TinkerTailor

Number one thing to do is oil it completely by the manual. Over oiling is better than not enough. You can wipe up drips, you can't put back worn metal. In the first 2 weeks, go through the lube procedures and adjustment procedures in the manual a few times to memorize them. The lube procedure one is obvious. When you go through the adjustment procedures, do not change anything. Look at everything, see what it does. Touch all the screws and note how it looks when it is set up correct. Take pictures of things, That way when you have a problem you will know a little better what is going on in there, and also what it is supposed to look like. Take a pic of how the machine is threaded when it gets to you. In shipping or initial use, my machine lost the little tiny set screw to hold the bobbin tension locked. I discovered this while going through the adjustment procedures, and analyzing the machine, trying to figure out if it was me or the machine that was the problem. I decided to check all the adjustments step by step from the manual. I went to touch the screw and it was not there...Cause to problem found and solution was easy......No big deal, It was in my hand by mail from the seller in a day or 3. Had i not gone through the procedure, I would have been struggling with this for a while...especially since i know 9 times out of 10 tension issues with these machines when new are user error. I did have issues related to user error, don't get me wrong, this one was not one of them. The adjustment manual saved me lots of time and headache.

No prob. I was thinking about this after i posted, It would depend of course a little on where the straps are attached in relation to the top of the bag. I generally have mine with the strap fold over point at about an inch below the top edge of the bag on the side, so your measurement may vary an inch or so depending on design. I usually cross body carry bags btw, You may want to shorten strap slightly for smaller people, or just give them an extra set of holes. I have pretty big shoulders. However you make enough patterns, you can figure this out i assume...

Yeah, the awl is a way to get faster initially, and pretty easy to learn but it can become a crutch and limit your speed and more importantly quality. There is the kicker, initially the speed of a saddle stitch is slower, but it is so much neater. As you get faster with the saddle, you get to a point where you are only a little bit slower but way neater. This is enough of a selling point that the increase in price usually makes up for the time. Here is a tip: get an old treadle machine and use it just to punch holes. They have long stitch lengths and edge guides. It does not matter of the bobbin/thread stuff is there, or if the machine works, as long as the needle goes up and down. I punch pieces separate and then put them together afterwards all the time and the holes line up fine. If you have stretchy/slippery leather, put a layer of masking tape on the seam, punch the holes, then remove the tape before sewing. Here is a seam i hand sewed after machine punching. It is 3 layers of 12oz duck canvas to 5 oz leather in 69 hand stitched with a cable stitch. The stitch goes 2 forward one back with 1 needle. Took 30 mins to do. I punched the holes while the bottom was flat. I haven't been to blackrock in almost a decade, It is about time I go back. It is difficult to get enough time off because i work in the bicycle industry and that is high season. If only BM was in the winter.... If i go, I will be with fire conclave peeps. Been fire-dancing for 20 years now. I at one time was the co-ordinator of the fire performances at Shambhala, before fire bans due to drought brought that to a close. You should get nomex thread so you can say your stitching is burn proof, and charge more for it....

I kinda knew you would be the one with the answer, Thanks, I also suspected the resolene on the back was a belt and suspenders thing anyways. I guess for now when i make my hipster wallets, if the colour gets through the glue and silk, just let em bleed......

I have quite a few bags and, I find a 44 inch strap is about right if the person will ride a bike with it. It gets the bag up on the back instead of behind the saddle. I also find it easier on my back to carry weight (which i carry alot) a little higher and closer to the body. I think a swinging bag is way worse on the back than a stationary one. For over the shoulder carrying i go to a 52" or so strap to make sure the bottom of the bag is below my pants pockets and belt. I hate it when the bottom edge catches on the top of my belt/ knife sheith or my wallet while walking. I like a heavy strap, and i make them with a 1" by 2" same browne style adjuster, so i need 2" intervals. I frequently make my straps adjustable from 42-54, however i make sure the adjuster is far enough up to prevent the strap tail from hanging way out into space.

I have had 2 really weird glue failures recently with 3m super 77. Both related to sealing the flesh side with resolene and then gluing in a liner. I have used super77 for years and never had a problem like this. I used it to attach some silk liners to some wallets i did, Some in Chromexcel, Some in veg-retan latigo, a hotstuffed but pretty dry and stiff leather. I have had issues with the glue sticking to horween, but never with either leather if i rough up the surface sufficiently. I glued the silk down a little over a week ago, and it was stuck like normal, 2 days later when i stitched 1 of the wallets, the glue was still stuck hard like it should be. Yesterday I went to stitch another wallet (they were all glued at the same time), and all of the glue had failed on all the wallet liners. It turned to goopy slimy stuff. Really stringy with no hold at all. The brush on adhesive i used on the leather/leather edge glueing was fine. Thing is i have used this fabric and leather and glue together before, and had no problems. I carry a wallet made this way. The only difference is this time I 50/50 resolened the backs 2 light coats to prevent rub off from the leather. Occasionally my white business cards get discoloured in my wallet. I did this at least a week before glueing, i have been bit before by not waiting enough for things to dry. The adhesive in the test piece I did with silk and chromexcell using lepage heavy duty brush on contact cement on top of resolene is perfect, however it is impossible to brush the adhesive onto this silk without it distorting the pattern or soaking through. I pretty much have to spray it. And I know from experiments that you can not spray one side and brush the other with these products. It turned goopy as well, right away. I think this is caused by one of two things, Either that some kind of reaction happened over time between the resolene and the 3m super77 spray adhesive. Or that the fumes from the brush on contact adhesive killed the super77. I do find this unlikely as the area they were in was well ventilated and there was at least 2 days between lining the backs and adding on the side pieces, plus i have done this successfully without the reso. but it may be the case. I am going to test this properly in the new years and report what i find, as these are commonly used products. In the mean time, anyone else seen this kind of thing?

I have a craftool co 548 geometric that is so crooked, the machine operator had to be drunk. It is so obviously skillfully manually machined, the faces are all dead flat and the edges are all sharp however the angles of everything are skewed from the square portion in the middle and one side has a tilt........ I can make it work, and it makes a nice mark, but if you turn while working your pattern will look like you were drunk doing it....

That is a really neat machine and looks quite old. I don't know its value, but you should hope all the parts are there and it works. You likely will never find parts, and it is MUCH more valuable if it is complete and works. It is here in this 1896 exposition with a bunch of other german machines.https://www.etsy.com/listing/216050880/1896-antique-engraving-of-sewing After zooming in and doing some more digging it appears that a man named Robert Kiehle showed this machine at the 1896 german exposition. He may have been the maker/designer. There is some info below the pic i posted. Here, Robert Kiehle showed column type sewing machines in 1876 in philedelphia:https://books.google.ca/books?id=q6k-AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA104&ots=RfIrmx0Z3i&dq=Robert%20Kiehle%20sewing%20machine&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q=Robert%20Kiehle%20sewing%20machine&f=false LIkely the factory and records along with any spare parts were bombed in WWII along with the rest of the city, and if they survived they disappeared on the other side of the iron curtain.

How deep is the stitch groove? I have a techsew 5100, same machine, and also sew in 207 with a 24. I have not tried a 23, however it has been recommended to me to try on this really hard and stiff veg-retan latigo i use. I appreciate your observation that it looks like it wears the thread more, i will watch for that when i get some 23 to try. I haven't dropped below 207 with it yet but i intend to, I have only had it for a month or so. If i sold this pile of stuff i have made with it (a few big ones are gifts), i would have it mostly paid for. In the new years when the xmas crunch is over will play around with 138, as well as some 6 cord (415) braided poly i got a sample of.....i just have to see it sew with porchnails and baler twine..... I don't generally groove my hand stitches, however i do use a creaser sometimes to sink my stitch lines. I am going to run some test pieces in a groove and see how it goes. I have not been a fan of cutting away the grain if i can avoid it.

That is a nicely produced tutorial, and will help alot of beginners with basic auto awl stitching, however I think the triple speed claim is bull. First, single needle sewing is much less common in leather, and is a totally different type of stitch than a 2 thread lockstitch that the auto-awl produces. Comparing the speed to a 2 needle, 2 thread saddle stitch is a better comparison. Second, the faster way of doing it is in a stitching clamp, not on a mat. Moving the material up to see the back and then down to the table to punch the hole wasted time. Also, good luck with that awl on thick veg tan. Auto-sewing awls are ok for repairs and emergencies but can not come close to the strength and neatness of a proper saddle stitch. Since you put your triple speed claim in bold, I will too. I am not generally a competitive person, but I have to: I bet I could at least match your awl speed if not beat it saddle stitching. Chrome tan like you use or veg tan..Quality of stitch counts.. May have to have a showdown at Center Camp Cafe.............There, i said it.

Do more projects while the glue dries. Take up tea time. I glue stuff up and then put on the kettle. When the water is boiled, and the cookies and tea are beside the bench, usually enough time has passed for the glue to chooch. For leather seams, that tape is crap, and worse on oily/waxy leather. It is really for fabric seams. It does work on the backside of patterns to keep them in place however. I will use it for small items like buckle billets, but i do not trust it to hold when using my machine for straight seams. As far as waiting for glue to dry, without contact adhesives, you would have to glue it up, and clamp it for hours/overnight for the glue to dry before moving it. The positives of contact adhesives; dissimilar material adhesion,instant, permanent bonding and high strength far outweigh the negatives of waiting for glue to chooch.

Nice work. I think it looks fine with the stitching that close because you used quite a short stitch length. If you were at 5-6spi, it would look too close, imho. It is hard to tell without a reference but it looks like 8-10+ spi. What size needle and thread is that? Is it stitched in a groove? It looks like the holes are quite big for the thread, it could be just how they have pulled down from the tension, or the depth of the groove, or the lighting, However, if it was me i would try the same thread with a smaller needle on some scrap and see what happens.

For me when to finish depends on the leather, type of finish and the nature of the project. Finishing before stitching ensures that there are no small spots that are missing finish, However finishing after helps keep the stitching from staining, and helps lock the stitches, especially when machine stitching with unwaxed thread. With waxed thread, it is not as much of an advantage finishing after stitching. If i am planning on 2 coats of finish, i sometimes put one on before and one on after stitching, i guess to get the best of both worlds. Sometimes (and i am trying to do this more) if a finish is hard to get even across a bunch of small pieces, or i want undyed edges, i will lay out the pattern on the hide, scribe my pieces, and then apply the finish to the whole area of the hide i am using all at once, to ensure even coverage and a good match from piece to piece. I scribe it first so i can leave the unused leather unfinished for the next project.Then i will cut, and stitch it.

To be honest i find it easier to get a nice cut by scribing and then removing the pattern. It is too easy to run into problems with moving patterns, and wandering knives. On straight edges, i don't draw the lines, i just use my awl to poke a divot at each corner, and then connect the dots cutting against a known straight, non slip steel ruler. Curves i scribe the whole way and then freehand cut Soft chrome tans and stretchy deer, i cut them with the pattern in place. I often also place the ruler on top of the card to stiffen the cut line. Also, if you spray the back of the pattern with 3m super77, just a light dusting it will give it a little tack, wait a couple mins before applying to project. Play around. Spray glue is surprisingly useful for this. You want to check the glue and wait long enough so the tack gets strong then starts to drop off. It does not take long if you only dusted it. This means the glue is closer to cure, and it unlikely to transfer to the leather. If it does, wait till its dry and lightly rub it off. Test before using on suede or milled leathers.

I already drank the beer and ate the pizza....Using the box saves me a trip to the tip. I have used oak tag before and it is good, i agree, however it is not the cheapest in my case. One thing to say about paper patterns, I frequently will make a pattern with flip up areas and tabs on the edges, so i can draw the outline, flip up the fold and draw the stitch allowances without moving the pattern for example. My lined card wallet pattern is 2 pieces. 1 for the pockets, and 1 for the back piece and also for the liner fabric with the tabs on the edge flipped up to the new smaller dimension. You can put slots in an acrylic template for this, but i find them cumbersome

Wait, let me get this straight, edgar is the snake and hermann is the boogie-man, right? Or is the glue talkin again.....

Possibly also with rocks or sand or something. Bowling balls, who knows?

Leather staking, the table appears to be missing from the machine: Also similar to jacking: Watch your fingers.......

I do all my canvas work, up to 10 layers 10 oz duck canvas, or 4 layers with some 3-5oz chrome tan, on a well maintained 1910 era White Rotary treadle machine. Old cast iron treadles can often sew quite well with heavier materials. They just are not quite good enough for leather so most here look at them as toys however they are generally pretty capable machines, and can be had for cheap if you look. Only issue is bobbin size is pathetic with bigger thread. It is accurate enough that i can stitch back into the same holes, and double stitch seams which need extra strength. Sometimes, they end up looking like fatter thread, not two threads. These are done on that machine:(excuse the cat hair, he liked to sleep on my bench when i was gone......) Don't tell the sewing machine experts this one cause its not supposed to work: I have even run 2 different colour threads top and bottom at the same time. You read it right, 2 thread top, 2 threads bottom. Don't ask me how it made loops and didn't miss stitches, i don't get it....but it worked. I just wanted to see what would happen.

I have had good luck with glueing the leather when wet then stitching dry. I use warm, slightly higher than body temp water, and saturate the leather, whatever kind. I even do it with hot stuffed veg-retan latigo. Not the most water permeable leather. Any leather will get wet, and wet leather changes shape easier. Veg tan just holds the form when dry. While wet, I then gently start form the seam allowances on the curves of the seams, Using a form helps. You wait a little bit for the water to dry some and the leather starts to stiffen back up in the new position, then glue them into place. You want to get the edge glued down perfect first and then push inward, to push the seam allowance down. Get the edge right and the rest will follow. You must use stinky good glue. No water based here. I also cut cardboard strips from cerial boxes and place them above and below the seam, then clamp the whole seam with binder clamps. The purpose of the cardboard is to keep the binder clamps from marking the leather. I use the little 1/2 inch deep, 3/4 inch wide clamps because i can sink them right onto the edge so the clamp line, if there is any, is parallel to the edge is easier to hide, perhaps under the stitches. It might be too late but it may have been easier to stitch the bottom on to the sides, then up the side seams.

alot of candles are crappy weird microcrystaline wax now, specially the cheep ones. The nice ones that do not crumble and actually work for leather purposes can cost more than the bulk wax and are harder to find. Best place for parrafin that is consistent is the canning section of the grocery/hardware/drug store. It is used on top of jams, and is food grade.

I did the same when i bought my 5100. I asked for and they sent me an assortment that represented all the colours and all the sizes 207 and above. Not sure where it is, but for me the color was as important as the size so web pictures were out. I understand maine thread does thread sample cards. A thread sample card should be a standard orderable item from the thread sellers. Charge a token 3-5 bux for the card , include a coupon for 3-5 bux off the next thread purchase over 30 bux or something.

I worked on an oil rig when i was young that was built in 1946. My first day It was 35 degrees celcius outside and hotter on the rig because of the motors. They told me that because of the heat the huge pulleys at the top of the rig were really hot from the work they had been doing and they needed me to climb up the ladder with two 5 gallon pails of water and pour them on the pulleys to cool them off. I go down and i am filling a bucket from a hose, and i think, First, it is going to be a royal pain in the ass to carry one pail of water up a ladder much less 2, if this rig is 50 years old, and they have to do this all the time, don't you think someone would have dragged a garden hose up there and tied it to the rig by now? Something was fishy. They were having me on. I knew it, however i decided to play along. First however, i filled my pockets with some rusty nuts and bolts. I then climbed up the ladder with one bucket in my hand and one tied to my belt. The 3 old fat dudes that ran the rig sat at the bottom snickering. I dumped the water on the pulleys, came back down and then dumped the bolts on the table in front of them. With a totally straight face, i say "I found these bolts up there and i don't know what they were for, they were just laying around." The pulleys up there hold up hundreds of thousands of pounds. Missing bolts are REAL bad. All 3 of those fat dudes put on safety harnesses and climbed that ladder on the hottest day of that summer, inspecting the rig everywhere, up and down for missing bolts. Probably the most exertion any had done in 15 years. When they could not find any missing bolts anywhere, they came down and asked me again where i found them. It was then i broke out laughing and told them i got them out of the bin..... They never even thought about pranking me again......But i definitely was in on a few pranks on others after that......I miss working with that crew, it was fun. Another time, on 12 hour shifts, when the other crew kept showing up late, we showed up early to relieve them for their days off. We got dressed, hid all the power grinders on the rig, then proceeded to weld their locker doors shut, clothes and car keys inside.. We left them hammers and cold chisels, went up to the rig and took over and started work early, letting them go early for their days off.......... They were pissed. .......I think after 45 mins we gave them the grinders.... They were not late again.

An old timer told me after you let the contact cement cure for 15 mins, lick both sides and then stick it, it works better.

I deal with retail in my day job, and i have made similar mistakes with pricing. The most i ever do is phone the customer and let them know i made a mistake, and while it was my mistake it would be cool to clear it up. No pressure, just letting them know i screwed up. I can't remember a single person who didn't come back and clear it up and continue shopping. I am completely honest with customers, even when it makes me look bad. It is amazing how much respect i get for this. Customers that blatently tell me they bought xyz product from me rather than cheaper elsewhere because i was honest. That store manager has no clue and should be promoted to sanitation manager.