DrmCa

Aluminum would mark everything it touched.

This machine may be an upgrade for you, but be aware that 20U is not really a full-blown industrial machine. This is a small-shop glorified household machine, put onto an industrial K-legs. It will run light textiles and denims, but nothing heavier.

Making that contraption is sounding more and more involved as this thread goes.

Ah, well, it works as a learning material of course. You might want to look at old lawnmower blades for your future projects. They are not wide enough for a head knife the way they are, but if you have access to welding, that could be a non-issue. Those blades are still made of good still for the most part, except for the cheapest throw-away lawnmowers. Contractor-grade mowers have excellent steel in their blades still

My concern with running a drill press as a burnisher would be that drill chucks are not designed for radial pressure and tend to fall off if there is no axial pressure towards the quill.

Looks like you made them out of a carbide tipped masonry blade. Those are made of pretty soft steel as carbide is the only thing which comes in contact with brick or tiles this works with. So I am sorry to rain on your parade, but you may be in for frequent re-sharpening and very frequent stroping. I thought that like when I was a kid some 30+ years ago, I could use saw blades for knife blades but alas, everything carbide tipped is soft. Still have all-steel blades stashed for this purpose and that's awesome hard steel of 1075 or similar variety.

Lining would make this awesome bag even better. I found that unlined leather might shed crumbs which get stuck to paper, plastic etc due to statics.

I still contend that there is no simpler method to reproduce this than casting out of pot metal or pure zinc scavenged from old golf clubs, window operators etc. in a mold made of castable refractory cement or any suitable clay by duplicating the original.

This and other similar threads prove that sellers take advantage of leatherworkers by spicing "tool sets" with unrelated items all the time.

@constabulary MS as in Messerschmidt?

I would add a couple of mesh eyelets on each side or heads are going to sweat pretty badly.

My wife's Singer 99 survived close to 150 years of use without any lubrication whatsoever. Not that I am advocating doing so, just mentioning. Are you running the machine at full speed before looking for oil?

If you'd add a roller foot to that Brother (which looks exactly like my Juki DDL-553) it may stitch light leather, but I'd recommend saving money for a walking foot like Constabulary said. But stitching is not the problem - it is how the machine handles change in thickness and turns. Textile machines stitch differently when used with leather, it's unpredictable if the machine will or will not stitch.

ngosew sells made in China stuff. I bought from them, the quality is the same as from Alibaba or Aliexpress.

Automation Direct is a good source of pneumatic supplies like nylon hoses and unions.

Flashy but perfectly executed. Kudos!

Nice, I can even hear it.

Superb worksmanship! Love copper rivets.

Did you see this chart? A longer needle would be a problem, but you can grind it down to the correct length. I am surprised this machine would take size 25 - it is enormous, for 207-277 thread IIRC. Are you sure you want to stitch with that cord on that machine?

Provided that the machine is threaded correctly, I would suspect a burr on something round which is rotating with the thread. That could be a bobbin, or disks on the tensioner, etc. Did you try a new bobbin?

Looks like a Singer clone (unlikely) or re-brand (likely) to me. There are threads here about these machines. IIRC it is used for stitching upholstery to fiberboards in the automotive and furniture industries, therefore too fast for leather work. Google the same model number with Singer.

Spoke with the Indian guy selling them - machines are not hooked up, "they do not have 220 here" (a red flag: how did they run in production then, if they are just cleaning up shop?) so I'll pass as he is not trustworthy. No 220 in an industrial building is absurd. There is 220 in every building in North America

Thanks a lot, mate, really appreciate it. I was going to fall for a $300 old Juki, but now I'll buy one of these!

Did you grab all 30? You should be able to re-sell them for at least 5x times what you paid. There are convertors on the market that can be used to feed 3x phase from 220 1x phase which can be had for a couple hundred bucks, and you'll still be ways ahead of going price of these machines. Do they have any of those machines left? I am on the market for a straight stitcher with a reverse...

Would the keeper ever pinch skin on the neck?