Kevin

Maybe it's the angle of the dangle, but it doesn't look like the thread is in between the tension discs. Kevin

I hate to admit it, but I use Edge-Kote on black edges. You've never lived 'til a 70 year old woman tells you she wants to punch you in the nose 'cause your dye rubbed off on her white sweater. Now, I put a thin coat of edge kote on, rub it before it dries to smooth the edges, let it dry and put on another coat and leave it alone. Some of the drawbacks of Edge-Kote are, the cardboard lid liner sticks to the bottle, a film of dried Edge-Kote around the rim that always comes off on your dauber, and since I don't use it all that often, it usually gets a nasty rancid smell before I finish the bottle. Kevin

Mirus Industries 800-432-0886 Chuck

From my experience, you just about have to cut the leather at a 45 in the first place. Whenever I have tried to use a French edger like that, the leather rides up and gets cut where I don't want it cut. Now I'm thinking about it, a guy showed me that if you hold the edger diagonally to the leather, it will cut better. Maybe that way with the one leg hanging off, the tool can't gouge in. Good luck, Kevin

I got a complete Adler stand from Mirrus Industries, I think Chuck was the salesman, I'll try to remember to bring the phone no. home with me tomorrow. Kevin

Thanks for the info, I stand corrected, Kevin

My favorite is Huberd's Shoe Grease, smells good, works great, and has a cool picture on the can. It will darken the leather. Kevin

Unless YOU wash the blankets yourself in an industrial machine, they are probably dirty. All a home washing machine will do is get the blanket wet, there's not enough room for it to do anything. Is your sewing machine in the house? Where is all that dirt and dust going while you're flopping that blanket around trying to get it in position? A customer's idea of clean and clean are two very different things. "Oh, he only had it on twice...", yeah and rolled in piss four times. And when they bring the blanket in out of the cold, it doesn't smell. Wait 'til it warms up a little bit. At least it is possible to clean a blanket. I've never worked on nylon tack that didn't have dirt sifting out of it the whole time I was handling it. This is just my experience, Kevin

Runningwithscissiors is absolutely right. I have a long arm head I got at the flea market for $250, I have a short arm head that was given to me by a guy that was in the seventh cavalry at Fort Riley and he had had to pretty much dispose of what had been left of the cavalry there. Another guy at the shop bought a beautiful Adler long arm on the stand for $125, somebody just wanted to get rid of it, and thought we might know something about it. I'm not what you would call a networker at all, but I've been in the right place at the right time a few times and gotten some good deals without trying, but I do keep my eyes open for any little "rusty" thing. Just be patient, Kevin

I think I can tell you everything except what you want to know. The old crops were made of about 12 strips of what I have always assumed was balleen around a wire core, then this is wrapped in strips of thin brown paper to even out any little lumps or bumps. Anywhere you or I would use glue, they used something black which I assume is pitch. Very cheap materials in their day. These crops were flexible and light weight. The newer crops are fiberglass and much heavier and clunky looking and do not flex at all. The only steel lining I've ever seen is in the ferrule or collar and if you use brass, I personally don't see any need for that. The handle and keeper (leather end) are both held on with pitch and thread, if you oil the leather too much the parts will fall apart. You may notice the little castleated metal piece on the handle, that is for pushing gates, newer crops have a sort of heel shaped knob carved there with cross hatching to push gates, if they have anything. Sorry I can't tell you about braiding, we just take the braiding off and cover it with pig or nowadays, calfskin. The braiding was done by machine and I have heard tell that one of the last of those machines is in somebody's garden used as a decoration. Hope this is at least entertaining, if not at all helpful, Kevin

Jiffy rivets are brass, tubular rivets are steel, if your dog goes near water, the steel will burn through the leather. I don't even have tube rivets in my shop. They are mostly used in production or lesser quality goods. I will say they are tough as hell to get out of a nail apron sometimes, so they do have their place. Of course this is all in my experience which may be slightly limited. Good luck, Kevin

Don't forget, They even have the kitchen sink. Kevin

I know it sounds absolutely wrong, but I've read somewhere that the water takes the oil into the leather. I've tried it and it seemed to work in my super unscientific experiments. Kevin

Sewmun (Bob Kovar) probably has something. Kevin

I think the last Siegel catalog was2004, at least that's the last one I have. Kevin

I live in Virginia, and if I order in the morning,I generally receive my order the next day. It used to take about two weeks. We don't get a confirmation. I think we have dealt with them about 15 years and I can't say I have any complaints. Before Weaver's, if you wanted to buy any hardware at a decent price you had to buy 100 pieces. Now thinking about it, Weaver's has kind of revolutionized the industry from what it was in the'70s. In only 2 generations, they have gone from an Amish ma and pa shoe repair shop to the mega whatever they are now. I only have experience with the supply side of the business. Good luck, Kevin

I don't know anything about the 30-5, but if it is like a Singer 29, once you go past a certain thickness there is no tension on the upper thread. When the foot lifts up to a certain height, it pushes up the top tension disc and that is it, there is no more. Kevin

I used to backstitch on my Campbell all the time, no prob, just put the awl in next to the thread and it will go into the same hole and make a stitch in the same hole without cutting the thread already there. Kevin

I'm totally just guessing, but it looks like the size of a Bonis fur sewing machine, maybe? Kevin

I've sort of been through this. Talk to your insurance agent, mine told me my household insurance does not cover my machinery if I use it in a business. I did have a fire, luckily all I lost was the bathroom and kitchen. After doing one inventory, I had to do another with values. Then they said I needed to replace the stuff and give them the receipts. How do you replace 30 years of kitchen crap in the limited time you have without borrowing money? How do you value a tool you bought at the flea market for $3 that you've never seen anywhere else and you use it everyday? A lot of stuff has some rust from condensation after being in a house with no heat for a year. They won't pay you for the time it takes for you to clean all that up. I'm not really complaining, it could have been a lot worse, they got rid of all the smoke smell (including my smoke tanned deerskin moccasins) and I have a more modern kitchen and bathroom. I guess what I'm trying to say is no matter how carefully you keep records, they need to be better. And don't keep them in a drawer in the kitchen. Good luck, Kevin

New Hermes engravers, this might be more than what you are looking for, but it does a nice job. Kevin

We have a 5/8" + 3/4" English strap end punches by Weaver, they are symmetrical and line up easily everytime without having to dick around with them 2 or 3 times like the leading brand. I have a couple of the oval drive punches and I like them because the punchings clear nice and easy, the other brand, is an arch punch and the punchings jam up in the arch until they pop out with some force and I don't think it would feel good to a passerby or fellow worker to get hit by one (sorta like a spud gun). Aand the hex shaped handle doesn't line up with the oval on the half dozen or so that we have, but you didn't even ask about oval punches, did you? Happy decisions, Kevin

I'm a Kraft paper kind of guy, I've thought about rosin paper, but that might be too expensive. Seems like I've read or heard about somebody that uses a window shade attatched to the end of the bench. I personally am afraid of newspapers, both because of the ink and I always seem to find something interesting to read that I missed the first time around. Kevin

I shouldn't admit this, but I have used a 1" Chicago screw to do it while the customer waited. Kevin

Is the leather real English bridle leather, or is it American english style bridle leather? The reason I ask, is that I find quite often I set the splitter for what I want and then it compresses the leather as it goes through the rollers and then doesn't split it with the American leather. Hope it's something as simple as that, Good Luck, Kevin