had problems with Fiebings black pro oil dye ? I had a litre bought about a year ago, and it took multiple coats to cover and then when dry required another coat to cover the grey areas, so | took it back and was given a replacement. Just tried it this morning, same problem. I saturated the belts I was doing and by the time I had 4 belts done, the first one was faded to grey. I tried to buff the belt with a white rag and absolutely no pigment rubbed off. I have been using the same dye for 20 yrs and never had a problem before. Gump.

The Tandy Pro water stain works well, but you have to apply it like a thick rub on wood stain. Use a wet sponge and rub on a liberal coat and keep working it in. If you get a spot that is darker than the rest, take a clean wet sponge and wash it off lightly and blend with surrounding area. It does cover well, but there is a learning curve when you are used to pro oil dye. Gump

Milled vegtan is a soft leather that is supposed to be able to be stamped or tooled. I haven't tried it but I figure it would probably stretch out and distort as it has some degree of stretch to it. Gump.

Shoepatcher; It is a 30-10, and the manual says it takes 332 L needle system. After I cleaned it, I took the needle out and it was a 135 x 16. I tried it with a new needle, and it sewed fine, so I tried a 29 x 4 dia and again sewed fine. This sure makes things simpler since I have lots of both systems and 332 L needles would have to ordered as no one local has them and the few places I could order them all want to sell bulk boxes [100]. Gump.

Well the singer could still use a few more parts and is a 79 year old machine and only a treadle machine, to much work to convert it to servo power. Gump

Well I finally found an Adler patcher. I had to pay $1500 cad, but this is the first one I have seen for sale in Nova Scotia period. It has a small motor in the base box with a worm gear drive. It is plenty slow but I don't know how the power will be. It uses 332L needles and I was wondering if it could use any other needle system, hopefully 135 x 17. It is a long arm machine, 18.5 in., quite a step up from my 1935 29 K 71. It sat for several years and needs some basic cleaning, but seems fairly tight. If it works out for me, I will sell my old 29 K 71, as i have replaced a lot of parts and made it sew without any hiccups. This is machine # 7,and yes it is an addiction to old iron, need help ?!? nahhh, well maybe lol. Gump

Ronin; That looks like a style called " new top plait ". Sort of like a quadruple cordovan, more coverage for really thick projects. Bet it really eats up lace. Gump.

Took a bench grinder to my set and ground off the heavy taper, resharpened and polished a bit and now they work fine. I did have to smooth out the bore a bit so the plugs would push through. Crude , but cheap and usable with work. Gump