RockyAussie

If you would like to post some pictures of the pocket pattern you are using at the moment I may be able to advise how to fix. How thick is the leather for these pockets you are trying to use?

That does not give enough information for me to say which is best. I would like to see some pictures of the type of products you envisage making. I make all of these products but what machine I use to stitch a wallet that I make and what someone else here uses to make the wallet they make could best be done with different machines. I would totally rule out the large long needle machines and consider these 2 mostly as long as you are OK with 138 thick thread as the thickest. The main thing from there is to consider whether the smaller 1.7/8" diameter cylinder of the Techsew 2600 is better have than the extra 1/8" thickness of material the CB-341 Cowboy can sew through. The cramped table can be altered and should not be considered a problem. The type of wallets you can see on my website I prefer to use the smaller cylinder but I would often like to have the extra lift as well. If you think you would be doing thicker products than me I would go for the CB-341

Hey Geoff, I answered a fair bit on this in a recent post you may find helpful in this link -

As you have not done bulk manufacturing of this type and do not have the equipment I would recommend posting a picture of the product in order to get advise on the machinery types and advise as to how it can be done quickly. In order to keep the customer I would get someone with the equipment and expertise to do the job or many parts of the job and add in a percent to make it worth your while handling the job. Once you know how it all pans out then you can consider what parts you can take on with whatever equipment you then decide to get. Here is one version that we make here in bulk and they require a lot more machinery than you mentioned.

That is my dog "Wild Harry" under the trolley doin his thing. Could sure use some more help here though

Yes they are but sometimes only on the blade side. They taper thinner to the outer edge but are thick (about 3/8") where the blade touches inside. The welt would average 1/8" on the outside but be thicker up near the finger guard. Next knife I get to do I will take some progress shots and post them.

The needle may be angled a bit far to the front but the direction in the pictures is orientated in the direction you describe as far as I can make out. Needle scarf to the right facing the hook which is to the right.

My first thought was holly smoke that is thick but after a bit I reckon I can agree with your decision to go thick. After looking at some of the other pouches I started to wonder about why the pouches I make don't suffer this thickness problem. Just the way I worked out to make them years back I guess. I went and had a look at the google images and yeah they are built different mostly it seems. After I make up my pattern I wet cast the top piece separately and form it over a leather built up shape that I make up out of leather beforehand.(couple of pictures below) On the backing piece after I cut out the shape I build up a welt onto it and then sand it down thinner on the outer edge and a lit less as I go down toward the tip as well. After the top piece has dried out some overnight I then glue attach it to the backing and welt and trim it down to suit the backing shape. After that I sand up the edges some and then go on to stitch it up. I just though to mention it in case it was of any interest. Also I believe not putting the retainer around the handle can sometimes help the shape as well This shows the typical pattern and the built up knife pieces. They get nailed down onto a end grain board to start so I can nail down a strip of stiff veg around the outer edges after i have the leather top in place over it. This one shows the side thickness better I could not find any pictures here that show the side edges much good but this one should give you the idea I think. The thickest part on the outside at the top would be about 10mm (3/8") in total but on the inside welt at that part would be close to 10mm where the blade rides against if it touches. This sort of shape <. I have never had anyone report back to me whether they have ever cut through any stitching or had any other problem with the pouch either. What I make can be a bit expensive sometimes and that could have a factor in how they look after them perhaps but on the other hand if I was a purchaser I'd be back pretty quick if there was a problem.

If it is of any help I found that you can use the electric hair cutting trimmers with the different plastic spacers to trim the hair down to a lesser height and it works not too badly. Over here they call them buzz cuts I think. I'm not sure as I have been cutting my own hair with scissors for many many years and that's pretty rare as well.

Depending on what model the Fortuna is. If it is an early model (normally black in colour) the feed wheel and the bell knife are locked together and if the feed is slow then so is the blade and that is not much good. If it is that way then I would separate the drives from each other. If the blade is a constant speed then you could run a servo but to be honest I can get mine to go quite controllability slow or fast in the standard format. The one motor on mine runs the lot including the extractor suction. You can see on my youtube channel a couple vids where I am using one if you like.

I think I have one of the ones in your first picture there. Unfortunately it is night time here and the machine is down in a shipping container elsewhere on the property. I don't have any manuals but found it pretty easy to work out and use after I got the long cardboard roll strip and mounted it under the table. The dies feed that cardboard along as it sort of stitches along a bit like a sewing machine. Your picture looks to be showing the back side of the machines and if they are like mine there is a brass dial knob on the front that allows you to set the distance spacing. I have here a couple of pictures of the type of punches it uses if that helps for the moment.. If you could post a picture of the other side of the machine could help.

If you cant already see the need for one then you are probably not thinking of making the type off stuff that needs a splitter that much. I found that I needed one very early in my manufacturing and I would say that probably about 90% of the products I make have parts that need to be split. Best I can add to that is check out my web site and see the types of products there and perhaps my profile in the about me section as that will give you a broader view, here and there on the products not on my website. I now own 2 splitters, one a Comoga and the other an Albeko and aside from my own work I normally pick up a thousand or so a month splitting for other manufactures. My web site is https://wildharry.com.au if it is not showing below in a link already. Most of the waste split is just that but I use a fair bit after I have split the belt backings for fillers in the dress belts as below. The last picture below shows a stack that I get to cut into strips and split every couple of months for some friendly belt making competitor. That is a lot of belt filler splits I am left over to be used.

You are getting closer ...The thread is around the tension discs but not pulled down into them properly. The round nut thing in front of them is what you adjust the top tension with. Turn it clockwise and it will tighten down on the thread and anticlockwise and it will get looser. First get the thread to pull down in between them discs and think of them like they are your thumb and finger gripping the thread....the more you squeeze the harder it is to pull the thread. Squeeze to hard and the thread comes to the top and squeeze to soft and the thread goes to the bottom. Hope that helps you some . Brian

Good bonus

NOT true. If the attitude sucks ....I will either make it myself or shop elsewhere. The Italian companies are losing business every day to China and elsewhere. If the Chinese up the translation quality on their manuals then many competing (JOKE) companies will be out of the business. The terrible part about this folding machine is 90% of it is metal with fine engineering and all of that will be now waste. It would be alright if they sold me the $100 worth of electronics for a couple of thousand but the continual environmental disregard is wrong for one in my view. They won't because the competition will see to that. The only reason to pay more than double the price to them is if you think that the product will give better performance and be backed by proper SERVICE over the years of owning it. I am off the soap box now

It is amazing to think that in the ever decreasing size world and with the internet available to so many now, that the older school places fail to see the need to adapt and compete. I have recently had an electronic folding machine made by OMAC start to fail and although they still sell the same machine with the same model number they can not supply me any of the electronic parts for it as it is now 9 years old. They can supply me with another new one for $12,000 au though!!!! Looks like my old mechanical folder is about to get a revamp with a milled in line marker and some heating system installation. Its already been more reliable anyway and can be seen in use on my youtube channel here Note that there is some video's there that show some on my Fortuna skiver and some adaptations as well.

Is there some local competitor that they supply to that they think might do a better job retailing? If not I would consider selling to them the idea that you are a mobile type business that can do a better job selling and servicing that way. I know here in Rocky one busy equine seller has closed his brick and mortar and done just that. Often someone that can get to the shows and events and the likes can make a real killing and if that were not true why then would RMW have a huge semi that must have cost many $100,000s. That sorely can't be that hard a sell. Remember its easier to catch flies with honey.

Depends on if the are combination style belts. If it just one leather I cut it to size and they get the above treatment. If they are a combination, the strips get cut oversize then attached together then second cut through a combining machine that cuts about a 1 1/2mm off each side and then it gets the buckle and tongue holes put in as above. Here is a couple of pictures of my combining machine doing what it does - You could do this on a belt strap cutting machine with a few mods as well if you were so inclined. I will be showing some more on this in an upcoming post on belt making in the next couple of weeks. Yep I still go that way on the odd one off.

I would think about spending a little more on the edge beveller myself. That is one tool you do want working well. One like in this video perhaps Have a close look through the magnifying glass at them. Other here may have some better recommendations I think.

Very nice stylish looking design there @paloma

WOW that is real nice looking .... Not sure if I'd be doing my hair like that though

Thanks, The end design is something I came up with to 1. signify a long road look over the handle bars but 2. the customer is a barrister and that to me represents the scales of justice as well. He loves it

Ha Ha ...glad you caught that in time then. It is a a very simple lay out pattern that is easy to work out how to make the measurements for and alter longer or shorter or higher etc. Only thing to watch for is if using a cylinder or post machine is to make sure you get the gusset set back enough to get the needle to reach where you want. On mine I can get away with 8mm from the bobbin case to the needle but that means I have to add at least another 3mm to the pattern corner. I generally go with about 12 to 14mm from the edge as a rule. Have fun

I just found a picture of the other guide I have with a roller attached

A roller guide is great for doing stiffer leathers and getting around rounded shape products but a flat edged guide is better if you want to do say belts. If the flat is a smidgeon wider at the start and closer to the needle at the back you can just about let it pull itself through with out even holding it. This pic below shows where I replaced a roller guide with a flat and you can just see the angle a bit. The plastic end cap is just a smaller one I printed up to replace the steel one in the other picture.