dikman

Nice work Chuck, certainly looks a lot better than the original. Your idea to hang it off a belt is interesting. Fred, yes, when I first looked I was expecting a "conventional" quiver. I consider these to be arrow holders, rather than quivers, as Chuck said they are normally mounted on the bow itself and are popular among hunters. The arrows can't rattle, like in a quiver, and are less likely to get caught up on something.

Search for "chinese shoe patcher" (also known as a tinker's delight) there have been quite a few posts on here about them.

Yes, I've read about that process before, it certainly has its uses - just not on my coat.

The two threads appear to have overlapped a bit. Doh. I don't think Otter's wax is available here in Oz. It took a heat gun to melt this into the fabric so by the time the sunlight gets hot enough to melt it I'd be crispy-fried!

I used xylene (because I had it handy) and it worked fine. I use Sika contact cement, it's already fairly thin to start with and dries quickly.

Looking forward to the end result, and remember, it only has to suit you so it doesn't have to be perfect, just functional.

Talk about thread drift! From holsters to fishing, via a discourse on cooked snake.

That is very generous of AlZilla. The grips may not be quite long enough but a couple of bits of contrasting wood to fill in the gaps should work. First glue the grips on then file them down to suit. Easy. Cocobolo is pretty resistant to water but waxing the handle should be all you'll need.

Another possibility is to glue a couple of pieces of hard leather to each side of the handle, to bulk it out, shape the corners with a knife or file then glue a wrapping piece around it, using thinner leather. Or just glue a piece of wood each side and file to shape, finish off with linseed oil, or wax or polyurethane.

I concur, if you don't want the 335 to use as a binder then you will be better off buying a "conventional" cylinder arm machine, one with reasonable clearance (at least 3/8") under the feet. In the long run it will be more versatile and a better investment.

Chuck, it's not something I will wear on a sunny day! Being black it gets bloody hot in the sun!!!!

I have an old-model 335 that was used as a binder when I bought it. I bought a set of "normal" feet, needle plate and feed dog to convert it to a non-binder unit, although as Wiz said the feed dog still only moved back and forth. I managed to get it sewing with #138 thread but it wasn't really happy with it. The limiting factor with these machines is clearance under the feet, it's normally 8mm/5/16", I increased mine but had to readjust the needle bar and disable the thread release when the foot is lifted. It was an interesting exercise but not worth the effort, I've since restored it to a binder as that is what it was designed for. If it's cheap enough then it might be handy to have, but if you want to use it as a conventional cylinder arm machine you will find it pretty limited.

Just finished waxing my coat (4:1 paraffin wax/beeswax). Took just over 2 hours and I suspect the coat had never been re-proofed since new! It is now noticeably heavier and stiffer and is hanging in the sun. Next thing is to buff it with a soft cloth and then crumple it up to break it in! The slow cooker worked great for keeping the wax molten. I started using a sponge, like Barbour's do in their video, but quickly learned the wax is too hot and burned my fingers! It's obvious that the stuff they use has a lower melting point than my brew. I then went to a brush (note to self, don't use synthetic bristles, they don't like hot wax or a hot air gun . Doh.) which worked ok. I made 6 blocks, using a silicone soap mold, and used 3 of them so a fair bit of wax went into the coat.

I'm not sure how you got the idea that "the real deal" isn't much more expensive than the clones. The reason the clones are so popular is because Juki's are expensive.

Pretty much what Don said. Most of these type of electronics are considered disposable these days. If the owner has some electronic skills they "may" be able to fix it if the fault is obvious. One of the biggest problems is not having cct diagrams so figuring out how they work is extremely difficult - and companies don't give out these diagrams. Simply put, they are not cost-effective to repair (unless you can do it yourself).

Thanks for the link Chuck, some interesting stuff in there. I'm reluctant to use BLO, however, on a coat. I toyed with using neatsfoot oil (or even compounded NO) but have decided to keep it simple at this stage. I don't get sub-zero temperatures where I live so using a higher paraffin wax mix shouldn't be a problem.

Your process is pretty much the approach Barbour's take - up until the blowtorch bit! My first attempt was somewhat ineffective, it was a method I saw on youtube - warm the jacket, rub the bar of wax onto the jacket then use the heat gun to melt it into the cloth. Coverage was patchy. Tomorrow I'll use a slow cooker to melt the wax and apply it like Barbour's do, using a sponge, then a heat gun to melt it into the material and wipe off the excess. As to the mix, yes, it needs to be made to suit the conditions. As you say paraffin wax by itself is pretty brittle so using a mix with mostly paraffin wax in very cold climates will cause problems. Mixing it with mineral oil, like Barbour's do, makes it softer and more flexible. This is turning into quite an interesting project.

Yeah, I know, it's not leather but some on here have used wax cotton to make things. I just bought a 5 kg block of paraffin wax to re-proof my motorcycle jacket. As we all know if you ask/search for "leather dressing" you will be bombarded with any number of concoctions, each claiming to be the best. So it is with waterproofing cotton! I've spent hours reading about what to use, trying to find the ingredients in commercial stuff and generally trying to understand the pros and cons of each one. There is, naturally, some overlap in some of the products so they will work on leather too. Bottom line is paraffin wax has been used for this job since it was invented, often mixed with various other "additives" to make it easier to apply and/or make it a "secret" formula. I recently watched a video from Barbour's showing them re-proofing one of their coats. The guy was using a white mix that had the consistency of a very stiff paste and it was melted and applied with a sponge. I suspect that it is simply paraffin wax mixed with mineral oil to soften it a little. I decided to try a paraffin wax/ beeswax mix first, approx. 4:1, as I want to keep it simple. Beeswax, by itself, can be a bit sticky, the paraffin wax acts as a stiffening agent and apparently gets into the pores of the cotton better. So I read..... If anyone has any knowledge/experience about this process please feel free to chime in.

Good point, I'll have to refrain from practicing fire-walking while I'm wearing it.

Nice job at copying it. My guess regarding the loop is that it folds around the pouch to maybe half-way underneath and then is rivetted to the skirt.

Yep, the genuine article isn't cheap, this is a Pakistani knockoff but is quite well made. So far paraffin wax is coming up as the best treatment, relatively high melting point and non-sticky when dry.

A couple of days ago I went for a ride on my bike, as I hadn't used it for a while, and I stopped in at a couple of second-hand stores to see what I could find. The first one had a few leather motorcycle jackets hanging there and one of them caught my eye, it was an English Classic style, 3/4 length with a belted waist (Belstaff style) and it actually fitted me! It was missing the zip-in liner but that didn't bother me, the price was right ($117) so I bought it as my current jacket was getting a bit tight. At the next shop I found a leather vest, which also fitted me, for $19! I couldn't come close to making one for that price, so I went home a happy chappie. Today I decided to treat my new coat to some leather dressing. While putting it on I thought "gee, this leather seems fairly thin, must be some sort of fine garment leather" but went happily on with the application. Eventually, I stopped and had a good look at the label - it was waxed cotton, not leather!!! Doh! The cotton weave is very fine and it looks just like black leather (even fooled the shop assistant). So much for me thinking I know a bit about leather!! Anyhow, it doesn't matter because I've been looking for this style of coat for quite a while, they rarely come up for sale second-hand so I'm still pleased with it. Now I have to figure out the best concoction to mix up to seal it with.

Slight correction, my hydraulic oil is approx. 95% 64742-54-7 and the remainder is "other stuff", mostly distillate. So, I mixed some up, approx. 50:50 by volume beeswax and oil. It has the same creamy colour as commercial products that I've seen and is "spreadable" - it could possibly do with just a smidge more oil but is useable as is. I've put some on a piece of scrap to see what happens, it only darkened it a slight amount when applied. I doubt if I'll use it on anything important, however, as the long term effects on leather are a complete unknown. (Thinks- "might be good for wiping on tools etc" - ends thinks).

No argument from me, leather bags do "look right" but for now at least the fabric ones will suffice (I've made a lot of trips with them and they've served me well).

Jim, I thought about it (briefly) but it would cost a bit for the leather and be a lot of work. I still have the Triumph fabric saddlebags so I've put those back on, should see out my riding years that I have left. A couple of photos of the offending leather! One shows what happened at some of the folds/bends and the other is the edge.