pogue44

Greetings, I recently bought out a couple of shoe repairs. I'm setting up my own shop and I with these purchases I have several duplicates. I'm willing to trade or make someone a deal of the century package. Here's what I have; Landis 12 K curved needle sole stitcher- Fair condition. Mechanisms smooth. Need to test it. It has been in storage and I don't have it here yet. The attached picture is not actual picture just the same model in similar condition. $600 Landis 12 L curved needle sole stitcher- Mechanisms in great condition and smooth. Works. Has some cosmetic issues- plastic hood is cracked, needs new hinges on door. If not for these minor issues machine functions perfectly. I have used it on and off for a while now. Actual picture. $1000 Set of jackmaster finishers 220v. One set up for soles and one for heels. Actual picture. $1500 Puritan chain stitch sewing machine. Yup the kind they make redwing boots with. Just had it in for servicing and it is still at the shop so no picture yet. Head only. Works. $500 If you can use it all $2500 takes it. If you don't want one or more of the items but are interested in the rest make me an offer. If it is a reasonable offer there is a very high probability I will accept. I have limited work space so I need these items gone. If interested in a trade here's what I can use; Landis 3, Campbell Randell or Champion needle awl machine - must have all the parts and work. Cobra class 4 or Cowboy similar. Leather splitter- Larger than 12" Any kind of working postbed sewing machine. Need it for shoe work. No high speed upholstery machines. An old Singer would be great. Large size harness and tack sewing machine-ie. Singer class 7 or similar. Five in one machine. Sutton S-1000 shoe finisher. Shoe press. I'm located in southern California but drive to Kentucky often. If your on the way north or south I can deliver for reasonable additional delivery charge.

Thank you Bob, I figured it would not be worth very much. I'm located in Southern California. If anyone is interested just let me know.

Came across a barn find. Anyone have any idea of what it might be worth or interested in buying it? Several parts are missing, but the head itself is built like a tank and can be refurbished.

Funny you asked this question I had the same question about 6 months ago but didn't ask for any advice. I am pretty new to leather working so what I experienced with WC might help someone else. So here is the story: Last winter I knew I was going to be driving through PA and past the WC factory so I emailed Matt. Never heard a word back from him. Total silence. So about a week later I randomly picked Elizabeth to e-mail. She e-mailed me back immediately and was incredibly helpful providing pricing and also sent me some specific samples so I could narrow down choices. I told her in follow up that I was planning on coming to PA and would it be ok to visit the factory? She said that was absolutely ok. Unfortunately she was going to be on vacation on the day I was scheduled to come. But here is where the top flight customer service kicked in on the part of their sales staff...she handed me off to another sales person who was going to be there who was actually pretty new to the job. She didn't miss a beat and neither did he. So when I arrived I had a contact and an ok to do a factory tour and also a source for the product I wanted to purchase. When I got to WC it was a cold winter day but the factory was warm. The sales staff gave me a complete factory tour (he spent about an hour with me for the tour and then some more time later also). Then I had some product questions so he handed me off to some production guys who spent about another hour with me. Then I wanted to go through some stacks of hides and they took some time to help with that too. Altogether I was there for probably 3 hours and I left with EXACTLY what I wanted. I also took home 5 bellies which cost $10 each from the cull piles for me son who is learning leather crafting. There was no push and no shove out the door, in fact just the opposite, I felt like I could have stayed there longer and they still would have been helpful. I actually felt bad because I am probably not ever going to be that big of a buyer so I tried to keep my inquiries to a minimum and to what was necessary. What I can also tell you now was that I learned a TON by actually visiting the factory. So I am very glad that I went. I can also tell you that in this journey I talked with or met most of the sales staff. Never did see Matt. I'm sure he is a very nice guy, and probably very busy too so he was probably busy you other folks on here who buy a lot more stuff than me Also along the same lines- I have had a very similar experience working with the guys at Thoroughbred Leather in Louisville. I live local to them so I drop by on occasion to ask some questions. Those guys have been over the top helpful in pointing me in the right direction. They have also been very patient as I have looked to source stuff in their warehouse. As most everyone already knows there are subtle differences between TB and WC and I have used both sources with very good success. I am really bad about wanting the exact right hide/ color/ thickness for projects so I don't buy anything ever until I see it/ touch/ smell/ taste it (lol). These two supplies have been excellent to work with. Hope this helps...

Hey thanks a lot. Your input really helps. The fellow from the link e-mailed me back and said he charges approx $350 for a 1 1/4" belt buckle. That is pretty much way out of my budget. Probably cheaper to buy sterling silver buckles. The fellow over at Equus leather seems to have a Japanese source I will probably contact him also to see if I might be able to get some further insight. Thanks again.

These look pretty nice. https://www.etsy.com/listing/225910442/leather-craft-tool-3pcs-stitching-punch?ref=related-1

Does anyone know anybody who can make custom Damascus steel belt buckles? Looking for artisan/ high quality rather than off the shelf types... Found one source here http://www.snmetalworks.com/belt_buckles.html and a couple of these buckles look about like the style I am looking for. I have e-mailed and waiting for a response now. Just thought I would check here to see if anyone knew of any knife makers, etc... that might also be able to produce buckles as well. In addition to 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" belt buckles I might also be interested in commissioning some 1" buckles for satchels/ messenger bags. I only need a couple so not looking for a large quantity for now. Thanks in advance for any help.

The original and some of the subsequent posts on this topic bothered me on this thread for a lot of reasons. I debated with myself whether to take the time to respond or not. I lost. Myself won. Here we go... My son (11 years old) and I are pretty new to leather working. He was down in the dumps for a few weeks last year and I decided we needed to do something creative together. I was in the market for a leather satchel and he wanted to earn some money to buy legos. I decided to make my own satchel and he decided he wanted to make and sell leather key chains to his class mates for the holiday season to try to earn some money. Neither of us had any experience with leather working so we of course went to our local Tandy story in Louisville, Kentucky. We bought the $35 membership and became eligible for their classes. We bought a few tools and a few D rings on our first visit and went to the local hobby lobby and bought some $10 junk leather to practice on. We watched a bunch of youtube videos. My son made four prototype leather key chains out of different materials and took them to school and within a couple days he had over 25 orders for $5 key chains to make. We made his orders together, he cheered up fast when he found out he could make some serious $didge$ to buy the legos he wanted. A couple of points regarding Tandy; 1. The people at the Louisville store in my opinion are complete and total class act employees. I mean they have just been really great to get started with. These people are dedicated, they know what they are talking about and while I don't know them very well personally they seem professionally like genuine, honest, and good people. I would wager the majority of employees around the country fit a similar profile. 2. Yes Tandy is corporate but they stock the stuff you need at a bricks and mortar store in YOUR neighborhood. If not for Tandy we would have never been able to get started like we did. I am thankful to this day that if I need a buckle(s) or some tools ASAP that I know I can drive 50 miles and pick them up the same day that I need them. 3. I don't buy stuff from Tandy that is overpriced. But their sale stuff has been indispensable for us to get started. Most all of my tools have been acquired through Tandy sales. We visit the store once a month now and I usually buy $50-$60 worth and after a year now I have most all the basics. I also have got some cheap stuff from China acquired on the internet that is cheaper then at Tandy which I would also recommend a rank beginner to do. I have also since bought some Osborne and Vergez Blanchard stuff that I now use as a replacement for the Tandy and Chinese stuff. When I upgrade I give the kid the Tandy and Chinese tools so he has some of his very own tools to use, be responsible to care for, loose or otherwise snot up like a kid is prone to do. And when I die guess who is going to get the good tools also? Right. Exactly. 4. This past summer the boy and I took a trip across the country and we stopped in Ft. Worth to see the Al Stohlman museum at Tandy HQ. It was one of the most interesting things we did and it helped both me and the kid to elevate our game based on the quality of what Al produced. Once you see something like that there is no going back. Now in our spare time we have several leather projects going on at one time and pretty much a full blown mini workshop. We now buy stuff from all over depending on the project and we experiment with different quality levels (shout out to Thoroughbred Leather, W&C and Hermann Oak). We have taken a road trip to a local tack and halter shop and they let the kid operate their industrial sewing machine and also helped me learn a few tricks of the trade. We have also road tripped to take a chap making lesson from someone we met through this forum. So yeah Tandy can be a bunch of bad things (sometimes overpriced, slow to innovate (Al Stohlman been dead how long now and they have no new books??), sometimes inept employees, etc..) but my point is if it wasn't for our local shop we would never be where we are at. And I'm loyal to them for providing us an opportunity to grow both as leather craftsmen and as a family. If you have been in the leather business for decades you probably have a bad experience with Tandy at some point but hey I also bring the kid to eat at the local Dairy Queen sometimes. We have eaten there many, many, many times but only been sick once or twice...lmao....you get the point we would love to eat organic non gmo anti biotic free non glutin low mercury rabbit food every single day but sometimes the DQ is it. Lmao x 2. My son and I have talked about setting our next goal to sell some things on Etsy and through other outlets. I think it will take us another year to get to the quality level where we can do this. And quite honestly the more I learn the more I know that we will be sourcing things at places other than Tandy. But, will we will still return often for the items on sale and advice and to sometimes use their tools and knowledge during a class? For sure we will. IMHO the world with Tandy at this time is a better place then a world without Tandy. Until this changes I appreciate them and what they do, even if I to don't always appreciate the corporate model. And to the gentleman who started this thread...here's my advice even though you didn't ask for it. If you find out you were undercharged for whatever reason as soon as you find out just pay the people what you should have owed them in the first place. If you take the responsibility to do this then you will always find yourself in a situation where everybody wins and nobody losses. That's a lesson I hope I have the opportunity to teach my kid someday. That is my .02 cents. Regrets if it was long winded. I'm out.