CampbellRandall

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We are at a different end of the industry, but ours is a family business and we feel the pressures all small businesses do. If you want to spend your time as a leatherworker, i.e. turn your hobby into a business, just so you can do leather work, go to work for someone else. You will spend a lot of your time as bookkeeper, marketing exec, purchasing agent, shipping clerk, customer service rep, psychologist, quality control supervisor, chief engineer.... I think you need to by slightly skitzophrenic to run a small business. If you can handle these additional pressures, and have the drive to be good at what you do, go for it. My only thought is find a niche and be good at it. Try to be the best at what you do, and adapt with the times. To be profitable in custom leather, you can't make a living selling the same product everyone else dose, and you'll go broke trying to undercut the generic retail chains. Find something people want, make it good, and charge what it is worth.

The only post machine I've seen that could do that is a Puritan - an American made needle and awl chain stitch machine, available in various post sizes in both single and multi-needle. Puritans are commonly used for sporting goods, bags and luggage. The chains stitch is a weaker link than the lock stitch however; one good snag could unravel the seam.

Square feed refers to the feed frame system. It should have 4 corner contact to insure the feed is straight and true. The Campbell is designed with a square feed, which can pull straighter stitches on inclines and heavy materials. Needle feed is good, but in the needle and awl world, awl feed is better. The awl is stronger and less likely to flex or brake.

I don't have this model on my price list (special order). I'd guess would be about $7,000 for the Seiko in the US. The standard high post model sells for about $6,000 new.

This guy is much better than a patch machine. Its special made for shoes and bags, basically a walking foot machine with a 360 degree rotating arm. A patch machine only has the presser foot feeding the material. This bad boy can climb up over leathers with cleaner stitches than a patcher... but the Seiko is priced only for somebody with a factory budget. The Seiko is not the same machine as the Chinese clone.

Hand Sewing We don't have any stock in the Osborne Overstitch wheels, but they are listed on the website. We can bring them in with our next order. Osborne only makes sizes 5, 6 & 7.

I'm told Ausonia Conceria makes a good Italian veg tan leathers. Some our our belt customers import from Italy. ausonia.it My contact is David Bilanceri.

Looks like an Adler 105-64. Good for tack and harness work. Could be used for sheaths or holsters.

I had also heard Singer industrial contracted machines through Seiko before they shut down the industrial line. Since Singer machines are so common, and many Seiko models interchange with Singer parts, most replacement parts are less expensive than other name brands. We make custom attachments for the Seiko CH8B and 7B, including guides, needle plates, and presser feet.

Well... slight correction. Adler is owned by a Chinese company and many of there basic line (ECO series etc.) are now Chinese made. The Adler 205-370, other heavy sewing machines and advanced sewing machines are still made in the Czech republic. SEIKO makes a good product (CH8B) and they are still Japanese made. The Seiko should sell for less than the Adler. We've sold both over the years.

Our prices should be fair. We stock Polyester, which sells fro $15 to $19.75 a lb., depending on color & size. Linen starts at $25 per lb. We also have waxed threads and lace. Thread Hand sewing needles are here... Needles or machine sewing needles... Needles

Ed - the paint is water based, so you can thin it some. Cory - We ship worldwide. I think USPS is the best rate to Canada.

You can call us for the order... 1-800-327-9420. We'll get them up on the website soon.

I agree with Bob that there is no magic product that will be an end all to edges, but there are better products that will help limit the elbow grease. You still need to burnish to remove the rough edge, but with the paint you don't have to work so hard to get a shine. Products like Fiebings are thinner and soak into the leather. It will provide a color base, but its up to you burnish and seal that edge. Without the hand work you just have a colored rough edge - without the seal coat you probably wont have a high gloss. Keep in mind this works well for veg tan leathers that have some body. Its near impossible to get a good edge on a softer leather like a chrome tan. The edge paints provides a color coat, and depending on the product, can do a better job of covering up imperfections. The only complaint I had was from a shoe maker. He had hard soles polished out to a shinny finish that he tried a plus paint on. The paint had nothing to stick to since the surface had virtually no pores. A thinner paint would be better in this case. The edge paints work well to blend seams on products like belts and bags. Apply one coat (like a primer), let dry, burnish smooth, then apply second coat, reapply as needed. The first coat will firm up the edge and give you something to burnish. The coverage quality of this paint allows you to use it on products you could normally get no results with oil dyes (see split chrome tan below). In my opinion, the Italian paint is tougher than smiliar products I've seen. You also have more colors available. split chrome tan

We havent has a call for it yet since glossy has been the craze with most customers. I'll be putting in a new order this month so I'll bring in a case to put on the shelf if you think you could use it.

No - the plus is a thicker paint than normal. Requires fewer applications or applies better to soft leathers. The standard gloss and matte will work fine with the same durability.

Sorry guys - I had the nerve to take a half day last Thursday and a day off Friday to attend a wedding... Its now Thursday and I'm still not caught up. Here are the brochures.... Edge-Painters.pdfHere is a description of the paint at the end of the edge painter brochure. [*]Color Chart - Edge-Paint.pdf We try and keep the 300 series in stock, but now that we are advertising my inventory levels have been fluctuating. The gloss plus has been the best received. It works well on not only veg tan, but can be applied to soft chrome tan, exotics, etc. We've been stocking the paint for about a year and a half, and we've only had one complaint - which had more to do with the product than the paint. Everyone else has loved it. We don't have any minimums and you don't need a business license to order. We can order in special colors upon request, but keep in mind we ship this by ocean from Italy, so special orders can take 6 to 8 weeks. Feel free to ask questions.

Dan Preston (Proleptic.net) has a good set of tools for finishing be hand. Its basically a hot iron with interchangeable tips for holes, slots, tips, etc. I havnt seen a machine that can adapt as well as the hand iorns for holes and such. For straight cutting, a hot cutter is worth the investment. The two inch manual "box-type" cutters are cheap and will work for basic work. Keep in mind you are pulling the webbing down on to the hot knife as it melts through (watch your fingers). I've noticed this type of cutter tends to tapper the point out as it melts. We carry this as the H2, which sells for the same price as strapworks. We make a scissor action cutter, PHC Professional Hot Cutter - 4 inch hot knife , that has a 4 or 6 " heated blade. You bring the blade down on top of the webbing to cut, which is more precise and easier to control. If you are doing a lot of webbing, we carry a line of automatied cutters as well.

We've sold parts to them before. They seem like nice people. Never bought anything from them though.

James: We stock the Schmetz needles, which cost $7 per 10Pk. 100 packs are 15% less. System: 328 Point: S Nm: 180 / 24 System: 328 Point: S Nm: 200 / 25 Regards - Dan

In my opinion, Kevlar is normally not used just for strength, but for heat resistance. Kevlar has a melting point of about 900 degrees (vs about 500 for poly/nylon). If your looking for strength, increase your thread size or sew multiple lines at the seams and you dont have to pay 6 times the price of nylon or poly. The requirements of the jacket are to hold up to heat (i.e. crash and burn) then Kevlar or Nomex is recommended.

Nick: We haven't updated the Campbell Bosworth site on over a year. Too many projects and not enough time. I'm away from the office for a wedding, but I can post some links to the color charts and brochure when I get back Monday.

We just developed a bench top, variable speed burnishing machine last year. The sanding machines are the same basic principle, but you can only use it for sanding and the speed is fixed. The burnishing machines use interchangeable wheels, so not only can you grind/sand, but you can also switch to a leather/felt wheel for the final burnish. Its like a mini line finisher. Model VSB Burnishing Machine

Weaver's paint is made by a company in Texas. There are a few other domestic makers, but I havent used them exept for Fiebings. Some of our customers in luxury belt & bag industry came to us for other options, so we've been importing and Italian edge paint that has done well. It's latex based, so easy cleanup, but its durable. You can peel off the dried drippings from the bottle and stretch them like rubber bands - no cracking when bent. Comes in matt finish and also glossy & glossy plus which will dry to a shine with out the need for a clear coat.