Hi all! I'm pretty new to leatherworking, and really just got started when my father passed all his tools on to me now that his joints don't allow him to do it any more. Anyway, I showed one of my friends a couple of things that I made and hand stitched, and he ended up giving me a Singer 44-10 sewing machine to "get it out of their house because the wife has never even used it". I brought it home, cleaned it up and lubricated it, then started messing around with the timing to see if I could get it to make a stitch. I did, by hand, and it appears that it will be capable of actually sewing without too much cost, so I need to find some needles for it and see if I can learn how to sew. The serial number on the machine comes up as 1928, and I think it was originally made to be used with a treadle table, but a previous owner converted it to a flat-bed with a clutch motor, which I also have.
ISMACS says the needle size is 16x6 or 16x26, though I can't find either of those. Their cross-reference chart doesn't show either of these sizes anywhere either. It had a needle in it when they gave it to me that is stamped "MUVO 125". I'm guessing the 125 is the needle size, but I didn't have any luck searching for this either. Can find a parts list on the 'net, but not a manual or any other info that can help me determine the needle system that I need to look for.
Would also be interested in what folks think I can sew with this machine in terms of thickness of veg tan and thread size. Any info you can give to me on suppliers of needles that will work would also be greatly appreciated. I haven't been able to get to any of the sewing shops around here, and I'm in Wyoming, so it is possible that one of them may have something made for leather, but probably nothing sized for anything larger than #69 thread.
Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.
