TinkerTailor

What weight is it?

In the words of the youtube machinist, James Kilroy, "Its time to feed the monster"..........every machine needs another machine.........

I am also going to try to hammer the burrs with a flat hammer on my anvil to try to work harden them some before install. If the post is annealed softer as you suggest and the burr made harder, i think the whole setup would be better, however this is all a pain in the donkey. Be nice to find rivets made this way, or with a slightly smaller hole in the burr. The dies at the factory are probably getting worn.

I think the coolness of the badges and info plates on the older unit adds some points in my book. Its like an old car. No stickers. Just real badges. I hate stickers. Real badges are actually pretty cheap to make, and don't add very much at all to machine cost, but add alot of class. Stickers are no-class. I know, I know this is an industrial machine, and looks are not important, yadda yadda. In a factory setting sewing the same seam over and over all day, this is true. In my one man shop, everything I look at is either a source of inspiration or distraction. I need to be inspired by my surroundings. Classic well built machines and tools, from a time when companies were proud to put their names on their products in chrome are inspiring to me. Even if it means i gotta flip the project around to backtack. I like backtacking by hand anyways and I design projects to eliminate starts and stops, or to make seams cross to lock each other anyways. I make alot of canvas items on an old 1909 white rotary treadle machine with no reverse, so designing this way is important to save time and headache.

Not sure where you are located, but I am guessing that you are close to raphaels sewing, and the 2700 as well as the used pfaff is from there. If not, disregard the rest. I have had good experiences with them, and have had a machine shipped across the country. No issues, However: Nothing wrong with my techsew functionally, a german built machine will have much better build quality, and smoother edges on parts with closer tolerances. It is a better built machine. I have seen pfaff 335s in good shape sell on both coasts selling on craigslist/kijiji for 1000-1400 cad over the last year with a clutch and usually only binder setup. The one at raphaels comes partially setup in the pic as a binder it appears.They are stitching leather with it but some of the binder pieces are still with the machine. It may be the better deal if they will send it set up for stitching leather, and it comes with the binder stuff. It does come with their table and servo, which is also a 400-500 dollar upgrade to a machine with a clutch and clapped out table. The machine pictured still has pretty pristine paint on the arm, at least the paint does not show alot of hard use, may be a low milage machine. There are asian cheaper options for alot of the accessories to avoid stealership pricing on genuine pfaff. If i was buying a middle weight leather machine from raphaels, i would get the pfaff myself, and negotiate to get as many feet and accessories i can. If you are in eastern canada, also phone simard sewing, they also advertise on this site. Toledo sewing is also an option as i believe importing industrial sewing machines to Canada for manufacturing use is duty free. It is to help foster the Canadian garment industry (i think there is duty if you import the machines to resell them)

I was only giving general instructions as to common modifications, I have not worked on your machine, and am not familiar with the internal workings of a seiko, or how far adjustments can be taken. Likely, yes you can adjust the height. How and where is the adjustment? For that answer I strongly suggest getting a parts breakdown and an adjustment manual and study it before you jump in. Talk to a seiko dealer or a leather machine mechanic for their suggestions. Also, digital pictures are free. Take lots during disassembly, it may save yer ass at assembly time. I even take all the screws that held a part on and place them on a piece of paper with the name of the part written on it and then take the picture.

Neat. Always wondered what all the things they did were.

The first one of these pictures is a seam that came up on several cases when i searched and it is done from the outside. The guy in the link who used a landis probably did this seem as well on his machine and wet formed it afterwards. The answer to how you HAND sew long seams is you start at one end and work to the other, towards yourself. It can't really be done if you pre-glue, you need to put the seam together as you go. Its tight quarters but doable. Sometimes you can cheat and start from the center towards both ends in two pieces.

Here is a close up of this seam on one: http://www.hallowellco.com/red-head-case-4.jpg But then there is this: http://www.hueycases.com/wp-content/gallery/leg-of-mutton-case/43.jpg

Hand sew it before wet forming? And this kind of arm:

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My bet is they sewed the leather on an off the arm cylinder bed sewing machine, or by hand before the hard case inside was inserted. It could also just be a flat seam on a leather veneer and the other side where the handle is is hiding another secret. Do you have any other pictures?

Isn't a ferdco bull a 441? I know the early(60s-80s) bull machines were adler but everything mid 90's on is a 441 as i was aware. The superbull is a 441. Parts may be interchangable, depends on whether the part in question has been modified by ferdco.

Yeah, grinding is grinding. A dremel is perfect, My only concern is how deep the grooves go and if the dog can be adjusted high enough to work afterward. The other way is to fill the grooves with jb weld and file/sand it smooth. As smooth as possible. I would get a second dog, preferably an aftermarket cheaper one to modify in case you run into an issue. At least you still have an original. It is a seiko, which is a good machine, though not as well supported as a home leatherworker machine as a 441 or an adler. I am NOT a seiko expert. Modifying feet and dogs is a general operation that is done to many different machines to get them ready for leather. The feet people sell for the 441 machines are just manufactured versions of foot designs some guy did with his dremel using an original foot... Now, Don't go grinding your feet tonight, wait a day or two. We shouldn't be surprised if one of the other guys chimes in and drops the info that it is a clone of some singer or something and xyz part is all you need.

Or just park your f-250 on top of it overnight.

Got yerself a biter there....Most leatherworkers use smooth feet and dogs to minimize this. It looks like you may have teeth. The standard seiko ones do according to the parts drawings. You will probably need to change the dog, or grind off its teeth. I did some digging and i don't know if seiko makes them but smooth dogs are not in the parts and accessories list from here: http://www.seiko-sewing.co.jp/english/p1.html They do show some other dogs, but they are for other operations, or other models and most have teeth. Modification may be the only resort. I would call toledo sewing as they are cowboy dealers and quite knowledgeable, they may have a solution for you. The reason i suggest them is cowboy/hightex list parts including feet and dogs for your machine on their site without specifics. (http://cowboysew.com/Seiko.htm).

less dust and cleaner cut edge than toothed blades.

soldering iron.

One thing to consider also is the cutting surface. While they can make a more accurate cut and are the best in inside corners, pointed knives tend to dig into the surface you are cutting on, adding drag, and in the case of wood grain, causing the blade to wander. If I am cutting on wood or any softer surface, I would use a round, or convex blade shape. It will sink into the base material less and won't tend to follow the grain as bad. If necessary, i will switch to a straight or concave for the corners. If I am on a poly surface, I would use straight or concave all the time for accuracy.

Both pecards and huberds are known for their durability and waterproofing.

Huberds. Thought I'd 'pitch' in.

He is making a drink coaster. A damn fine one. You can't even comprehend how damned it will be.........or he is........lol

Call Neels. 1: If you bought it directly from them, they should send a manual or give you a hand over the phone as part of the sale. If you lost it, see scenario 2: 2: If you bought it second hand but basically new, they will probably just send it to you, but it is a great idea to make a token purchase for their time. You will need needles and thread and they have good ones. Buy a spool and a pack of needles, and ask them to throw in the instructions. I always have a couple well thought out questions ready when i phone to make a purchase. The right hand washes the left.

A bad batch of oil is a bad batch. What I was getting at was that it seems some oils are more suseptable to these processing degredation conditions, and thus it could be surmised that they would continue to be susceptible after application to the leather in more adverse conditions, while others are not and the list seems to parallel the oils that are lauded for long term leather use. Also, many hot stuffed leathers are not stiff at all. The stiffest leathers are compressed veg tan, the kind used for boot soles, or the half tan leather they still make in scandanavia. It has a rawhide core and gets really hard after forming. It was used for armour and sword scabbards. I think they may have made it in the states for leather drive belting as well, but i have not confirmed this. It is susceptible to rot if wet, but if covered in one of those castor oil and beeswax belt dressings, would probably be fine in the rain. Long term high humidity may be an issue. I think one of the functions of the tallows and heavier fats is not as much to lubricate as to keep the fibres separate. When leather gets wet the fibres shrink and tighten, stiffening it. If the tallow is in the spaces between the fibers it prevents water influx and minimizes the shrinkage helping the leather stay supple.

I know what you mean, I have seen an old grisled band saw guru at a woodworking school just kinda walk up and throw the blade at it and it went on perfect The old one, a deft twist and it was triple coiled and into the box. Not a drop of blood. ...........Yeah right.......