msdeluca

Perfection!

Seems a shame to... uh... sit on her. Beautiful design.

Toolster, Sorry about the link, I've fixed it now. The seller had a buy it now or make offer option so I offered $35 and he accepted. After clicking the link to the seller's store, do a search for "bobbin winder". There are two models, make sure to get the one like the photos in my opening post.

Nice... nice... nice tooling and dye job. How did you fade the color on the skull?

I went to the local flea market and picked up a good used 1750 rpm motor for $7. I then found a mandrel apaptor from Lee Valley Tools and from a tack store picked up a 1/2" thick saddle pad made from 100% lambs wool and cut it into 2" circles. Drilled out the center of the circles and fitted about four on the mandrel, tightened it down, loaded it with a 50/50 mix of beeswax and paraffin wax. Perfect results. The mandrel was about $10 and the pad was about $20 shipped. The pad will make about 4 million circles, so for about $37 I built the equivalent of the machine in your link. Hope this helps.

I needed to find a way to organize and keep track of my collection of leather sewing machine needles. The problems were that the packets ended up all over the place, what to do with a needle that is still good but not new, and to identify which needle is currently in the machine. I created this little needle wallet. It fits the 10 pack of needles packets plus each pocket fits one additional needle. In this way, a needle that has been used but not worn out can be easily identified and stored for future use. I cut a plastic rod from a q-tip to insert in the pocket where the needle came from to identify which size is currently in the machine. I suppose one could use different colored rods to identify needles being used in multiple machines. Hope this helps.

I don't like the bobbin winder on the Cowboy CB3200 so decided to come up with an alternative. The problem with a typical commercial sewing machine bobbin winder on a machine set up for leather is that it winds while the machine is engaged in stitching or, if not stitching, the stitching mechanism is running. Leather machines run rather slow and it takes too long to wind the bobbin and it seems like a lot of extra wear and tear on the machine. Also, if left unattended, the bobbin doesn't wind with the thread evenly distributed on the bobbin spool. I looked at several dedicated bobbin winders and found the Luis Sew model on ebay for $35 new, including shipping. This machine typically sells for $80 so I snapped it up. Upon running it for the first time, I discovered that there is no speed control and the thing runs at warp nine... no control of the thread winding. The tension discs are also too close to the bobbin which leads to uneven winding on the bobbin spool. I decided to install a PWM (pulse width modulator) speed control which can be had for around $10. The advantage of a PWM is that it maintains full torque while reducing the speed of rotation. It also doesn't heat up the motor like a typical fan-type dimmer switch. The machine also has a lot of vibration which creates excessive noise during operation. I decided to make a new wider platform from 1/2" 9-ply baltic birch plywood. I also mounted the motor on rubber washers. The unit is now virtually silent. So now the unit runs quietly, there is no vibration, the speed is variable down to zero RPM. I can help the winding process manually to keep the threads winding evenly; it winds pretty well unassisted. I have added nylon knee-high stockings to all of my spools of thread to keep them feeding consistently as well. This unit works on type M, as well as residential type bobbins. Hope this helps anyone looking for a better bobbin winding solution. For links to products used in this discussion, go to my blog. Here are some photos of the finished product.

Just a quick thought...

Beautiful, how does one go about learning to make corsets? Is there a book, or books, that you could recommend? Thanks.

Great info Wiz. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I think I'd just stitch it on all three sides.

Like it!

I recently picked up a couple of sink cut-outs from my local countertop fabricator. He had a pile of them behind the shop. I used polyurethane "PL" construction adhesive and glued them together, back to back. It is now 2 1/2" thick and solid... as a rock.

Love the contrast, not only in color but in texture as well... also the minimalist modeling. A very good looking holster. How did you do the texture on the dark piece?

Superb..............!

Ryan is just great. He'll walk you through setting up and sewing on the machine. I've got quite a bit of experience with residential sewing machines and was grateful for the in depth explanation Ryan gave; there are some differences. Don't worry, you'll be up and running in no time. The machine was expertly set up and sewed perfectly right from the start.

Yes, I know. I've got a desk, a drafting board, a table, and the sewing machine that I roll my chair between. They all have to work with the same chair adjustment, so the solution for me was to modify the sewing machine table and pedal.

Hey Francesco, I'm very happy with my 3200. I don't need the 3/4" capability and it goes through 1/4" leather like butter. I'm pleasantly surprised that it does a great job at sewing 1/8" leather with 138 thread as well. Note that you can upgrade to the 4500 table, what I did, but you won't be able to sit without modifying the foot pedal set up. I did a write-up on this in another thread. Mike

Very good looking. I like the quick release belt loop... hate taking my belt off to attach/remove holster.

Ian at Leodis Leather has a video on wet molding an open knife sheath that should be adaptable to making a cuff case. Video Link

Bdaz, I'd be interested in a tutorial when you have this figured out to your liking. Mike

Great info and thanks. Your work is incredible. I escaped California four years ago... tired of being protected and directed...

I'm assuming that you are attempting this using your foot on the pedal and at some point the material gets away from you. It looks to me like you may be going to fast. I've done sewing like this in fabric and I adjust the fabric (in your case leather piece) when the needle is just above the fabric, then run the needle into the material with the handwheel. I have the 3200 as well and don't think your foot is slipping off due to being unsupported on one side. When the stitch placement is absolutely critical, as it is in your piece, you just have to slow it down and place the needle into the material using the handwheel.

I purchased the CB3200 recently from Ryan and the motor is the same.

I know, but I didn't want the table on both sides of the machine due to space constraints.