DrmCa

They might have lifted the foot bars, to cheat the 8mm lift.

Ole' Tex Shoemaker used to make these: What kind and weight of leather are they? I do not feel bad about wanting to copy them because the company is no longer in business and also because I am going to change the design a bit.

Not the right machine for leather except for probably making purses out of the thinnest leather. This machine was designed for high-speed work on textiles and maybe for some vinyl leatherette.

Post pictures?

I hazard guess that it may be used rather for marking parallel lines the length of the width of the feet, like for parallel oblong holes.

There was a thread on it a while ago:

Did the shop have the same system needle as you use in the machine when they timed it?

The bag looks great! Chainstitch is used on stretchy textiles. Could it be beneficial on stretchy leather? Perhaps it could be, but I doubt it.

I'd be livid about lost 2 days of income due to sloppy shipping.

Watch out for that suppressor. Now, your barrel sticks out by the extended/threaded tip. Once the suppressor goes on, it might catch up on the bottom edge of the holster.

With ideal tension, mind you. If the upper tension increases, the lower thread utilization follows, and vice versa.

Ditto. Great video and thanks for sharing.

Tandy Super Skiver #3025-00 is on order. I want to try it before everything else because it offers some depth control that I can hope to be able to master. I know my limits: the Japanese tool in my hands would ruin too much leather.

Ah... I know for certain that I do not possess enough fine motoric skill to control such a tool for the same purpose as those above. Need something that has a limited depth of cut.

Cute! Why are you using a key ring on one end of the strap?

I have a couple of cheap hand splitters/skivers like in the attached images. They work all right but slow for hard leather but fail miserably on soft. As my volume cannot justify the purchase of a crank splitter, I am looking for tips for a better hand tool.

I feel under so much pressure now!

Are the screws rusty? If they are, a drop of muriatic acid followed up by heat and again by penetrating oil can help release them. Otherwise use simply use a properly sized screwdriver bit, more heat, and back and forth force on the head. Do not be afraid to heat it up.

If they are a major factory in a major city, then the risk is low. The risk increases if they are a small-hand reseller. I only ever bought from a factory in Ningbo. I knew that they were a notion manufacturer who had overstock. I deposited $$ into their account with Bank of China, and two weeks later DHL dropped the parcel on my porch. But a buddy of mine who does business with China on a regular basis warned me against dealing with any reseller whose office is not in Shenzhen or Guangzhou. Dunno why.

I use the same pump for my cars' AC. It pulls 30 psi vacuum.

Yes, the leather is soft and stretchy, but I still decided to make a couple of training belts from it. So, these are my first 2 belts: I use a 3D printed stencil for English tips and holes, and another (not shown as it is being redesigned) for the buckle end. Burnished on the drill press with a home-made wood burnisher. Both buckles are recycled from old, ruined belts. The one on the right may even have come from luggage.

Not sure about the risk but did you factor in the shipping? Alibaba is not like Aliexpress where shipping is free on many products. Alibaba suppliers use major couriers: Fedex, UPS, TNT, DHL. It costs a fortune.

Might want to avoid that seller. They are not on the reasonable side.

Why did they bend the needle bar? Was it to accommodate some other adjustment/malfunction? Check what it did for them because you may need more parts after replacing the needle bar. It often snowballs like that because cheap bastards use all kinds of tricks, to avoid buying proper parts.

That! I never order less than 1 full case.