dikman

I don't make loops on gunbelts (no need to here in Oz 'cos we can only use handguns at the range) but we use carrier strips (10 per side) and I use Dwight's method, it's simpler, faster and there's no stitching to break. I thought I'd be clever and used kangaroo for the one I use as kangaroo is thin, very strong and doesn't stretch much. Nice theory but it's a pain as it's too flexible and when pushing the cartridges in/out it moves too much! I need to make a new one with thicker leather.

Pretty fancy work for a machete. Has a sort of Steam Punk look about it.

Thinking about it I reckon you're lucky the head made it to you intact! Glad it worked out how you wanted.

Replacing the clutch motor also reduces the weight loading on the tabletop significantly.

For $120 I reckon someone got a bargain!

Any machine with 335 in its name is likely a clone of the Pfaff 335, it's unlikely this will be suitable for what you want to do. While they can handle #138 thread they're generally happier with #69 and clearance under the feet is around 10mm, might go up to 12mm but not 15mm. Keep looking.

Lowering the AC voltage input to an electronic servo motor won't slow it down, if that's what you're thinking, as many of them are designed to run from 110v to 230v. If you want really low speed then a speed reducer is the only way to go, the trade-off is that it will reduce your top speed but for most of us that is an acceptable loss.

Do you need the belt guard fitted? Most of us don't bother with them (my CB4500 has never been fitted). If my machines came with one I removed it as I consider them a nuisance. It looks like that's not all that was damaged, the tabletop looks a bit "bent" and the speed reducer appears to have ripped off. It's never a good idea to ship a heavy head unit mounted to the table without a lot of extra bracing underneath.

There are plenty of posts on here about fitting a speed reducer and there's no reason why it shouldn't work using your existing motor. If you're uncertain then as Gerry said the easiest way is to contact one of the dealers who advertise on here.

Hand stitching isn't difficult, once you master the basics, and is superior to machine stitching - the downside is the time it takes. The trickiest part is getting the stitch line neat and straight. As for your machine, it's what Chuck said, 0.8mm is big even for an industrial machine so there's no way a domestic machine could handle it. When I first started making holsters I used my domestic machine without thread to punch the holes (single layer only), this gave me even straight lines and then when I glued the layers together I used the awl to enlarge the holes and hand stitch.

Lots of videos on youtube if you want to see it done.

That's what I would do. Remove everything from the base and use some paper or card to mark the existing holes then transfer them to the new top. It would be pretty easy as you don't need to cut any slots, just drill a few holes. It sounds like you have a reciprocating saw, if so while it will cut the wood the edges wouldn't be neat as they tend to cut rough!

If you simply rectify 12v ac to dc you will end up with something like 16v dc, just be sure your LED can run off more than 12v dc.

He only just fitted the reducer so I don't think it will be going anywhere anytime soon! Other than that you're pretty well on the money. - fine blade, cut from the bottom etc. Cutting the slot for the plastic edging is a pain, if you don't get it centred it shows up! But to answer his question, no, there won't be any metal inserts in the wood, it should just be a thick piece of particle board. Another option would be to find a piece of wood roughly the size you want and relocate everything to a new base. Because it's not set up as a normal table the wood doesn't have to support a lot of weight so your wood wouldn't have to be as thick. A nice piece of solid wood wouldn't need the plastic edging either.

Very nice work indeed.

Fred, I just threw away a litre container full of chicken fat - how do you reckon I would go sending it to you in the mail? Seriously, I wouldn't ever consider using chicken fat on leather unless you have no sense of smell!! It stinks to high heaven and is a sickening smell!

For a first effort at stamping you did well, you picked a tricky pattern but got it right. Some sort of stamping across the top would have given it a more finished look but it's still impressive.

Very nice! Should get the bidders going!!

You want to be certain the car leather is veg and not chrome tanned.

There seems to be two similar threads running concurrently. Anyhow, don't overthink it, any reasonably dense wood should do as once you use it a bit the grain/pores should seal up. I've used Australian Jarrah (bloody hard!) and Australian Oak planks (bit softer) which I laminated and turned down to fit my bench grinder. Both work fine. The grinder runs at 2800 rpm, which is really a bit fast but works, 1400 rpm would be better.

There's a chap called Sam Andrews (has holster-making videos on youtube) who has an aluminium burnisher on a motor. I see no reason that brass shouldn't work too. I made mine out of hardwood, mainly because I could drill the hole for the shaft slightly undersize and then force it onto the grinder shaft and cut the thread at the same time.

You CAN get a good deal buying directly from China but it largely depends on the regulations in your country regarding importing goods. In my case (Australia) by the time I took into account shipping, import/duty fees, local shipping/handling etc there was nothing to be gained cost-wise (looking at a 441 clone). As for the manufacturing, it's a safe bet that they're coming out of the same few factories, regardless of brand. As Constabulary said, you pays your money and they'll stick on any name you like. The quality seems to be pretty good these days.

Forget the Minerva, the Juki looks like a newer machine (?) and would be my pick for the money. As Al said they are generally highly regarded.

One or two on here, including me, have replaced the handwheel with a large pulley to slow down a machine. You will need to remove the handwheel and measure the shaft diameter and then find a suitable pulley to fit the shaft. The chances of finding an actual replacement larger handwheel would be pretty slim. This was an old pulley that I had lying around, I had to shim the shaft and while it's not exactly pretty it works.

If you glue it and then tool it you could end up with some unwanted marks on the other side.