JerseyFirefighter

Gunmetal was the closest I found. http://shop.weaverleather.com/catalog/item-detail/43512

So I've started to buy some dies to cut some of the repeated patterns of my straps as well as dies to make use of scraps (fobs, coasters, shield fronts etc) and was wondering about clickers (since I only know what i've read in random posts). My largest die will be about 18-20x2 1/2" long and I will be clicking a mix of 9 oz and 13-15oz leather. I've been going back and forth over Weaver's 8 ton clicker and just curious if there are other brands or machines that square up to theirs or are more cost effective (Tippmann, Cobra?). Any pro's or con's to them (besides being rather large and heavy) I reckon my price range would be anywhere between $1500-2500. Any insight from those that have had one or more different types of clickers would be greatly appreciated. I was going to wait until the beginning of next year to buy one but things have been going very well on the business front so I may just speed this purchase up. Thanks!

I have more belt scraps and bellies of 13/15oz than I know what to do with.

Agreed... I remember that tutorial.. There is also a number of youtube videos to watch if you search something along the lines of "making a leather dog collar". So much valuable information... but nothing trumps trial and error in my experience.

ill probably add that to the next order. Looks great! Are there meetings for stampaholics?

Just proof that you need to stay active to be relevant. If you aren't actively advertising your product.. you dont exist on "trending" social media platforms. Make it a point to post every few days. If you are busy in the shop... there is no reason why you cant have fresh pics. His/hers 8800 followers that were bought got as many likes as my last few posts (vs 575 followers). You need to have a good product... a good photograph... and a slowly built, dedicated following. It's just another means of advertising.. just FREE with very little effort. https://www.instagram.com/ridgewayleather/

So I ended up checking all the exterior screws and making sure they were tight. A few days prior to the issue I blew out the bobbin housing with compressed air and oiled the machine. I suspect that what I had thought I was blowing out of the bobbin housing pushed it towards the back on top of and behind the bobbin case. After pulling the bobbin and blowing it out again I had found a few sizeable pieces of thread had freed itself. I rethreaded the machine and swapped to a 207 instead of a 277 (<--shouldnt be relevant but I did it anyway) and tried a sample piece. It started to sew without the needle hangup and has handled a few straps almost seamlessly since then. My observation of what was still kind of off was a slight click as the needle raised back up after the stitch. It's not as prevalent as the needle stoppage, but when you put a fair amount of time on your machine you get to know the ins and outs and sounds it makes. I did note that the SPI lever is loose and has fallen out of reverse on a project. That is still something that I have to address.

Thank you Gregg. I seemed to have worked out the needle stoppage issue, however there is still something a little off. I got hammered at work and couldnt mess around with it too much this week. I'll give you a call on Monday to see if the issue is anything that can be an "aha" moment for me to tweak. If not I appreciate it and will bring it down. Have a great weekend!

Its hard to argue with that logic. I haven't been able to look at it since last night, but come tuesday Keystone is where I very well may be. It's pretty nice and terrifying to realize youre at the point that you simply cannot afford machine downtime.

The hang up is definitely on the machine somewhere. The needle hits a hard stop in the same spot. It will sew at speed but as I slowed down it halts and you can hear the motor trying to continue to push. I havent gone any further because I dont want to cause any damage. Trying to diagnose it by hang cranking it while troubleshooting.

Thank you Uwe.. The whole muscling through thing was to confirm the stoppage issue. It broke my heart to continue on but I wanted to record it to give a more accurate description. I will do just that over the coming day or two. If I cannot narrow down the issue, it'll have to head off to gregg. Good news it's an hour or so drive so Ill drop it off personally. Perhaps even a phone call to him on monday may save me the trip to help walk me through troubleshooting.

Didnt improve the issue. As I was replacing the needle (which was definitely a little more blunted than the new needle) i'd realized that the sharpness of the needle would not matter. The rotation of the cylinder put the needle at the top end and as it gets about 25% downwards (nowhere near the material) it hangs up. It's hard to describe, however the machine itself feels like it's running gritty. it feels like as if cycles the smoothness that I had 20 mins ago was lacking, and it refuses to move after that stopping point unless I back the stitch up and muscle through it with the pedal.

I'll give that a go now. Hadn't done anything to trouble shoot. because i couldnt narrow down the hangup . This is the second needle I've used in the machine since the purchase. I put maybe an hour of straight sewing time a week into it. Ill report back if that fixes the issue.

So I have a 5 month old ferdco pro 2000 that has been working great. Today.. I was sewing a bunch of projects and all of a sudden, the machine hangs up on the downward motion of the needle. I tried backing it off and moving forward and had a small success rate. Once I got the machine running again it would sew, but every 30 or so stitches I would hear a loud click. When trying to release the brake and handwheel the machine it gets caught up in the same spot. A side note that I had been sewing for the past 20 minutes and had not changed the thread or the material. I'd like to diagnose it before having to drop back at keystone so If anyone has any experience in such an anomaly id love to hear your input. Thanks!

Interested in some alphabet sets and 3d stamps. Samples of fonts and pics of 3d stamps?

When I saw the video some time back the main takeaway I got from that was that if scars and blems in a centralized spot can turn an A grade (I thought they only sold B.. who knew) to a D grade. For strap makers like myself it is easier to work around those blemishes and maintain a good yield despite the imperfections that make it graded so. That particular vid got me to try one of their craftsman sides instead of the B grade and I was still generally impressed with the difference. I switched suppliers after that so I didnt get much further in the comparison. It worked to some degree as it got someone like me to at least try out the different stuff. Never could understand why a business owner would want to undersell his higher priced product unless he had volume of the cheaper stuff.

I know craftaid sells a kit that has a few different templates with patterns. You can put whatever spots rivets or conchos within that pattern you'd like.

You cut right to the center of my leatherworking soul. lol

Thanks Tom.. I tried a scrap in a little bit of cornstarch and see what happens.

Ill take a looksy. Thank you WLS. I was meaning to call you guys/gals today over some minor tech support.

Perhaps lining with calfskin? Although I know I cant match the color. Maybe double up with a thin 5/6oz of black to give it some contrast

So I grabbed a side of retan drum dyed leather a month ago. After cutting it down to straps i've noticed exactly how oily it is. After sitting for a bit it develops a white residue (almost like salty sweat stains on shirts or hats) along the leather, and can easily be rubbed off showing exactly how much oil is leeching to the surface. Is there a way to expedite the leeching process or to minimize the transfer to clothing? All I have in my bag is some sort of finisher like multiple coats of resolene. The leather itself is very pliable for 10-11oz and smells absolutely amazing. Id just rather not leave oil marks on some poor blokes shirt if I can avoid it. Thank you in advance.

Kind of leak the Weaver School of Hard Knocks.. If you dont know enough but to pay retail, they'll milk you for what you'll pay.

I for one applaud you for your formatting on reddit. Outstanding.

Cross posting perhaps to find the right subforum: I have all but lost my custom stamp maker due to a shift in his business focus and was wondering if there were any custom stamp makers that churn out custom stamps from provided images for at or around $20. I really liked his stamps because he printed them on square or rectangular cut pieces so lining them up along the strap was SUPER easy. A few of the round delrin cut plastic stamps make it very difficult to line them up perfectly for the press. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I usually buy one or two a month. Thanks!