dikman

Fascinating. The foundry work, mold-making and casting was particularly interesting, thanks Constabulary.

I agree with fred, burnishing by definition is polishing usually involving hard rubbing.

You CAN use round-point needles on leather, on thin leather it should be fine.

I stitch after gluing, then wet-form, sand the edges if needed to follow the stitching, bevel the edges then colour if necessary and burnish. The only "criticism" I can make is you're a bit heavy with the pear shader - I had the same problem on my first effort, so I know all about it! Other than that it looks good.

Yeah, a nice whimsical touch.

From my observations industrial sewing machines are a pretty specialised area (sort of like a niche market) with not too many dealers so the chances of getting a sale on them is probably pretty slim. The only way to get a reduced price is to find a used one.

As an aside, due to the (ridiculously) high cost of tobacco here - due to government taxes - the sale of legal tobacco is falling dramatically (and the government tax intake) BUT illegal sales are booming! Funny that. Not having made tobacco pouches (nor being a smoker) it never occurred to me that they would need a waterproof lining.

#4 suggests it automatically lifts the foot when you stop stitching. #2 whatever it does when in the down position it's off. Whatever #1 and #2 do screws 4 and 5 adjust the speed.

All I've ever used is beeswax.

Might only use four stamps but it looks like a fair bit of work went into it.

You may find you don't need the NP. I bought one 'cos it sounded like a good idea but I don't really like it so don't use it. I find a servo and speed reducer combination is more than adequate for my needs.

The 3200 is an excellent machine and would be ideal for holsters and gunbelts but wallets could be a problem. An upholstery-class machine, which generally has 3/8" under the feet, is a good all-round machine - as long as you don't want to sew holsters and gunbelts. Have you read the sticky by Wiz about leather sewing machines? It's at the top of this section.

You've been a busy boy!!

I don't recall having any problem removing the pulley, but because the bearing comes with it the shaft is left floating in the air! It's obviously not considered a particularly brilliant idea because I'm not aware of any other machines that are made that way.

Yes, you are definitely getting better! Excellent work.

BLO could be a problem as it can remain tacky. Using it on wood works because it can be hard burnished to give a smooth finish. It is a traditional finish on rifle stocks but requires multiple coats and a lot of hand-rubbing. Tung oil is another similar product but I'm not sure how effective it would be on leather.

Very good video, excellent quality.

The 211 class is different to most other machines as it has a bearing in the handwheel rather than fitted into the main body of the machine. When I had mine I wanted to replace the handwheel with a larger pulley but couldn't because of the bearing. Constabulary is right, you will need to make an adapter sleeve to fit over the shaft on the handwheel.

Using any sort of solvent (which is normally what you need to remove glue) is likely going to be unsuccessful as the softened diluted glue will be able to penetrate the leather even more. An eraser like Frank suggested might work, other than that you're probably stuck with it. Put it down to experience.

Thank you both for your efforts, it's given me peace-of-mind about using mineral oil (the good stuff) in my leather treatment concoctions.

What are you referring to specifically? If it's labelled sewing machine oil then yes.

I think your first sentence summed it up. The few manufacturers that need low speed (for leatherwork machines) overcome the issue with large handwheels and speed reducers. For everyone else the motors are fine for their requirements so no need to make them any more complex/expensive than they are.

With our current crop of "leaders" there's no chance we can emulate the US. So, Japanese hardening but without the clay. Just had a thought, why didn't you make an antler handle? That would put it into another class.

Ta, I'll give it a try.

I suspect most (if not all) solvent contact cements are pretty much the same formulation. I have started adding a bit of Xylene to mine occasionally if it starts thickening in the can, seems to work ok. I'm currently using Sika brand but I have a can of Selley's for when that runs out. I was going to pour it into a smaller container but haven't bothered, instead I glued one of those cheap "acid brushes" into the lid to use as an applicator, it's working ok so far. The down side to the Sika is it has a screw cap and a couple of times it got stuck!