RockyAussie

Just a way I would do it is to make up an extension piece. I do a lot of my belts with a separate extension in order to make them quick and easy to cut back in size if needed but also they can be made longer with a longer extension piece if needed. A good thing here is that the tongue of the belt will cover over your connection whichever way you go. In your case above I would cut it at the start of the crew punch hole and skive and add in that extra inch or so your chasing. Follow this up by adding an extension over the top so you end up with something along the lines as shown in the following pictures. You can stitch the top part of the extension to the main part of the belt or not , your choice.

In the USA it is known as a Cowboy LS - 1341. It is a very good machine for a broad range of leather good manufacturing. I have done a few videos on it and have a couple of other ones I would like to get done yet as well. The very wide range of feet you can get for this machine so easily is one of its great features as well as the fantastic control it offers.

The paddle foot @TomE mentioned can be seen in this thread on page 2.

Sometimes it can be just bad thread but most often it is caused by a slight needle deflection which makes the hook miss the thread or sometimes spear the thread. When it spears the thread and only takes a part of it you then see you have here. What caused the needle to deflect can be hard to work out but often it is something uneven in the edge. You stitched it inside out first then stitched over the top so there is a good chance that there is some little fold inside that could cause it. The sewing machine may not be suitable for the job. The wide spaced dog foot that is being lifted on one side only on this edge means it probably is not that secure when the needle goes in. If your check spring is not coming into play when it needs to then also you can get this problem. I have to ask why you have not used the Techsew 2750 to do this instead? The dog foot is right there under the foot and moves on through with the job.

That holster looks like a good effort to me. I use a set of them magnifying glasses always when I sew and I do spend a bit of time getting the light so that it gets right in where I need to see the needle going in. I also use an open toe foot for that reason. One thing I did notice is that the thread cones are way too close to where they feed through the stand. This will often give you a bit of intermittent tension issue and it is best practice to get your cones as low to the table as you can get them to avoid that problem. Very nice looking set up other than that.

What you believe will be true if you think that, but if it helps..... If you were working for me and could not do it then you would no longer be working for me. Practice doing on some scrap first and you will find it is not that hard. You have an open toe foot and a good directional light. These happen out of the blue and learning how to deal with it is what you need to work out. Thankfully its not Croc or some other expensive skin because on them I remove all the threads and start again just so you cant see anywhere the thread is doubled up and out of place. You will find that the needle does not have to hit every hole perfectly to still look alright and a blunt needle can be better as well as they sort of slide there way into the hole a bit. If I have to do a extra large piece I will remove the needle and polish it blunt especially if the back is fabric as you have in this case. Last bit is to check that your thread return check spring is adjusted correctly. If it allows too much looseness on top, the needle can spear it or even end up on the wrong side as it goes in and you will get this problem happen regularly.

Just an observation....the CB-341 and the CB-1341 (aka:CB- 6900) may look similar but are really quite different. If you want to see one in action I have a few on my y tube Channel like this one - They have a square drive needle movement and therefore do not alter the length of stitch much going from thick to thin and are better at reverse for the same reason. The handle are larger thread more easily (double tension discs) and have a control knob on top for adjusting if you are doing large thickness changes on the run. I see your looking at production in future so also take into account that these are mostly self oiling as well.Double check back with Bob if he has one of these in stock as I believe they may suit you better. (Bigger bobbin too I believe)

A watch band with the low profile would be no problems with the machines I mentioned or even ones with a medium profile like this one is alright as well - Note that I leave the threads long to do the finishing off by hand. Ones with a heavy varying height profile like this one I still do by hand though - ( Over 5mm thick rubber filler from memory)

This shows to me that the top tension needs to be tighter. You can see the knots on the bobbin side and it looks loose. I would also consider changing the Serafil thread as I have found it to be a very slippery thread and sometimes hard to get a even tension happening.

It would help I think if you could post a few pictures of the watch straps you are making. What range of thicknesses do you want to use in thread? How much and how sharp a profile at the edge do you like. Something with a thick and sharp profile can be a bit harder to do and if the leather is soft then you can get miss stitching unless you can get a very good foot shape. A roller foot can work alright sometimes but sometimes not depending on the shape, the leather how easily it marks, the needles used etc etc. I have a Pfaff 331 (not walking foot) that works very well for me but they have not made any machines like it for many years now so just about rarer than rocking horse poo. If you would like to see one of these have a look at this watch strap post I made awhile ago. Most likely being in Europe I would have a look for an Adler 69 which is walking foot cylinder machine. A Techsew 2600 would be probably a good choice as well if they are available there. They come with a proper up and down feed dog movement and have a large bobbin and can take a thick thread 138 (20 metric thread if needed.

If you have no idea what they could become then I think the logical answer would be whatever size box will store well in the area you have available to store it. The bigger the better and as far as boxes go them plastic ones that can stack on top of each other may be worth thinking about. Anything that looks not very useful keep in a smaller box for skiving and stitching and stamping practice etc.

Very nice looking work there Chuck

If you have any pictures of them then I would post them if you can first. Find out what accessories like feet etc that each comes with and also if the seller is able to give any help on how to adjust them. Ask to see them running and skiving and if they can't or will not do that then take the other if they will. Take some leather pieces to try out. If the bell can be moved up or down or back and forward by hand then give it a miss.

I just made this video today showing a little demo on the Cowboy 8360 hand operated clicker press which might be worth a look for you. I like it a lot

You may or may not be lucky there. Some of the later clones are coming pre drilled for that these days like this Cowboy one as delivered here in OZ.

No the top and bottom are turned but not skived as I decided to put a filling stiffener in it to avoid the skiving. To assist with the overall shape I printed a 2 piece mould to help get every thing like the zip in the correct place. The 2 pieces go together first to wrap the gusset around and have the zip level up with the mould at the top. Once I remove the top mould section it is then the right height for the zip top to fold down into place. These pics may help- This is just done this way as it was the way I wanted the end product to look like but this camera bag below I did recently was done inside out with piping and turned afterward as @DJole has done above. In this instance I elected to use flexible stiffeners and foam between the lining and outer pieces. being prototypes all the above pieces were cut out with my big/little laser. Cuts better than me and does not stretch longer when I cut with it. After the step above a binder was sewn around the edges to tidy it up then turned inside out. I am sorry to somewhat Hi Jack your post here @DJole and if I can find some more time I will load this stuff into my own separate post. I only intended to suggest that some foam padding and stiffeners may make your product sit a little better.

No it was not. This bag is made by stitching through the outside to inside capturing the gusset in the process. Neither the post machine nor the cylinder machine I used are good for this application so I have ordered a tall post with the feet on the inside to do any more of these. This bag is just a prototype one that has been accepted.

First undo the lock nut then turn anticlockwise to loosen the pressure. This is the foot pressure adjustment screw to turn - If you want to change to a lower pressure spring just screw it right out while you have the feet down. That makes it easier and when you have the screw out, lift the foot lever and you can then grab the spring out easily. This is what the larger and softer springs look like As a general rule I like to back off my foot pressure until I can just lift the feet up with my thumbs. If you get it too loose you will see the job start to lift when the needle comes out and you will then get the thread knot showing up on the underside. Just a tip ...put a couple of drops of oil down into the cup shape part of this screw occasionally to keep the pressure shaft running up and down smoothly.

Well done @DJole. Some times you just have to try it to find out. I am wondering if you have thought about putting in an internal stiffener with foam padding on top glued inside to improve the shape? This is a similar shape bag I have done recently that may help -

So far there have been no issues fitting them up to the other 441 clones and I have sold a couple to other Techsew 5100 owners but as yet I can not say with a 100% certainty as they have either not had a chance to try them yet or they have not had a chance to share back yet their findings. As soon as I get any confirmation I will post it here. R..dall .....would you be so kind to confirm the fit is good when you can?

Yes. What I have done there is folded the fleece back over on itself and stitched it up. In the bottom left in a couple of the pictures above you can see where I have already sewn around on the job. I don't believe it would be possible to cover the fur with baking paper and sew it due the thickness of the pile being more than an inch thick in combination.

This machine might be a good one for you to consider - There are a few more video's on this machine on my youtube channel as well if you want to see more.

That I think is just one more of the reasons that the art of saddlery always leaves me in awe. Sounds good until you realise you can hardly see the thread at all let alone the needle hole somewhere in that hairy mess. In the end it all worked out stitching up better than I could have imagined but after spending hours trying to find anything similar on the youtube etc I was getting pretty convinced it was not going to be possible. Sometimes you just gotta try.

Thanks @DrmCa. That would be interesting to see. I have a machine I bought a long while ago that is for stitching furs but it only stitches through the backs to join the pieces together. People I bought it from mostly made sheepskin rugs and stuff like that. The second picture above shows one of the seams like I am talking about.

For the type of work like this I believe the small mechanical ones are a waste of money. I would keep my eyes open for a good second hand Fortuna or F.A.V. with an attached aspirator (suction device). Hard to get but very easy to sell if you find that you don't want it any more. You will. This is a Techsew with the vacuum suction - https://www.techsew.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/1164/s/techsew-sk-4-leather-skiving-machine-with-vacuum-suction-device/