cardinal leather

old radios, old drafting equipment, animal skulls, odd items not seen everywhere, belt buckles, old carpenter, welding tools, books of all kinds.

Put it in an old fridge with a light bulb 25-60 watt. add a thermometer to moniter the heat in fridge, adjust bulb to maintain temp around 60-65 deg.

I needed something small to dye the inside of a punched hole. q tips were to big so pulled a piece of cotton off of a cotton ball and wrapped it around a round wood toothpick. it worked great. I have tried it on a number of different applicators from sharpened pencils to chop stix from panda express. I like the chop stix best as they are flexible and strong and you can always break or sliver a piece off for smaller applications. haven't used q tips since. A bag of cotton balls last a long time and can be used for other things. Also have one of the stainless applicators that jreeser1 is using. that works well to,haven't tried it on glue but sounds like it would work well. Jim

Chief, Nicely done, From the photos it looks like chocolate pigskin liner, what is the zippered pouch made from? Thanks for your comments, Jim

Do you have a price in mind for this machine, Does it have any rollers with it?

You could find a local on line auction house for your sale. I talked to a guy in MN a couple of years ago that wanted to sell out. I went to inspect his equipment, all very nice and fairly new due to a break in and theft. He wanted around 10 grand for his shop. I did not have a place to store everything at the time. I did buy the only item that he did not include in his sale advertisement. In the end he sent all thru an online auction house that sold only his stock in the sale, they advertised it as his shop sale. I tracked the sale when it came up and was amazed at all of the product, tools, hardware that he had. Not sure how much he got for it but know that he was at or over what he was looking for. Just a thought, good luck with your sale. Jim

Tried out my own post from last night, this morning. built proto type to see how it would work out. Worked fine as a vert application. Not so good as a bracelet. I did not want to remove the finished ends of my bolo ties so used different types of leather lace. they all work but in the bracelett form they are to stringy for my taste. Then tried para cord, this worked the best. some downsides. ---takes some time to relace to bracelet ---re-lacing could lead to breakage of the arrow head or knocking it loose from its tiedown ---if the lace dangles out to far it is possible to snag on something and do damage to wrist as there is no breakaway like a snap. This project looks good on paper but will take some thought to get it to the finish product.

You could do this project with a 1 1/2 wide x 2" high platform depending on the size of the arrowhead. run a row of holes down ea side on the outside of the arrowhead about 1/4" and about 3/8 to 1/2 in apart and starting about 1/4 down from the top and up from the bottom. The holes size would have to be the same size as the finish end that you use on the tie, and likley oval holes to allow things to lay flat as possible. Your bolo necklace tie would have to be long enough to allow for large. medium, small wrist. Convert it to necklace by pushing the ends vertically out thru the top hole from behind and thru the bottom hole and out the back. To convert it to a wrist band you would insert one end thru a hole, loop it around the wrist leaving the full end and a little extra hanging out. then go around thru the next hole and around again until the upper end hangs out the upper hole or one of the upper holes. This would give considerable adjustment for wrist size, better if it a little loose than to tight. You will have to work with the concept some to see how it works out. but since we are brainstorming the problem. Draw it out on paper and see if it works for you. You will also have to fasten the arrow head. You might consider using small rawhide lace that you would sew thru the and around the nock of the arrow then make an x over the lower part of the arrow head and fasten it behing the platform and coating with finish when done and dried. this allows full view of the centerpiece and should still hold it in place. I am just tossing out some ideas for you to consider let us know how it works out.

My dad had a siding and roofing business for forty years so I grew up on a roof and a ladder all over Wisconsin. During high school I joined the Navy Reserves and spent 10 years as machinist mate. In the meantime I worked my way thru a carpenter apprenticeship and into construction. Twenty five years of commercial, residential construction and project management lead into a custom cabinet shop installing custom and semi custom cabinets along with build/install laminate and solid surface countertops. A great business but would not support two families so I moved back into the construction business. An opportunity came along thru a friend to apply for a job as a property insurance adjuster. Another great job but after 19 years I started to see the finish line. I managed to fall off a roof in MN a couple of years ago and during recuperation I discovered this site. It inspired my last career choice. I had not done any leather work in years and then repairs and hobby things for myself and family. After considerable time and study I am aiming at the repair side of the business with a few shows thrown in to meet more leatherworkers and enjoy the craft. I started a new shop for my craft work this year and hope to have it up and running prior to retirement from my day job. Along with my wood shop I will be plenty busy. I am already doing some small custom leather work and doing custom strap work for my son’s pet store. Moving ahead slowly to make sure that I can keep up with everything. I will not likely approach the level of work that I see on this site, but that is ok as there is plenty of work out there for every skill level. One of the best parts of this site is the chance to follow new, opposing and independent views of the craft, equipment and techniques both old and new. Thank you all for your input, keep it coming.

One thing that I forgot to mention on this post last night was that if you try to bend a strap with this product at 180 deg for a buckle, d ring, pet snap or whatever. Be very carefull as the product will crack across the bend. You need to recondition the leather to do this. I also discovered this morning that you can soak the bend section in water and it will absorb thru the stain. I kept it in the water until the bubbles started to come out and a little longer. By bending it slowly and applying a clamp it worked out fine. I am going to try that again on heaver material to see how it works out.

I read Will Ghormley's article on this stain some time ago. Purchased dark brown, tan, black. I have used this product on molded epee pen cases, cell phone cases, holsters, belts and leather coverd buckles. so far it has held up well on all items and looks great. My grandson has a molded paddle style epee pen case that he wears daily, little boys are rough on things and I told him not to spare it as we can make another one if needed. the case is pretty beat up but the finish still looks good. his mother reports that it does not rub off on his pants. it also gives good results as an edge dye. To get the best results the best application seems to be anything used to apply it in circular motion until absorbed and blended together, then stop. It does not hurt if the leather is a little damp when applied either just be liberal with the dye. you can apply a second layer and it stilll blends in well with the first coat.

Thanks Constabulary, I will be working on a couple of these machines in the future. Any photos that you have along with these diagrams may be usefull. The big question would be how does the US power system compare to the one you are using? I have a couple of electricians that should be able to do the work or talk me thru it. Jim

Mike, I signed up for Pauls course but could not seem to find a link to Bob's course. I know that you said i could do it by card so would use that option if I could.

Thanks to all for the input on these Pfaff machines. Both of them were purchased in a package deal. While the post machine will be of the most value to me the flat bed should have a place as well. A test with 3 layers of 6-7 oz, turning the wheels by hand shows nice clean penetration with out any grinding or hanging. moving parts are all clean and tight. When the weather breaks i.e. no more snow and cold. The power conversion can be worked out. The mechanic that serviced these units in the shoe factory is still working and agreed to service them when they are powered up. It will be awhile however I will post when they are done and in service. Any other comments on power conversions are welcome.

I use all of the items listed above in one form or another during edge braiding. I would add that there are two Tandy books out there depending on the store that you are at. I checked the number on mine and it is the same as the Chiefs. This is the best of the two, well laid out and the best diagrams and descriptions of the two books. The other thing that you can do on thick leather like you are showing inb your photos along with rounding the corners is to use your largest edger on the outer edges then slick the edge just like any other project. Then stain the edge to match the lace. Your edging will lay down with nicley rounded edges, If you do have a little opening somewhere on a corner it is hard to spot.

Gregg, Thank you for the review of this post. A couple of more questions if you don't mind. Do you have any rule of thumb price for replacing these machines back to stock if I elected to go without automation? How about the other options, the plain jane lifter with standard motor, motor that allows the air option and then the servo motor. Would all of these options require a reducer? Or would it be better to buy two pre-owned machines of the same style that are already converted. The reason is of course that if they can be bought reasonable enough and make the conversions reasonable enough, I end up with two very nice machines that will do a multitude of operations. Then I would likley only need one more that would do the heavy work.

Thank you for your input Wiz. I did finally get a chance to take a look at these machines this weekend. I also talked to a lady that ran them at the shoe factory. She reports that they are good machines and smooth to work with. Both of these machines have the Teledyne AMCO variostop on them. There is not much information available on these units. Both units say patent pending on them and there is information on line for the patent application but not much else. There are manuals available and I did download some of them to study. It appears that singer used the Teledyne variostop on some of their machines as well. I am now trying to decide of they should be converted to either 110v or 240v again it is difficult to fine any information on motors for them. Does the variostop work with any aftermarket motor or are the motors and variostop proprietary to the Pfaff machines. Has anyone in the forum worked with this variance of variostop and/or have any advice on where to find more information?

well done

It looks like i posted this in the wrong place. Will try to add photos to it. I need some advice from the sewing pros on the forum. A friend of mine has a couple of Pfaff sewing machines that he wants to sell to me. The first machine is a flat table 483 - 944/07 (900/51-BL) the second one is a post table 491 – 755/13 (900/53-BL. Both machines are roller foot. Both are powered by Teledyne AMCO Variostop 3 phase motors, built in 2001. They were used in a shoe factory that shut down in 2003. I am presently building a leather shop in my metal building so wiring in a rotary phase converter would not be a major issue. My shop has a rapid air system so adding air for the Variostop in not an issue either. As my leather hobby/business progresses I will be doing strap work for my sons pet store both retail and wholesale in the future. With two auto upholstering projects in the future and boat covers to repair or replace. The question is will these machines be able to handle leather, canvas, nylon, projects up to about ¼” ? Has any one used these roller foot machines? How do the geared roller wheel foot hold up? I understand from following the reviews on the forum that Pfaff’s are expensive to repair. However both are in very good condition and I should be able to buy, wire, air them for around 12-1300.00. Does this sound reasonable? Or should I be looking only at flat and post, walking foot machines? Thank you all for any input you can provide. Jim

I need some advice from the sewing pros on the forum. A friend of mine has a couple of Pfaff sewing machines that he wants to sell to me. The first machine is a flat table 483 - 944/07 (900/51-BL) the second one is a post table 491 – 755/13 (900/53-BL. Both machines are roller foot. Both are powered by Teledyne AMCO Variostop 3 phase motors, built in 2001. They were used in a shoe factory that shut down in 2003. I am presently building a leather shop in my metal building so wiring in a rotary phase converter would not be a major issue. My shop has a rapid air system so adding air for the Variostop in not an issue either. As my leather hobby/business progresses I will be doing strap work for my sons pet store both retail and wholesale in the future. With two auto upholstering projects in the future and boat covers to repair or replace. The question is will these machines be able to handle leather, canvas, nylon, projects up to about ¼” ? Has any one used these roller foot machines? How do the geared roller wheel foot hold up? I understand from following the reviews on the forum that Pfaff’s are expensive to repair. However both are in very good condition and I should be able to buy, wire, air them for around 12-1300.00. Does this sound reasonable? Or should I be looking only at flat and post, walking foot machines? Thank you all for any input you can provide. Jim

I worked on the road for many years. The first thing that I did after getting to my motel room was set up the ironing board. Set the computer and printer up on one end and files on the other. In the leather shop I found a vintage wood one at a local auction for 12 bucks, added a few new bolts and screws, works great if you are working in restricted space and is a great stand to layout straps for dying and finishing. Cut a piece of heavy cardboard for the protection. It can stick out both ends and a little over on the sides giving a portable workspace of about 16 x 66-72 depending on size of iron board. Plus it is at can adjust to counter top level or your chair level. Also folds up and can be stored out of the way when not in use freeing up the space again.

I have had the same problems with the alcohol based dies. Iuse a light coat of mink oil on the died surface, 2 coats on the back then wet the strap where it bends for the snap on various straps. this works pretty well. however I do not know that mink oil is the best product. I am trying others as well. but so far thsi has worked well.

Thanks for posting this, i ordered a copy. Jim

where did you buy this machine?

Thanks, Dwight. We managed to get the addition onto my shop in november. It rained for three of the days then snow started and things got ugly. But at least it is closed in. It will be April or after by the time that I am done. I hope your project goes better.