steveh

Vale Saddlery 1909 is mentioned in the book. but that is all it says, no history or details. That does confirm the maker and the year. If Vale or the county has a library you may be able to find some history in a bussiness directory? Steve

there was a maker in vale oregon , from 1909-1913 j.c. kelley, this from "old cowboys saddles and spurs" by graham page 60. maybe this can help you make out the makers stamp? based on the saddle being an 8 button, with stirrup leathers over the fenders, tall narrow horn, and tall cantel it may fall into the dates above. steve

Tom, I run a 111w155, with a size 18 135x16 needle triangle point needle by schmetz. i have the stitching set a nine stitches per inch. I use a a size 99 bonded nylon thread.top and bottom.I trench all the stitching channels.I think this makes a nice appearence and works well for belts, notebooks, knife cases ect up to about 1/4 inch thickness of leather.make sure you wind nice level bobbins. tweak your top and bobbin tensions so that you are getting a nice lock stitch. the machine is very dependable. steve

the needle system for leather is 135 x16 steve

do a google search for helmold steel rule dies. The equipment is specialized and expensive. steve

BoB, Could you please explain "cross the belt"? Do you mean to to put the belt in a figure eight from the drive pully to the machine pully? Thank You Steve

Hello, I am having trouble with a pfaff 545 sewing machine, it sews forward fine. But when put in reverse it is only making up half the stitch length. If anyone has experience with this or a solution please contribute. Thank You, steve

The 545 is gear driven internally, the 1245 is driven internally by a belt. steve

All three of the splitters where manufactured in st louis , Dobney an original invester in the Landis co. founded Champion shoe machinery there splitter was patented 1927, American Machinery patented there splitter 1930 and was affiliated with Landis, the machines take the same blade , so I guess you say the machines are all cousins.

Bring several pieces of leather with you and run it thru the splitter. select the thickness gauge make sure the that both spings adjust evenly. check the top smooth roller make sure it is clean and has no defects.check the bottom fluted feed roller that it is clean has no chips and that it is not worn out., inspect the blade to be sharp and free of nicks or chips. check the gears to lubed and that they turn freely and that there are no broken teeth.these splitters are hard to come by, I seen them go from 500 up to 1500, just depends on the condition and how bad they want to sell it.

looks like a singer 111w 155 walking foot uses a 135x16 needle, there should be a brass tag w/ the number on the front of the machine.

That pfaff 1245 takes a 190LR needle system for sewing leather, check and make sure that the machine has not been altered for the 134/35. You just might have the wrong needle?

I have a pfaff 545, I believe the bobbin and shuttle are the same as a 1245. I have a bobbin case it has the the tension spring and thread guide on it. I believe you need a bobbin case. Hopefully a 1245 owner will respond. Steve

Luis, If you have needle file triangle shaped, you can layout a checkerboard pattern on a nail head or bolt head to create a background tool steve

The machines using heater was from the old days when shop were not heated. As long as your machine is room temperature iy should be fine. If your machine has been idle for sometime be sure to oll all the bearings cams and wear areas.Run scrap thru your machine and adjust your bobbin tensions and upper thread locks till you get a nice stitch.Contact cambell bosworth for an instruction manual.

Campbellrandall is a member on this forum. Campell and Randall are now one company located in Texas . Campell was a lease machine out of florida where as randall was located in New york. The machines are very similar . What questions do you have about your machine?

Just a suggestion, get a cheep old blanket and some scrap leather and practice running it thru your machine to get a feel for how it will run. better to have a learning curve on scrap than on the tooled wear leathers. The blankets I have sewn are like the maytex style. steve

I use 8 -10 oz. skirting for wear leathers.I use contact cement on the blanket and the leather, let tack up good weight it down with a sand bag. I also trench a sewing channel so that the stitches dont wear and it looks much nicer, at 6 stitches per inch.Place a piece of brown craft paper on the back of the area to be sewn.You will need a walking foot machine with a high lift to fit both the blanket and the leather under the presser foot. After sewing is complete , remove the paper from the back, the stitches perferate the paper making it easy to remove and it looks nice. The reason for the paper on the back is so that the feed dog has firm surface to feed your work. Steve

looks real nice, good clean work

The hyde green handled shoe knives are generally good steel, but is possible that you have one that is not tempered right, you can overheat them on a wheel and lose the temper as well. but since you can sharpen up your round knife, most likely not the case. I believe the above post ,means a bussiness card rubbed with rouge as strop.works good with small blades like swivle knife. I like a horse hide strop loaded with rouge for larger knives. steve

Looks very nice. I like the shape of the fork. The extended lip looks great. Tooling looks great. Is the horn a wood post? What leather did you use? What type of finish did you use? steve

To much wax can cause the stitch to look dirty. Try burnishing the thread with a canvas cloth to heat the wax deep into the thread fibers, this will remove excessive wax on the thread. See if that helps. Steve

To a beginner the round knives can be intiminating. These knives come in various sizes and have different applications, that vary from skiving to pattern cutting, to filigree., a smaller knife serves well for cutting leather straight or curved. The knife needs to be very sharp and maintained that way.always practice safe work practices cutting away from your self and keep fingers clear of your cutting path. These knives take practice to master but is woth the learning curve as they are designed to cut leather. steve

It is sheridan style, flowers with tight circles and vine work. It is backgrounded with a checkered back ground tool , they used bevelers, thumbprints, wrigglers ect.

That hotel that king x is refering to is the howard johnso0n on broad st very close to the mpec center where the leather show is held. steve