Ken Nelson

If anyone aspiring to become a competent saddle maker can, he or she should attend this seminar if at all possible. Not often does the opportunity to study under a legend become available. The price is very reasonable.

Adjusts the pressure on your presser foot, and it will affect the pressure needed to raise and lower said presser foot. HTH Ken

I use 794S needles on my Cobra Class 4. If you don't have a really good operators manual with this machine, I would suggest you go to the Artisan site and pull down the manual for the Toro series machines. It is really good and is way more indepth than most of the 441 manuals. I used to trade on used sewing machines a little. I only bought one from individuals that sewed when it come into the shop. None of them took any parts, just a lot of adjusting and I got lucky there. I have seen some that were so worn out it cost more for parts than the machine was worth. Learning how to adjust these machines is part of learning how to sew. Do not let it scare you. It is not rocket science and there is a lot of help available. A really good manual or mechanics video is worth a lot. HTH's Ken

I second the vote against ring shanks anywhere on a saddle.. NOT a good idea any time.

There should be a plate and bottom feed dog with this machine. I think Max may be on to something. I would also advise you not to run it dry. HTH Ken

Panhandle leather in Amarillo for HO of any thickness. They will do what they say they will. That said, I have used Wickett & Craig for a lot of stuff, medium and small stuff, built saddles from it. Good leather, always ordered from them direct, was never really unhappy with what they sent. Myself, I prefer Herman Oak for saddles but use W/C for a lot of stuff. Both good, but that is just my opinion. Ken

This machine is sold. Thank you. Ken

I have a good Ferdinand 900 B for sale. It is located in Wessington Springs, SD. It has been gone through and is in really good shape. It includes, machine, stand, clutch motor, thread stand a few extra bobbins, 2 pks of needles and 2 spools of thread. this machine is cosmetically not perfect but I do not think it has seen a lot of use. It sews good and is smooth. Servo motor available for another $125.00. I am asking $1500.00 for the machine. I will be going to West Texas next month and can meet if you are along the way. I don't want to ship it. Check out the full story on the South Dakota Craigslist.

If It were mine, I would send it to Art and have the master get it sharpened right, then before it gets real dull, use the wet, dry paper on glass for touch up. I buff my splitter blades and get along good with it but you have to be very very careful. Art is very reasonable on his charges.

Needles, extra bobbins, Thread extra feet, I think it is very reasonable. Ken

Well said sir.

Weaver will have their auction next month and the auction value will be established.

I purchase from suppliers, for the most part, that supply professional leather workers. I have been in my main suppliers business a lot of times. I hand picked leather there for 5 years and they know what I like and don't. I don't cost compare with other companies to them. They will on a rare occasion make a mistake. A phone call (and a congenial one) always get fantastic results. I understand leather grades somewhat and am willing to pay for what I get. When someone tells me they cannot afford to buy # 1 Hermann Oak or W/C I have to wonder how professional they are. I cannot afford to not use #1 leather in most of what I build. If lesser quality leather is called for, I use it. My customers know # 1 from craft grade and do not accept lesser quality materials in the products they order. In short, You get what you pay for most of the time. If you purchase from a company that specializes in supplying hobby workers that are beginners, expect to pay more than the professionals do. But at the same time, What choice does a person starting out have when you cannot justify several sides of #1 tooling leather in1 order. I do not order from suppliers that send me junk at # 1 prices. But at the same time it is just a fact that even on a #1 hide, some of that hide is scrap and I send a little of every hide to someone wanting practice leather or to the landfill. That is just my 2 cents worth. Ken

I am 800 miles from Panhandle leather and I get orders from them in 3 days all the time. They ship UPS. Weaver takes 5 or 6 Business days FedEx. The Hide house takes a week to 10 days but they are in California and it is a long ways from South Dakota. HTH Ken

You made a couple of good points there. I never did trust the fold over off billet and never used them and would not put them on a new saddle, especially one I was going to work out of. Ken

Let us know how you get along with it. I had a Classic of his some years ago. I swapped it off and have regretted it ever since. I hope the cub is as good for you.

pull the end cover off the machine, you will see the presser foot bar with a block on it. loosen the screw and raise the presser foot bar.

I wore out saddles (literally) for nearly 40 years and most of them had half-breed off side latigoes on them and they got changed regularly. 95% of the saddles I build have a regular latigo on both sides, per ordered preference. The saddles I build are rode and used HARD. luckily I have not had any fail yet. I have really good hands riding them, that take good care of their equipment. Big Sioux, I could not agree more with your choice of leather if you are going to build a fold over single ply off billet. I think long or half breed off latigoes are a better deal for my clientele. But, that is just me. Ken

If you sew them dry, you should not have much for presser foot marks. Dampen it, take a bone folder and rub them out. The machines you listed for lighter work are all good but expensive. Look into a Class 18 from leather machine company or similiar machine from one of the suppliers on this sight. They are set up for leather and the support you get is priceless. Cheaper in the long run and a lot less headaches. Most saddle shops have at least 2 sewing machines or more. Reasons for it too. HTH Kem

People like me are not retailing the products we purchase from Weaver. We buy at wholesale to build our product. They are, in my opinion, trying to force ,me to make them one of my main suppliers or pay retail. They are not competitive on some of their product. They charge for pulling items and packaging them. I took a couple of boxes to my neighbor next door 3 years ago, who was a FedEx pickup and found out 40% of the shipping was packaging and processing on those two boxes. Most of my suppliers do not do this. they may charge for the box they ship in but Panhandle stands the box and if you order large amounts from Panhandle they will usually absorb the shipping. They work at getting and keeping your business. They are not the cheapest on a lot of things but for quality, honesty and fast shipping, they are hard to beat. They have really good Latigo by the way. Building saddles is a competitive business. You have to strive to control your overhead or you cannot compete. It has to be very high quality materials, built very well if you are going to build for the kind of clientele I build for. These large production shops get price breaks most leatherworkers would be amazed at. By the way, Ford, John Deere and most of the major automobile and farm equipment have closed most of the smaller dealers down. These super stores have nearly done away with customer service for the most part, at least in my part of the world. I doubt Weaver is the main supplier for production companies. They buy direct from the source, just like Weaver does. Price a pallet of Skirting leather at any of the 3 major tanneries. About half what a 10 side roll will cost. Just my 2 cents worth

What you are saying is true and everyone should use whatever supplier works for them. I like the hardware from Weaver and they are reasonable on it. I quit buying leather from them 6 years ago. I was having issues with them on 3 out of 4 orders on leather. Panhandle in 7 years, not one bad hide. Thoroughbred not one bad hide in about 8 or 9 orders. Hide house, pretty good luck with them. I feel that if Weaver is going to make a big deal about the quantity of product a maker buys to keep his or her wholesale status, they need to get really competitive on some of the things they aren't. But that is just my opinion. Ken

The HO I get from Panhandle is some better than the last couple of orders I got from Thoroughbred, which a customer of mine had me order. However, I saw 2 orders of HO from Weaver last fall and was amazed at how poor it was. I think Weaver sent out some of the poorest grade HO has. Their tannery run is higher than Panhandle's # 1. Wickett & Craig # 1 is cheaper than Weaver is on HO, tannery run. AND Weaver wonders why wholesale customers are buying less! Hope this helps. Ken

According to Dan at Campbell-Randall, these machines were built on a Sieko CH-8, branded as a Consew 754 ( I think). Dan confirmed the shuttle interchanges between the Juki 441's and the Sieko. I am wondering if due to age if that shuttle has changed over the years. Parts are available for this old beast but they have to be sent over from Japan and it does take a while and are somewhat pricey. I am wondering if the shuttle driver can be pulled out of the machine and modified. I have a DVD coming from Tony Luberto on these 900B's in a couple of days and hopefully it will clear up the issues. This machine is really tight and I think it will be good if I can get this issue solved. Thank all of you guys for your help and ideas on this. Ken

I am well aware.