Ken G

Have you been to the local Tandy store on Route 4? They have basic classes on Saturdays. Any more than that I don't know about.

My package arrived Friday in great shape, thanks.

PM sent for several.

I've never held the "Mega foam" that Knifekits sells so I don't know how stiff it is. I mold kydex with some black neoprene foam that is about 1 1/8" thick and looks like the black foam they sell. I bought a big roll of it at a flea market. It gives great detail to the kydex using only squeeze clamps and two pieces of plywood. I have never tried it with leather yet. I'll put it on my "to do" list.

Singer serial number list: http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html

As I suspected, some time in the last 5 years the Leather Guild at the Tandy store in Fairfield (Metro Cincinnati) has disbanded. Apparently OutlawMIB was the store manager then and that was several managers ago.

I'll take it if not spoken for yet. PM inbound.

Since the original post is almost 5 years old and the poster has not been active for almost as long I'm not sure about the guild. I hope to be at the store in the next day or two and I will check and let you know.

I'm old enough, sometimes, sign me up.

Unless it ships fully assembled it should be palletized in pieces. Here is a link of a guy unpacking a Cowboy 4500 which is a similar looking machine. It may still be a little awkward getting a couple of the bigger pieces down steps with a bad back. http://www.swflholsters.com/460/cowboy-4500-leather-stitcher-delivery-and-setup/

I haven't seen one of TCD's presses in person so I don't know. You have the advantage of being close enough to go look at it and possibly pick it up saving the freight charges. My long term plans involve buying/building a press of some sort. I would imagine to convert the HFT press you would need a couple of 3/4" or even 1" steel plates from 12" to 18" square. Then you will need some sort of gusset and bracket arrangement to mount these plates in the press. They have to be mounted in the press with enough precision to compress together evenly to cut your product without uneven pressure on the die. I'm as frugal as the next guy but steel is not cheap and I do not have the equipment or ability to fabricate the cutting platens. A couple of friends are excellent welders/fabricators but they don't work free like me.

Unless you have the steel plate and the ability to weld just go to: www.texascustomdies.com They sell a 12 ton version already set up. It looks like you are neighbors, for Texas anyway. In a previous life I worked in the folding carton industry. The steel rule dies we used had a plywood backing. We could make sample cartons by laying the die, knives up, on a solid steel table. With the paperboard laying upside down on the die we would use a rawhide mallet to tap above the rule all the way around the die, hand cutting the sample. There is no reason this could not be done with leather, especially for 6 pieces a day. A couple of strategic 1" holes in the backer board could be used for a finger or dowel to eject the leather from the die.

If I could piggyback on this thread I had some more questions about making and using vinegaroon. I started a batch exactly two weeks ago. I degreased 6 steel wool pads (size 0000) in simple green then added them to a gallon of white vinegar in a plastic pickle jar. After about 10 days I poured off about a pint and strained it and dyed up a few pieces of vegtan. It worked great. Rinsed in a baking soda/water bath then fresh water, air dried, and then applied a light coat of neatsfoot oil. I dumped the small amount of vinegaroon that I had used. Today I degreased a couple more steel wool pads and added them to the jar as the original pads all seem to be dissolved. After a few days the leather still has a little bit of a funny smell but its not a deal breaker. I am impressed with how black it is. My questions are: If I wait another week or two, will the additional pads dissolve (react?). Will this additional aging reduce the odor with later use? Eventually I will strain/filter this solution into a gallon storage jug. If I were to use a pint or so to dye some leather should I dump this used liquid after use? Save it in another container for further use? Or if I pour it back in the original container will the used solution contaminate my stock solution?

I agree with the others and congratulate you on your ingenuity, and frugality. I will have to put one or two of these on my project list. Luckily I do know of a lathe or two I can borrow. Since I have never used a poly maul I can't tell you where the balance point should be and I have no idea what the sm, med, and lg Stolhman mauls weigh. I do have a better idea of how to add the weight to the head but you will need to calculate how much to add. My idea will allow you to move the weight up and down in the length of the head to change the balance point. Since they tried to teach me the metric system around 1974 I haven't used it much. I know the math conversions but I can't guess what 100 grams may feel like in my hand. I also have to make some assumptions on your dimensions and your hole saw sizes. Anyway what I am picturing is a cast lead cylinder inside the head. Lead weighs approximately 11.4 grams per cubic centimeter. If my math is correct a 2 cm diameter cylinder of lead 1 cm thick should weigh approx. 35.8 grams. If I remember right I used, Volume = (pi) x ® x ® x depth, or 3.14 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 11.4 g/cc=35.8 g. You just need to calculate how much weight you need to add and cast your cylinder the correct length. I used 2 cm diameter as that made the math real easy, pick a hole saw size and go from there. Now to cast the cylinder you need to make a simple mold. I'm thinking you could use two short pieces of lumber clamped together. Use your hole saw ( say a 2cm?) to drill a hole in the end of the clamped block in the center of the seam. Separate the pieces and square up the bottoms with a chisel. When you clamp them back together you will have a cylindrical mold. Melt your lead and carefully pour it in the mold. After a few minutes separate the mold and you should have a lead cylinder of whatever length you calculate you need. Drill a hole in the center for your threaded rod. Use the same hole saw and drill a hole out of the corresponding number of poly discs. The lead cylinder should fit in this core snuggly. Stack your poly discs back together. Since your discs are the same size you can move the weighted section up or down as needed. After typing this I realized I am assuming you have the ability to melt and cast lead. Lead is toxic so don't breath the fumes or lick your fingers. Also depending on the alloy the melting temperature is probably 500 - 600 degrees F or 260 - 315 degrees C. Either way you count it that's freaking hot so plan accordingly. You can melt small quantities in a metal can or old saucepan on a gas burner, preferably outside. There are plenty of videos on Youtube on how to cast lead. And just to scare you, don't get any moisture in the molten lead it will explode and jump right out of the pan and land on your face, Not good. Anyway, get out your calculators, tools, and safety gear and have at it. I hope this all makes sense, if not I will try to answer any questions to explain it better.

From your phone number I see you are from Kentucky somewhere between Cincinnati and Lexington. I PM'ed you some info from a a Craigslist ad for a Cobra 4 premium package in Dayton Ohio from earlier this summer. You might get lucky with a phone call.

Any closer?

I will take the Ring's Ruger LC9, Springfield Model 1911 - A1 5" (if non-railed), and the S&W M&P 40. Email on the way.

If still available I will take the Glock 19 & 26, the Colt Commander 1911, and the S.A. Micro Compact. PM inbound with information.

The pictures aren't the best. I have only resized 4 so far. As you can see, the machine is missing the shuttle cylinder which renders it pretty much useless. It also appears to be missing the stitch length adjustment lever and possibly the internal mechanism for the stitch length adjustment, I'm not sure what it is supposed to look like. From the serial number this is machine number 1 of the allotted 50 serial numbers assigned in 1940. I'm sure there aren't too many still around with any extra parts but I have a quest now. I have not bought the machine, yet. With a little TLC, and a lot of luck, this may be resurrected into a nice machine. The 11-29 sews across the cylinder while several of the other -#'s sew along the cylinder. I have seen drawings of a second wheel in the front of the machine. This machine did not have the second wheel and there did not appear to be any internal gearing which would require a wheel.

Thanks Bob. I sent you a PM with a couple of pics and questions.

I am going to try to look at a Singer 11-29 tomorrow, as if I need another project, and was hoping to find someone with some knowledge about the machines. What little I do know is that the machine has alternating presser feet, uses 7X2 needles, and appears to use the same bobbins as my 42-5 of which I have a few extra. I am assuming that due to age and rarity that repair parts are probably not available. Are any presser feet from modern machines interchangeable? Any guess about foot lift, max. thread size, and sewing thickness? Thanks in advance.

You nailed it. I disabled the 3 add ons that were installed on Firefox and the thumbnails began enlarging as they should. I enabled them one at a time and found the culprit. It was some version of YouTube replayer and I have no idea how/when it was installed. It has been removed and all is well. Thanks for the help.

For about the last week and a half I have been unable to enlarge the attached thumbnails on this forum. I am using Firefox ver 20.0.1. I can enlarge the photos when I switch over to an older version of Internet Explorer but I do not like using it. I do not know if this is a Firefox issue or something with my computer. FWIW, on other forums I read I can enlarge thumbnails but when checking account information on the Brownell's website the details of pending orders will not load (they do on IE). I tried disabling the pop up blocker but that has had no effect. I'm not sure if its related but around the time this all started I managed to download some "search.nu" virus-like crap website which I have since managed to remove. Any ideas?

Nice find. The bases do occasionally show up for sale on Ebay. There are currently two listed now. If you happen to be located in southeast Missouri there is one listed in western Kentucky. The shipping may not be too hateful if you can buy it right.

Looks very nice. But you can't waste .44 magnums on paper targets. They work better on water jugs (especially frozen) since pumpkins and melons are out of season.