dikman

Mizzy, hubby's garage must look like Aladdin's Cave! It should be possible to replace the a wheel with a presser foot, best thing is to post photos of the parts so that the experienced gurus on here can tell you exactly what's needed.

It does look interesting, it would be nice to see it working.

Single Action, or Cowboy Action, is a form of competition using pistols, rifles and shotguns from the American West, i.e. single action revolvers, lever action rifles and double barrel shotguns. In the case of the shotguns it's often necessary to reload one or more times in a stage, so easy withdrawal of the shells (in pairs) is a must. For hunting this style of cartridge retention isn't the best as it can be quite easy to lose the shells!! Elastic will certainly work for what you want to make but each loop will need to be stitched or rivetted. In my opinion the simplest way is to form the loops by feeding in and out of a slot in the belt and then rivetting the ends. All you have to do is work out the thickness of the leather you're going to use for the loops and buy a suitable slot punch.

Thingyverse has a huge amount of stuff posted there! Now all you need to make are the Singer-type corner pieces and you should have all the bases covered.

What size and type of thread are you using?

Thanks for making the files available Uwe, I'll add them to my collection. The "standard" PLA filament used in home printing is surprisingly strong. Edit: I had to join to download them. Is there a reason you put them there and not Thingyverse (which is where most seem to post 3D files)?

Shotgun belts are fiddly things to make, in my opinion. Red Cent has posted a couple of nice ones on here somewhere. Are they for Single Action shooting or hunting use? If you make them with loops then you will need a strip below the loop to stop the cartridges going in too far if they're for SA. For SA they need to be just tight enough to hold them without falling out but so they can be removed easily, for hunting you want them tighter so you don't loose them! For SA most prefer them in pairs and some make "pouches", which I think work better but are definitely fiddly to make! You can also make them as slides, so they are independent of the belt. Elastic will work although some prefer all leather (more traditional). A few thoughts, perhaps a bit more info on its intended use?

Best way to bend a bolt is to heat it at the bend point first, this removes any stresses and ensures it won't break/fracture. As long as the bolt is mild steel, however it can be bent with brute force, either holding it in a (solid) vice and hitting it with a big hammer or slide a long piece of pipe over it and pull! The only thing you have to watch is that you don't damage the threads (I've had to make a couple myself).

While ornate and heavily worked items can certainly look impressive, there's something about a simple clean design that just speaks of elegance. Nicely done.

It's certainly easier than messing around stitching loops! I guess some might like the look of stitched loops better, but I figure it's only a loading strip so as long as it's functional I see no point in spending too much time on one.

The few I've made didn't need stitching of the loops. I measured out the spacing first and made a template with all the dimensions on (so I could easily duplicate it). I marked it out and punched slots for the loops, basically feeding it through and back so that a loop is formed at each slot. The leather is dampened slightly and a cartridge inserted at each loop and pulled tight at each loop. I glue the start and end bits of the leather loop strap, although some use rivets. I make two of these loop strips and glue them back-to-back to make a double-sided holder with a thin leather spacer in between then stitch them together ('cos it looks nicer). I've been using Kangaroo for the loop strips as it's thin but strong. Punch a hole in the end for a strap (more Kangaroo!). The top one is a bought one, the bottom one I made.

Just saw this (been away on a bike trip and catching up on stuff), nice job, I did up one of those stands and reckon they're a great looking stand!

You going to fit one of them thar racing pedals with holes in it? You know, to make it go faster?

Bugstruck, thanks for the compliment but I'm a rank amateur, compared to others on here, when it comes to sewing machines! On the other hand, I just bought a min-lathe (Chinese, of course) and spent the last three days stripping it and re-building it so it works properly.

DLG, my apologies, I missed the bottom line in Northmount's post that said the original had a toe plug. My bad. It made my post somewhat irrelevant in this case.

kgg, I bought the shoepatcher early on, I was handstitching and didn't know much about anything and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I've never actually sewn anything with it as it wasn't long after that I got the bug about industrial sewing machines!! They're not a bad little machine for what they are and I'm sure I'll use it eventually. The reason I got into leatherwork was because I needed holsters and gunbelts and so far all the stuff I've made has been gun-related (although I'm itching to have a go at making a leather vest!).

(Only problem with that is Brian lives on the other side of the world and shipping can be an issue). Good job, mate. As long as it works that's all that matters.

My first thought was that the top tension is way too high (assuming there is a little tension on the bobbin). Is that top pre-tensioner necessary? looks like the lower slot in its guide will let you bypass it and just go straight down to the lower tensioner. Might be worth a try. Either that or back of the top tensioner so it's not doing much.

Just because there's stitching at the bottom doesn't mean it's got a toe plug as it could simply be decorative, as in carrying on the edge stitching to give it a "finished" look.

kgg, you didn't mention what you use them for (just curious).

Appears to be in very good condition.

Where I buy my leather they naturally also have belly. As it is cheaper I asked the chap about using it and he said while it might be ok for odds and ends he wouldn't recommend it for anything "important". It's thickness can vary and it can stretch in unwanted directions. I guess it could be ok for lining something where it can't be seen much?

Constabulary, it's not just sewing machine gearboxes that have this problem of squeezing the grease out of the gears! Unless the gears run hot enough to melt the grease back into the gears (!) they tend to not be as lubricated as we might think. Your idea of a sticky oil is pretty good, chainsaw bar lube might also work ,it's designed to be sticky stuff and might be a bit thicker than the spray-on stuff for bike chains. Food for thought...

Pulley choice came down to what I had handy - big pulleys tend to get expensive here! The one on the Pfaff is heavy enough to act as a flywheel!!! The "hand crank" I bought cheap, it is alloy and had a bit of bad corrosion at one point on the rim so I cleaned it up and gave it a coat of paint. Good enough for a hand crank.

Constabulary, yes, if you like the "traditional" look on old machines then you definitely won't like this setup! Wiz, that, of course, is something to be aware of. Careful selection of the pulley is important, if they're pressed steel then not good, but cast pulleys can be smoothed over. In my case(s) they have substantial rims that are smooth. I do a lot of handwheeling and haven't had any issues. Matt, both machines have 550w servos with small 45mm pulleys and I haven't had any problems (and I tend to sew slow and creep the needle along!)