Joon1911

Like Mark, I don’t find I need to adjust top tension but I do need to lengthen the stitch adjuster to get an equivalent SPI. Mark is absolutely right that work needs to be level and feed neutral. If I push or retard feed I find I have skipped stitches.

Thanks Joe. I’ll check that out! Sorry for the thread hijack, my bad. Return to normal broadcasting please.

I put the foot ring of the stool at a good height for my heel to rest on and just use my toes to feather the pedal. I find this reduces the times my machine runs away on me to next to zip.

I’ve always been curious about how gloves are sewn, do you use a post bed machine?

Gary, I guess I see it as the benefits of versatility far outweigh the disadvantage of possibly putting a stitch where I don’t want it. I’ve found that with experience it’s a non-issue anyway. As Matt S. said earlier, the ability to instantly switch between 50spm to 750 and anywhere in between has become essential to me.

Billy, I know the following doesn’t actually answer your question but I think it relates. I have a standard setup Cobra Class 4 which is basically the same thing as Gary’s CB4500. If I recall the servo motor doesn’t tell you rpm in the settings, it goes from 1-25 maybe? It’s been so long since I messed with it. For the first month I set it at 3 or so until I gained comfort. That setting at its fastest was maybe 60-70 stitches per minute if I recall correctly. Upon the suggestion of a mentor, I changed that setting to the highest and have never looked back. I can stitch as slow as I want, maybe 1 stitch every 2-3 seconds to full bore just by the pedal engagement. I’d suggest this to anyone; get used to controlling your motor not letting it control you. I wouldn’t want to switch back and forth all the time whenever I wanted to sew a belt or strap or fill bobbins. That’s lost time and productivity.

Tob, thanks for posting this. I took photography back in art school in the 90’s but digital wasn’t really universally accessible back then. Just started this and it looks promising. joon

Zigzag, this is an intriguing idea. Can you post some pics? I’ve found I have to be careful of how I’m hand sewing with the Ritza otherwise the flat braid lay of the thread affects the overall “neatness” of the stitches. I’d imagine this would be exacerbated by running thru a sewing machine.

Nice, clean work, Mister Smith! If I could make one suggestion in regards to function; typically when the belt slots are so far apart, the holster will tend to sag, especially as the holster wears and softens a bit. With an all steel 40 oz. 1911, that'll happen sooner than later. If you move the slots inboard (specifically the trigger guard side) it will do wonders for pulling the butt of the pistol in towards the body. Just my two cents, and nothing to take away from the fine work, sir!

That’s perfect! Didn’t even know that I needed to buy a new tool...

This holster is for an XDm .45 acp. As I recall the holster pocket is significantly larger than a comparable Glock holster. I don’t typically make holsters for the XDm so this is the only one I’ve done. You’ll likely have to modify any Glock pattern significantly.

Todd, Wiz’s suggestion is my go to method when I’m not proactively thinking about my bobbin thread ( which is easily 50% if the time). When I do think ahead to check how much bobbin thread I have left, which is usually before a belt or strap, I have two strategies I use. First, I keep in mind how cheap thread is in the long run, so if it means that I’m pulling the remaining thread off to refill the bobbin, c’est la vie. It’s a small cost compared to my personal obsession to make the best possible product within my abilities. The second option which I use far more often is to pull the partially used bobbin and put in another full bobbin and save the partial bobbin for a smaller project. If you haven’t invested in spare bobbins I can’t recommend it enough. It has a huge impact on work flow to have spare bobbins that are already full. Since I have a Cobra C4 and to fill a bobbin requires me to completely stop my sewing, I have at least 2 full bobbins of every thread I use on a regular basis. The initial investment for the large bobbins was a little painful but it’s paid for itself the first project that I didn’t have to stop my workflow mid-project.

I get my clips from JRM. http://www.jrmclips.com/ I use the 3009 or 3023 clips depending on the application. The 3023 is deeper so I use those with double layer gun belts.

I'd second Wiz's consideration. When I bought my Cobra C4 I don't think the 3200 was an option yet or I might have been swayed by the price. That being said when I use the holster plate, I'm pretty limited as to how much leather I can fit under the presses feet without monkeying with them. Get as much machine as you can see yourself growing into needing and you won't have any regrets. I certainly don't.

Mostly I've purchased from Jerry Van Amburg, but next time I order, I'm going to possibly try either Maverick Leather or I've heard Lewis Leather carries good quality shark.

Wiz, Do you know if Toledo Industrial carries these feet in stock?

I rely on using mold guns whenever possible just for the sake of expedience BUT I believe it's always prudent to test the fit of all new holster patterns to the actual model of firearm the holster is made for. It's been my experience that blue guns are usually quite accurate to scale but I have had a few that were off enough to cause issues. In light of your extenuating circumstances, perhaps you could see if one of your local mom and pop gun shops would be willing to let you try your holster on one of their guns in inventory? I know that there's at least one shop close to me that has let me do this on occasion when I don't have access to the actual firearm. The added benefit is that you can start to build a relationship with said gunshop and possibly generate some business from it. That's been my experience. Best of luck Joon

Forester, Listen, I suspect you are going to have to do as chiefjason suggested and get out some paper and make a paper pattern for the particular item in question to get actual sizing. I took a 1911 mag and made a quick rough pattern based on my interpretation of the photos above. Basically, one piece that wraps completely around the mag 360°. This is my best guess. Hope it helps.

Plinker, I think you've got the body of the pouch on the wrong side of the seam. I base this on the location of the stitch line. I could be way off base seeing as I'm basing this on two photos of the actual item without being able to see it in three dimensions.

Actually the back picture is quite helpful in figuring out the construction. Just looking at the front picture I would have guessed that there were two pieces of leather sewn together at the long edge to form the wrap around belt loop BUT...the back picture shows the ingenuity of the design. Basically one L-shaped piece of leather sewn along the bottom and one long edge after one fold. The remainder of one L forms the belt strap and the other forms the strap. Quite simple and quite elegant. Sorry i I don't have a pattern for you though.

Eric, i really look forward to that FB live event happening. I've been blessed with a relatively pain free two years with my C4 but I know I'll run into timing maintenance issues eventually. I really hope to know more about how to fix my machine before that time happens. Keep us posted.

Sheepishly I got distracted by the pictures and never got to the end of his post. Thanks.

Hey JLS, would you mind elaborating on your preference for the tension unit being at the bottom end? I've seen it done both ways fairly equally and I'm curious as to your reasoning. Thanks in advance.

Uwe, that looks a world above the flatbed that ships with these machines. I've only used mine a couple times and they leave a lot to be desired. Do you have any ideas of price point at this time?

I'd agree with both previous opinions. Essentially both machines are the same with minor differerences in the accessories such as feet. Both dealers have excellent reputations. I personally bought a Cobra because at the time Steve had a show deal going on that made it a little cheaper. Neither dealer was in range of me to drive and pick up so that didn't make a difference for me. Aftercare is the biggest thing. If one is closer to you especially within driving distance, that's who I'd go to. Oh, and buy more machine than you plan on assuming it's in the budget. I was planning on a 3 but was convinced by Steve to get a 4. Don't regret that decision at all! Almost wish I'd gone with the 4-25. Made a log carrier for the missus that was a pain to sew. Good luck.