MADMAX22

I remember seeing that add, its been on there alot longer than 6 months by the way. Really wanted to offer on it just didnt have the cash. Congrats on being able to pick it up. Good luck with the ol stitcher its a nice looking one. Gotta love the old iron machines ecspecially ones as good as those guys are.

A shame you couldnt have taken it back after you got it. The machine obviously shouldnt be doing those things "however" there is always a reason a mechanical item doesnt perform as designed. It seems that something is miss adjusted, a wrong component, or a component is worn out. Sounds like ya need some new mechanics honestly.

Some of the best instructional videos for upholstering. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_8PUaXqvjSq3p1lYouXzQ He doesnt talk but they are very good videos. Also hop on the hogring forums, they arent the most helpful, they are actually kind of a holes to do it yourselfers but alot of good info there.

I believe the reason for this including the ability to hold waxes and what not was to hide damage/scrapes/scratches and such. With a roughout boot you can beat the snot out of it then go over the leather with a brush and the marks go away generally. Thought suede was a actual finish to the rough side that actually got rid of alot of the "roughness" of using the rough out (flesh side) of the leather. A sanding and milling process, correct me if I am wrong please.

Much better plan. GL.

I dont know about saved, maybe redirected would be a better word.

I tried for a little while to search for any test results for leather but didnt find any actual results information. Saw some pretty cool pictures of the old break test machines, alot of test requirements for leather and textiles in general but that was about it. Only results I actual found were rub wear test for motorcycle racing suits of various materials, apparently the racing grade leather outfits were the highest rated with exception of some thick Kevlar compound woven material, and that was a specific one other Kevlar compounds didnt fair half as well.

Normal, I dont have any head/round knives that are the same shape and none of them are perfectly half round.

There are a few makers out there that will offer blades, not sure about round knives though. May not throw there makers mark on it considering you would be finishing it up. Pop over to blade forums if no one here can help ya out, bunch more knife makers over there just gotta weed thru all the amateurs. If your looking for a one off style or damascus your gonna pay a decent amount even for just the unfinished blade. Another option or two is you can buy damascus or other steels in the correct thickness and size, send it off to get waterjet or laser cut to your pattern, send it from there to a heat treat person, then finish it up on your own. Probably be pretty pricey for a one off as I mentioned previously. Just depends on how much you wanna do and how much you wanna learn. Really besides heat treat the handle is the hardest part IMHO.

Drop bear got em.

Never had that machine but it looks like a typical home sewing machine. Probably good for fixing your jeans/shirts and what not. People on ebay show old home singers stitching layers of upholstery leather and even vegtan but thats not what they are for. There is a big difference between several layers of denim and 8oz of leather, if your doing holsters your looking at usually two layers of 7-8oz. I would suggest saving your money and grab something that can handle not only the leather but the thread size you want to use. If your stitching belts and holsters you probably want atleast 207 thread capability and maybe even larger.

Doubt it is think but could be off when it gets to 8 or 9 years but that can be affected by sitting in direct sunlight and what not. Maybe Wiz or Bob could chime in. Pretty sure the bonding agent can migrate a little causing tension issues.

Yep, old or poor quality or left in the sun too long or ....... Common issue unfortunately.

Good deal, I dont know any hairdressers so was just curious. Sure whoever gets it will enjoy it.

Looks like it would work good for all the basics, can see why the archery guys want a similar setup. Is that 5-6oz? Just curious what ya would use for something like that since the hairdresser is standing all day.

I got ya, I have to work with nerdy hard headed engineers at work all the time. I was just pointing out that when you use to help someone make a decision about what they wanted, you asked what it was they liked to listen too. This gave you a path to narrow down the results and provide them suggestions based on what they theoretically wanted to do using your knowledge gained from actual experience/study/teaching. I know that you dont necessarily want to be showed what machine or machine options to buy, you want to be taught/explained all aspects sewing machines so you can turn around and buy based on what the resulting information has given you however as pointed out that could/would be pages and pages of information and some life experience thrown in to boot.

This is an example of what most here are looking for from you. Same with your car analogy. Either case you would put forth what the requirements are (thickness range, material, price range......) and by doing so the guys/gals can start narrowing the huge envelope of things available.

That is really nice. Great job on that undertaking.

Ok so start with the basic like BRmax said, what are you going to produce? What material are you making the items out of? This will all narrow it down to allow the more gifted people here the ability to give all kinds of good suggestions as to what the best options would be. Kind of like saying I want to travel from point A to point B but give no other parameters then ask a group to describe with attributes what is the best mode of transportation (bike, canoe, prop job, jet, horse, ant army....) Now asking the same question but include that you need to take 30k lbs with you, from WA state to CT, do it in under 24 hrs. That would atleast narrow it down to a select bunch of cargo carrying jet/turbo prop aircraft.

See if ya can get this moved to the sewing machine section. Also look around for a thread about similar machines, don't recall the title but it had a bunch of good info. Edit: moved

I suppose the reason to find out the what is being stitched or made is to narrow the field down a little bit. There are a bunch of new machines, a ton of old machines, going into the best/worst reason for each would take a while. Pretty sure alot of those threads you refer to give good insight into why each machine was recommended for that purpose.

Dwight I think the parafin helps keep it somewhat softer not sure though. I think Tinkertailor has some old literature of concoctions that are similar they use to use. Anyhow like ya said the finish is really nice.

Well it works pretty decent but its not 100% as most anything isnt. "Usually" with vegtan when I get to the point of finishing Ill do a 'light' coat of neatsfoot oil, one or two of tankote, then a coat of beeswax mix, then the beeswax mix whenever its required. The neatsfoot you can do a very light light coat, your mix will have some in it however IMHO its not enough for thicker leathers. The mix will permeate the tankote once its dry but I feel the combination of the two work good and provide decent protection and a natural looking finish. Wanted to add I did just get some beef tallow in and have a recipe of tallow,beeswax,touch of oil that I wanna try out however I have used the recipe above for a while, and use the beeswax mix on my work boots as well.

Dan I will take it. PM inbound.

Usually I use one of those little crock pots and add about equal parts bees wax and parafin wax then add some neatsfoot oil. Heat this until it is all mixed then pour into a container and let cool. It should be about the consistency of soft butter (will look and feel like sno-seal). I will rub this in sparingly and either let it sit in a warm room or area, or hit it with a heat gun BEING VERY CAREFUL to not over heat the leather. Then I usually let it sit for over night and buff out the next day. Thats what I do anyways.