alexitbe

Hi Constab, I think you are right...and getting more doesn't seem to solve the issue... The Durkopp is the king of the crop, but I now have 2 fur sewing machines, a Singer 111WD, two Singer patchers.... Although, I need a zick zack machine and am thinking of a Pfaff 38-6... Cheers Alex

I have just bought a strobel 40-1n fur sewing machine (pics later). I believe it is for fine work like mink as the stitch size is adjustable from 1-2.5mm. Well the post man played fortball with it and managed to break the front feed rod and the needle. I am remachining the rod, but don't know the need to get. I think I should get the 459 system, however, should it be the round nose or leather cutting tip? Thanks for any guidance. Alex

I really appreciate the time you took to do this. I bought a round knife (British ), but I have not used it since I was too scared of amaging the cutting edge... I will finally give it a go thanks to your video Cheers Alex

Its very difficult to do by machine.. .Or atleast I am finding that and I have a gloving machine. It is better to do by hand. There is an internet book from the 50's which you should be able to download for free somewhere. In all honesty, make him something else. Gloves are not easy to do and you must prepare the leather in the correct way. Lots of stretching is involved... If you have a link to the patterns and instructions one on amachine, I would be interested to see them. The thumb measurements have to be perfect, otherwise you get a hole there.... Alex

Hi Eric, Thank you for the response. If you have the engineers manual for my machine or something similar that would be a great help. I don't really know if I have even threaded it properly. Mine has a broken spring on the knee lift at the back and I wish to replace it. However, I have made the mistake of dismantling a sewing machine before without having the manual to put it back together.. I will try not to repeat that disaster.. I really wanted it to try and make leather gloves. Do you think it will be possible or is it too light? It came with a DDR motor, which is currently removed and will remain so, unless I become lazy. There is something therapeutic about turning the wheel by the hand and watching the stich slowly form.... I will check out the terms for the stitch type and try to see if mine is stitching properly. I currently don't know.. All the best. Alex

Hello Constabulary, Hope you are well. As usual you are a wealth of knowledge... I am glad to hear that it is slightly unusual.. I only went to pick it up for the table and the Singer so I was very pleasantly surprised... Its amazing what you can pick up in the old DDR. The old lady said it was old, even when she got it in the 60's. She was a little sad to see it go, which was a shame. I don't really want to use the wheel that is attached to the long presser foot, because I don't have any information on how to fit it properly. The attachable wheel is different from the one on ebay, it seems just to clip on. I shall take closeup pictures of it and another thing I do not have a clue on. Might be interesting. I was really surprised that it stiched first time, without any adjustment. I guess these Prussians knew how to build sewing machine... and maybe a few other things.. Is my description of it being a compound feed correct? Just needle and feed dogs.... If there is anything anyone wants me to photograph jsut let me knw.... Thank you TinkerTailor for your suggestion too... It all helps... There is no information on this machine at all..

Now, I picked this up sometime ago and it was stuck solid and in a dreadful state. To be honest, I have not done much, except to clean the head and the mechanism in the base. I used oven cleaner, which really helped and a little bit of patience. It is most unusual, that it has a reverse and adjustable stitch length. Max stitch length is about 4mm. It is also compound feed, ie needle an dog feed and not the more usual presser foot feed. It came with two wheels, one as a clip on attachement and the other is a long solid presser bar with wheel permanently attached. I got it to stitch tonight and it easily handle d4.5 mm (1/6") of leather. Model number and stich length adjustment lever Serial number (C3851050) Front Head Accessories First Stitches If anyone has experience of fitting the wheel feed, or knows of a good photo, I would like to hear about it. I also got the table,treadle, two pulleys and some Singer spool holders that came with this... But space is too limited. I don't know if the serial number can verify where this was made. The oil sign is written in German, but mabye it does not neccessarily mean it was made hear. Cheers Alex

Well, I have wanted a fur sewing machines from the very beginning and now I have one... I think production finished in the 40's and started before the turn of the century. It is unusual, I think, in that it has two threads. One of which goes through the needle and the other which goes through the looper. The looper is the funny thing that passes back and forth over the two apposing wheels. The manual describes the machine as "for seaming hoisery with a selvedge Edge". If anyone can tell me an alternative name of the stitch it does I would be greatful. It was in nice condition when I bought, but had not been used for years. I cleaned inside, with oven cleaner and the outsie with just mild detergent. Then oiled it well and found out sort of how to thread it...It was missing a thread guide for the 2nd threa, which goes to the looper, so I made two new ones. It sews very nicely an I am very please with the little effort I had to put in.They are the shiny things in the pics. Serial number and model Profile Front Bird's eye Stitch length adjuster. (max is about 3mm) Shall add the stiches it did tmrw. Also I will label how I have threaed it. There has been some guess work there Hope that interests someone.

Woul be interested to hear if anyone has ordered from the German tannaries an if so can they recommend any? Cheers Alex

Please help me avoid an expensive mistake... I wish to do some wet forming, but am confuse dabout the leather to use. I have seenn veg-tan leather, however, it seems like there are different types ie bridle leather or pull-up. The ones I just mentioned have a waxy coat, so I guess this will hinder water absorption. Thus I am very confused. Will any type of leather do? Veg-tan or chrome died? I don;t want natural leather, I would like the choice of some dark colours. Thanks for any advice. Alex

In Valerie Michaels book, she recommends: leather thickness stitches per inch thread size needle size awl size 1mm or less 12 35/3 6-7 1 3/4" 1.5mm 10 30 or 25/3 5-6 2" Hope that helps. Alex

I bought the Barnsley one I mentioned above. It seems pretty good, although I have not dared to sharpen it yet. It cut through the sofa when I dropped it on it. So its quite sharp already. The cost was alittle less than 25 pounds. Cannot grumble at that price. Also, bought their long skiving knife, which was only about 5 pounds. You can buy directly from them and I was communicating with the owner (Mr Barnsley) over email. Cheers Alex

I imagine, the only poor material to burnish with would be metal. Since it is thermally conductive, it will drain the heat away from the leather surface and this is where you want it. Ofcourse, i suppose you could just turn up the speed of rotation to cause more friction... I think wood or any other dielectric ie non-conductor, would be better with lower speed of rotation... Alex

Thanks Black Dogg, I have not tried the Bear Gallery, but will have a look now. So you think I can try the braided polyester(Annam thread for shoes) that I have bought for my sewing machine and not worry about tapering? That would be very convenient. Then I can spend time looking for the right linen thread, but start with making leather right now. Cheers Alex

Sorry to have gone silent... I seem to have forgotten to subscribe. Simon, thank you for the information on where to purchase what I am looking for. I will go and have a look. I have already bought some braided polyester thread for my sewing machine, but I now need something for hand sewing. Twinoaks: I appreciate your advice. I will give it a go with linen thread. Is it possible to handsew with manmade thread and still be able to taper the ends? Stohlman is very particular about tapering the ends and even specifies uwaxed linen thread Cheers ALex

Well I am new to leathework and needed to skive a rather large gusset (still not done that yet ). It is a Stohlman pattern, Diplomat Pouch pg 62 Vol2 Art of making leather Cases... My first attempt failed and the gusset was ruined. The blade (a stanley knife blade) kept digging into the leather. Something was wrong with the angle of attack of the blade and the sensitivity to that. First I started with a wedge of 45degree for the blade to rest on and this was too much. It is now down to 10-15 degrees. Next problem was the sensitivity to this angle. So if the angle between the blade and the leather change just a little bit the blade dug in to the leather fast. My problem was that the anvil, which the leather rode over, had a diameter of 10 mm and this was too much for the leather. So that if the leather rised off the anvil even slightly the angle between the leather and the blade changed drastically. So the blade kept digging in. So I made the anvil much bigger and not with a circular profile but a flattene oval. The flat bit below the blade. So that, even if the leather is not held completely flush to the anvil the angle it makes with the blade is not so much that it digs in. I would say that this was a partial success. It skives fine now, but I cannot do anything too wide. The gusset I wanted to skive was alittle less than A4 size and I don't think I will risk skiving it. In summary, the most important things to make is a 10-15 degree wedge for the blade to lie on, something for of moving the anvil up and down accurately (ie a screw, although I had something lying around), and a broad,smooth and gently rouned anvil. The braces and metal construction I used was completely over the top, but were spare things about to be thrown out. Some pics Final Design The black nob is part of the tranlation stage, which moves the leather up or down. Brass thing is the anvil. As you see not circular and about 1.5" in diameter First attempt with the too small anvil. You can see how quickly the blade cut in. Hope this is useful to someone. Cheers Alex

Thanks for the response... I am having trouble getting black unwaxed linen thread in 5 cord thickness, over here in Europe... I broke, or bent my awls, not the pricking irons.... Thank God, since they are cheaper than pricking irons... I was using 4mm thick leather I bought from an old shoemaker. Maybe it was sole leather? Who knows, but its bloody hard.... I had to drill it with 1mm bit. Cheers Alex

Which do you use? I am new to hand sewing ( Infact sewing in general) and have managed to bend 2 diamond awls already... Replacements are being shipped as we speak.... I ignored Stohlman and bought waxed linen thread...an he was right... Its not possible to taper properly. However, I see you can buy pre-tapered polyester thread. I guess Stohlman did not have this as an option in his time. Are these any good? If so which supplier do you use? I would prefer to get unwaxed linen thread, but cannot find a source in Germany... So buying pre tapered nylon thread might be the best solution. Cheers Alex

Thanks for the response Steve. Well last week I built a book binder's paring machine. It didn't really work and bares out what you say. I have a couple more things to change on it ie broaden the "anvil" so as to change the angle of attack and hopefully that will help. However, it has been a disappointing experience. I shall post pics later... Cheeers Alex

very nice simple lines... I like it very much... Have you bought any bag making books? I have just boughht the Bag making bible, but nothing on leather...

I have found the film again, which should give you a good idea on how it works... Alex

What sizes do you use most? I think I will mostly be using 6oz (2.4 mm) leather and a maximum of 10 oz (4.0 mm) for boxes? I have the following book: The leatherworking handbook by Valerie Michael, she suggests 7 stiches per inch for a leather thickness from 2.5 mm to 6 mm. It is not clear if she means total thickness of leather or the thickness of one layer. What do you guys think? I am thinking of getting a Barnsley pricking iron. Cheers ALex

Thanks for the answer Constab. It looks like I should go to 50 mm to be sure. Which means, ideally I will have to use a 20 cm diameter large pulley.. Maybe I should change to 8mm belts too, but belts aren't cheap here in Germany, unlike the UK. Cheers ALex

Does anyone have any drawings? In particular how they mounted the pulley... I have found some scrap metal. I can make two pulleys with a size of 12cm :4cm. Is 4 cm (1,6 inches) too small a diameter for a v-belt? The belts seem quite thick and stiff. What is the minimum size you guys would suggest? Cheers Alex

Can anyone recommend anything? I have bought a book with a single glove pattern in, but it seems wrong. Also the stitching is on the exteria and not hidden, which is really what I am looking to do. Any avice greatfully recieved. Alex