Joon1911

I picked up my Cobra C4 during the Sheridan show several years ago. Steve offered a show discount at that time. He might still offer that. Don’t really know. Then again I think that is a Spring show so it might not help much Frankly if one seller is closer to your location regionally then I would choose them over any savings as the service could get very expensive if you can’t figure it out yourself

Thanks for clearing up my mistake... I wish I knew more about all these machines, but at this point in life, things have to leave my brain to stuff more in.

Uwe Grosse makes a version of his flatbed table for the 69 series machines. I have one for the 441 and it is great.

I have a Cobra C4 and I think it has the same setup. I use a classic 4 leg round stool and place it so two legs straddle the base. With my heel on the foot ring it lets me use my toe to control the pedal and still be close to the work. I’ll try to take a photo later today and post it to give you a visual.

I think you have to play it by ear. If the bobbin runs out in the middle of the strap, I’d say the overstitch is a good practice. But if it’s in an area that I think could see high wear, I’ll pull the stitches back to a better location for the overstitch. Sure it takes a bit of efficiency away, but I can’t knowingly sell an item that is in my perception not as functional as possible.

Most holster manufacturers use something similar to strapping used for shipping pallets. It’s spring steel so it had some natural resistance to bending. I’ve dissected a bunch of mainstream holsters and that’s what I’ve seen inside just about every holster I’ve taken apart. I could be mistaken but I think that galvanized steel would be corrosive over time with sandwiching it in the leather.

Just take the leather you are using for the strip, wrap it around the dummy 45 LC round and use a pair of dividers tight against the sides of dummy round and the points will give you the specific dimension. I'll try to take a picture later to help visualize. This was how I learned to set up the spacing for bullet loops and it requires no math.

can you forward me a link? I couldn’t find it by searching on Kijiji.

Nice score! I got mine on Amazon used a couple years ago. Some Goodwill had it priced absurdly low and I jumped. It goes to show you if you're patient enough you can find most things pretty reasonably.

Wiz: I love that this sight always gives little nuggets of wisdom. I'm gonna give this a whirl!

Wiz, I’ve never heard anyone describe this technique before. What does dropping two stitches in the same hole accomplish? Is there any downside to this technique if it is effectively invisible?

If you’re interested in the history and transition, the Rattenbury book Packing Iron is top notch! I read the whole book at my local library and ended up buying a copy on eBay for a song https://www.amazon.co.uk/Packing-Iron-Gunleather-Frontier-West/dp/0939549085

Not discounting your fixed budget issue, a Barry King awl blade is $25 plus shipping. I think they sent mine first class mail for a buck or two. I use it in my cheap Osborne awl handle. Works just as fine as a nice cocobolo handle, just not as purdy! I think my first Osborne awl blade cost me $12 and several hours over the period of many months chasing my tail thinking I sucked at saddlestitching. If I knew then what I know now, I would’ve gladly paid the difference. My offer stands, if the $25 properly shaped, properly sharpened BK awl blade doesn’t make a significant difference, I’ll gladly buy it from you & have a spare.

I responded to your other post as well but this being another question I’ll put in my 2¢. The question regarding this is how much handsewing you intend to do. If this is a hobby and intends to stay that way, you probably don’t care too much how long a particular project is going to take. If that’s the case, do it however you feel works best for you If on the other hand this is a business proposition for you, time is money. Plan on adding at least 20-40% more time to your sewing if you are putting down needles and picking them up, etc... If you keep in mind time is money, then this is untenable. Do what Stohlman teaches. It is awkward at first but becomes easier and second nature after awhile, just take a look at how fast Nigel Armitage is at it. Granted he is a master at hand sewing. In regards to the trouble piercing 12-14 oz. of veg tan, I’ll say it again. I think it’s your awl. I had trouble for years until I finally understood what a good awl blade should be shaped and sharpened to. Get a Barry King awl blade and you’ll see what I mean. If I’m wrong, let me know and I’ll take the BK awl blade off your hands for what you paid for it shipping and all! Above, as always is just my humble opinion, your experience may vary.

You shouldn’t have to work that much for two layers of 6-7 unless it is dry and hard. I second the suggestion that a bit of wax on the awl helps the awl cut thru the leather. I also second that profile I’d the awl is just as important as sharpness. If I may impart a bit of wisdom learned from decades of woodworking which relies on sharp for many things. My mentor who explained this so bluntly many years ago said to me “You don’t know sharp until you experience it!” I always thought I knew sharp until I tried someone else’s tools. Even after many years of sharpening experience which I have gotten very good at for woodworking purposes I struggled at awlwork until I experienced sharp & correct profile. A very good investment would be to purchase a Barry King awl blade. I spent months sharpening a stock Osborne awl blade thinking my problem was my technique....nope, it was a crappy tempered and crappy profiled awl blade. For $25 plus shipping, it’ll be the best money ever spent to experience sharp. Just my two cents...best of luck and don’t get too frustrated. Learning curve is pretty steep.

Uwe’s is 1000% better than the one that all the clone maker’s (I think they’re all the same, but I’m not 100% certain) Here’s a pic of mine mounted to my C4. Worth every penny!

I’m sure someone will be able to tell you exactly which mounting plate you need to use on the 206RB, but I use a similar roller guide on my Class IV and used the Kwok Hing KB205 mounting plate to mount to the back of the machine. http://www.khsew.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=338&search=Kb205

So many different factors to answer this question. Honestly most of my opinions are going to be irrelevant to your experience in South America. That being said the basic mathematical equations still hold true. 1. Who is your intended market and what is that particular market willing to pay for your product? In the U.S. I’ve found there is a market willing to pay for a truly premium product that I can compare with another similar item that is priced say 50% less than mine and by comparing quality side by side, I can justify the additional expense to my customer. If they don’t agree, they’re free to find the cost to benefit ratio they’re willing to pay for and I’m willing & able to decline their business if that equation doesn’t work for me. This is the beauty of the free market economy. 2. Find the machine that works for your budget. There and thousands of Singers that are faithfully sewing heavy leather that can be had here in the US for 1/5th what you’d pay for a new CB4500 or Class IV. I bought a Singer for less than $300 US, used it for several years until I could afford more machine. The work that the Singer sewed paid for my new Class IV several years ago. The work that my Class IV is sewing will eventually pay for a needle/awl machine like a Campbell-Randall or a Landis which is my dream machine. In reality I was able to sell my Singer for more than I paid for it because I was able to make it run more reliably that when I first bought it. I doubt I’ll be able to sell my Class IV for more than I paid, but it’s been so reliable I may just keep it for strapwork & belts.

This video has been by far, the best, video to help me understand what I was doing wrong with my saddle stitch. I’m still not perfect because I don’t do it very often, but if I review this video, I can always figure out what I’ve done wrong to create an inconsistency.

An old woodworker’s trick for gluing laminate to countertops works well too. Have a bunch of short 1/4” dowel that you can lay down every 4” or so and once you get the two layers aligned you can start removing the dowels and sticking the two layers together. Works like a charm. And if the contact cement is fully dry to tack, it doesn't even stick to the dowels.

Adams Leather Works has an excellent video that shows the entire process. Very well done. You do have to buy a subscription to watch but I think it’s worth the investment.

Thanks for sharing. Really beautiful work.

The Press-N-Snap regularly goes on sale for $99 from Sailrite. That's where I bought mine a bunch of years ago. I only install Line 24 snaps so I've never looked into whether they make Line 20 anvils, but I assume they do.

Man, RockyAussie! That’s one beautiful croc sling. So cool. I haven’t had a chance to mess with croc or caiman yet. It’s so expensive here in the United States, I haven’t had a project come up that I could justify the expense for. That sling shape is just about perfect for the croc hornbacks. Is it hard to cut through those plates? Beautiful work.

Uwe, Totally understandable not wanting to carry excess inventory at this time. But your business decision made me spend more money.... I don’t know that I really need the drop down roller guide, but at 40% off I couldn’t resist the urge to find out if it is significantly better than the standard roller guide. BTW, your flatbed table is super. I used it for some flatwork the other day and I couldn’t tell the difference between this and my old flatbed machine for all useful purposes! I hope you keep innovating. I’d personally love to see a well thought out binder attachment for a 441 machine.