UKRay

This is a really good question. I also have the Tandy rivet setter and find it slow and vaguely irritating to use. I'd like to find a machine setter for these rivets - or anything that would speed up the process and do a better job. A fraction of an inch out and the rivet is marked... not good on a high dollar job. Ray

Lovely work, Arbalet - do you have any more pictures? Ray

ganonymous, you really need to hang out in bars more... take sodapop with you! I like the skeleton - it is almost medieval. Check this out: Nice job Hammerhead. Ray

Pretty close, Denise - the All Blacks are the New Zealand national Rugby team - a very scary bunch of lads. The name comes from the colour of their playing kit - it is all black. See: www.allblacks.com Ray

Nice job, Terry, very slick. Obviously the customer has fine taste in Rugby teams. I'm an ardent supporter of Wales myself (well, I'd have to be living here on the border) but you can't help admiring the Kiwis. I wouldn't like to upset any of them! Ray.

Mick, I wish you were right. Sadly you can be held liable for someone else's stupidity and lots of folk find themselves in court every year for just that reason. Let me give you an example or two: A couple of years back a guy took a canoe without permission from an outdoor centre whilst drunk. he paddled it down the river and was found drowned the following morning. The centre was found to be guilty of negligence - essentially leaving their doors open so the fool could steal the canoe... they were eventually forced to shut down because they couldn't afford to fight the legal battle instigated by the dead guy's relatives. Two lads 'borrowed' a friend's motorcycle without permission, rode it down the road into a tree. One died and the other was badly injured. The dead kid's parents sued the 19 year old owner of the motorcycle for lending them the bike. He was so upset by the legal wrangles that he became depressed and committed suicide. Finally, and hopefully amusingly, check this out: http://madmouser.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/...-herd/#comments Okay - it may be an urban legend, but there are far too many stories just like this to take into account when you run a business making anything. Yes, I accept I was slightly over the top in my response to Dave's post and apologise if I have caused any offense to anyone but the fact remains that we live in a society that likes to blame someone else for it's stupidity - and that someone could be me or you! I rest my case m'lud. Ray

Thanks for the kind words, folks. The biggest lesson I learned from this was to measure twice and cut once... need I say more? Ray

Interesting contribution, Dave. I'm glad common sense prevails 'down under' because it certainly doesn't in other parts of the world. We had a couple of crazy people kill folk with handguns and the next thing we knew it became virtually impossible to own a handgun in the UK. Gangland knife attacks were in the news for a few weeks and suddenly we are banned from carrying knives. Sorry mate - you are welcome to your opinion but in this instance you can only speak for your neck of the woods. I'm just pleased for you that Australia is such a liberal country. We don't share that luxury here in the UK. I agree entirely that the common sense view of this story says the guy should have had more sense and it was entirely his own fault. The trigger words for me were 'defective sheath'. WE live in a litigious society where blame always has to be apportioned if something goes wrong. If the sheath was defective and is proved to be so it sets a legal precedent for future cases of this kind. Every time some fool falls on a knife and cuts himself the efficacy of the sheath will be called into question. I find this something of a worry as it could be me facing a jury charged with manslaughter. You obviously live in a place where people are fair and reasonable at all times and nobody is ever accused of anything as silly as this. Hopefully the lawyers are kind, gentle folk who would never try to pass the stupidity buck onto a hapless maker of leathergoods. Perhaps Australia should be renamed Utopia? Where do I buy my ticket?

Thanks for all the offers of help. Flinty actually fitted the Servo to this machine so he knows it well. I'll be in touch about the stand, Steve. That is a very generous offer. Suze - I mostly lie in bed at night listening to the wildlife in the roof! The creaking of ancient wooden floors and timbers is the nearest I get to voices from the past - although more than one visitor has mentioned seeing the resident ghost. Personally I enjoy the sense of permanence you get from living in an ancient structure. There is something rather wonderful about living in a house that was already old when Cortez conquered Montezuma and Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne of England. The downside is constant maintenance and not being able to bolt brackets to the floor to hold your sewing machine down... A small price to pay really! LOL

This is a lovely job. Beautifully designed and constructed.I'd really appreciate a copy of your pouch pattern if you can bring yourself to share it. Ray

I never had you down as such a smooth talker, Josh... LOL

I don't think anyone is 'having a pop' here TK and the issue isn't time critical - Johanna was simply saying that this is an ongoing struggle that shouldn't really be happening. Common sense says people who fill in their profile get more work than those who don't... easy! Ray

That Indy Bag pattern is a real winner. You made a really nice job of all your stuff. Ray

My customer came to me with two ancient books of uneven sizes and said she wanted a thick leather case made to hold them. She wanted it to look old, creased and worn as though it had been used for years and fasten with a buckled strap that went right around the case. I dug out a bit of soft 3.5mm leather and this is what happened. To be honest, it was the first time I have ever made anything like this and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It didn't go quite according to plan but that didn't matter as the end product pleased the customer who said it looked 'very Indiana Jones'. I think that was a compliment... I doubt I'll ever make another, but the lessons I learned from this project will stay with me for ever! Ray Edit - as always - due to inability to spell

Oh it sounds so easy the way you describe it, Dave. Sadly, that wood floor is 3" thick 15th century oak that is as hard as iron. Brackets are a nice idea but I don't really want to spoil the wood and the conservation people would skin me alive... The machine is now okay left to right but backwards and forwards can be a worry! The rotary punch is helping a lot so I guess I could pile a load more junk on there until it doesn't move any more. Nah - bad plan... If I'm going to need to remount the machine (which is my current plan) then I'm definitely buying a new stand as this one is simply not the full shilling (as we say here in the UK). It is missing a few key bits and I don't like it. Now what sort of stand should I get?

Here you go, Ryan. I have just checked and all four feet are touching the ground. The problem comes because the machine is set too far to the left of the stand (as you look at the picture) I have offset this by mounting a heavy rotary punch on the other end which counterbalances the machine head and servo motor and works up to a point but is still not perfect. Any suggestions?

I'm starting to feel the pain of owning a big powerful sewing machine. The four legged table/stand it is mounted on is not as robust as I would like and I'm not happy about the overall stability of the machine when it kicks into operation. What advice can you give me about choosing a new machine table or stand based on your own experience. Would I be better with a pedestal stand? Does it need to be on wheels? Do I need to look for anything special? What about fitting the machine - does one size fit all? What 'extras' are available that make life easier? Help and advice gratefully received guys. Thanks. Ray

The quality of the workmanship suggests someone with more spare time than I've got. I'd constantly be concerned that it wouldn't sell. What a luxury to be able to take time out to make something just because it is beautiful... Ray

That sounds like very good advice, John. I'm going that route first thing on Monday morning! A brand new bank account with no money in it that is just used as a clearing account would work for me. I'm also going to open another PayPal account to make sure I can keep trading even when they are playing silly beggers. Thanks my friend. Ray

Whoooeee - you wouldn't want that happening in the next cubicle!

I have been trying to find someone to do a specific job for me and thought I'd check out the personal profiles to see who might be the best person to try. Now, I'm sure I'm not the only person to do this kind of search. The problem I hit was that very few people have completed their personal profile and although I searched for over an hour I couldn't find anyone to take on the contract - simply because I couldn't find out anything about people's work capability. I've got more work coming up in the future that I would like to outsource and as some of it is for a US client I'd like to track down more US leatherworkers with the specialist skills and facilities I need. Right now I'd be hard pushed to find someone but I hope this will change as more people take a few minutes to make more information available. Frankly, on a personal level I don't care if you do or you don't put stuff on your profile, but on a business level I'd like a lot more information about you 'cos it helps me to choose when I'm picking guys to work with. Ray edit due to inability to spell

Leaving aside the great bag, Scissormedic has the best view off a veranda I have ever seen! Seriously, great bag - it must have taken you hours to produce. You really got that zipper looking good. Ray

Whatever it take, Kate - just let me know if you need any help. Ray

Welcome, Classair. Enjoy the forum and don't forget to post lots of pictures of your work! Ray

Jim, this is almost exacly like the one I used to own but mine had smaller 'pinks'. An amazing thing - but I never found a use for it! It was originally purchased/made to cut the leather straps for baby harness for prams and suchlike. Ray