RockyAussie

The turns in from loose would be best found by counting how many full revolutions there are from fully loose to fully tight then turning the knob to be half way. This gives you plenty of room to tighten or slacken the top thread tension without needing the spring to be over tight or over loose between various thread changes or job thickness and firmness changes.

Could not find anything in my search to do with letter sets by nocona. Have you got any pictures showing what you mean? I just laser cut whatever letters I want and Word or Corel draw gives me a wide range of fonts. Even designed a font of my own for doing that.

Yeah I know that feeling well. Don't start with crocodylus porosus.

Not sure if your folding tables are the same or not as this one of mine I modified to suit my needs from being a hand operated folder to a foot operated folder. At about 2.5 minutes into this video you can see what I am talking about showing the folding of wallet edges and stuff. Between the other line up devise and the folder I can tell you that they would probably do my hours of operation than any other machines I own.

Curious to see other answers on this myself. From me....put your top tension knob adjuster mid ways through its length of travel. Probably 5 turns in from fully loose. AS long as you have the right needle and thread combination then load your bobbin in and stitch a piece of leather 1 to 2mm thick (3 to 5 oz) a couple of inches. If the knots are showing on top tighten the bobbin spring about a 1/4 turn at a time until the knots are centred. If the knots are at the bottom then loosen the bobbin spring about a 1/4 turn at a time until the knots are centred. This method should mean that thereafter you only need to tighten or loosen the top tension for any adjustments unless you are going right from the thinnest to the thickest threads in your changeover. Hope that helps.

I would have liked to see the method used on the hats but anyways, as the OP Dave is from Tennessee I would think that these guys here should be able to help better than anyone else I can think of - https://www.youtube.com/user/TennesseeAttachment/videos I was just curious as I make a range of different folders and such myself.

I agree the overhang part but you would still only have a turning circle of a large shoe on the under table part. That may be an impediment on larger tote bags and such.

It is for slicking around the soles of shoes between the welt and upper. Makes it easier to apply pressure and keep it happening in the right place.

Thanks @kgg. I noticed a comment on that video this morning saying that they had the same machine but they got it with the smaller table. The new table I changed to has a footprint around 4" shorter and quite a bit easier to manoeuvre around in tight spaces. After discussions with the Cowboy agents here the newer tables in future will have a little less overhang under the cylinder arm still.

A picture of how bad it is could help. If it is done by a very slack tannery then it can be quite difficult without the right machinery. Just pulling at it can make parts of it super thin and do quite a bit of damage. Generally I use techniques that are suitable for the product I wish to make it into. Generally on smaller products I like to use a band knife splitter that has a top roller. The reason for the top roller is that the best direction to feed the quill area in is with the lower larger side of the quill mussel going in first as that helps to not get under cut holes under the bumps. On larger bags I tend to use a belt sander and try not to go too heavy or deep. Trimming lightly with some scissors is sometimes needed to avoid the bulk coming together and catching the hide up into the sander. Sanding back is not very easy as sometimes the hide will be soft fibre near to alright through the skin. Practice on some of the flank parts where the quills are lighter first. The neck area IS too thin to sand normally. Cutting out your pieces a good bit oversize before sanding or splitting makes it easier and safer.

Here is a link to the video I have just loaded that shows the importance of getting not just the right sewing machine but the right sewing table for it as well. Not the CB341 machine but pretty close to the size. There are a few other video's on this machine there on my channel as well. I will post this again later in its own topic section a bit later.

Good choice for the jobs you want to do but make sure you have a full open end table and not just the U shape cut out version. Doing tote bags often require the open end to get a full swing around stitch. I will probably get a video up showing this issue sometime next week I think. Video's done just gotta edit the darn thing.

What you are looking at I think is Bifurcated rivet (split rivet) with an end cap. Here is a link showing the end cap part https://www.abbeyengland.com/bifurcated-rivet-caps-1003.html

Is it possible to show any pictures of how the edge is turned and folded? Brim fold up and over the wire? Any glue used? What type of machine are you using? What thickness wire and how bendable/flexible is it?

Ha Ha yep I know that feeling well. I looked in the mirror last and..........

Hi @Spyros In answer to that my friend you know I've been doing this for quite awhile now and even up here in Rocky I get to hear about sale or 2 now and then. You gotta come up and check out some of the range of Cowboy machines I have here now. The dealer here leaves a few machines with me for people to come and try out and get themselves educated on how to use them and buy if they want. Example the CB 6900 in the video above all set up with heaps of extras comes in just under $3000 au. Have a check through some of my other later videos when you get the time showing the CB4500 as well. Stay well and hope you can get outer that state sometime soon.

Hey @Flatcapper, yes I do realise it is only 3 to 4mm more from the edge but please realise that the OP is wanting to by a and you rightly point out that as yet, you have not got to sew any bag gussets yet. I have more than one 335 and know they are great machines for a wide range of work but not that great for gussets in my opinion. I have done a lot of different gussets on bags in my time and I can tell you that that 4mm is all the difference in the world when you just can't make it reach. Here is a couple of pictures that is typical of the gussets I do every day and many a whole lot tighten than shown here. Note that the 1341 you mention is a great machine but the diameter at the end would be too large for these type of gussets. The CB 6900 has a similar end and you can see how large it is at the end of one of my video's on that machine -

Yes on badly packaged stock when I moved years ago. With some of these leathers they have a fair amount of what is called feel agent (silicons/waxes etc) and some not enough. Most should be fairly slippery to the touch but amazingly a lot of cream colours don't have much of it applied. Some whites get dirty just lookin at them I reckon.

Was that tan/brown skin sticking to the cream skin? If so try a little rubbing on the cream one with a clean rag dampened with some isopropyl alcohol and see if it removes it. The tan brown coloured one looks to be a sprayed semi alanine effect which would have a top coat that sometimes does not adhere as well. Rubbing that one would probably remove more of the top coat and make a mess so be careful.

I would not think either of the models you mention would be particularly ideal for gusset work due to the distance of the needle from the end cap. On a Pfaff 335 from memory they are about 11mm from the end. I would suggest looking instead for an Adler 69 or better still a Techsew 2600 with the bigger capacity bobbin. They are about 7mm from needle to the end cover and the dog feet are also proper up and down reciprocating feed types. Most Pfaff 335 are more set up for binding operations. Being in Canada I would check this link out - (I have NO affiliation whatsoever with them) https://www.techsew.com/us/techsew-2600-narrow-cylinder-leather-industrial-sewing-machine.html

Love it. Nice design and sturdy as can be as well.

What @Constabulary said is true but also softer type upholstery type leathers done on a non toothed dog foot (you should have one on the cb4500)and not too thin top feet and good thread tension you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. A machine with the right foot pressure and right dog foot hole size can be hard to tell except for the stitch angle on the bottom side can sometimes give it away.

VERY talented design work and a video well worth a look.

For what its worth I have found on most of my machines that when the bobbin is below 1/4 full and I am sewing light stuff I have to turn the top tension down to compensate. This is on the metal ones. Normally I go back about 1/4 to 1/2 a turn. backlash springs may help but the direction the bobbin is loaded in the clockwise or anti clockwise will make a fair difference as well sometimes.