toxo

Nicely done sir. Is that leather turned or did you use a binder?

They're not expensive and they do get worn. they get lost and they do break. I think I need to point you at dieselpunk.ro. You'll be glad I did. You can buy some really cool patterns for cheap that use pdf downloads that you print out, tape em onto your leather, punch your holes and cut your leather and with almost no sense at all you can acheive something worthwile. My first leather project of any kind was the Motoko3. I used a 1.5mm punch with 1.2mm flat waxed polyester thread with a couple of JJ #2s. You could use #4s with 1mm or 1.2mm thread. If things get tight do one needle at a time. Go here; https://www.leather-patterns.com/ You find his build along vids on youtube under nitekore. His name is Tony See and be sure to join the facebook group where you'll see how well liked he is. Good luck and enjoy. My Motoko3 With very few tools I might add.

OK, Firstly, when you punch a hole you're taking material away whereas if you use a pronged chisel (You can get straight ones versus the diamond shape) you take nothing away which is why it doesn't look much like a hole. the trick is to get the needle through before the hole closes up and most people use an awl to re-open the hole before passing the needle through. As wizard said it may be the size of your needle that's making it hard. Aim to get some John James No 2 and 4 or 002 and 004 (it's the same thing according to JJ) Harness needles. If you have to make do until then just take the point off any needles you use to avoid shed loads of grief going through previous thread.

You're going about it the right way. Get stuck in and practice. There are those that won't make a stitch until they've collected all the right tools/brands etc. Well done.

And all by hand! Well done Fred.

Amen to that. It's bad enough having to evacuate let alone having everything you've built burnt to the ground but my thoughts are with those in Aus and the US who realise it's too late to get out. My God, how awful. It's no wonder to me that Aussies are the way they are what with all the wildlife trying to kill you and now this. Having said that I wish I hadn't bottled out of emigrating on the £10 ticket all those years ago.

Very nice job. Well done.

Thanks dikman. There's a decent looking one on ebay for around £16 that requires two holes where I have none so will have to drill and tap em.

I thought I was going mad. Posts and replies going missing until I realised we were posting across two topics.

I was most of the way through a comprehensive answer to this and then it disappeared. I try again later.

One of the conversion sheets that I have agrees with this but it's not that straightforward. The biggest machine sewing thread I own is TKT 20 which squishes at around 0.4mm and takes a 140 needle.When I've cleared up my project room I'll take some pics. And domestic threads don't normally come on 3000M cones.

Not a bad idea because many don't have labels at all.

It's all clear as mud to me also Folker. Why they can't standardise I just don't know. According to my sheet v69 (I think same as M) is TKT40 or T70 and takes a 100 or a 110 needle which is what i always used or thereabouts but that was before it was working properly. When I squish em with the calipers , not scientific I know I'm getting conflicting results but that's probably cos of different brands and some colours holding up better than others. If you want I can take pics with a caliper reading so you can gauge against what you have.

I have lots of cones ofM60 bonded nylon in a few colours. Ideally I'd like to swap some of it for something thicker like TKT20 which I think is 138. I'm in the UK (Kent) If there's any interest I'll post some pics.

That sounds ok dikman. Which one? Always been concerned about fitting a bracket to the curved underside. Any pics?

Thanks guys. Another satisfied customer. Takes slightly more pull than I'd like but I'll take it. Oh what joy I've had this evening. I've almost bonded with it now. I've used up loads of scrap playing with tension, stitch length different materials and thicknesses. I can even one stitch at a time most of the time although that is hairy even with a 170mm handwheel and a servo motor. I haven't even had to hold the threads at start up most of the time. Now that I can trust it to do what I ask it to do I might even have a go at making something. (where's the ROFLMAO emoji?) What suggestions for an adjustable guide that won't cost me an arm and a leg?

It needs wispy smoke if not flames. Nice job. I'm liking the idea of a circular stretch frame with rawhide thonging.

Thanks guys. Logic had already told me that was the problem but didn't think of just replacing the pin. You're right Folker, I did replace the tension unit and I vaguely remember that pin not being right. My mind was playing with why the cycle wasn't stopping in the right place. I'll have a look at it later. I do love playing with it and trying different possibilities. Flat felled seams on upholstery grade leather etc and how close can I get if I grind a presser foot down?

On every you tube vid I've seen they nonchalantly lift the needle and pull the work away and what's more they can then put some more work under and start sewing again. With mine if I did that without pulling more thread through (which I quite often forget to do) it would pull the thread out of the needle. Really frustrating. It's a lovely machine but I don't have the knowledge to get it right and I think I'm coming to the end of it now. I know anything else I get will only be as good but it's consistency I need. It's bad enough learning all this stuff without faffing around with the machine all the time. If there was a good mechanic near me I'd gladly pay him but the two nearest me have both had it and said they couldn't get it working which I did myself with the help of you guys. Forgot to mention, it's not the bobbin thread it's the top thread.

I mentioned this briefly some time ago. Since then I'm gradually improving the situation but I can't help feeling that there's something fundamentally wrong with the timing. When I finish sewing with needle up I can't pull the work through without jockeying around with the handwheel. It's always been like this but after installing a servo motor and needle positioner I thought things might improve but no. I can't pull the work through without turning the wheel away from me and dropping the take up arm down to about half way. I've tried changing where it stops with the ENP but it won't let me. Where the needle does stop is about 3/8ths below it's upper limit. I've tried reprogramming the upper limit to the top and turning the motor on/off but as soon as I switch on agains guys? the needle drops down 3/8ths. I should make clear that with the needle up I can obviously pull the work away a little but the thread won't budge until I turn the handwheel. It' a Jack motor. Maybe There's a knack to it? Any thoughts guys?

You need to subscribe to a guy called Cechaflo. An absolute maestro around a sewing machine and car upholstery. Come back with your thoughts.

I know this is not usually our bag but you have to admire skill right. I think this guy must be an alien. It's not just the skill level it's the nonchalance and not a jig or a template in sight not even on the sewing machine. The guy doesn't stop talking and he can't speak English. I still watched it till the end though. I found it almost mesmerising. Probably too long for some even though it's speeded up.

It's surprising what can be done with a few tools. Think ahead, take your time and I look forward to seeing the results. And remember, the man that never made a mistake never made anything. Good luck.

I know the tooling is different but I don't see the difference between that craftool press and this kind of thing from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Press-Grommet-Machine-Heavy-Eyelet/dp/B07DVC6D76/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=rivet+press&qid=1576969511&sr=8-14

Very nice work. Like it a lot.