dikman

Mastering a swivel knife and making smooth flowing cuts aint easy!!!!! My first effort was a holster for myself (it's posted in the holster section somewhere). People on here were very nice about it but there are many faults/issues with it, not surprising as other than trying a couple of little things to get a feel for it I just jumped straight in (which is what I do). HOWEVER, everyone I've shown it to has been gobsmacked by it (), though this is probably because very few have seen carved leatherwork, and I've yet to see anyone here with carved holsters, they're either plain or have some stamping. I have to make a couple more, plus the belt, and I intend carving all of them as while it's hard work it's actually fun. Trust me, don't be shy about doing it, if I can do it it anyone can.

Don't stress over stamping, we all had to start somewhere and all it takes is practice. While the same can be said about carving there is a lot more subtlety involved. I always thought I'd never bother (too hard) but eventually wondered if I could do it. Yes, I can, BUT I've got a long way to go, which doesn't matter as I only do it for myself. As for buying a machine, my suggestion would be no, at this stage, based on everything you've said. I started by buying used machines I picked up at good prices but I really had little idea of what I was doing! If you do lots of reading on here and study the various projects people make it will give you a better understanding of machine capabilities and should help you decide which machine should best suit your needs. IF you finally decide you need one. I forgot to mention, there are lots and lots and lots of videos on youtube about stamping, carving, sewing etc etc. I have spent many hours watching them and learned a lot.

I agree about the potential safety with the motor. I had a couple of very old Singer motors and scrapped both of them, given their age I didn't know what condition the wiring and insulation was like inside. I replaced them with servos. The fact that the power cable was cut off at the motor connection suggests that there could have been a problem with it.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Fred, but I did that not long after I started leatherwork. I started off making holsters (no messing around for me, straight in the deep end ) and used a Singer 201 domestic machine to pre-punch the holes. I could only do one layer at a time and it took a bit of juggling lining up the holes but it gave me nice straight, evenly spaced holes for the awl to go through. I made a few holsters and gunbelts using that method. SUP, hand-stitching knife sheaths obviously won't be as fast as using a machine but they are relatively easy compared to holsters/gunbelts AND a saddle-stitch is far superior to a machine lockstitch. There is something intrinsically satisfying about hand-stitching a product but once you have to charge for your time you are in trouble as very few will pay the rate required. As long as it's only a hobby you can get away with it, in my case I covered my material costs and made a bit extra but I made them for fellow club members so wasn't concerned with getting the going rate for my labour. My wife said I'm not very good at charging for work I do.

Very tidy bit of work.

They definitely have that "olde school" look about them.

If you hadn't said there was a black blotch on it , which, of course, made me look to try and find it, I wouldn't have known. Nice recovery.

It's one of those things that you notice it because you made it whereas in reality I doubt if anyone else would see it.

AlZilla, that is very tragic. I suspect there were many similar incidents here when they initiated the gun buyback. Rumour has it that a lot of large diameter plastic pipe and endcaps were sold at that time.

I agree, very nice tooling and design. The holster looks fine to me.

Bottom picture, right-hand side, that little bracket with the hole looks like it fits onto the bolt just above it? I can't tell if it's got a thread on it.

One for each day of the week (almost). Very nice work.

When the roller is down is it resting on the feed-dog? Does it have any downward pressure to hold the material against the feed-dog?

For sewing leather a servo is the only way to go (unless you are very experienced at using a clutch motor). I learned this the hard way!

From the look of that feed dog it's been hit a few times with the needle.

That is a great-looking machine! I love the exposed mechanics.

Looks great on the flask!

A "Wharncliffe back edge".

Colour looks great (better than the original imo). I think I'd leave well enough alone, if wifey is happy consider it a win!

I just had a closer look (the first time I skipped over it too fast), that's very nice work, quite a delicate touch.

I see your problem now, you have a used belt fetish!

One reason could be that it should have been posted in the Leather Sewing Machine section (that's where the sewing machine aficionados hang out ). The people who are likely to respond may not have seen it here. Fortunately kgg saw it, he has "some" experience with Jukis.

Very steampunk-ish.

Very nice job, looks good. Now, if you coupled that to a servo you could make the machine crawl like a caterpillar!

That's it!