Handstitched

@Bert51 no, not holding my breath a 132K6 is on my sewing machine bucket list. I already have 4 machines, the others are the K6 and post bed machine,.....mmmm....?....and maybe a long arm HS

Never seen those, but they look to be just as hard to remove as bifurcated rivets, and a real PITA ( a pain in the ***se !! Was there a safety issue with them ? HS

I never thought of that, what a great idea. I also like Frodo''s idea of using a bottle jack . I do have a 20t USM press & dies, but no 3ph to use it. ( ' One Powerball....) . I did find an old rusty home made bottle cap press for home brews in my paddock, no idea where it came from, but I might convert it for small die cutting. HS

Thats a good find. They're good machines . I'm still waiting to find a 132K6 in a kerbside rubbish collection, HA In a famous Aussie movie quote " Tell him he's dreaming" . I'd prefer to re-use, recycle, or donate, rather than stuff go to landfill . Too much goes to landfill. HS

@nylonRigging I'm still using mine, and ' touch wood' , they are still going just fine. Here in Australia, they around $300+ a piece to buy new, and I guess around the $120- $150 for a used unit, so theres no way I'd be throwing them out. But if you really need to get rid of them , sell them really cheap to someone that needs one to at least get some money back from them , or donate them , rather than throw them out. HS

@Spyros Thats pretty much what I did. I 'll make a paper template, clamp it together for a bag for example, make any adjustments until everything works or fits right. I too use MDF, very versatile stuff. Nearly all of my templates are MDF, although I haven't put handles on mine. I guess you'd need to glue them on, don't want any screws poking out the other side ... You're not an amateur, you're a professional in training HS

Dikman is right that not one machine can do everything. You'll find that many of us here have more than one machine for different applications . Just take your time in choosing , have a play with a machine if thats possible . Choosing a machine is a bit like eating porridge, you want on thats not too heavy, not too light, but just right HS

@Northmount I think I have found out what the issue is. Nothing to do with LW at all , sorry about that . Its my ISP: Without naming names, this is the info I got from my ISP: "2020/05/27 03:04:55 PM WST Our partner carrier has confirmed sub-marine cable fault. Tentative ETA for repair ship is July 2020." And it includes Western Australia. O'h dear, .....it'll be a long wait. " Patience grasshopper " Even my own ISP website is slow . HS

When I get sides of leather etc. they are wrapped in heaps of brown paper. I keep that and re-use them for making large cutting templates, go over them with an iron to get the creases out, and run some clear sticky tape around the edges on both sides so they don't become ' dog eared' . I work with some canvases as well as leather. Its just a way for me to re-use & recycle.But the plastic sheets are a great idea . HS

Nice grain (?) . Bulgari Leather, They are an Italian company , quite a big one it seems and focused on luxury goods. Try searching the name, its extensive, and not just leather goods. HS

My goodness, how things have changed around the world since I last posted that. My workshop is now ' shedified',( but I'm sure I'll find other stuff to decorate my workshop with. . Lots of old tack, some good tack , still quite usable and sellable , horse shoes, some shearing shed stuff, vintage radios, some old kero lamps, a scythe, and a 1940's desk fan. What has everyone else been doing? Coming on here really has helped. In a sign things are going back to "normal", here in Australia anyway, ' intrastate' border restrictions came down (WA) and I was able to go to Perth and pick up equine stock. I ordered stock and supplies from Adelaide and QLD, Adelaide supplies arrived yesterday, in " normal" 12 days, QLD supplies ( heaps of machine threads) arrived today, ' Express Post' , it meant just that, Express Post, ordered Monday ( June 1st) and and arrived today, Thursday ( June 4th) . It was like Christmas Day this morning to open a parcel full of lovely threads Any other time throughout COVID, that would take at least double that time to arrive. Once again, Thank God for the locals that have supported me ....and one in NSW , some leather jobs, but mostly non- leather, but a job is a job and it pays the bills Stay safe peeps Peace HS PS: I did get my 100th mouse . Champagne anyone?

I would !! sorry to go against you I'm an optimist . I'd buy it just for the sheer beauty alone. And if it has a bit of history to it...? I'm no expert, but I doubt that one of these would come up very often. Who's to say that the part/s wouldn't be available in the future ? The challenge would be sourcing the parts. The reward would be getting it up & running , and the satisfaction of using a piece of history Some people take many months or years to restore a piece of history. HS

I enjoy reading quite a lot of the posts on here, especially the ' Sewing Machines' thread, and more specifically the vintage machines, I find them fascinating. Machines can be quite ' fickle' , or sometimes a little daunting, especially for a newbie, so we all do our best to help each other out. I hope you stick around. I'm sure there must be something on here that you may find useful. So many have learnt so much, and I've learnt so much myself from this thread since I found it in 2008. HS

Yep, absolutely buy it !!!!! What a gem. Its worth buying just for the stand alone. It looks 'regal' . Would be a shame to pass it up. Now close your eyes and imagine it restored? Just the journey of restoring it would be a long one, and educational, but man what a trip HS

G'Day, my 2 cents worth, but due to the increase in the price of opinions, its now 5 cents worth This is an old story, but I have only bought from Tandy when there are specials , as in, when they are actually cheaper than my other regular suppliers. But got so frustrated with their ' club discounts' . You'd see a " special" , you click on the item....with 3 different prices !!! Total let down !! They did away with that. Wholesale? B2B ? forget it !!! But now there isn't a Tandy outlet in Australia . They should have opened up in the CBD Perth Western Australia( not the east) . They might have done a little bit better. While Tandy have done great things getting newbies interested in the art of leather over many years, their business model sucked !! I'm happy to teach this dying art . I'd have customers come to me asking me if I'd teach. More than happy to for free . They can come to my workshop, they can use my tools and leather scraps etc. They are full of enthusiasm, I'd give them my contact details....thats where their interest ends, they never follow up . Thats when I get a little bit p*ssed off !! I had to educate a few young high school kids at my stall once as to where leather comes from ... I was gobsmacked !!!! One of my school excursions at that age was going through an abattoir . (old Albany abb. for you west Aussies) . Can't say I haven't tried. Hear hear !! Love to see Neatlac return Substitutes are no match. I second that !!! Everything here in Oz is all based around mining & construction,agriculture, real estate ....or sitting on ya butt in a office. The ' traditional ' trades don't ever get a mention. That would be me It started as a hobby, but now a business. Making not just regular items, but assorted custom leather goods that can't be bought in a regular shop or online , but also sticking to traditional ( Al Stohlman) methods. That'll be 5 cents please !! HS

@jcuk Thanks for that. Yes, I have dealt with them in the past, quite good to deal with. I'm on their ' specials' mail list. They occasionally have a bit of a clean out . They were selling a heap of ' slightly imperfect' chrome roo skins really cheap.. I bought over a dozen black & brown skins. Imperfect? I could hardly notice. HS

This is one of my suppliers. I have no idea how much it would cost in freight to the US, but have a look here: https://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/Kangaroo-Skins/pl.php?resetbrand=1 HS

@MaliMac I did remove the shuttle to get to the tension screw, with a bobbin of thread in to get adjusted right.. I tried adjusting it while it was in , but I found it a bit awkward , for me anyway, and I risked damaging the screw, and with my ' fat fumble fingers' it was even more awkward. Others may find it easy to adjust. I also magnetised my screw driver so I didn't lose any tiny screws removing the shuttle.

@CowboyBob Maybe you're right. I just thought if it had an industrial aspect to it, and at $150.00 I might have investigated further. Might not be worth my while then . Thanks anyway HS

I think its a ' Standard' , not STC . I brightened up the pic a bit. I can just make out the faded name.So all I need now is a model number. HS

It would help if I posted a pic eh ?, oops!! https://billsmachinery.com.au/product/stc-sewing-machine-and-cabinet/ HS

G'Day, Every so often I go on a website that sells all sorts of industrial stuff. In the collectible category, theres this sewing machine. Its been there forever, surprised no-one has bought it , even for the historic interest. And after a search, I can't find ' STC Sewing Machines ' ( Standard Telephones & Cables) anywhere. I have STC vintage radios in my shed , but I didn't know they made machines. Its not an industrial machine as in heavy textiles etc. more domestic, but, the large flywheel tells me it has an 'industrial' aspect to it? My thinking also, is that its been re-branded . Looks like it had a leather drive belt? Part of the head has fallen into the bench a bit too far (RHS), cabinet could be rotten, the plate is missing, LHS and looks like it has reverse , and if its been outside, I'm guessing its seized. It maybe obscured by the shadow, but I can't see a take up arm . What do you think? HS

G'Day MaliMac, and welcome to the forum and welcome to a fellow Seiko STW ....' recipient' ? Isle of Skye ? I have 'post card pictures' in my head. Anything like the Shetlands? I'm an ex- Suffolk man myself . I've always used M40 threads on my STW, although I haven't tried other threads, but it works fine. I also had this similar issue when I first got this machine many years ago. I was cursing like a trooper for about an hour trying to get this thing working because it kept missing stitches...... until I worked out what the insy winsy screw was for on the side of the shuttle, just like Uwe said , after that, it worked great. I couldn't stop myself sewing after that, I was so happy I went and had a beer I also worked out what those shiny buttons in the centre are for too. Looks like you have it threaded correctly . Call me biased, but they are a good reliable machine. HS

I had an account with a wholesaler in Pennsylvania, and I bought stock when the Oz $ was reasonably healthy, in the 90's even parity at one point , (stock arrived quicker than Oz post too at times) , but now the Oz $ is in the toilet, currently .66 . But I spent less than $1000- for tax & customs purposes at the time,( had to go through a bit of customs red tape once because I spent over $1000- . Its not financially viable for me to order from the US atm . It would need to be in the mid 80's at least for me to consider ordering from US. I'm only a small operator and not a huge amount of $$$ to spare, especially these days, its been a bit tight. I've only just started to go back to "normal" , ordering stock etc. from Adelaide Leather & Birdsalls. I also have a wholesaler in Ozzy Park, here in Perth ( agent for NSW leather) @Frodo Thanks for the link, when things get better here, I'll certainly consider them. No doubt they sell quality leather , people on here speak highly of them Thanks HS

I occasionally get' this site cannot be reached' or, 'LW.net too too long to respond' etc etc. Pages , emoticons and other parts of the site take a while to load . I know my ' pooter' is old-ish,( um.... XP.. goggle nice & shiny .....don't laugh !!! ) all was good and going quick until about a week or so ago.Did a quick ' service' ,disabled this , that, cleared this 'n' that', defrag etc. , but no change. Every other site I go on, order stock , supplies etc. works just fine. Perhaps more creative peeps are coming onto LW during covid? Which is a good thing HS