RockyAussie

For the PLA+ I use 65 degrees C and run the first layer a bit slower to get maximum adhesion and avoid any edge lifting. Aside from not wanting to get any rounding off of the edges when I take off the job or also don't want to upset my bed levelling by forcing it.

Last time I checked was years ago and it was cheaper for me to make them from pipe and dress them up on my lathe. In Australia some things like this can fall into the "specialist" type thing with a Fspecialist price tag. May be different in the USA/Canada? Here you go buy a colour printer for less than the cost to fill it with ink next time. With the heated bed it can take 10 or 15 minutes to cool down enough to get the print job off of the plate so the fan speeds this up to about 1 minute. I just turn it on when the bell that lets me know its finished goes off. If I was truly a bit smarter I would set it up so that the fan switched on when the bell goes off.

Still is I reckon but as the 38mm spacers cost $1.03c au to print including the electricity cost and the fact I can be working on something else as it does it comes into it as well.

I can't say for sure as I have only ever used DXF and PLT - 2 dimensional drawings and images that get converted by the T2 Laser program to G code. The Z adjustment has only come into use for depth of cutting so far.

This is the latest 3D project I am working on that shows the advantage of being able to print spacers for strap cutting work to the exact size width and all the same. Recently I decided to make up a 22mm width spacer for some dress belt fillers in order to not have to muck about measuring up various width spacers every time I wanted to do it. As it worked so well I decided to do myself a heap of 38mm spacers for my strap cutter as well. Previously I have had to cut pipe to length and lathe the ends up and try and get them all the same width. The side wall thickness of the pipe was a little thinner than I would have liked and with the printed version that enabled me to give plenty of side wall thickness at the blade and still allow plenty of clearance in the middle. The pictures should tell the story better than me I think - This is the 22mm spacer as printed These 2 pics show it in use This picture shows all of the 38mm spacers in place and note the differance in the side wall thickness of the old as against the new one. I have an order to do around 1200 of the 38mm width straps to do at the moment so as soon as I get through them I will let you know if any problems develop. Merry Christmas to you all Brian

I believe that the 26 would be the best in this case. It can also go up to a 207 thread and 138 bobbin I believe. The smaller shaped in cylinder end will be a lot better for getting into the tight gusset areas and the shorter needle length will lead to a more consistent tidy stitch on anything under 1/4" 15oz.

Thank you for posting those pictures @RemingtonSteel. This can be very helpful when people run into problems like this.

I just found this video by @Uwe that I referred to earlier in this post - Thanks again Uwe.

It would be helpful I think if we could get a couple of other peoples pictures as well to help establish if there are any differences in the set up. It is one part of the machine that I think could have been set up better and as you say it seems there are no good diagrams/pictures that show much in this area. I also took some off of the length of the wedge that opens the tension discs as it opened the discs ridiculously apart and was near impossible to get even a fraction of foot lift without loosening the top thread tension. (Not good when you want to lift a little to get around a corner etc). Works good now but was just another head scratching thing I ran into. I hope I remember to show Jess and Mitchell this the next time they drop in.

I remember having some similar issue with mine when I got it and I cant say for sure what I have is right or not but here are a few pics that may help anyway.

I had to check out the timing templates.........Thanks to @Uwe I still have one stuck onto my big pulley. I would like to recommend that if you a new owner of one of this breed that you check out Uwe's video that goes with these templates. Made mine work a whole lot better.

And it must be a comfort to know that you are not having to deal with some reselling dealer in China going through the Language barrier and the dubious not understanding you theme.

You left your daughter in the Pilbara?

I have to cut in and say that I had the pleasure of meeting face to face Jessica and Mitchell, the new owners of the Cowboy leather machines here in Australia. They are very new to this and I can assure you that they are very eager to learn every thing they can to be knowledgeable about their new business. There was a LOT of note taking and picture taking and discussion on various machinery whilst they were here and I know that if they don't have an answer to help you they are the type of people that would find out from people who know and get back asap. It would take a little time for them to get on their feet but I have no hesitation in recommending them already. They have also left a variable speed sanding burnishing machine for me to check out and I will get back in another post with my findings on that in the near future.

Dammm....I been drinkin that stuff.......I knew it wasn't the beer

Can you take a picture from the back showing the linkage fully down? Could it be just that the chain needs to be a little shorter? Is it just that the foot pedal can not go any further down? Is the bar that separates the upper tension discs hitting the tension disc rod?

Hi jimi, Yes I have seen that one before and it is the style of thing I was thinking about doing except on the big 441 machine and the pressure of this type of work I will need to build in a lot of support structure where possible to take that kind of load. I may end up trying it on an old 69 Adler first I think once I get a servo motor hooked up to it. I do have a few bags that need these handles to do so........

I will have to check and get back to you later.

It is a sort of walk up the arm and cylinder arm combination. Best I can tell the arm can swivel 360 which means that you could sew all the way around a bag without the gussets getting in the way. Very lacking in information that can be found on it. I did find another similar machine which has a dog foot feed as well but again Very lacking in information. Come on Folker.........Give it a go. The best stuff will always come from the people like you.

Maaaann you shore jumped into it on the printer stuff. LOVE it. I have been considering making up something but I would like to use some little motors like on the printer to keep the roller turning continious. Some paints dry onto the rollers very quickly and you will quickly get dry lumpy problems if it does not keep the paint moving. Yep. On pla+ I usually run mine at 65 degrees.Aluminium heather plate under the mirror and cork under that to keep the heat more even and stable. I think the mirror is holding up better than the original. Mind you I use a separate cooling fan for when the job is done and make sure that it all but pops off of the plate when I remove the job. Are you using Cura? If so what version? You did real well printing that foot as you did. I think I would have added more sidewall thickness and printed it the other way up with light supports though. Looks more original like the way you did it. I think you are going to be coming up with some amazing stuff and I hope to see it. Is that leather stuck on the bottom of the centre foot? 335? Hey ...here's something I found last night ...I WANT

This help? Might help to talk to Tim from his experience before buying perhaps the wrong thing. I got one and for purses I reckon not.

I dont think the bracket goes anywhere on the machine head but I have seen something like it before. It may belong under the adjustable foot pedals. or......

Lousy pics but help to explain better ......a bit This one is the first on the combining machine. Here I am stripping a belt filler which turned out exactly wrong. I forgot in the drawing to account for the knife thickness. Worked beautifully though

Hey thanks for the thought jimi and Folker, I am interested to have a play around on some of this stuff soon. Just at present I have a large scale operator wanting me to high tech up their belt making department and that is allowing me to come up with a heap of interesting stuff. Today I worked out I can print spacers for the various width strap cutting as well as the belt combining machine. The pla+ is way quicker than me on the lathe to print and I reckon their going to be better as well. I will check and see if any of these pics I been taking work out or not and get back shortly.

Any pictures? I am curious of the sewing machine model.