RockyAussie

Thanks for the thought @Spyros I will get into having a look at his Video sometime today and a bit more on that subject he has done and report back. Funny thing is I am originally a wood machinist by trade.

Thanks mate I will get back to you once I round up a few of these things and have them in hand. I do have some sort of a fancy VFD out in my project shed I bought a while ago but one look at it blew my head apart right at the get go. I will dig it out and see what I can make of it firstly. I think I may be needing a 2hp motor as it may be needed to run a polishing wheel as well and they do drag a fair bit of power when polishing with a large finishing brush on them. This is one of the reasons I am thinking of using a VFD as sometimes the brushes dont polish well if going too fast and the same can be said about the sanding as well. Having one on the lathe sounds like a good idea not having to change them cogs about so much. Or are we talking about a wood lathe?

Thanks mate I will get back to you once I round up a few of these things and have them in hand. I do have some sort of a fancy VFD out in my project shed I bought a while ago but one look at it blew my head apart right at the get go. I will dig it out and see what I can make of it firstly. I think I may be needing a 2hp motor as it may be needed to run a polishing wheel as well and they do drag a fair bit of power when polishing with a large finishing brush on them. This is one of the reasons I am thinking of using a VFD as sometimes the brushes dont polish well if going too fast and the same can be said about the sanding as well. Having one on the lathe sounds like a good idea not having to change them cogs about so much.

I just tried this onto a failed print that I stopped at .8mm high. This is pla+ filament and a 160 size needle going through. I expected it to split apart but there is no sign of that. At .2mm layers printed =4 layers I suppose that is a bit like plywood in that the grain crosses over each other every other layer. Something else in the brain box to try and remember

Electronics is definitely not one of my strong points. I have to ask where I would get one of them remote start stop speed control things and exactly what I should ask for when ordering it? Thank you again for the above information. I am sorry to admit that I think I will be back with some more questions on this as I get some it together.

That is some really nice work there @YinTx I hope that it all comes together as nice as it is this far.

I am going say that I would recommend learning to use a decent CAD type of drawing program as I did many years ago. I have for many years used AutoCad but there are a ton of free and very cheap alternative programs to choose from nowadays. The reason I say this is I can get a correct to size print straight out of my A3 printer straight down onto some decent cardstock which I mostly use for my pattern work. Another advantage comes that if you progress onto laser cutting you can from the same drawing get them cut out on a laser or sometimes even the leather itself. Another feature about this is you can also go on to drawing in 3D and this allows 3D printing to be done which is a feature I use every week if not every day. If you want to see a little on how I have used all of these CAD features have a look at my profile and in the about me section you'll see a fair few examples like this one below -

@dikman Can I ask what hp that motor has? I am also thinking of running a similar arrangement and could use a little help on what and where I may be able to get a hold of some of it along with any kind tips you may have to offer. I do like how you have the control knob box separated and keeping the main VFD nicely away from the messy stuff - also well done.

Now that is looking promising - well done. I should also ask you to thank your wife for giving as she has done and I hope that she does not ever get such a bad result again. I wish her well. @Spyros I would like to take you up on your offer as I have been asked to do a little consulting and training on the croc belt making by the end of this month. Getting one out a China that quick is unlikely at present. I would be happy to buy yours for $100 for now if you would like to go that way please pm me you details. They have a sanding machine set up for this but from what I have seen I know they need a lot better and I am thinking about making them up something way more heavy duty and as they are a BIG company the dust extraction will be an important thing to be clued up on. I will appreciate it a lot if you can help me with this one. Brian

I have to say that as much as I LOVE the versatility of this machine it does look as though it would be a considerable challenge to adapt some form of suction that would work with it in an attached sort of way. I have now seen the other video and all of the attachments and am even MORE impressed. I am starting to think about making a less versatile version for leather work with an extractor set up in mind.

If you would care to post a few pictures of how you have it set up may help. What I would try for now is to put the feed stone onto a softer spring pressure with the notch adjuster at the back. Also assuming you have the bell well and truly sharpened, move the bell back away (to the right) 1/2mm and try that. The tighter the bell is to the top guide the more the guide is likely to force the leather down as it slides through. If it still does it move it back a little more. The softer feed stone pressure helps to stop the sudden jump down as it slides through as well. Having a separate motor to keep the bell running at full speed all the time allows the feed to go as slow as you want while maintaining the best cutting speed (flat out) at the same time. Check a couple of my videos and you may see what I mean. The Fortuna there allows the bell speed to always run fast whilst allowing a slow feed at the same time.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mRlsetzIJg Knowing what thickness and temper of leather you are having trouble with would help to know as well.

Thank you for that info @Spyros I will have to get myself one of those metres. Sanding many thousands of belts over the years has not done my lungs much good along with a filthy smoking habit on top.

I use a bit of a combination really. I use a dust bag system as well as a fairly powerful wall fan just behind the grinder to help collect the fine particles that the main suction doesn't manage to catch. The main one is a 2hp 1200cfm I think located just outside the sander. If I try going any stronger on this one I cant control a belt from being sucked into the tube. I have tried to use screens but then you can't keep the belts from getting stuck onto the screen all the time. With the wall fan I found it is improved a far bit by building a shroud that comes forward over over the machine. This serves to increase the air speed right where you need it. You can see in this first picture where I have a cardboard box shroud coming from the back. Now I have established how far forward the shroud needs to be I aim to improve it beyond the cardboard one. This pic shows the perspex box I fashioned and hinged with a piano hinge and under the belt you can see a plumbing fitting I used which feeds into a 4"flexable tube. That then goes outside into this garden shed which is inside a semi enclosed space There is also some vents put into the side of this to increase air flow when the doors are closed which I do to keep the noise down. Even with all of this done I would still like to improve it more if possible. @Spyros I would love to be able to get a hold of one of those dust particle count meters if you would like to share from where I could obtain one. I am also interested to know a little more on your wall extractor and from where to get one. Thank you for going to the effort to share your findings with us all. @dikman, Thank you very much for taking those pictures. I have seen one of those video's now and I am gobsmaked really. I have to put a link in here cause I reckon it just has to be seen (sparks dust and all) I almost want to start making knives now- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwfbp_Lp-xY

Australian made and top quality it just gets better still. Thanks for the link. Now I just gotta spend the next few months dreaming and agonising about how and when. If its not to big an ask could you post some pics of it showing the full range of the angles it can go to? Is dust extraction somehow possible?

VERY ....VERY ...VERY NICE. I LIKE A LOT. sorry to shout but that is BEAUTIFUL. I want one now!!!!!

I think that the needle plate would be OK but as for the foot build up I don't know and I think a cheap metal set might be a better bet. The foot would need to be ground smaller on the front and back sides but adding a little plate on top and then drilling the hole out from the bottom should be pretty easy I think. It could be worth printing the needle plate as that would allow you to test all sorts of extremes I reckon. You could print out a smaller bobbin cover case as well which will give you a bit more manoeuvring room. here is an stl if you dont have it already - It fits the 335 as well Adler Bobbin Cover.stl This one on my 69 adler note that I have sanded back a fair bit out of the needle plate as well which helps.

This set may be getting a bit too small in stitch length but maybe - http://www.kwokhing.com/2003foot/page32e.html Some info in this post may be worth a read as well.

Another thought if necessary is to get a cheap set and build them up with some plate and silver solder on top. A quick look found this set for under $20.00 US https://www.ebay.com.au/i/142504673433?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&itemid=142504673433&targetid=894943437993&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9069152&poi=&campaignid=9773406700&mkgroupid=100117145936&rlsatarget=aud-786643580366:pla-894943437993&abcId=578876&merchantid=7364522&gclid=CjwKCAjw8df2BRA3EiwAvfZWaCkXW-D8EGF8md8ArJf4h56G39u-5ixbKEaBze3yYRwKBoa0MJKq_RoCTHMQAvD_BwE I would think about making up a new plate as well for the stitch increment adjustment so as to limit the up and down movement in order to not accidentally make the stitch length go too long.

I found these pictures some time ago and saved them in case I felt the need to one day make them or try and buy them. I will have to try a google search and see how I go. It is for a 669 Adler............. found something - https://mando.fr/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=2134 HERE IS ANOTHER SCARY ONE PIC BELOW https://mando.fr/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=2176 Now we just need some French speaking person to chime in here...

I would avoid designing in such tight corners if possible but a few things come to mind. Any stiffeners would have to be left out until all the stitching has been done.A small cylinder end with a raised needle plate piece and higher feed dog would be desirable similar to the pictures below.Note that this will impact on the stitch length possible and obviously the thickness of the product will be lessened than usual but is unlikely to be a problem.

Thanks @Bert51 Mostly I like to feel I am helping some along the way.

Not sure if this will help but you may be able to measure the needle and ask on here - https://www.schmetzneedles.com/needle-facts-how-to-read-the-needle-package-2/

Just ordered yesterday Gary and eta is a couple of weeks. I have still to find a few of the other modification pieces locally as yet so hopefully that wont be too long in the getting. .

I do a similar construction as per the zipper attaching and I do think that trying to use the tape method around the corners would not work very well in this type of product. There is a fair bit of tight folding around those corners and a contact glue helps to keep every thing tight and in place. I have converted a hand operated glue applicator to have a thin brass spike in order to give me good control when putting the glue down onto the zip. I will attach a some pictures below that may help to understand better - The glue gun on the right shows the standard version and the one on the left I have removed the brush and put in a thin brass tube which gets covered with a piece of stainless brake line tube to keep the glue from drying out between uses. This picture shows the product about to have the zip put on with a 3d printed jig in place to assist in keeping the spacing correct. This shows the zip in place and then it gets reglued and then tapped down with extra attention to the corners, before the outer cover is put into place Outer cover now ready to be stitched with the jig removed Hope that this helps some

I am looking hard at a Tronxy X5SA PRO this years model. They are a pretty cheap (about $700au)kit but have a lot of bad reviews as well. I expect it will chew up a couple of extra dollars to get it all running well.To get a name brand one that size and with good reviews is like $12,000+ so I wont be going that way. My current prusa i3 was pretty shaky to start with but after a few stabilising bars were added she does a better job than what most of these reviewers call a GOOD print and faster as well. Made in China but I am looking at getting one out of Sydney at the moment. I expect to order it shortly but some of the upgrade corner supports and so on may hold it up a bit as I normally order that stuff out of China. I may have to pay some extra to get some stuff locally this time. I will do a post on it when I get it and let you know all of the tweaks and upgrades as I do them. Fingers crossed it will not be a disaster. A big platform and volume sounds good but if it takes tooo long to print then it will be a failure. I am wanting it to go at least 80mm a second and do a good job for the majority of my stuff.