alfredleatherworks

Oh, that would be great! I keep taking a small chunk of time every day or so to scour the archives here, but so far I haven't found what I'm looking for regarding digital saddlery books. I've found all the other non-copyrighted books, largely on archive.org, but anything with a copyright has been harder to find. I'd consider buying a physical copy and having my girlfriend ship it to me, but the shipping cost is too high and then there's the 60% import tax/tariff on top of it all...too much for me, lol. Also, traveling around the country here with a physical leatherworking library would be super cumbersome. Which is why I'm scouring this forum and the internet at large for ebooks/PDFs, etc. I don't mind paying for a good book, but even in this day and age finding some texts in digital format seems to be difficult.

Let me start off by saying, I’m not looking for pirated copies of books. I am willing to pay for legitimate copies of the titles I’m looking for. Last February I sold off half of my leather shop and moved to South America for a while to live and work with the gauchos here and learn their style of leatherwork with a focus on their approach to rawhide and leather braiding. While I’m here I’m supporting myself by plying my trade as a leatherworker. I had to leave behind my physical library, and I didn’t think that was going to be an issue. Turns out, not only do I want the books for my own reference but I’m being asked to share my skills with others here by teaching. In specific, I’m looking for an ebook copy of Al Stohlman’s Encyclopedia of Saddlemaking and the book Creating Western Floral Designs by Bob Parks. Does anyone know if there are legit PDF ebooks of these titles? I can’t seem to find them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I have digitized copies of all my other Al Stohlman books, as well as many others, but I never got around to digitizing my entire library. FWIW, if anyone knows of other good saddle/tack or general leatherworking books that are available as ebooks, I’d love that info too. Teaching leather and English at the same time is fun, but with books for reference it would be so much easier, lol. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read and/or reply. Hope y’all are doing well this week! —Riley

Oh, this is good info! Thank you! I'm not a welder...I can weld, but only about as good as it takes to patch a fence on a horse pasture (it'll hold but it isn't pretty). I'm not going to even try to mend this myself. I'm going to talk to some local welders who can do it right. Knowing (now) to ask about brazing instead of welding is a huge help. I do have a copy of the manual (digital format). I need to contact Eli about needles and see what parts he may have. I'd like to see about a few extra bobbins. I've also thought about the printed copy that Ewe sells. As for not oiling the "part that should never be oiled" I will make sure not to oil it. These are good resources! I'll be hiring a professional to do the repair. My skills with welding are...rudimentary at best.

So... I have picked up the sewing machine and it is in such good repair! I'm excited to get it up and running. I've got to renovate my workshop anyway, and I'll be reinforcing the floor (it's a wood joist floor) in the process. For now, the machine (and all the rest of my leather shop) are going into a local climate-controlled storage unit. The machine came with a package of needles (labeled "Pearson 5"), and the bobbin winder. The needles appear to be original stock needles, but I could be wrong. The bobbin winder needs some repair, but I think I can get a TIG-welder to fix it up for me. I've attached some pictures for reference.

I have emailed him to chat about what size I need for which thread size and I’ll probably be ordering a bunch. I plan to use this machine quite regularly.

I’m not familiar with the machine you had, but the Landis #1 also uses the 331 system needles. I’m in the process of tracking those down and buying stock in them, lol. I live on a horse ranch and do a lot of heavy harness and tack work so I am very excited about my new machine!

I was always taught that if there are metal moving parts, you oil them. Goes for more than just sewing machines, lol. I’ll make sure to check on the linkages and moving parts on the pedals and I’ll oil them while I’m down there.

Amazing information! Thank you so much!

Thank you!

I have just been given a Landis No. 1 Regular Lock Stitch Wax Thread Sewing Machine as an early Christmas gift, and I’ll be picking it up on Wednesday. I’m reading through the forum right now on all the Landis-related posts. So far I’m learning a lot, but I am looking for the original needle type name/designation so I can keep an eye out for them (hopefully). I was trying to help a gentleman sell his father’s Landis #1 for the past few months (because I didn’t have the money for it myself) and he just walked into my shop to say, “Merry Christmas, have a sewing machine!” I’m still kinda in shock, lol. I’m about to go back to reading old posts about the machine, but if anyone wants to let me know anything in particular feel free to comment. Also, the pictures attached are of the machine as it is right now.

On the sample card they sent me (image attached) they have a 0.02" (0.5mm), 0.03" (0.8mm), and 0.04" (1mm) thread size with 21 different colors currently. Also attached is a closeup image of the three thread sizes. I feel like the Maine Thread braided threads look and feel like a high-quality alternative option to Tiger Thread. My Tiger Thread is all packed up in my tool bag in the car so I'll try to get a picture of the Maine Thread sample card and some of my Tiger Thread side-by-side tomorrow and upload it for y'all.

I have not tried the Main Thread braided thread yet, though their twisted thread is all I used to use. I currently use the braided thread I get through Maker's Leather Supply here in Texas, and from the reviews I'm seeing here I might just stick with that. It's pretty dang close to Tiger thread from my experience. I had high hopes for Main Thread coming out with a new line of flat braided threads because I love their twisted threads so much...but if they are more round then flat that doesn't help me any. I do recommend MLS braided thread though.