Heika

Hi all, I am in the market for a used general purpose leather sewing machine, and have it narrowed down to two particular machines. Indecision and inexperience are killers, so I thought I would ask the experts here at the forum. If it were you, which of these machines would you purchase and why? Also, are the prices fair? Would you try to nudge them down, or pay and run knowing you got a good deal? Thank you for any help! http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/for/3306168089.html http://salem.craigslist.org/art/3175184397.html

I love the lizard hiding out. Beautiful work, I will order a copy of your book soon.

The bug for sale gives me confidence in using your services...?

I love this bag. Very pretty, beautiful color. Interesting ends that you put on it, any reason for that? Lovely.

Hey Ferg, Yes, five of them appear to be hand made. Someone collected these over a long period of time, and it wasn't the guy we bought them from. I took a closer look at the edger and the overstitch wheel... they are C.S. Osborne. The print was so small, I took a picture in macro and enlarged it. I wish these tools could tell their story.

My husband and I found these tools on Craigslist. After a long negotiation, we got an amazing deal on them. The seller represented them as 1930's tools, which the vast majority are not. Regardless, there are some old Craftools and Cal-Carved, and some tools marked HD. Here are a few pics.. please forgive my lack of photography skills. The leather book was published in 1945, and is pretty cool. Here is a swivel knife with this brand marking. There are a total of five tools with this mark, but some don't have the triangle border. Any ideas? The top are Craftool. They are all pre- 1969, but some are marked with only numbers. On the left are the Cal-carved tools. The two lacing tools are HD emblem again, will show a better pic in a moment. The three tools on the bottom have no maker marks. Close up of the HD tools. Craftool... Cal-Carved... And tips overall. My husband and I are just starting to put together a small leather shop. This helps us along quite a bit.

LOL, thank you. A local company in town that repaired shoes recently retired after over a hundred years in business. This is one of the machines they used all the time. A sewing machine shop has it now, and the guy has already refitted it with new belts, etc. He offered to allow me to test it out as much as I want. Pretty sure that I could get that price to budge by some, but.... if it is worth it, it is worth it. Thank you, I will test it well before I pull out the cash.

Would $300.00 for one of these that is in good running condition, with table, light, foot peddle and roller foot, etc. be reasonable? Thanks!