JerseyFirefighter

Fantastic! I purchase hardware from you folks already. I appreciate the response. I will be ordering now.

Hello there. As with most hardware i've encountered a number of defects in #12 copper rivet washers/burrs. That has lead me to a considerable imbalance of rivets to burrs. I've seen a number of companies offer burrs only by the pound, but have struck out on #12s. Any insight as to where I may find a few pounds of these bad boys would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if there was a standard of fitment regarding size, or if a big box hardware website would stock what i'm looking for. Thank you in advance!

Same with my Ferdco 2000. I run it max rpm for the most part. I did wish it was a bit faster for the long belt runs, but it suits my needs all the same.

So not your average show off post, however I had gawked over some of you fine people's work spaces for a very long time. I knew that my single car garage had far outgrown my needs and the hunt was on for a new home. I run my business out the house like most, and would not want to have it any other way. That said, the new house we found afforded me the whole basement as my own work space. Since this should be the one move I hope to never do again, I wanted to do it a bit different than most. I hired an artist out of Baltimore to do a custom epoxy resin pour for my floor. All told it was about actually cheaper than say a tile floor install. I added all new maple top tables, and racks to store my leather and hardware. The wire grid racks I had in my old place, but found good homes within the workshop. Not shown is the clicker die holder rack, and the new office desk and laser engraver setup. Thanks for looking! I'm still ridiculously pleased every time I walk down the stairs to put in a days work. Imgur link because the file sizes are too large. https://imgur.com/a/lV6ARvh

I have a round knife from nash_anonymous. Amazingly sturdy blade. They also have varying grades of steel and types of handles.

To add to some of these guys comments. The difference between a weaver knife and a handmade round knife from some of the go-to names (along with the price tag) is night and day. the tips on my weaver knife started to bend easily. I've purchased one and have been sitting on an order for two more for almost a year. Its a hard pill to swallow but man, what a difference between blade quality/durability.

There typically are no "best deals" going on for new machines. A steal of a deal would be a private sale here on the forums if you happen to be so lucky to be within the vicinity for pickup. Otherwise you are paying the same freight charges to ship as a new machine. Not sure if both cobra and cowboy have a strict minimum advertised price (MAP) but it certainly seems so. Sewing machinery at this class don't normally have sales or price breaks.

Don't be afraid to charge more for your work. Your shields look great. Charging friends or coworkers was really hard at first. I had started charging material cost as a hobbyist because I just wanted to work with leather and get more practice in. There will come a time where you realize it's not just your friends, it becomes your friend's friends, and so on. At what point do you draw the line? I take care of my buds and coworkers, but I also no longer do it for free. Keep cranking them out. The more you do the more your skill improves.

Check for coupons. Craft stores like that usually have 20-40% off coupons regularly.

Now I don't feel as bad. I ordered two and we are getting close to the year mark. Never had asked for an anticipated turnaround time, but figured it would be a while. I had ordered that and a standard round knife.

Nope. Either Bonded Nylon or Poly thread. Certain aspects of NFPA such as turnouts require the use of fire resistant thread. After quite some searching through the standards, things like suspenders, shields, glove straps etc are considered accessories and do not fall under the scope of NFPA requirements.

I had been down this road as you are now. I asked the question.. had a slightly higher budget. In the end, I came to the conclusion unless you are versed in older sewing machines or very handy I would not bother looking into older machines hoping both that they work, and that they fit your needs (also future needs). I eventually decided that the larger investment (although painful at the time) would pay greater dividends... to which it did and still does to this day. If you were still cautious in dropping money on some of the larger machines on the market (cobra 4, cowboy 4500, ferdco 2000) that you should consider looking into the model below. (Cobra 3, Cowboy 3500 etc). They are slightly more affordable and I have only had a handful of times where I needed to come close to matching out my larger machine doing firefighter or K-9 stitching. As it was pleasantly beat into my head by people like Wiz... is that coming in looking to sew 12-16oz leather with an older machine is not for the timid and uneducated in matters of sewing machines. You'll doubt yourself now, but if you are getting a chance to save some money made on your projects, I would advise to save a bit longer and lay out for a newer machine that a lot of us in the fire service leather world tend to grab. Bonus points are there are plenty of us that frequently discuss issues or problems on the same types of projects where we have had issues in the past. I've got a lot of money invested in my shop, still to this day as large purchases go, my sewing machine will always be the #1 upgrade in terms of productivity.

I've noticed the same with mine from time to time. Then again working out of a garage isnt the most insulated. I get light rust film on bare metal tool parts from time to time. I try to do my best to keep the tools oiled or with an occasional rub of paste wax, but that should'nt help the painted surface of the wheel. Not that having the same machine matters, but perhaps keep a dehumidifier in the space to compensate for those wet bouts.

Wouldn't that be a craftool set? Perhaps better luck searching for it under that name. I am curious as well as to name of font for larger letters and numbers.

Ive posted this before.. but this one is awesome. Dual sided on casters. This setup has 192 bins total. It cost about $350-400 at globalindustrial.com. Shipping was atrocious but luckily one of their warehouses was about 45 mins from me. They let me pick it up. They offer different size bins and the mounting system leads me to believe you can mix and match bins on the cart. As soon as we find a new space I will be getting at least one more. Edit: Heres the link https://www.globalindustrial.com/g/storage/bins-totes-containers/pick-racks-wall-panels/mobile-double-sided-pick-racks?trackType=null

Be still my beating heart. Thank you for chiming in and attempting to bring it to market. One of the few things I do that I thought could use streamlining was squaring up sides. That thing looks majestic.

I still would like to get an inside track on Springfield's cam and rail type cutter they use. I would buy one of those in a heartbeat.

Im curious as well. I use 277/207 with a #25 on my Ferdco. I sometimes have issues when the bobbin case gets a little too dirty. I pull the bobbin and blow it out with air and that usually fixes any hiccups. The only other problems I have come across is with when the thread gets hung up somewhere on the side of the head.

Going down this rabbit hole. I've been meaning to get a press for setting snaps (despite work space constraints for the next few months) I see they offer a dual station foot press for $500. Would you care to share your thoughts on their tools? I would have bought a few bench mounted presses but I seem to like the idea of keeping my hands free with a foot press. Especially one that's free standing.

Is that for the APX radio with the extended battery? That thing is a tall beast!

I've gone through a ton of them from Weaver with no issue.

Looks good. The forming came out very detailed. Should try out those mall ninja tactical raptor shears next. : )

Looks good. I always enjoyed the contrast accents that people request. Bravo for preferring chicago screws. I wouldnt have the patience to loctite and screw down a bunch per strap.

I still can't believe their craft site markup... its 1,595 on the wholesale side.

2nd on the Epilog. I love mine as well. It burns to know I have it sitting idle half the time because im so backlogged. I usually run it once a week to focus on just lasered items. It does open up a whole new aspect of leather projects.