Sheilajeanne

We just had a thread about punching holes for stitching. Let me see if I can find it! Okay, can't find the exact thread, but it contained a link to this video, which should be a great help to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCFTDqQaEIc&ab_channel=ArmitageLeather Nigel has some excellent teaching videos. I strongly recommend subscribing to his YouTube channel.

I learn something new from this site nearly every day! Had NO IDEA!

No, he meant 3 to 4 oz. not 3/4 of an ounce. You don't use fractions when giving weights in ounces. And 3/4ths of an ounce would be less than 1/64th of an inch thick!! So, far too thin to use for much of anything!

That's why I bought a Tandy splitter, when they were on sale for a very reduced price! I bought the Tandy kit to use as a template, and will be spitting my own leather for the next wallet. You can buy craft cuts that are that thin, but they are REALLY expensive!

Live and learn...lol! Used to have this as my sig line on another website: The ability to make good decisions come with experience. Experience comes through making BAD decisions...

I would place my stitching lines BEFORE assembling any of the parts. That would solve your problem...

Yes! Can't believe they'd recommend 4-5 oz. leather for a wallet! I am currently working on a Tandy wallet kit, and nothing in the kit is thicker than 1 mm!

Jimi, RockyAussie hasn't been here in quite a long time. However, I did look up hair-on cowhide bags online (Etsy, etc.) and some of them are sewn with the stitching showing on the outside of the cowhide. I was planning to make more than one bag anyway - it's a BIG piece of cowhide - so am gonna try both ways of doing it, and see which I like best. And, more importantly, which is less of a headache to sew!

I fully agree. You need to CLEAN the gunk off first! Was that U.S.M.C. black you used? It's NOTORIOUS for bleed through! You have to buff the bejeebers out of it before putting anything else on the leather! The regular black dye is much better.

Chrisash, he covered that in the earlier thread I linked to above. Believe me, the first thing I did when I saw the ad was search this forum! Little gold mine we have here...

I think sewing the grain and hair sides together sounds a lot easier! If I put the hair on hide in the middle, and veg tan or some other non-hairy leather on the outside, then I can sew the gussets so they show on the outside, and not have to turn the bag after it's finished.

That's $2400 Canadian, not including shipping ( 210,820 Yen) And is it compatible with N. American electrical plugs?

...until it's time to actually put something together! I am planning to make a tote bag with alternating panels of hair on cowhide, and regular leather. The tote I am using as a guide has the panels overlapping - one on top of the other. I really don't see how this would work with the hair on hide - the hair would be in the way when you are trying to sew the panels together, unless you shaved it off. Then, of course, you'd run the risk of some of the shaved hide showing unless you were very careful with your stitching. So, I'm thinking I'd have to sew the bag inside out, with the grain sides together, then turn it. Advice, please? I realize furs are sewn this way (fur side to fur side), but cowhide isn't the same as fur.

Thanks, Constabulary (and everyone else)! I have already found and downloaded the manual. As I said earlier, I believe it was used for sewing furs, which might mean less wear and tear than in a cobbler's shop. Just guessing, though... If the seller didn't live 5 hours away, I'd have made arrangements to see it and test it out already. Not sure I want to drive all that way, then find out the machine is too worn out to be worth the trip. The seller doesn't know enough to be able to really test it out themselves. If I were going to make the drive, I thought I'd offer them $300 if it tests out okay. Decisions, decisions...

sigh...if they ever open the darn border, there are several people I'd like to visit in the northeastern U.S.! But I doubt that's going to happen any time soon! She says her price is negotiable, so I can likely get it for less than what she's asking. The problem with testing it is the one and only time I ever tried to use a treadle machine, I made a terrible mess of the thread! I suppose if I just stick with hand cranking the wheel, I'll do okay. They have never used it, know nothing about it, so I will be very much on my own if I go to test it out. I've been watching videos on threading it and winding the bobbin. The bobbin is very similar to the one I used in Home Ec classes during the 1960's, so hopefully it won't be too hard to figure out.

Okay, she got back to me. The number is G3710600, but I am wondering if there was an A in front of the G that got worn off, as there are no numbers that start with that prefix. Edit: found the G serial numbers. Looks like it was made in 1910. http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-g-series-serial-numbers.html I have also found and read through a previous thread about these machines, where Wiz gives the pros and cons (some parts hard to find, really short stitch length when badly worn). So, I know if I decide to check it out, I will need to check the stitch length. https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/21807-singer-29-4-usable/?tab=comments#comment-140010 The Singer website has this to say about the machines. I think it was used for sewing furs, ask she said the locker it was stored in also had a lot of fur coats in it. In the whole range of leather stitching this is one of the handiest machines ever invented. It is extensively used all over the world for Boot and Shoe repairing, Furriers' work, Slipper binding, Harness work, etc. The stitching is performed at the extreme outer end of the arm, which may be inserted into the interior of very small and long apertures like toes of shoes and boot-legs etc. The machine is unequaled for repairing boots and shoes and will stitch closer to the toe of a boot than any other; it will use waxed and coarse thread, making a tight seam; it also uses a fine needle and thread.

This is the photo that give the best view of the whole machine, and shows the wear and tear:

They have sent me more pictures. The flywheel is okay and there is no obvious rust on the machine. It appears in reasonably good shape, other than a lot of the paint being worn off in places. And she says everything goes up and down and round and round when she steps on the treadle. Have asked for the serial number, which is visible in one of the photos, but not large enough to read. I blew up the photo as best I could and the first two figures might be 78, which means it was manufactured in 1887!! Well, I knew it wasn't young!

Would you pay $550 for it without a motor, Ferg? I've asked her if everything seems to move the way it should. It's been in storage a long time so things could have seized up.

This ad came up on FB: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3004428886443934/?referralSurface=messenger_lightspeed_banner&referralCode=messenger_banner Trying to get an idea of what the machine is realistically worth (NOT paying $550!) Seller says it's been in storage for 12 years and came originally from a tailor's or cobbler's shop. Also wondering exactly what it would weigh with the stand - how much man or woman power would be needed to get it into the back of an SUV! No, it's not motorized...treadle only.

OMG, Frodo, that is funny! Nice bracelets!

Ordered Nigel's book shortly after I said I was going to put it on my birthday wish list on Tuesday of this week. It arrived today. Thank you, Amazon! It has already paid the price it cost me, just with the section on pattern making and cutting leather! Those are two of the things I've struggled with the most! Took me 2 hours last night to copy and cut out a pattern for a Tandy wallet I wanted to keep. I was thinking my knife wasn't sharp enough because it wouldn't go through the cardboard on the first cut. Turns out you can't expect that, because more pressure actually interferes with accuracy. This explains why I had to do a number of the pieces I was cutting a second time. Also, the information on finding the best angle for a cut was very helpful.

Klara, I couldn't get comfortable using the knife, and if I do that to the handle, I will likely ruin it for anyone else. Thought about it, and decided nope, not going there.

Klara, wait until you get into doing it properly - tooling the leather, skiving and burnishing the edges, and lining the flesh side! That takes time, a LOT of time, especially if you are hand sewing the lining! And yes, if you read the account of how the two-person stitching was done, it definitely must have been a saddle stitch. The guy teaching them was a master harness maker - what else would it have been?

Rannoch, it wasn't the stitching that made the boat waterproof so much as it was the lanolin the hides were dressed with. I looked it up, out of curiosity: http://www.leathersmithe.com/the-brendan-voyage-select.html The boat was made from 57 oak-tanned ox hides, tanned using traditional methods that take nearly a year to complete! The thread they used was hand-spun flax, treated with black wax. Hides were overlapped by an inch or more, and double stitched for strength. One of Ireland's top harness makers oversaw the stitching, and taught them how to do both the traditional saddle stitch and a back stitch. He was a hard taskmaster, and would ruthlessly rip out someone's whole day's work if it wasn't up to his standards. Because of the size of the hides, the saddle stitch required 2 people, one working inside the hull of the boat and the other outside! Strongly recommend the above link - it's not a long read, and it's FASCINATING!