bladegrinder

Thanks everyone!

So after practicing on my new Cowboy 4500 I finally finished a few sheaths after cleaning up a pile of thread cuttings and practice stitch pieces. I just completed a few knives and had some fun making these, I have a couple more to do in a couple days. there's no dye or stain on these just neatsfoot oil and a good soaking in the Florida sun. they look a little different because I ran out of my good Herman Oak and had to pull out an import shoulder to finish up. I feel like I'm definitely getting better and getting the feel for this machine so I feel really good about that.

Garyak...gotcha. Shoepatcher, I'm not sure I understand what your asking. I didn't raise the foot, it rode and fed the two layers the same as the three. from what I've found looking for answer, on a compound feed machine different thickness of the piece being stitched will be influenced buy the height that the piece under the foot. I dug thru my box of practice pieces and had one that stepped from one layer to two, to three and although I didn't notice it then, the stitches on that piece did change. it's not to noticeable on a few inches but on a longer run it is. The sheath came out good, what concerned me is doing a measurement for a specific length and messing up from having the stitching come up short or having to go past a point where I wanted to stop.

OK, I think I found my answer...with a compound feed system the needle moves back and forth in a pendulum motion, on thinner material it moves a fixed distance. on thicker material the needle foot is moved up higher, changing the distance of travel...and shortening the stitch length. learned a couple things today, that and..... don't stitch the belt loop so close to the edge that when I'm stitching the edge the belt loop rides up under the foot and sends the stitch clear off the sheath ! Oh well, still learning...

So today I was stitching up a knife sheath on my new cowboy 4500. first I took a scrap of two pieces of 7 ounce and set the stitch to exactly 6 stitches per inch, everything looked good. so I started on the sheath, which was three layers of 7 ounce. after I stitched it up it was obvious something changed, I was now at exactly 5 stitches per inch. so I went back to the two layers and it went back to 6 per inch. I've run a lot of practice pieces thru this and a couple sheaths and never had this happen. anyone have an idea why this happened today?

I tried that on this one, hole punches and a razor knife, maybe a chisel would work better for me but after the last botched job I'm just going to get a 2" punch.

I just ordered the only one they had in stock, their Craftsman brand. I really didn't like the looks of it over the Osborne but I can't find any other ones anywhere. I hope it works ok. I have a pretty well equipped knife making shop so I should be able to make it work if it needs to be tweeked.

That's some beautiful work there.

Well after some practice on this machine I did a knife sheath. I've never done a pancake style so that's what I tried for a small skinner I finished recently. first, the design is a little off with the vertical stitches not close enough to the knife so I ended up with bad retention. lesson learned. I messed up one of the stitches on the top left going around the belt cut out, and lastly... there's not a 2" oblong punch available on the planet right now so I tried hole punches and cutting them out with a razor. that doomed this to some kind of tool holder for around the shop but things are going to get better each time I get on this machine I can feel it. I've got a pile of scraps with all kind of mistakes so I'm learning!

I know one thing...you'd never hand stitch this I'm really liking this machine!

Thanks Tom and Wiz, that's the info I needed. I knew something wasn't right.

I just installed the after market narrow plate and dog on my CB4500 and forgot to notice where the factory dog set at it's high point of travel. the new dog is below the needle plate thru it entire travel, is this correct or should it be level with the needle plate?

I found the brake, it's right behind the cover. looks like a smart car brake pad. so it's directly connected to the go peddle lever, to disengage it regardless if the motor is powered up or not just takes about a 1/2" press of the peddle and the wheel turns easily. I left it in place now that I know that's all it takes to operate the wheel by hand. I'm still practicing on scrap and will probably do some sheaths next week. since I'm starting to feel comfortable with it now I ran this thru it and the machine acted like it was just stitching a couple layers, I was impressed...this is seven layers of seven ounce. I goofed in a couple spots but hey, practice. practice, practice.

That looks great!

Thanks, yea I'm liking it alot. one issue I had - I assume cause I don't know anything about sewing...is when I would reverse, sometimes I would get a jam in the bobbin area. then after running in slow motion I noticed what happens is when the needle comes all the way up and rests the lever continues to pull the thread up, once it appears taught I then switch to reverse and never had that problem again. it is fun just practicing on scrap and I think I'm ready to do a couple sheaths next week. I'm thinking of going with a right paddle foot in the future so I don't leave any marks on any border stamping, or possibly an inline foot. One other thing, I noticed in some videos the operator can hand turn the wheel relatively easy. mine is tight and really hard to turn, looking under the table the speed reducer is adjusted to the far end for loosening the belt, I'm thinking of a longer belt and then adjust the reducer so I can turn the wheel easier to sight the needle right where I want it. am I on track with that idea? the belt now is really tight. Rocky, the sliding adjuster came with my machine and it seems like it should work me. Handstitched, I have an adjustable stool and it seems to be working for me pretty good, I just have to be careful where I put my big feet around those pedals.

Thanks guys, I did order and have the narrow plate and feed dog, I'll probably install it this weekend.

Picked up my 4500 today I bought from Toledo industrial, had it shipped to a truck depot and save a lot of money. pickup went smooth and no damages. took it home and got it together. note: this friggin thing is heavy, it was going straight into my shop from the truck, it's best if two people manhandle these things but after I got the stand off the truck and the castor wheels on it, the stand was almost level with my tailgate - I pulled my truck right into my shop - then I just manhandled the machine onto the stand and bolted it down. First, this is just one good looking machine. got it all set up and ran off a couple pieces of three layer 7 oz. then made a little adjustment to the stitch size and speed at the motor control. man, this thing is sweet! I hand stitched my sheaths for over 30 years and never ran a machine until today and just my first couple practice pieces looked great. I'll probably have a few knife sheaths to stitch up next week, I'll post pics.

Ahh, I gotcha. if gas was $2.00 a gallon I'd consider driving, I'm near Tallahassee but I wouldn't think of it with gas prices the way they are now. I actually go to Georgia to fill up now, it's .50 a gallon cheaper there then where I live

Where are you going to drive too from Fl. to pick it up? I just ordered a cowboy 4500 from Bob at Toledo industrial and the shipping to the florida panhandle area was 1/4 the price it would have cost in gas for me to go pick it up. if you order from Toledo Industrial have him check the shipping rates, mines going to a truck depot about 35 miles from where I live.

Thanks dikman, I'll send him a PM.

Thanks Tequila, I've worked outdoors here in Florida all my life so I've learned to tolerate the heat pretty well. even at 100 it's not too bad with fans running, just remember to drink lots of water, now going out in the sun's another story. I was out in the woods running a chainsaw and doing tractor work today, tractor wasn't bad but the chainsaw work was friggin hot! Yes, by this fall I'll have the bottom of that loft closed in with heat and A/C. it gets cold here too, some mornings are in the 20's but with a 40 degree swing, buy 2:00 it could be in the 60s. That set up was a long time coming, I bought the property 18 years ago just for hunting, then decided to put a house on it 4 years ago, then put the shop on it two years ago...got it all wired up and water run to it, then moved here last year after I retired, I'm loving it!

Thanks Tequila, The knife shop is probably half the building, in the back left corner of my shop I built a loft for over flow stuff from the house. today the shop was 100 degres with a feels like of 109. So...later this fall I'm going to close that in and put a small portable air conditioner in there. that was the plan from the get go for a clean place for final finishing folder knives. Here's a pic. of the loft, future leather working room...behind the tractor when I was moving my machines in there.....by myself... edit: I also reload, so I have a designated are in there for that too!

Thanks Handstitched, yea I'm looking forward to it. funny thing when I first mentioned to the wife I was thinking about finally getting a machine I asked her if she thought it would fit in our spare bedroom. she asked me how big it was, I told her I didn't have the exact dimensions but I'll find a picture, so while she was looking in that room I showed her a picture. Oh no no no she said, that's some kind of industrial machine that's not going in here. I just laughed, and said well yea of course it is, oh well. and that was a pic. of the 3500, now I have the 4500 coming. but all is well, it really needs to be in my shop to be around the rest of my going on's out there. I'm glad I got the 4500 coming or I'd be sitting here right now second guessing if I went the right way between the 3500 -4500.

Thanks dikman, how do I go about ordering from him?

Well, I ordered to 4500 from Bob at Toledo this morning! I'm excited and can't wait to get it put up in my shop, start practicing on some scrap and learning this new machine. should be two-three weeks. having it shipped to a freight place instead of my house and that cut the shipping dramatically.