dikman

Maybe should have washed it off with a baking soda solution to neutralize it?

GerryR, I wasn't aware that TIG pedals had a pot inside, I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

Something else to smuggle into the country?

Here in SA I can guarantee you would be arrested if you had one.

The big problem with using a 3-phase motor/VFD combination, in this particular case, is finding/making a suitable foot-operated pedal to control it (not as simple as you might think). I just tried to make one for a speed controller for a small sewing machine motor and gave up.

The belt is very nice, but where did you get that buckle, it's very impressive!

That machine looks to be in great condition! As for the feed dog and plate, I reckon filling with JB-Weld would be the simplest way.

The bed and adjustable guide is a good idea and should make it more useable. I guess it wouldn't be yours if you couldn't 3D print something for it.

Fairly vicious-looking knife! The sheath carving is very nice, well done.

Nicely done, simple and elegant. Dwight, yes, you definitely need a '51 Navy! I didn't need one but bought one anyway, there's just something about the '51 that's "right".

Well, that's different (the mortar, that is). The battery case came out very nice, you did a good job on the corner stitching, it's not easy to get that right.

Ok, since you ask, at the buckle end you stitched across the belt, that is never a good idea as it makes a weak spot that could eventually tear. And yes, I wondered about the lack of buckle holes? I agree with AlZilla, more pronounced bevelling, and maybe applying antique paste, would really lift the carving. Having said that it's a very impressive belt! The stamping looks great! Oh, and there's nothing wrong with your English.

No worries, mate, we all have to start somewhere. I've always thought that the 3200 seemed like a very nice machine, and with Rocky's needle plate setup could probably do most things (curtains excluded ). In my case there was little cost difference - I bought the head unit only and fitted my own motor and table - so went the whole hog and bought the 4500. The limiting factor with using lighter thread on the 4500 is finding a suitably sized needle, but as I have other suitable machines it's not an issue for me, getting down to #138 is more than enough.

When I carved my Slim Jim holster I carved it all the way around because it doesn't have a skirt so it's all visible. If it had a skirt I wouldn't have bothered because I don't know anyone who removes a skirt to look at the rear of a holster once it's finished and is being used (I know I don't).

Yep, tallow lasts almost forever. I made mine from suet (from sheep), the butcher gave me some, I used an electric slow cooker and cooked it on low for a few hours then poured off the liquid which cooled to a nice milky-coloured slab. The remaining bits didn't taste too bad either. I still have some that is nearly 10 years old, the shed it's stored in has gone through hot summers (up to 40C) and cold winters (near 0C) and it hasn't affected it.

Curtains on a 441-class machine? Now THAT would be a good trick!

An interesting read, Fred. When I first got interested in leatherwork I did lots of reading about it (still do) and I was adamant I would only use natural products to treat it - pure neatsfoot oil, beeswax, olive oil, lanolin - no petrochemical products. My thinking has now changed slightly in that perhaps pharmaceutical/food grade mineral oil might not be the evil product that I originally thought. It's use certainly makes it easier to concoct the thin pastes that are commercially available (I tried using pure gum turpentine as a thinning agent once, but over time it left a black residue in the tin I had the wax in so I won't use that again).

Sounds like a bargain for what you paid. As for re-painting, if it was me I might repaint the bottom arm as that is pretty worn but I'd leave the top half alone as it still looks good and still has the nice Singer brand on it.

Chicken fat - that is the last thing I would use on leather! It deteriorates quickly and smells revolting!!!

Ballistol is basically highly refined mineral oil, what today is called pharmaceutical-grade as in baby oil, with a couple of extras added in minor amounts (mainly to make it smell nice!). It is an interesting exercise to look up the MSDS for various commercial leather-care products, many of them use the term "natural products" but then use mineral oil (I guess it depends how you define "natural" ). I'm guessing that for these manufacturers it's easier and cheaper to get bulk supplies of this oil than to source large quantities of neatsfoot oil, mink oil etc, plus it would be easier to get the soft consistency they want for their products. I found one product that, once I chased up the MSDS, appeared to be using hydraulic fluid, which is also a highly refined oil available in various viscosities. This, by the way, is also what is used for Lily White sewing machine oil because supposedly it doesn't stain material being sewn.

The lifter is even worse to use if you fit a drop-down edge guide! As for your welding, you obviously haven't seen mine. Your next project - make a sewing machine using the 3D printer.

I had the same problem with pulley sizes when I was experimenting with speed reducers. 120mm appears to be the largest a lot of ebay sellers have, and trying to buy anything local was expensive. Fortunately I had a bit of an assortment of old pulleys, which I managed to make useable by sleeving the oversize shaft holes. I used the 45/120mm combo on one machine and also replaced the hand wheel with a larger pulley, this gave me 1 stitch every 3 seconds! Impressive but not very practical.

Yep, domestic machine. Unless you need one don't bother, as said above not much use for leatherwork.

Tastech, there have been many posts on here regarding building a speed reducer. As you say, not too difficult to cobble something together.

Tastech, that method of speed control adjustment was used in early servos and as far as I know stopped being used some time ago. They tend to use Hall effect sensors these days, which work on a magnetic field variation to generate an electrical signal. It's pretty hard to tinker with these.