TinkerTailor

Also, there are many Uk users on here that may be able to direct you to either an honest used machine dealer or clone seller in the isles. College sewing is a great resource, both because they are local but also because they have a decent website for searching for things. They sell a wide range of parts and accessories for industrial sewing. There have been clones made of most every sewing machine made, however there are many brand names for identical machines. Over here, the cobra 4, the cowboy 4500 and the techsew 5100 are basically the same machine, all cloned from the juki tsc-441. I don't know the names but there are other brand names for these clones in europe. Because these machines are chinese clones, it is the dealer that orders them that pays for the quality control, or doesn't. They also support the machine after sale. Do your research and my advise is even if the price is a bit higher, choose the dealer you like and trust. Closer is better, however not worth it if the guy/gal is a scam. I wouldn't even hesitate to pay the long distance to phone one of the north american dealers on this site for their advice on what machine and where to buy it from. As a token of appreciation, order a pack or three of needles, or a tool, or something from them. Consider it a 20-40 dollar consulting fee you get a bonus back for. While many of them gladly give advice for free, It doesn't keep the lights on. As to edge guides, most every machine made ever has a provision for an edge guide. If not there are magneticly attached ones. One tip is a swing/flip away edge guide as opposed to a completely fixed one is much more useful. Sometimes the edge guide will get in the way when turning corners and things, and flipping it out of the way, turning, then flipping it back down solves this. Watch this video of an edge guide in use ripping through straps. It is from Bruce Cheaney, a user on here. He has a bunch of leather sewing machine videos.

This 17th century spanish colonial chest looks like it has beveled edges. No question, with carving skills like that if they wanted to they would have. http://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/1101.html

I will admit i never used masks and the like for most of my life. I have painted and sprayed and cleaned so many things in poorly ventilated areas, and it never bugged me. Unfortunately now I have become sensitized and I get a debilitating headache from fumes in no time. I know people who are much more sensitive than me. Its not the death i am worried about, it is the headaches. I wear a mask now. I also have hearing loss in my right ear from various ways i abused my hearing in youth. Mostly motors, explosions and extremely loud music (135db+). Considering what I put them through, I'm surprised they work at all. I wear earplugs for anything remotely loud now. I want to keep what i have left. Tinnitus sucks.

Without reading the literature, i would bet that veg tan is going to be much less carcinogenic than chrome tan and i would also guess that the glue, dye, rubber and finish in the dust is also the major culprit. Shoe makers use sanding as an operation more than most any other leather trade, and they also use the nastiest chemicals and products on that leather meaning the data on carcinogenic nature is likely skewed. I doubt many harness and saddle makers get cancer from the dust. If you are grinding away soles on boots all day, get a mask and filter system, if you are just doing the edges on a veg tan holster once a week, I would not worry as much. Now as for vapours from spraying/product application, absolutely get a mask rated for organic vapour. Your brain will thank you.

I draw the pattern and then use a flexible staedler drawing curve. Lay it on the pattern following the corner curve on the stitch line and mark the ends. The length of the curve straightened is the distance between marks on the pattern. Leather thickness matters a lot less than the offset due to stitch allowance with regards to gusset length due to the stitch line being shorter than outside of pattern. Measuring the stitch line not the cut line eliminates this.

And here are the secret ninja compartments....: Also, forgot to mention, I saw the machine and cabinet for 100 dollars on craigslist. I phoned and offered 150 delivered to my door. They took it, and being without a truck this was ideal.

That was a pic of a similar cabinet off of the net. This is mine: The table hinges opens to the left. As it opens a cable pulls the machine up and the part where it says white flips up to give you a place for your knees.

I have 2, one was converted to electric in the 30's, and the other is in a perfect mission style cabinet. It is my baby. This one:

There is absolutely no oil in oil dye. The MSDS sheets don't lie. If you want to see, look them up. Oils must to be listed in the ingredients on the MSDS because they affect the flammability of the product....Both the regular and the pro oil dyes are spirit based and can be thinned with alcohol. The problem here is not the dye, it is the leather not accepting it evenly. Come to think of it, i wonder if the additional alcohol in a 50/50 cut of the dye would aid in dye penetration? May be work a try. Dip dying will also help with penetration, but may lead to over application problems on the areas that are not a problem by the time you dip it long enough to soak into the unruly areas...

I actually had rotary in that sentence before i edited it and forgot to put it back in, thanks for the correction.

The usually used hide glue for the veneer which means that if you know how, and have all the pieces, you can fix it. I am not the most knowledgeable about these old machines on here by far, but glad to help. Some of these guys are darn near obsessive..........

I was referring to machines for domestic use in that thread, however i also do have some info for Domestic brand machines anyways. What problems are you having and do you know a model number? Do you have a picture? One thing i know is the white machines turn the opposite way singers do. Domestic licensed some of their designs from other makers, so watch the feed dogs while turning the handwheel to see which way it turns. The dog should rise and move back if you are turning it the right way. Domestics do not have the number of collecters as other brands, but back in the day they made a fine machine and were one of the oldest makers in the usa. Btw, old machines last forever but the cabinets/tables are hard to find nice. At one time they made 50000 machines a year by hand..........They were also known for having more silver plating than the others as well as things like solid walnut cabinets. Old treadles are very simple and very similar to each other. You basically have rotary machines with a round modern style bobbin or a shuttle type with a bobbin that moves back and forth. Without the model number, or a picture I would guess your is a shuttle by the age. While other manuals may not be exactly the same, a manual for a similar machine or another clone will work if you need to adjust it. As far as getting it going, clean all the moving parts and free them up. Quite a few threads on here about cleaning up old machines. Then get the manual out and oil it as per the instructions, then do it again. If it has been sitting for a while, after cleaning it well, over-oil it and wipe up the mess after. Over oiling won't hurt it, but running it without oil will. Once it is free and working, clean up the excess oil and get sewing. Stop if it is binding. If the machine is clean, and it binds up there may be a mechanical problem and it needs adjustment. Never know why the last person stopped using it. Usually they are just seized with hardened old oil. If it is tight but not binding, oil it well and turn it slow by hand. Usually you can free them up with some wiggling and lube. If you do not have a manual, everywhere where metal moved against metal there will be a need for oil. If it sits there in your house unused, get in the habit of turning it over a few turns once a month. Some info on Domestics: http://ismacs.net/domestic/home.html http://www.sewalot.com/domestic sewing machine.htm Other than no reverse, that machine is likely great for a homestead. That is exactly what the were built for. Making the farmers shirts, frilly things for sunday and sewing up a hole in a feed bag.

You can buy the stuff in bulk from some shipping companies.

A $50 1920 White Rotary treadle will do it and then some. Plus if you get a nice one in a cabinet for 150 your better half will let you keep it in the house. The nice ones are cheaper than nice treadle singers because of singer collectors pushing prices and are a little tougher in my opinion. I can sew 20 oz of canvas to 8 oz leather no prob. It also does 6.5spi.

Are you using a landis 16 machine? If not, a new topic with the name and model of the machine would get more responses. This topic is specifically about the landis 16. That being said, it looks like the thread is hanging up somewhere, or jumping in and out of the top tensioner. When you get loops on the bottom, the top is too loose. If it is intermittent like yours is, my first guesses would be an incorrectly threaded machine, dirty machine, thread not spooling off the spool evenly and hanging up, or damage/wear to the upper and/or bobbin tensioners/ in that order. Do you have a manual?

I wetformed around a plastic case for mine. This is 4-5 oz veg and the leather is formed up and over the edge of a plastic case full thickness. Note i chose a piece of leather with a scar right in the middle. It gets cut out. Waste not want not. This is how I did it: Case is glued in from the backside, and then the hole is trimmed out. This is also after dying obviously. Though it is 2-tone, it is just one piece of leather: FYI: above pic is before i edge finished the camera hole and a few other details.

My personal bag and a couple commissioned ones i have done have single thickness 2" wide 8oz veg straps. I carry a lot of weight and no shoulder pad is necessary. I use belt buckles with the tongues cut off for square rings to attach. Way overbuilt, but it is the part of the bag everyone notices and comments on. Even though it is single layer the back is perfect so i edge stitched it on my machine just for contrast. I sometimes have to prove to people it is not a sandwich. Again, its up to the designer and the limits of the design. I have also used 1-1/4 lined straps for more businesslike messengers. Just remember that as it gets narrower, it will dig in more needing a shoulder pad, and it will stretch more meaning the leather will need to be thicker on a 1 inch strap than a 2 ". Downside to wide straps is they only bend, they don't curve, and the body is not straight. Cutting wide straps on the curve can help the bag carry better. With a narrower strap it will curve and follow the body better. Take these things into account when designing.

The helper to pull the lever for you so you can use both hands to sew. My helper is named servo.......lol

I would look at your leather supplier. Fiebings is usually pretty consistent and does not fail in this way oftern. Either there is something on the leather or in it that is preventing dye takeup. Silicone is particularly bad, if the leather has ever got silicone thread lube or other products, on it it will not take up dye as well. Gum trag will do the same thing. I have heard stories of leather from tandy that upon thouough cleaning it was discovered that the face of the veg tan had been filled and pasted to correct flaws. These areas didn't take dye the same.

Yes, essentially exactly the same, different paint. The techsew 5100 is also the same.

I use oxblood for pink. the regular red dye also thins to pink at 50/50

Not many here have first hand knowledge of a seven class singer, and i for sure don't. Do you know the subclass Ismacs.net has the 7 class listed in their industrial sewing machines list, but also lists the uses for each individual subclass, of which there are many. Sometimes the subclass can make a big difference, sometimes none at all. That site is a really good resource when looking up these machines if you haven't found it yet. Sometimes a singer machine will not have any manuals online but on ismacs you can discover things like it is just a variant of a very common machine and most of the info on the common machine applies.

Look up your local restaurant/commercial food supply places and get a roll of butcher paper, it is not much more than standard brown in cost, comes narrower and is coated on one side making it more water and dye resistant. They even sell dispensers for it. Additions- Never buy consumable supplies at a leather supplier until you check elsewhere. A six pack of blue nitrile gloves are sold around $5 at tandy, $8-15 a box of 100 at the local drug store. The dollar store is full of useful things to a leatherworker. I found this set of 10 mini artist palette knives made of plastic for a dollar. All these little shapes perfect for detailed glue applicators. Low and behold, no kind of glue i use will stick to them. Cleanup involves letting them dry and peeling the glue off in one piece. One set has been going for a couple years. You know those stainless edge paint applicator palette knives at tandy? Butter knife. Go to the thrift store and buy those cheezy wall mounted spice bottle racks. Frequently they will still have the spices in them..clean em, throw the spice out..who would use those spices anyways?..., They make ideal small hardware storage. You can see stuff at a glance. Just grab jars you need for now. The racks usually fit small fiebings dye bottles as well. Spoon collection racks hold awls and leather tools pretty well. Muffin tins make great benchtop hardware storage tins. A hammer is a hammer. Its a hunk of heavy stuff on a stick. A 5 dollar plastic dead blow hammer will work just fine for years. A cheap ball point hammer, and 2 sizes of dead blow hammer will run you 20-40 bux max for all three and set you up for any beating task. Spend your money on the tools that are specific to leatherwork or spend it on leather and thread and things. Overpriced hammers are a joke, unless you really like looking at your hammer.... Binder clips are super useful. Unbelievably so. Can never have enough. I keep them clipped to the edge of my bench lampshades, right there ready. On the topic of lampshades, if you have metal shades, put magnets inside them. Perfect place to store your sewing needles. I have a magnet for each size, they are super handy and i never lose them anymore. Plus while sewing, I can stick needles to the lamp to hold them temporarily.

In leather the type of needle point affects the shape of the hole and will effect the stitch formation. Here is pdf : http://www.campbell-randall.com/wp-content/uploads/SCHMETZ-leather-needles.pdf

Do you have a 1 foot ruler with 24 inches on it as well??/ Should sell it to JLS, for the journey to fishing country.....