TinkerTailor

And make sure it is sharp and polished. The smoother it is, the easier it goes in and out.

Old school is to use cutlers wax which is wax with lots of pitch and rosin. I just glue them in. I like epoxy but i am not worried about removing them. Acetone can remove crazy glue so that may be an option.Other trick with awl handles that fit too loose due to wear or design is to drill out the hole so a toothpick/bamboo skewer/chopstick fits, glue it in, cut it off and then drill a new smaller hole for the awl.

This. This goes for any leather machine or even hand tool. As far as raw materials go, leather was top dog, and still is one of the toughest flexible materials available, as such it needs tools that are tough. Tough tools can't be made cheap so they can't be sold cheaply new. Sometimes this is the hardest lesson for people to learn. Leather is a great hobby and can be done frugally, but is in no way cheap. And all I ever learn is that I gots more learnin' ta do.

Upholstery shops use curved needles all the time. If modifying a craft store one does not work, go to a chair and couch refinishing shop and see if they got one or two you can buy. Osbourne makes them, any osbourne dealer could order them: http://www.csosborneupholsterytools.com/category/Needles (Curved)

They make laser diodes that project a cross pattern and you can buy them at most electronic places.. I have been planning to build a laser system for a while. I actually want one line for the stitch line, one at 90 to it for the needle and one also at 90 that can be moved to indicate where to start a backstitch. The normal needle laser, I would utilize to get better needle placement when stopping at an Tee intersection or turning a square corner. The second cross I would set it for the exact distance from the edge I need to start my initial backstitch so I get exactly 4 stitches and the seam ends in the same place every time. To be able to place a piece in, line the edge up with the laser, throw her in reverse, count to four and flip the lever would be awesome. Come to think of it, it would not be that hard to wire a switch in so the reverse lever actuates the backstitch laser.... The amount of time I spend with dividers measuring stitch samples for spi and marking the first holes of my backstitch on every seam is quite a bit once you add it up. The reality is, for me, the above setup is money way better spent than on a needle positioner or even an edge guide. I don't need an edge guide to go straight, and frequently my stitch line ends up straighter than the edge anyways. I think this comes from my habit of always trimming after sewing to get a better cleaner edge. A laser would be handy to show me if my straight stitch line across the middle of something is at the right angle to the project however.. "Hey Tinker, that's a really pretty and straight stitch, but why is it an inch higher on the right than it is on the left?....."

I like my cylinder arm higher, closer to eye height if i use my flatbed chair, for one main reason. I have a cylinder arm for sewing bags and other odd shaped sewing jobs. When I am doing a bag gusset, for instance, I stitch with the face of the bag up to get a nicer stitch on the more visible side. This leaves the gusset to wander around underneath there if I am not careful. I frequently have my head up under the arm making sure the hidden layers of a bag are co-operating on the underside. It would be a struggle if the machine was lower. I have a taller stool just for that machine as well for normal sewing of belts and such.

If he was sitting across the table from me, that "you guys should oil your machines" comment would have warranted a grinning bird.......just sayin. Id still buy him a coffee though.

Here is my take: If you work in a factory, garage, basement, wigwam or mud hut, you want bang for your buck and chrome don't get you home. Buy beige. Now if you have a storefront or a hot-rod shop or any other environment where people can watch you work, a decorated machine can actually increase business. A leather shop with a 29k patcher in the window is just cooler than one without. The pedestrians know that it is a leather machine, and it lends authenticity to the business. This will bring in customers so the machine pays for itself, even if it is never used because it is not the right machine for most tasks. The same goes for putting new machines in a leather shop. Beige machines next to old singers stand out. People expect to see tough old iron machines painted black in leather and shoe shops. By making this machine black and putting on some gold pinstriping it harkens back to the old days. In a retail environment, this paint job could actually make you money over the basic beige. To a business, 400-500 bucks as a one time cost to increase customer traffic and the bottom line a percent or three is well worth it. My bet is they ordered a few machines in black with an upgraded gold nitrided hook and just pinstriped them on this side of the pacific, much the same way as cobra orders in orange/bronze paint and puts on stickers. Pinstriping is actually pretty fast and does not require the setup of a spray job. That being said, for the money I have seen much nicer pinstriping, and for 500 bucks, I know a guy I could get to pinstripe MY logo on my machine. Plus if it is a retail establishment, a sign advertising the pinstriping artist helps his/her bottom line and may make the job cheaper. The right hand washes the left.

If you look through some of those blueprints I posted, many of them specified the size, position and style of US marking and other stamps on the item. Most of the prints are early 1900s revisions of older designs dating much earlier. Unfortunately most of the prints are for the gear that the horse carried, not the gear the rider did however I imagine the acquisition rules were the same. These blueprints were what was given to the contractors who made the stuff to "milspec". If the item didn't match the blueprint the cheque from the govt ended up being smaller...

I asked my better half if I could have a pony, she looked at me in the strangest way........

On other forums there is a smilee that is giving the bird just for these kinds of comments. Try to imagine it now for me please.

I am as well. I don't go by Tinker for nothing. I am always thinking of things like this. Problem on here is if you make these kinds of suggestions to someone who is too much of a novice, and they are in way over their head, They could very well let the smoke out and electrocute themselves. Never a good thing.... When i find someone of like mind with an obvious foundation of knowledge and access to help if needed, it is fun and refreshing to discuss some kind of weird design......that may be dangerous to man and machine.

Ever watched those border security shows? Half the plot is stuff people ordered from china but gets confiscated because it is illegal here. They will gladly take your money for product and ship it from china, what do they care whether customs gets it or not?

So being in Canada, handguns basically do not exist and only those who grow up on farms are exposed to firearms at all as kids, unless you have a hunter in the family, then its for a couple months a year during the season and only rifles and shotguns. The better half has never even come close to touching a gun. The idea of her having a heater in her purse is terrifying....... To her as well as me.

I kinda have two ideas going there, one is to add a sliding pot to some kind of pedal allowing you to adjust the attacment point. The other is to use/modify an existing electronic pedal from a guitar or keyboard. Or even a domestic sewing machine. For the first idea, to connect the sliding pot to the pedal, I would use a linkage rod to the pot slider from the pedal or a chain and return spring. The keyboard pedal option may just be plug and play, as in cut leads to pot on vfd and patch in the pedal. Have to look up a few values to be sure.

I guess i am a little biased because i already have a big 441 style machine to handle the bigger stuff, and was thinking more of a second machine to compliment what i have and not as a first. All week i have been fighting arm clearance. Serves me right for designing my stuff to the limit of what i can do. You are definitely correct on the compromises though, that's how we ended up with a thousand different machines that all do the same things just a smidgen different.

If you use a sliding pot, the length of the lever arm actuating the pot will effect the slope of the ramp up from min to max speed. The longer the lever arm, the slower it changes from slow to fast. You could make an arm with a couple holes allowing you to tune the pedal ramp up once you figure out a pot with close to the same values as the internal one. Places like digikey have lots of sliding pototentiometers. They make some really smooth ones for not too much money because they are used in audio applications. They need to work good because when the beats cut out, the dj gets beer thrown at him...As a matter of fact they make midi bass drum pedals that have the pot built in.....as to building your own, Tons of choices for a pot under 20 bux, most under 5. ..... And now that i thought about this, here is your solution, sustain pedals for guitar/keyboard, why reinvent the wheel? You could probably use a rockband controller from a garage sale..... http://www.sweetwater.com/c520--Keyboard_Pedals

Machinists use vfds all the time to use 3 phase 220 volt machine motors with single phase 220 power at home. It is important to get the right type with the right input and output. Look on sites like practical machinist for info and used vfds for sale.

VFD's generally cost the same if not more than a servo new. If you find one used, go for it. If you are ordering new, go with the servo. It is less work and cheaper. And yes, the motor needs to be wired into the vfd and the vfd plugged into the wall. Some rewiring is likely to be necessary.

I have not used plastic as a bag stiffener, but i do know that getting good results with heat forming is not as easy as it seems, and you may need to have a better setup than a heat gun. Specially if you are wanting to do curves or bigger pieces. Also, be careful with glues. Some plastics are notoriously hard to glue. For my bags i use the same material tandy sells for bag stiffener. It is not formable but plenty stiff and gluable. It cuts with scissors and comes in big sheets for not to much money. It also is pretty much waterproof specially once it has been coated in glue. If you need stiffer, double it up. Sometimes you may have to adjust your design to accommodate the materials,.....Play with scrap. One of the first messenger bags i made i thought needed some stiffener so i used standard interfacing on the inside behind the liner. That bag is way too stiff. Now i just stiffen the face and back, sometimes the bottom, but never the sides. I also stop the stiffener 1/8-1/4 from the corner seam to keep down built and allow a little flexibility. The molded bottom style you are trying to achieve may not have been done here much and you may be the pioneer.

Bass drum pedals from drum kits may be a good source for a pedal to mount a potentiometer too.

It appears to be a juki 341 clone, it is listed on cowboys site as a 7341. If i had my choice i would get a cowboy 7335 pfaff 335 based machine because it has a cylinder arm that is over a full inch smaller in diameter, with basically the same specs for lift and whatnot. If you are going to be limited to 138 thread anyways, might as well have more clearance. Not sure if the 335 bobbin is smaller however.

You do realize that filling a hole in the market is one of the principles of good innovative business. Large amounts of money are made every day by people who develop the first of something. Sometimes it is not made because nobody has made an innovative design yet. Perhaps combining it with a pouch for door fobs or making a wallet for a couple drives would be marketable. Then again, perhaps it is just a hobby for the OP. Perhaps the entire market is his/her daughter starting a computer science degree and dad just wants to make a small gift......... Rublackett: I have made alot of one off little things like this. One thing to try is to use a bit thinner veg tan leather at 4oz or so, sew up a pouch out of two flat pieces with the stitches approximately as far apart as the width plus the thickness of the object to be encased. Wet the leather well, and slip the object into the pocket. Let it dry at room temp then take the object out. Obviously the object will get wet, so waterproof it or make a dummy mold piece instead. I have a block of wood that is the same size as each size of iphone. In addition I would use smaller thread and smaller awl for a little project like this. If it is lighter leather you can take the thread out of a home sewing machine and hand wheel it as a hole punch for the stitch holes. Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

Don't like that paint but i have been planning a non-standard paint job for mine for a while.....Might be death star related....

Part of the problem isIi have the choice of listening to my music or the neighbors......Silence is not an option. .........Ahhhh, city life, where it is just not nearly as acceptable to fire off a warning shot to get them to turn it down as it may be in Dwights neck of the woods......