Bree

Lots of folks here have one or more of these beauties. So you can get a lot of help here. I have 4-Singer 29 class machines although I use one exclusively for parts. So if you have trouble just shout out...

Save those nickels and dimes!! Before you know it you will have the machine of your dreams!!

Oh... I forgot to mention in the sharpening thread... DON'T FORGET TO WEAR KEVLAR GLOVES!!!

Yep They are not cheap but they put out beautiful white light and in high volume. You might do a net search and see if anyone else has a sale on them.

Cheap??? I doubt it.

Did you get the treadle unit? If so you will need a leather belt. You will also need a needle threader to push the thread down the needle bar assembly. It is a long thin piece of straight wire with a little v at the end. You will also need thread and don't forget sewing machine oil! You can get parts on EBay, at Campbell Bosworth, shoesystemsplus.com, horsenharness.com, pilgrimshoemachine.com, and many other industrial sewing repair shops. Parts are not hard to find for this machine.

I added this to my Toro 4000-LA25 recently and it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I can't speak highly enough about the quality of this light... just fabulous http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17420

The guy can sure work leather... masterful.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to make this guy a nice back support belt that seems to be worth the $300 or so of goods he is going to barter! And of course it figures that NIOSH research appears to show that these belts are basically useless for helping support the back!! They can make you feel better but they are not a panacea for back ills or a substitute for proper lifting technique and common sense when lifting. I think that sharing the NIOSH research in an easy to digest form with some tips and a belt will be worth the $300. Helps to be computer literate!!

If you don't know the names of the machines it is very unlikely that you can service them. But there are many people/places that can service them for you. Probably the easiest to identify is the tall machine. You probably have a Landis K or Landis American Straight Needle stitcher used to sew on shoe soles. Sounds like you have a lot of other old shoe making equipment. Post PIX and we will help you find out what you have. Try to take PIX of the model numbers/info.

Whoa!! That's some seriously fine work!!! Outstanding!!!

Sorry to hear about Bob's death. We will send some prayers along to pave the way to Heaven.

I snipped a couple of lines from your post. Something happened this morning that proves your points. About 3 weeks ago, a guy who works at a store that I frequent found out that I have a big leather stitcher and that I do stuff with leather. He asked me if I would be willing to make him a 6" belt tapering to 4" like weightlifters wear. He wanted to know how much it would cost. I told him that I would have to think about it and let him know. He gave me his number and info and I left. I hadn't seen him in 3 weeks and I hadn't called. I knew that he wasn't going anywhere and he wasn't in any great hurry. I didn't want to appear as if I was in a hurry either. I called the store this morning just before they opened to tell them to put a sale item on the side for me as I was coming in to get it. The guy asked to speak to me. He wanted to know if I could tell him the price on the belt. I said, "You can buy this belt from the Chinese for $20 or $25. I am going to charge you at least double that. He said, "So $40?" I said, "At least $40. Maybe more." I said that, "I have some ideas that will make the belt better to support your back." He said, "Well one is made in China versus one made in the USA. The Chinese belt will probably just fall apart! Build it for me." I told him that I had ordered a 4" double tongue stainless steel roller buckle the day before. Later I was looking at some items in the store and he wandered over and said, "Are you interested in that Oneway chuck for the lathe? I said, "Yes". He asked me to step over to a quiet part of the store. Well folks before it was over he offered to trade me a $200 Oneway chuck he doesn't use for the belt! And he offered to throw in a $100 set of chisels to boot! I am picking up the goods tomorrow morning. I will begin working on his belt tomorrow as well. Oh... by the way I forced him to remeasure himself after he gave me a measurement that didn't ring right in my mind and sure enough he was a couple of inches off. His American belt just started getting better than the Chinese model and he has started getting a return on his barter investment.

Well... I was born over your way and have many friends there as well as family. But I have to go a reunion and a wedding in Chicago later in the year as well as the IFOLG in Indianapolis so I am not sure I can justify another trip out that way... especially since it is boring riding!

That's really nice. I like it a lot!

My experience with it is that it will NOT waterproof the leather so it will not 100% seal it. If that is true, then I would expect that you could apply the Aussie Wax. That is a speculation because I have not actually tried it. The Tuff Kote will stop the bleeding of the edge kote. That I have tested personally. Just make sure that you have full coverage. If you really want a heavy seal, you can spray the edge coat and any other water-based areas. Get them sealed and then when they are dry, you can brush on the sealer heavily since you have stopped the bleed and can have confidence that you won't remove the edge coat or bleed it into other areas. As far as the TK goes... brush it on heavily first coat and it will get in there pretty well as other dyes would. Heck you could submerse the leather in TK and you will get real good penetration. And it's tenacious stuff once you get it on right.

John... Business is business. You are well within your rights to show what a genuine tooled piece of leather looks like and explain exactly how much time goes into real tooling vs running the leather through an embosser. When your competitor engages in questionable and unethical business practices, he is not due white gloves treatment by you. He sure didn't give that treatment to you did he? Demonstrating what real tooling is vs imitation tooling is not unethical. It is factual and proper. I would share photos of the real deal versus imitation as well as a full explanation. You can do that and stay on the high road. My $.02.

Put the Edge Kote on before the Tuff Kote and airbrush the Tuff Kote rather than brushing it. Tuff Kote the edges as well as the body. The problem will be solved. Same thing happened to me on belts.

Anybody who has something new and different is invited to tutor us!!! Anybody who has something old and common but does it well is invited to tutor us!!

Excellent. Simply Excellent.

Thanks! On the Toro... The Toro 4000 LA-25 is one big machine. I don't often use its full capability either in terms of thickness or depth. But I figured that if I ever needed that capacity, I'd kick myself for spending the extra dollars. I had to do a little grinding to get it sewing close to the edge like you see on this one but that is only a problem with the LA-25 and it is pretty easily fixed. I posted those long straight shots to show the beautiful seam it created. I was very happy with the result. So I am a fan of the Toro series whether it be the 9", 16" or 25" machines. They are excellent sewing machines supported by eager and good people. Give Steve, Dave or Jerry a call and terrorize them with my name. They might just give up some kind of discount or freebie!! Relative to the burnisher... the only thing that sometimes annoys me is that it can deposit wax along the side of the edge that you are burnishing. If you have already finished the blank with dye, then you have to spend time getting the excess wax off. Ivan uses some duck cloth to clean up the excess wax. I haven't tried that because I don't have any but I'm going to get some and try it his way. I cleaned that blank with a piece of polyethylene plastic. It worked fine... just took a little more time than I planned. About my friend... My friend took delivery of the belt and was thrilled. He is now wearing it everyday without a gun. He said that it reminded him of the belts he used to wear when he lived in Oklahoma. He asked me if I would make one for full price for his son! Last time I gave him a gift for things he had done to help me, I got him some Appleton Gold Rum from Jamaica so he and his buddy could get drunk. The buddy got a bottle too. The thing about that gift is that they couldn't remember how they got the booze! Mike will always remember where his belt came from and how he got it. About my work... I am not an artist like lots of folks around here. I do simple things and try to inject a dose of love into them. The quality that flows from it is almost always appreciated. The quality in my items has been dramatically increased due to exposure to the brilliant workmanship of the people on this system. The best thing you can do for your leatherworking is hang around here for awhile, watch, and listen.

Thanks! This is useful info! I'm pretty sure that I am going to ride over to this event.

What is the expected attendance? How many vendors will be there?

Let us know how the book is. I might want to order a copy if it has good info.

No the edges were flush from the start because I used a registration jig to keep the blanks aligned when I cemented them together. The burnisher smoothed out any irregularities. Here is the burnisher. I use the Fantastic Leather Burnisher. I got it from Ivan Sampson on EBay. Here is a video showing how it works with the inventor. Slicker than spit.