dikman

My filament arrived lunchtime (3 days later than the Aust.Post tracking said). I ordered Grey PLA+, so what do I get - Cyan ABS! I'm curious to see how they handle this as the return postage will probably be at least half the (retail) value of the filament. In the meantime, this is what I've come up with. edit: just heard from them and it seems their system was causing problems last week so they'll send me the PLA+ and I get to keep the ABS. Might as well make one of these loopers out of ABS and see how it works I suppose.

I've tried hypodermic syringes for various fluids but I don't really like them as it's too easy to squirt too much out! The Zoom Spout looks good, Floyd, but as usual not easy to find here in Oz.

There have been a few posts about these things, look up Chinese shoe patcher. There are also a few youtube vids about them. I have one, although I haven't used it as not long after buying it I started buying industrial machines . For what they are they're not too bad, pretty basic but really need a bit of work to smooth them out. They do the job they were designed for, patching and repairing stuff. Bobbin is tiny and it's limited to #69/M40 thread.

I'm not aware of any pattern available for it. Looking at the first photo it's actually a pretty simple, basic design, a Mexican loop with two loops, a wide skirt that finishes above the bottom of the holster and is designed to ride high on the belt. It appears to be soft leather with unfinished edges. The fourth photo also shows the design quite clearly.

Intuitive keypad? That would be a first. I notice that the specs list the slowest speed as 500rpm? Lishui is the company that made the servos I bought (three of) and so far I've had no issues with them. It should be possible to find the same motor on Aliexpress, which deals with individual sales, but it could take a lot of searching and the price will probably be higher.

kgg, I use hydraulic oil, which is basically all Lily White oil is. There are really only two potential issues with oiling sewing machines - staining (if it drips down the needle bar/feet) and gumming up. Many of the "ordinary" household-type oils will cause gumming if left long enough without the machine being used, but that is rarely a problem for most of us. I agree with what you say regarding firearms, but fortunately most of us run our machines slow so excessive heat buildup is unlikely to be much of an issue. Your oil mixture sounds pretty good to me. As for oilers, I have some small squeeze containers that held ink for refilling inkjet printers, they don't hold a lot but they have a nice stainless tube on them to get into tight areas.

I worked with a guy who one day was wandering around the office looking for his glasses - they were perched on his head!! I've attached a loop to the end and hopefully my PLA+ will arrive today.

Good torque, low speed and leather - you will need to factor in a speed reducer with the motor, as already mentioned. A servo, by itself, will not meet your requirements. Other than that, if you're uncertain about a motor stick to the brands the advertisers here sell.

Just made one (using "ordinary" PLA) and it works ok. I tried one of those needle-threading thingies that Constabulary mentioned in the other thread but it didn't work 'cos it's too short. I've got some PLA+ coming and I'll make another when it gets here. I'm going to try and modify it, Brian , as I reckon a hole in the end for some string to make a hanging loop or a loop molded into the end might be a good idea, then I can hang it on the thread stand (and not lose it!).

Thanks for that, I forgot to ask where you get the filament from. That PLA+ appears to be pretty much the same price as normal PLA.

??? I thought it was pretty self-explanatory, much as SARK9 described it - with a binder attachment the feed dog moves back and forth in a horizontal fashion and the extra parts allow it to be changed to an elliptical (conventional, i.e up/down/back/forth) movement. It's unclear, however, if the replacement feed dog has teeth on it (it still looks smooth to me). Basically what you're asking for.

Are you talking about 3D scanning? if so it's certainly feasible but expensive. As for upgrades, it depends what you buy. If you buy a kit then the chances are that once you understand what you're doing you'll want to improve the printer as many of the kits will be functional but can be improved upon. Not necessary, but if you'r a kit builder you probably won't be able to help yourself!

You've done it again, Brian. I too get irritated with trying to poke the thread from the back through that little hole, it just never occurred to me to make something like that (why don't we have a head-banging-against-a-brick-wall emoji? I'm sure I would use it a lot!).

It's probably just as well that it's nowhere near me!! Lots of interesting stuff there. Of course, I've got nowhere to put a shelf full of thread, but........

Very nice Riem. You did a good job on it, I'm sure the recipient will like it.

Not really a problem, if you get one at a good price then replacing the motor with a servo still means you've got a (better) machine at a good price.

Nice job with the stand, looks good.

Are they worth the money? Yes and no. If you're in business or have a ready market as a hobbyist then yes, the right sewing machines will make life much easier. If, however, you just dabble in leatherwork (as many of us do) then it's doubtful you will ever recover the cost of, for example, a CB4500. Of course some of us just enjoy having the machines for what they are and accept that it won't pay for itself. As bikermutt said, however, one machine won't "do it all". If you buy a CB4500 (or its equivalent) you'll find that you'll need a smaller machine for lighter materials. By all means if you can afford it go for it, just don't expect it to do everything.

I don't know you, although I have seen your name mentioned in dispatches, so to speak . Even though you may not be able to make stuff like you used to I'm sure that many here would appreciate your continued input as you obviously have a wealth of knowledge and experience that it would be a shame to waste.

Nice looking job there, sarge. the walnut and black (satin finish?) go well together. Just be careful not to scratch it when you use it .

If it was me I'd already be half-way there .

Wiz, that Singer 168G101 sounds really interesting.

Always nice getting a new toy.

If you search here for "burnishing" you'll find information on what others are using for burnishing, some have fitted (or made) burnishing attachments onto bench grinders. They might be a little fast but they work ok. Yours looks to me like its burning the edge of the leather, I get the same thing when sanding on a belt grinder if I'm not careful. You've probably clogged the grinding wheel with leather so it's rubbing leather against leather at high speed and burning it. You could try using some beeswax on the leather when burnishing. The good thing about a proper burnishing attachment is the grooves will also round off the edges a bit.

Here's my effort. It's a Tevo Tarantula kit (which is why it doesn't look neat and tidy as it's very difficult to run all those cables in a tidy fashion!). There are many kits available and a lot of them use perspex/acrylic for the framing pieces (which apparently works quite well) but I bought the Tevo because it uses extruded aluminium section for its framing. Rigidity is the key to using 3D printers, so mine is screwed to a baseboard, which also lets me move it around, and I fitted additional diagonal braces at the rear from the top to the back of the board. It's now very rigid. I've done a few mods, all the power normally goes through the main board (in front) including the heated bed, so I attached a box to one of the diagonals to use as a power distribution and bought a MOSFET unit to feed the heated bed (it removes that heavy current drain away from the main board). The Z axis was fitted with a universal joint, rather than the springy thing that was supplied, and I printed a gimbal joint, this allows for any slight mis-alignment in the shaft and removes any possibility of Z banding. I have a kit on the way to fit a second Z drive unit on the other end as there is a very small amount of vertical play in the bar carrying the nozzle assembly so this will make sure it can't shift. I may make a decent housing one day for the control board on top, but it's not a priority as it works well as it is.