TinkerTailor

My dirty secret is I use 3m super77 spray contact adhesive quite a bit. I just lay cardboard masks over the no spray areas and go to town. The brush clean up is a breeze. In another life i used it to cover speaker boxes with carpet or vinyl or leather. Got pets? Quick spritz of ole super77 on a newspaper and leave it for a few minutes. You now have a towel sized lint roller sheet.

So this is nice clean work, But i have to say that second to last photo of the stirrup covers on the Weatherly saddle on your for sale page is absolutely stunning. You nailed the contrast, and the carving looks an inch deep with the shadows. I may have to look you up some time for a meet and greet. I am in Burnaby. Also to see if you will do smaller tooling projects, as i occasionally have clients that want tooling that is beyond my skill. I can make bags, stitch like a banshee, cut fast and straight but tooling.....not so much. Obviously there would be credit where credit is due. I never would pass of someone elses work as my own..

There is a guy who demos sewing through plywood on a 441 clone on youtube,.....

Its funny the rumours that barge does not exist any more now that tandy has dropped it. Chicago Medical has all the good glues......The medical field is perfectly ok with glue that makes you high as a kite apparently.....

Do not be fooled, you WILL waste material on mistakes and empty bobbins. Accept that now and it will help keep you from throwing things when you make a mistake and mess up something you have alot of time and money into. This is part of learning. We all have done it. Couple things that will help keep the mistake cost down are: 1)Do a test run of every operation on scrap. Make sure the products/techniques/tools/machines you use will give the outcome you want on scrap. Then do it to the real thing. Once you have some experience, you can start skipping this step, but you will still get bit once in a while. 2)Be very careful of changing a design half way through. It can lead to many headaches. Mismatched dye, Unburnishable edges, impossible to reach rivets, etc. In a lot of cases, remaking is easier than fixing/changing if you factor in both material and your time. If you run out of bobbin in the middle, leave lots of tail, cut the thread on top and bottom. Refill bobbin, then go back and start again 2-3 holes back from where you started, again leaving a long tail of thread top and bottom. After you are done the machine stitch you can go back, and carefully pull the overlapped stitches out until the top looks like you never stopped, then use hand stitching needles to pass the threads into the space between the layers of the material and tie knots there. The goal is to snugly tie off the top and bottom of where you stopped, then the top and bottom of the start, and hide it inside the seam. do not tie top to top and bottom to bottom, won't work as well. Btw, on sneakers the seams are so short, just check the bobbin more often between seams. You won't have the small bobbin issues some guys have.......

Disclaimer: Do not try this at home.... On an aside, one time i was sewing some canvas tool rolls with leather accents on a 1910 white rotary treadle machine and i had the idea to thread the machine with 2 different colors of thread at the same time........top and bottom. I spooled both black and red guterman topstitch thread on the bobbin at the same time and ran both through the thread paths and both through one needle and the same eye. Backed off the tension some and it sewed awesome. With 2 guterman topstitch threads on it the bobbin lasted about 2 feet of sewing......... I am really not sure what was going on under that needle plate (or in my head), but it worked....Wish i had a photo of the finished stitch, Project is long sold however. Maybe i will try it again just for fun...

I saw that too. Without the table the shipping would be 1/2 probably. Will he negotiate if you don't take the table? I would think a big industrial table is a waste of space for this machine anyways. Used tables with clutch motors pop up all the time on kijiji/craigslist for cheep/nearly free. I have been offered 2 free tables in the last 6 months here in Vancouver. I want this machine but i currently already have a 350lb pallet of goodies on a railcar coming to me from Raphaels in Montreal......gotta make that pay for itself first.

Experiment. I have done it both ways. If the leather takes on water, and you stayed away from water based finishes, you probably would be ok forming after dying. One problem that pops up is the grain side tends to wrinkle more in inside curves after dying due to the leather being dryed out by the dye. Oiling it to correct the dryness can prevent the water from penetrating all the way through, leading to forming problems. Not oiling can lead to surface cracks. Depends on the leather as well as the dye. Best to try on some scrap and see if it works in YOUR situation, because the number of materials variables we as leatherworkers deal with make this the only way to know for sure. NEVER EXPERIMENT ON A PROJECT....this is a rule many learn the hard way. Don't throw out hours of hard work due to a failed experiment. Test on scrap. Sometimes scrap turns into projects.. My EDC coin purse is made from a failed dye experiment scrap that i kinda liked the mottled effect, though I am glad I went a different route with the actual bag I was making.

Look at the seams on your jeans. Double seams are stronger as well as decorative. Ever seen leather pants sewn like jeans? I can see motorcycle guys going for it for seats and bags as contrast stitch as well. Just off the top of my head.......oh, my hatband is double needle sewn....

It says right on the Weaver Leather conditions in bold and underlined, you need one of the following to get a wholesale acct: federal tax id, vendor license #, Business card, Letterhead, Phonebook ad.......... So just a business card?. Right then, I'll get right on it. Pays to read the fine print. http://www.weaverleather.com/Supply/InfoandResources/SupplyDealerApplication.aspx

http://drdanessmh.com/khlegstanta.html They have some table stuff in the usa. Here is a Hardware store mod to the factory table included with the 441 clones. It attaches the same way as the table Uwe made.

This tutorial helped me a bit. Also, remembering to work away from yourself so you can see the design form. If you work towards yourself, your hand covers the work you just did making it harder to make straight lines. Here is a video that makes me feel my skills are so non existant. This guy is fast:

New adjustable servo motors are 100-200 with most of the advertisers on the site. There are air shock and electric motor height adjustable tables out there but they are really pricey. They also involve interesting setups to accommodate pedal chain length. I also design stuff and i am working on an idea for the issue of an easily adjustable table that is easy on the pocket for these machines

The table for this machine needs to be big to counterbalance the overhang. Here is a very elegant flatbed solution which would work for your machine with a little adaptation: Others have cobbled together similar but significantly cruder tables for their cylinder arms. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=65589 Also, the design used by most of the juki 441 clone guys ie: cobra, cowboy, techsew could be adapted to your machine. Before you lower the table you should disconnect the foot pedals, also it looks like the weight of the machine may have got the legs jammed up. Try with the bolts loose lifting up on the machine side while a partner pushes down on the other side. Be prepared to have the machine go right to the bottom of the slots as soon as its un-jammed. A stack of encyclopedia britannica under each corner of the table at the correct final height will stop this and hold the machine weight up while you tighten up the bolts.

Mine is a 3/32 as well.

I have a hand type that is marked "rampart-tool-co" with made in usa stamped on the brass ferrule. I got it in an old tool collection. It is tight and smooth. No play in any direction. Holds an edge forever, even when i go off the edge of the leather and run it into the wood table...... I have a couple of rampart tools from the same collection. All are nice quality tools. All say "pat pend" on them as well as made in usa. Copys of most are now in tandys catalog. Dont know much about the company however.

For small pieces, and one off projects, I use an adjustable stitch groover to cut a grid of grooves to just shy of the final skive depth. Then with my 925 skife, i skive off the back until the grid lines dissappear. It actually goes really fast because the skife catches the edges of the grooves until the edges are gone. Try it on some scrap, you will see what i mean. I have even used double sided tape to tape down really stretchy soft leather to do this trick. If you have ever seen how a log is traditionnal hewn square with an axe,the technique is similar. They chop notches all the way along to set depth and then go back and remove the wood between notches. It is also one of the ways luthiers set the shape of a vioin top, by drilling holes in a grid to the required depth and then carving till they are gone. I use a v-gouge just like the osbourne adjustable type shown here: http://www.zackwhite.com/Osborne-90-Adjustable-V-Gouge--OT12890_p_839.html Mine is a vintage one made by Rampart tools. They may have invented this tool, and osbourne now has the rights. The one i have is patented.

As i already stated, race car, atv, and motorcycle fab shops also frequently have chromo cut-offs in the scrap bin. Most bike manufacturers label their frames as high-tensile or chromo/4130. The high-ten ones are some 1018ish low carbon steel and frequently are seamed tube. Old 1980s and early 90's mountain bikes are commonly chromo and they experimented with all these weird tube sizes to make the frames better offroad, sometimes up to 2" in diameter. BMX bikes have alot more chromo parts and frames than any other type and frequently still are made this way. plus again they use oversize tubes alot. I have never seen a seamed chromo tube in a bike and i have seen/worked on thousands. Old (pre 1980) Chicago Schwinn are good steel, they has their own proprietary formula i believe. Interesting that you mention aircraft, in the late 40s there were alot of notable bikes built in france/italy/switzerland using chromo tubing from ww2 airplanes and aluminum for hammered fenders from plane skins. There were a few crashed and blown up here and there. You built a bike with what you could get....It was post war europe. There were barely any passable roads left, much less working cars. There is a book with pictures of some, "The Golden Age Of Handbuilt Bicycles" Btw, this is a punch i made from a random seat tube, probably hi tensile, and a sample punching.: I used no heat, just squished it in a vise and then sharpened it. It is seamed tubing , i just made sure the seam was in the middle of the long side so it wouldnt mess with the end curves.

If you are on bowen, you probably have a yard and definately access to firewood. You could set up an anvil stump outside. Get an old stump and attach or place the tube/devise/anvil/railroadtrack on top of the stump and hammer away. Or make a nice one for inside. Nigel armitage has a stitching stump he punches on and then attached his stitching clamp to the side. He cleaned it up, and keeps it inside. It has tool loops around the side for his knives and awls etc. Watch his videos on youtube. Best thing is you could drag it anywhere in the room to work from any chair, or tuck it away much easier than a bench. A kitchen table, a cutting mat to protect table and a stump is all you need. End grain wood is a great punching surface, it is hard but wont damage punches. Best part is you can convert the room back at any time.

Also, the price goes down on the hand filed/finished ones if the guy on the file was drunk.......I have a 548 basket stamp that is so crooked its not even funny.....As long as you don't turn it half way through the stamping, it makes a nice weave, Turn it 90 degrees and it totally changes the result..... I also got a free f119, i like it but the centerline veers off at the tip. I use the heel in some borders.

Here is the breakdown for dating stamps, I don't know of any resources online for swivel knives, Perhaps one of the oldtimers on here can chime in on these. http://vintageleathertools.com/buyers-guide

Here is a more complex trick. I use a granite rolling pin i got at the thrift store. I can tool and set rivets on it, and i have glued a patch of 16oz veg tan in one spot to punch holes on. I have a hole in my table and an L shaped bolt that i put in the center hole of the rolling pin, and bolt it through the table leaving half the rolling pin overhanging the edge.

I totally see what you mean about chinese drop shipped machines, plus i realized that a machine that had been dropped might be broke........ On another note, this song you speak of intrigues me.....

Pictures would help. Also, what EXACTLY does the brand name say. "Craftool co usa" marked tools are from a different time period from plain "craftool co."

Nothing in reply. I am now getting a machine shipped from the east coast to the west, Roughly 4500kms/2800 miles. I have decided due to this communication issue to get a machine from a supplier much further away. due to thew fact that they get back to me RIGHT away. I need to know that when i need something, be it needles, thread or accessories, i don't have to play a song and dance a jig to get service. I want to have a relationship with a company that is prompt with communication, fair, honest, and willing to tell me where to get things i need but they don't have. I was hoping for local too.... This bothers me because throughout this search i have been heavily favouring proximity to me. I really wanted to shop local, but communications with the local shop did not go positively. I will not shop anywhere that openly slags their competitor. His tiawanese made 441 machine was more, and i told him so. I then asked him what makes it better? sell it to me. He did not tell me a single high point on his machine, just that the other guys were 2bit fly by night hacks. I hadn't even told him who the other machines I was looking at are. One of those machines comes from a shop that has been open at least 40years and is no small potatoes. Bad move local guy. As to the shop i wrote this thread about, I tried to get a quote direct from the importer in the US as well as a quote from the re-seller of those machines in Canada that is fairly close to me. I have not received any info from the importer and the local canadian guy who has been on top of keeping me in the loop, but also has been waiting for info about drop ship prices as he does not have exactly what i want in stock. I feel bad for him because he has been helpful, but i don't think he is getting the info himself.. In the time i have been waiting for a quote I could have already had the machine here. I may have been able to get some work done on it and had it start paying for itself. I need to make things for xmas season, and craft fairs start in a 4-5 weeks if not sooner. 1 week is a long time.