dikman

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!

I don't want this to seem political or racist but it's the truth and the only way to answer Chuck's question - immigration is out-of-control here and there are certain demographics that are the problem (primarily from Africa), the kids form gangs and their weapon of choice is the machete. There have been deaths and injuries as a result and attacks in shopping centres. The government answer is to ban machetes and swords and carrying a pocket knife without a valid reason is also an offense (has been for a while). Axes aren't banned - yet - give them time. So, back to the post, a machete is actually a very useful tool in the garden, handier than an axe due to it's light weight and thin blade. I had to replace the handle on mine and it looks very much like Chuck's. That should serve you well for many years.

Nice looking caps, Dano, I can see where hand stitching those could be a chore! My beard was that colour once, now it's sort of white.

Good job Chuck, looks the goods. Deer in the front yard, that's a bit different, all I get is the odd rabbit and koalas using it as a thoroughfare to get from tree to tree. As an aside machete's have just been banned in South Australia, they are now a prohibited weapon. Buggered if I'm handing mine in, I'm going to shorten the blade with an angle grinder so it's no longer a machete and use the off-cut to make some small blades.

Yep, a slippery slope that leads into a rabbit hole!

You did good, got a real bargain there. They are good solid machines and it should serve you well.

Ah, I just noticed the date in your quote, I missed it before, my bad. Makes more sense as I thought it odd that you being a mod and all would reply to a 13-year old post. But it did seem funny at the time.

Hey Bruce, is that a record - 13 years to answer a question?

Finally finished it, made a new handle/pivot, took me two goes to get the right length linkage but the beauty of this design is it's pretty easy to modify. It is much better to use with the handle like this. And please ignore the crappy welds, there's nothing wrong with the MIG, just the operator!

Looks good. I often think isn't it a good thing Singer made those frames to last forever! They can be very useful indeed - and they look cool! My Pfaff 335 is on one.

Yep, I don't need another one but over the years I've realised I'm happiest when I'm making something. I forgot to mention that another improvement is the knob on the left, it's so I can clamp the lefthand tool to stop it moving around.

Yep, I didn't have any more of the smaller channel iron, this one was about the same length (so I didn't have to cut it) but is considerably heavier (it's been sitting in my forge for years!). I sat down for some time staring at the handle/pivot area and came to the conclusion that the design isn't very efficient when it comes to applying force and transferring it to the slide. So I'm redoing it similar to the original, shouldn't be too difficult, just some more cutting/drilling/welding. Hey kgg, don't you ever sleep?