dikman

Those J. David awls are certainly beautiful looking, and yes, I'm curious how he makes them too. Slipangle, you did a nice job on those, they look great.

AmyK, unless you're into tinkering with things changing the handwheel may not be a straightforward project. You will not find a larger replacement handwheel, what you have to get is a large pulley with the same shaft diameter as the machine and then ensure it can be locked to the shaft. I have had to drill and tap more than one pulley to lock it to a shaft. If you're not keen on messing around with the gradient strips in your servo controller I think your best bet will be to sell the servo and buy a new one (I'm not aware of any newer ones that use the optical gradient control like yours). Even if you buy one of the inexpensive generic servos on ebay it should work better than the one you've got, and if you fit a box speed reducer you'll be able to make the needle crawl. If you can handle a screwdriver and spanner you should be able to fit the reducer, or get a friend with a little mechanical ability to help.

"No play in the pedal" doesn't sound right, pedal movement should move an arm on the motor controller that will vary the speed. Can you post a couple of photos? Replacing the hand-wheel with a larger pulley works well BUT it isn't usually an easy option as it requires some mechanical nous. A box reducer, as mentioned, will be the simplest to fit as it is a fairly simple job but may require new belts.

Nice solution. I like the colour on the first holster.

The usual way to join the ends is like Wiz said, basically a metal staple. Makes it easy to re-size the belt.

What he said. Very impressive.

There have been many posts about slowing machines down. Gary is right, the usual method is to fit a servo motor and if that's not enough to add a speed reducer.

Folks on here do indeed make assorted accessories/mods for their machines but (unfortunately?) they're scattered through this sub-section. A few have made various edge guides but the most popular one appears to be the drop-down guide, which are pretty cheap on ebay.

Forester, it's not available here in Oz either but after looking at the MSDS for various floor finishes I found one here that appears to be the same (or close enough). I've also used it as a spray finish on plastic model kits and it works well! I'm sure there will be something available over there, you could also look at modelling forums to see what they use.

I take that this has only started since fitting a larger handwheel (pulley?)? When you change the ratio between the handwheel and motor pulley some needle positioners won't work properly as the electronics in the servos isn't designed to cope with the increased ratio. Mine became inconsistent when I replaced the handwheel with a larger pulley so I removed the positioner (didn't need it as the machine was now slow enough to put the needle where I wanted it).

Another possible mod to it. Use it to mark the first hole, slide it along so the circle is over the mark and mark that point on the circle with the awl. Drill a small hole and put another small pin in it, then once you've marked your first hole on the belt slide it along so the pin sits in the mark and you've got perfect spacing for the next hole. Just a thought.

Why not just loosen the lever locking screw and adjust the length of the lever until the balance is right? Or just put the weight on top of the ram?

Yep, even better!

Impressive, I admire your enthusiasm. As for the superglue, yep, sounds familiar.

Elegant and, like all good things, simple. Once I'm mobile again I'll have to make a couple.

You seem fixated on using one of the patcher type machines to make your shoes, even though the advice here is that they're not suitable. A company called Robin Industries has posted a few times on here, advertising specialist shoe making machines. Good luck trying to make a decent pair of shoes with one of those cheap Chinese patchers.

Always a good idea to have at least one backup machine. When I first became interested in industrial machines I started watching gumtree and they were regularly coming up so over a few months I ended up with quite a collection of assorted used machines at good prices! I think I was lucky because over the last couple of years the bargains (and machines) appear to have dried up. Hopefully it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open and something will come along (although waiting for a Seiko could be a long wait).

Nice collection. Funny thing, collecting, it can easily take on a life of its own.

Personally, I think those numbers that are quoted in the manuals are pretty meaningless, just something they come up with to sound impressive! You have to experiment with the settings and various pulleys to get something that works for you.

Looks pretty good to me, mate. That elk has a luxurious look about it.

I'm with Constab. I've fitted speed reducers (home-made and all different) and/or larger pulleys in lieu of handwheels to all of my machines and it gives me all the control I want. They compensate for the inadequacies of cheap/generic servos.

Yep. Dying veg tends to stiffen it, in my experience, and the glue definitely adds an extra layer of hardness. Try your awl on plain veg first, that should give you an idea of whether it's working ok.

Thanks Alexander, you explained it much better than me!

Frodo, you're supposed to poke the awl into the leather, not your finger.