toxo

I love ya Brian but you make me sick!

Excellent job. Almost makes me wish I did tooling.

Great job. Wish I had a place to do that but it wouldn't work in the spare bedroom.

Thanks Brian. To be honest I don't know what size thread it is. It's one I use a lot but I don't get hung up on thread sizes. Obviously the thread has to be of a size to suit the job but I go primarily for colour and then I'll choose a needle. If it slides down the thread we're good to go. I think 138 is the biggest I've used also. Your eagle eye spotted the NP. I did this video after installing the handwheel but it is on now. I wouldn't be without it.

I think you just like playing with Sketch Up.

The stuff I use is like a light beige colour. Couldn't tell you what it is cos my leather shop sells it in jam jars with no label but I love it. Slightly more runny than new contact adhesive and is forgiving when you forget to put the lid on. I don't use enough to use a glue pot so I'm gonna look for a decent size squeezy tube with a pointy nozzle which I find much more convenient than jars/tins. One thing I wouldn't be without is Toluene. cleans brushes/spatulas etc and thins glue easily.

Take no notice of the sewing but check the speed.

That would of course depend on the speed of the machine in the first place but I'll leave the numbers to you. Not my forte but I've done this on two machines now and I know what works for me.

Using thinner leather or skiving the edges is one way but before you go spending money on more chisels you have nothing to lose by filing the gap between the spikes on the ones you have. you can get small flat or triangular files but a hacksaw or a dremel will ease the burden before filing.

After timing the hook, make sure the top tension isn't too tight and make sure the take up spring releases the thread before the needle starts to rise else a loop can't form for the hook to latch onto. There has to be tension somewhere to fray the thread unless it's catching on something. If you're using the correct needle and it's still happening try a bigger needle.

Getting there. Could go a lot bigger than 6" on the pulley. Mine is almost twice that at 270mm and gives one stitch at a time if I want. You can make a new belt from a strip of leather to get the size for a new one.

Without seeing the video I would just say that most things are possible with leather if you want it bad enough. I would probably make a wooden form out of four half round dowels with a small space between. Find a way to clamp the wet veg tan leather till it's dry, either do two moulds or do the process twice then marry the two halves, stitch between and around, trim off the excess and finish.

s already been suggested, I would go with Artisan Textile Fabricator.

There's a lot of that in me. Used to go fishing a lot mainly for that reason. Had to break the ice a few times in the winter. Didn't matter if I didn't catch anything but you'd never catch me fishing from a concrete pier. My Granddad was French Canadian. Probably why I've always had a hankering for lakes /rivers/ forests and snow capped mountains. Couldn't pay me to go lay on a beach in the Med for two weeks.

It seems there is a downside to all that healthy eating Chuck, it's turned you into a right grumpy f****r. LOL

Chuck knew what I meant. not all three layers together. One layer at a time. It's amazing how accurate you can be when you tell yourself it has to be spot on. As Chuck says line em up when glueing with nails/toothpicks, whatever, cotton buds cut in half are a nice tight fit for round holes.

Assuming you mean a welt rather than a gusset to give three layers. You could of course have a bit of faith in yourself and punch all three layers separately . All you need is a stitch line and a starting point for your chisels. Just be sure to do exactly the same for all three layers. If you have the slightest doubt in yourself then glue em all together before stitching.

The most practical design I've seen clamped to the bench in such a way as to allow the whole thing to swivel around so it could be used around a foot above the bench or swiveled around so it could be used a foot below the bench like if you were seated or standing. Wish I could find it. The again, I just use a clamp on vice that sits on a ball joint.

I usually find that a bit more or less weight on the right part with the hammer does the trick.

Stunning work Mike. Do you use Eco Flo dyes?

Well done Folker! Already ordered. Still can't get my head around how it's gonna work but I'll try anything. The needle still has to go down the rabbit hole so I'm guessing a back foot with enough on the left side has to be used right?

Great stuff! Will look fantastic when you hook it up to the bike.

Update! Had to take everything off to get as close to the edge as I needed. The trade off is having to start away from the start because there's nothing left to hold the material. You have to start with the material under what's le of the outer foot. Hope you can see from theses two bad pics. Will try to do better.

Thanks for the efforts guys but I think Brian @RockyAussie has nailed it again. I'll order the right hand zipper foot for the 69 for the future but I have lots of 239 feet that I can play around with and they're a fraction of the cost of 69 feet. I might have to find out how much I can take off that right side. These are keyrings don't forget.

Want to machine the mini boot. It's too hard on such a tight radius. Experimenting using a zipper foot at the moment with an edge guide but the veg tan doesn't want to lay down. Have lots of thinner chrome that might be a better fit but without much thought I was thinking that an angled wheel would be closer to the needle. I have some edge guide p/feet for the 239, might try grinding some of the left side of the right side one. Maybe one of those one behind the other jobbies might do the job. More than ready to be educated.