MADMAX22

Great job on cleaning that guy up. I bet these guys looked so good coming off the assembly line especially compared to the plastic crap that does now adays. Mine had some serious dirt on the paint I actually used mag cleaner on it then turtle wax. Have fun sewing with your new old machine.

Gotta love those berry king tools. Great job on this project, looks great and the antiquing looks as even as it can get to me.

Or what the typical highly inflated price of sewing machines go for.

I dont trust my 441 clown to even make close to a resemblance of a back stitch work properly so I treat it as a non reversing machine. My backstitches are either twice as long on the first one or two stitches or dont even come near lining up so I manually adjust the stitch length as necessary. If your talking about coming up on a stitch line say in a closed loop then ya need to adjust as necessary to minimize the difference in stitch length so it blends together well. Atleast thats what I do.

Looking really good Kritter. Real nice skiving knife ya got there also.

There is a place that makes a good set of setters for the copper rivets. Look it up on here if you can. They are suppose to be much better then the tandy setters that you can get. They work but a good set of setting tools really makes them look great. Well guess it was douglas tools that made them, not sure where you can get them now since sheridan shut down.

Just a suggestion, post some pics or atleast list what exactly they are, there are different types of randall machines.

Here is a link to Basan metalworks facebook page with better pics of the second bike with a write up on what all he did to the bike. https://www.facebook.com/Basan-MetalWorks-705746709535169/

Finally gonna get around to uploading some pics of what I have been doing lately. Here are three seats that I finished up. The first is stock pan, rebuilt alot of the foam and covered with a reshape. First leather work Ive done in a while. This one isnt necessarily a "cafe racer" style. The second one went straight on a pan a buddy made for a custom build he was doing. Came out allright but the pan shape caused some issues for me upfront. Here is a not so good pic of it on the bike. The last one was a little better but offered up its own challenges, mainly the back and under front part. It actually has its own pan that sits on the bare aluminum one (is getting finished later). On the bike (still a work in progress)

No love for barbours linen thread? Nicely done on the comparison. I assume these are all pre waxed threads, do you plan on doing any natural non waxed linen threads that you wax yourself.

Atleast this is an easy fix. Try fixing the reverse stitch on the older 441 clones, seems it either tracks or doesnt.

Haha no kidding, along with probably 95% of most leatherwork. People have been making this stuff for thousands of years, the only thing that changes really are a few new machines, the items they are made for and the styles which evolve over time.

The paasche and badgers are decent/good airbrushes that have been around for many years. That being said I have used the HF one and still do but I also picked up a nice paasche double action at a yard sale for $20 so when the HF dies I have a replacement. Remember the air tank is a vital item for intricate or detail work as you dont get pulsing from the little compressors that dont have tanks. Even a small tank will absorb any pulses. If your just doing two tone or general area airbrushing the HF style little airbrush compressor seems to work ok. Ive had mine for a few years but dont use it very often.

Ok so I forgot some of my techniques, been a while since I did any nice vegtan products (leatherwork in general really). Here is a thread where myself and others go over some of this stuff Man links attach weird now, anyhow. There are a ton of these threads if ya look around some.

I cant remember the exact mixs for everything but there are a few threads around giving details for this exact practice. Its been a while but the mix of bees wax/rosin/neetsfoot oil that I use for my thread waxing I will use on edges of vegtan projects. If I remember right there is another mixture for edges that works well also that is a little easier to apply. The BW/R/NF oil creates a pretty hard brick/ball when it hardens and it will soften up with heat so takes some work. Also look at hidepownders sticky above.

Good looking case and buckle.

Not sure if any of these would be a viable option but is the pfaff 561 needle feed or something else, there is one on the denver cl for 550. This juki also https://denver.craigslist.org/bfs/5520483606.html although more expensive at 800. I am not sure what those go for. Goodluck with your search.

Sorry guess my question was a little confusing. Right now I am using chap hides (biker chap hides to be specific). Originally I tried some 2.5oz belting leather and it was just too hard to form around all the bends and what not. I am basically trying to find a good quality upholstery/seat leather. There are about a million options out there. I am looking for anyone who does seats that has experience with this type of leather and has any recommendations. I ride, and have always had leather seats without issue. I personally cant stand vinyl even with some of the benefits that can be had with it. Thanks for all the input guys, it is appreciate novice or experienced.

Just a friendly bump to see if anyone has any suggestions. I used some biker chap hide from SFL but its a little on the thick side. Has anyone used the WC english bridle that they will split down to 2oz? Curious how it is to work with when split down to that thickness.

It will handle those projects just fine. Remember though the 155 does NOT have reverse. Also if it does have a clutch motor it will haul some butt. A servo motor is a nice addition.

If you decide to get a new machine and part out or sell your old one I could use a couple of screws for mine. Sorry dont have any input on how to fix the issues.

Dan I am probably going to put a servo on this one eventually. The clutch motor is actually not to bad on this guy, I can regulate pretty easy compared to the 211 Ive got. Right now I want to get one of those 500GRs or similar for the 441 clone since I need the most control on that guy, then take that POS servo motor and put it on the 211 after it gets adjusted/fixed up. Once I get a few motorcycle seats done I should have enough play money to look at picking one up for the 31 if I figure out I need it. Its kind of cool having the old singer motor on the 31, I know it shouldnt matter but kind of nice with all the original stuff on it.

Thanks guys. Suzelle it did come with a dual thread stand we just took it off when loading it and I havent put it back on yet. Was running thru a couple layers of denim and it is doing good. I need to get use to it not being a walking foot though as thats all Ive really ever used. Little bit of a learning curve but relatively easy. Its fun restoring or in this case just cleaning up basically older machines. Now if I just had more time.

Couple more pics

Well had an impulse buy, picked this little guy up on craigslist for $80. If i remember correctly its a 1946 year 31-15 with the converted treadle table and knee lift. Had apparently been sitting in a room for a long time. I took a gamble and picked it up just upon inspection. Paid off I hope. There are a couple of screws missing which I need to peruse a manual and see if I can find the right ones. Got it cleaned up for the most part and heavily oiled. Gonna get a roller foot kit to put on it so I can sew thin leather like wallet interiors and such. Its a little easier to control then my 211 for small things and I think it looks good to boot. It had enough fuzz inside to make up a couple of dead mice I think. It cleaned up real nice. Pretty sure the original clutch motor is on its way out but still performs ok. Stitches are nice and even.