toxo
-
Posts
2,099 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Posts posted by toxo
-
-
1 hour ago, Rodzhobyz said:
I'm pretty excited. After much indecision, I have decided to go with a Cowboy from Bob at Toledo for my 1st leather machine.
Bob has been readily available and a pleasure to discuss the options with.
It is a terribly long drive and of course shipping is available, but I really want to meet the vendor and take advantage of any hands on information / education I can get and of the two available vendors for me, I live 8-1/2 hrs from one in Texas and 9+ hrs from Toledo. The Texas option would've saved me an HR of driving but I wasn't able to talk details with anyone there and Bob is Johnny on the spot.
I am just about to leave home on my 9+ hr drive and will meet Bob in the morning.
I now have about 21 hrs to decide if there's any reason, as far as for my use, to spend the difference & purchase the 3500 instead of the 3200.
The cost difference is certainly not insignificant, and at the moment I don't see myself ever sewing anything 7/8", however, 9/16" - 5/8" may not be out of the question and both machines have the same specs as far as the 6 oz lightest weight capacity, but the 3500 is supposedly capable of sewing nearly double the thickness of the 3200 and so I can only imagine it being a far heavier duty built machine, which all other things being equal, I prefer.
If this were a profitable endeavor I suppose it would be a no-brainer, but the 3500 would effectively double the budget I was hoping to get into a machine for.
I do fear regretting the decision in the future.
Having the 3500, along with a couple of the vintage machines I already own for the 6oz & under needs, should pretty well give me the capability to produce anything I might want.
Besides not having the adjustable table height / standing option, which Bob has agreed to provide for the 3200 for the cost difference, is there even one single feature or advantage that the 3200 has over the 3500 that I am not finding?
Cheers.
Oh you silly man! You've inflicted hours of torture on yourself. I can feel the trepidation from here in the UK. Turning the volume up on the radio isn't gonna help. But if it helps, buying quality will never come back to bite ya and the price will be of no consequence a short time down the line. I think you've already made the decision so firm it up now in your head and then smile and enjoy the rest of the trip. Good luck.
-
Ah yes! The skive. Forgot to mention I don't have one.With the amount of edges I'm talking about I'm not about to do it manually. Plus the leather is soft. This is the main reason I came up with this idea because the skins I have here are only .75 and 1mm thick so doable. The glued on pigskin idea is to cover the seams and to ensure that it's strong enough. Some kind of edge skiver might be on the cards for the future. Any recommendations for something that's not Mickey Mouse and not an arm and a leg?
-
My cuz has asked me to make her a largish tote and as I have a few coloured skins I thought I'd experiment with making the front and back panels using patchwork or strips. This brings two questions, what method of joining would be strong enough and which has more bulk on the inside. I'm thinking of glueing some pigskin on the inside to cover. I've forgotten the proper name for them but there's this one which has both seams on the one side and so is bulky but strong with two rows of stitches....
Or there's this one which I think looks better but the two seams are splayed out on both sides and so the side stitches are only decorative and don't add any strength. This means a reinforcing strip has to be used behind to maintain strength. This way uses three rows of stitches versus two for the other one but this one even with the reinforcing tape is less bulky. Have I missed an obvious alternative?
-
Thanks for that Dog. You've cleared up a few points for me which is unusual because I read and learn a lot. I think some of the confusion comes from the likes of ebay and some suppliers when they list all the designations for one item just to suit the search engines.
I couldn't find any neon or flouro on either of those link you gave. Mind you i only looked in the search boxes which are sometimes not comprehensive.
-
Looks really good to me Tim. Well done.
-
I believe this is what's called a double welting foot Folker. Can this be used as a piping foot? I don't have any here yet else I'd have already tried it. Or would it be better to use a cut away zipper foot in the absence of a proper job?
-
Update!
These are now on Ebay if someone wants to bag a bargain.
-
-
Anyone know where I might get one? Preferably one that doesn't require a mortgage. Thanks guys.
-
Still haven't got my head around this thread lark. Waxed polyester? Bonded nylon? Cotton?
Does anyone know where to get the neon threads from preferably in tkt 20/30? Thanks guys.
-
This technique is quite popular for camouflaging rifles and scopes. Love it.
-
It'll probably work out that I'll find a couple of screws that fit whatever tap I can find.
-
I have some thread guides once they get here.
-
4 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:
LOL its beautiful!! and agree it would take some time indeed no matter how you did it. Your right I do tend to talk to much, its ok to tell me to shut up I get off track easily.
Come on! I wouldn't dream of it. All opinions are valid. That's how we learn from each other. It's the fanatics we need to watch, the only way is their way and no one elses opinion counts for anything. You've only got to look at our UK MPs over the last couple of years to see how good that is.
-
Good job. I like the turned out handles.
-
Thanks Tug. It's embossed and I have to own up to a cock up. I didn't realise till I cut it out that it's a big bag and I questioned whether @ 1.3mm it would be thick enough so I "lined" it (glued) with some 2.4mm veg tan (all I had on hand). This of course meant that I had to punch all those holes and cut out again. Now it's more like a stylish suitcase than the collapsible gym bag I envisioned originally. Still, it's all fun right?
As an aside, I have to say that the quirks of this site and the quirks of my clubs WiFi are contriving to drive me up the wall.
I was sitting in the club about an hour ago and wrote all this out on my iphone. Now firstly, for some reason the clubs WiFi won't allow me to connect to LW.net. I turned off the WiFi and connected, wrote out this message and after submitting was told that I was a bad boy because I'd used an emoji. On trying to delete the emoji the whole lot went missing. I sat there and said to myself, Oh what deep joy.
-
6 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:
Your bag is beautiful stitching and all
Ha Ha! Chuck you should be a politician. As you can see the hole/thread/needle size can be improved on but it is all saddle stitched and it took forever. If I'd had to prick and awl I'd still be doing it now.
-
58 minutes ago, Tugadude said:
There's a lot of truth in what you said there. Even Mr. Armitage's stance on chisels has softened. I think he learned that they have value. The new styles of stitching chisels make decent stitching attainable to beginners. So that is progress!
And that's another side to this stitching thing. I believe the reason that Dieselpunk.ro is so popular is because of his round holes. The Motoko3 I posted above was my first leather project and that was just a few months ago. That encouraged me to do many more including The Large Weekender. Would I have had the confidence to get so into it if I had to do things the "right way"? And Chuck, before we start talking about weakening the leather (and there's no doubt that it does) let's just remind ourselves how much weight a supermarket plastic bag can take.
-
Thanks Folker. You came through as always. I can see where there might be a problem and I'll get a bracket ordered today. At least I'll know what screws to drill for when they get here. Like Mike I've often wondered about the virtues of roller versus flat guides. I'm reasoning that if I need a flat I can just use some magnets.
-
15 minutes ago, Tugadude said:
Toxo, you are correct that you can still get a slant with a round hole. Nigel Armitage demonstrates this in one of his videos. The most important thing is to have a presentable stitch. Whether that is flat or slanted is then secondary. Funny you mention purist. On another forum unrelated to leatherwork, I've had discussions of my tendency towards tradition. For example, I still believe there is value in learning how to write in cursive. Many schools aren't teaching it anymore. Whether you use it or not, I still would teach it. Do you need it? Obviously not. So how is that related to stitching? Only in that if you accept that slanted is traditional (and perhaps there is argument there) then some will want to strive to achieve it. Are they right? Not any more than those who espouse we write out things in cursive. To each his or her own as they say.
Tug, I agree with everything you say but that's because I'm cursed with being able to see all sides to a story. I'd agree with anyone else with different views if they had a legitimate reason. Tradition can be all things to all men but progress dictates when tradition changes. I listened to Armitage extolling the virtues of the stitching chisel over the pricking iron and awl. There are many ways to fasten two pieces of leather and they've morphed over the years into what we use now. I'm a practical man I believe a car is for getting from A to B not looking pretty and it's the same with leather. If someone has a mind to use a stitch or a lace or a rivet etc who are we to judge? certainly not me. As for cursive writing, I like it and don't think there are many that don't and I don't see a reason not to teach it but it's a bit like morse code, if you don't use it you lose it.
-
Just ordered a guide from Ebay. I'm gonna have to drill and tap the holes so does anyone know the size of the bolts?
-
7 minutes ago, Riem said:
Wow @toxo, that pincushion looks so cool! Industrial? It doesn't look like that, not to me, not at all. I like it - will most likely make one for myself... And for my happily married wife, who looked over my shoulder as I opened this post, and was "favourably impressed" to the point of asking when hers will be ready. Maybe I'll even add the missed stitch, in honour of the fine example! :-)
@67flh, apologies for hijacking your thread! To mitigate that, all I can add is that the learning curve to become proficient in stitching might seem steep, but if you heed the excellent advice given here already you'll be close to mastering the skill set needed to produce a consistent and eye pleasing stitch line. I hand sew everything I make, since I'm a hobbyist and don't want to scale up to a machine. For me, the investment will be too big, and I might end up havingto start a business, which I don't want to do at this point...
-
18 hours ago, Tugadude said:
Stitching is a process. In addition to the right materials, the technique of stitching is crucial to getting a good stitch. It looks clear to me that you are losing needle priority and that is causing the wavy line of stitching. Your stitches are slanted, albeit mildly, but the problem is consistency. Some are slanted, some are flat. Strive for uniformity. The way to accomplish that is to follow the same procedure for each stitch. If you haven't, I urge you to look at Nigel Armitage's videos on youtube. He covers needles, thread, chisels, etc. The round hole tool you have is probably designed for lacing, not stitching. I suggest the diamond chisels. The one you have is fine. Get some smaller thread and JJ needles. Good luck!
I have to pick up slightly on the slanted Vs straight thing. I think it comes down to purist versus practical. I haven't got the slanted regime down yet and I will use it where it's needed but the punched hole is much quicker because it does away with the need for an awl. The OP alluded to the fact that he prefers a straight stitch But a slanted stitch is easily accomplished by altering the hole/thread ratio. If you have a large hole and a thin thread then you'll get a straight stitch but if you have a smaller hole and a larger thread then the thread has to lie side by side which creates a slanted stitch provided that you adhere to the needle priority you mention.
If you look at the Dieselpunk patterns that I pointed the OP at earlier, every single pattern/design uses a round hole punch.
-
23 hours ago, Riem said:
Ooooh, love that wooden needle keep, Nick!
I have the same one. They do a lighter coloured one also. I got fed up looking for needles once I put them down so I made one of these. It's a bit industrial but does the job and no one can see the missed stitch can they!
Joining leather panels.
in How Do I Do That?
Posted
Yes, I love Cesars vids. He's a maestro around a sewing machine and he teaches very well considering he never says anything.