kathleen

Hi all I have what I think is a used Hiker kick press. Photo below I'm looking for dies that will fit this machine to set some "parachute" nailheads (source). Photo and specs below: does anyone have any ideas? The company above sells some dies but I think it's for a little hand operated thingie. Also, I am confused about how to set the dies. I have some dies now, supposedly to set magnetic bag closures and either they are designed for another machine or I'm missing some kind of piece of hardware. Iow, the dies for the magnetic closure look like the dies this company sells for the hand setting machine. It is beyond me to imagine how these dies would fit into the machine I have. I have operated a kick press before but I never had to insert dies so I never noticed how it was done or paid much attention which doesn't help me now that I need to know. Does that round thing on the bottom part back all the way out and you put in your own die or does that round thing hold the die itself. I don't understand. I appreciate your help. Also, I'm trying to mark this thread to be notified in case of response but I keep getting an error message. I will remember to check back. Thanks for your time.

OOPS! A quality pattern is the beginnings of a quality result. Quality is rooted in engineering and that's what the pattern is. If your pattern is crappy, you'll either end up with a less than stellar result OR you'll waste time correcting the pattern. For example, if the pieces don't match, you'll have a heckuva time getting everything to line up. There's a reason Coach pays their pattern makers in excess of $100,000 a year. Pattern quality directly impacts sewing quality. No matter how good a stitcher you are, if the pattern is crappy, you're going to have trouble.

Thanks for posting this. I recently installed some overhead lighting in my shop. The ceiling configuration limits how many sets (8) I can gang over my 20 foot table. I'd looked for bulbs with the highest lumens rating, 3200 I think. The benefits of full spectrum not withstanding, I note the lumen rating for bulbs I found on fullspectrum are nearly 70% brighter but the wattage is only 25% or so higher. I think I can swing it. I like a LOT of light. I'll read the pdf you posted later. I find your background in industrial engineering interesting. I do a lot of that, untrained via necessity, write quite a bit about it as well (needle trades). I thought about going back for a master's in it, desiring an emphasis in lean manufacturing but the chair described it as "comic book" engineering. Considering the less than hospitable environment, I've given up on that ...for now.