TonyRV2

See the preceding post. Perhaps he has something there, thanks. The problem still happens to me EVERY time I go to SLC...and ONLY SLC. Please fix this, its aggravating.

Chrome tanned leathers can be soft and sticky when it comes to feeding through the machine and it looks like in the lower right part of the wallet that the material shifted on you. Have you glued the pieces together prior to sewing? This should help. Also, a part of the problem is the marks left on the leather from the feed dog. Try loosening the presser foot tension a little. You need enough pressure to reliably feed this kind of material but not so much that it leaves a bad impression on the top or bottom. A smooth rather then toothed presser foot or even a roller presser foot would be a good idea here. I magnified the photo and it also looked like the knots were showing in a few spots. Since this is the bottom side you can fix that by slightly increasing the upper thread tension. ...Tony

A few months ago I purchased a Cowboy CB3200 cylinder arm and a Juki DNU-1541 about 2 weeks after that. Each have there particular strengths in materials, thickness and thread sizes. The Cowboy is good for thread sizes from 138 up to 346 and up to 5/8" (40oz) of stacked leather. The Juki is good for thread sizes from 69 to 138 and up to 3/8" (24oz) of stacked leather. I thought these two machines complemented each other very well. I was fortunate, having just sold my boat, to be able to buy both machines at the same time (without an objection from the mrs. ) If you're purchasing one of the 3 machines that you've listed, I naturally am going to recommend the Juki. I looked at it this way...the others, which I'd also considered, are Juki clones and made in China. Juki's are made in Japan and viewed as having better quality control. Why by the clone especially for just a few hundred more you can have the original article. Well, I guess really the original article was the Singer 111W155, but we're not talking relics here. Though if a good deal came along I would probably purchase that Singer as well, on just the coolness factor alone. Anyways, with just the one machine you will be somewhat limited no matter which one you go with. No problem, because you'll have many, many projects that are well suited for that one machine. Later on down the line, like many that are serious about their craft, you'l add another, and then perhaps another, and then perhaps just one more.... ...Tony

Ohhhhhh......Gene Kelly.....Shouldn't it have been lined with Gene material then? Great post...I've downloaded the PDF as well, thanks!

I just recently went through this same dilemma and asked much the same question, as have countless others apparently have, as to what the "best machine" for sewing leather would be. I was duly thrashed for my ignorance. Well, perhaps thrashed is too strong a word. There is no one machine that is going to do everything, which explains the variety of styles of machines...posts, cylinders, and flat beds basically. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to sewing machines, but I can relate what I've learned so far. Post and cylinder style machines are for thicker leathers, flat bed for thinner leather. All machines have limits as to the size of thread and the thickness of leather that they can handle. It behooves you to study thread sizes and the typical threads that are used for the projects that you do. That, and the thicknesses of the leather you use will give you a better insight as to which machine will best suit your immediate needs. More than a few people said that I should start off with a cylinder arm machine like a Cobra 4 or a Cowboy CB3200 or CB4500. These machines are well suited to the knife sheaths, belts and holsters that I make. Not so well suited though for my thinner projects like handbags and such. I did wind up purchasing a Cowboy CB3200 knowing it was limited on the thin stuff down to about 6oz of stacked leather with a comfortable minimum thread size of #138 thread. It will sew up to 5/8" of stacked leather. I then went ahead and also purchased a Juki 1541 flatbed machine for the thinner stuff. It's good for up to 3/8" material but more importantly, it will handle very thin materials as well and can use #69 up to #138 thread, so its a great complement to the other machine. Both machines have servo drives which is important in terms of being quiet and also for speed control. The Cowboy also has a speed reducer which makes stitching slowly, but still with a lot of torque, very easy. I also looked over the used market for months before just purchasing new machines. Cylinder arm machines are a rarity, and most flatbeds looked to me like they'd been run through the mill. I finally fell back on an old lesson I'd learned many times before...buy once, cry once.

Though I've never used a sew in magnetic closure, my first instinct would be to mark a circle around the closure where it is to be placed on the leather and then use a two prong pricking iron to mark the stitches around the circle, then hand sew the closure in place. Perhaps others will be along with more experience with this type of closure.

Who's Kelly??

I've been having the same thing happen to me whenever I go to the Springfield page...loads up for a couple hundred milliseconds and immediately redirects to the login page. Yes, it is frustrating...and if a cookie is causing it, then SL should fix their cookies.

Antiquing I don't believe was ever meant to color in places like you're trying to accomplish here...it was meant only as a highlight. Its obvious here to me that the paste was left on the belt much thicker than it was ever meant to be. The idea is to lightly apply a resist (tan kote works) to seal up the high spots, then to spread the antiquing paste over the entire piece. After letting the paste sit for 15 or 20 minutes it is then wiped off vigorously. The low areas which got very little resist are now highlighted. At least this is the way that I understand it. To do what you want to do I would suggest you paint with a dye or an acrylic to get that desired affect.

For patterns that are too large for one manila folders you can also purchase manila pattern stock in rolls which come most commonly in 48" rolls similar to kraft paper. Lately though I've been sketching patterns on kraft paper and transferring to them to Texon or Bontex bag stiffener for a more permanent pattern.

The one that I'd purchased is infinitely adjustable since it adjusts using a sort of rack and pinion gear arrangement. I can snug right up to the presser foot or dial it out about 1.5 inches or so (38mm). I'll measure it tomorrow to make sure that's about right. There's also a locking screw on it to keep it from moving in or out once dialed in.

I just installed a roller guide on my Juki 1541 and like it a lot. I'm a novice at sewing but was able to sew perfectly straight uniform stitches all the way around on a strap that I was working on. I would have never pulled it off without the guide. I thought about getting the presser foot style guides but after I saw I needed 4 sets to cover various offsets I decided for price and flexibility the roller was the way to go. The only downside was that the way it mounted on the Juki interferes a bit with the hand actuated foot lever just making it a little more awkward to reach. The guide does swing upwards and out of the way when not in use. It's a Chinese import bought on Ebay but I was surprised at how nice it was overall.

Alexander...thanks for posting those videos. I watched them last night and thought they were very informative. Even though my Cobra is still new, its good to have this kind of information handy for future reference. I'm looking forward to the future videos. Good work!

I just purchased within the last month two new sewing machines. A Cowboy CB3200 and a Juki DNU-1541. Both have servo motors and the Cowboy also has a speed reducer. The speed reducer on the Cowboy allows me to very comfortably stop the needle in any position of its stroke, for instance if I want the needle poking down into the leather so I can lift the foot and make a turn. This is with the servo controller itself tuned to its lowest speed. The Juki has a servo motor buy no speed reducer. The servo controller on the Juki can also be tuned via turning a knob. I have it at its lowest setting which will still reliably run the machine as when its turned down all the way, there's not enough motor torque to run the machine against its own resistance. Anyway, at this setting I can still run quite slowly and USUALLY stop the needle in its stroke where I want it. I'm getting much better at it, but it has taken just a little bit of practice. All in all, I'm still very happy with the Juki and don't really feel that I need a speed reducer with it. Just be aware that the foot control is more touchy without the reducer. I've learned just to give it a slight push to get the needle going, and if I push just a little harder the needle stitches at a constant quicker rate...defining where that borderline is, is the key and takes some practice to get a feel for it. With the Cowboy and the speed reducer, that window is much larger.

It doesn't look like mold to me, which was my first thought. I wonder if it isn't something in the leather itself that's starting to come through...bug bites for instance. By scrubbing with acidic liquids I see you've removed a good deal of the finish from the leather which would in turn expose more of what's underneath. This would explain why the spots have become more numerous as you scrubbed. My advice is to have the purse redyed and refinished.

The aversion is that you pay 2 or 3 times as much because it says "Barge" on the can. MEK is MEK no matter who puts it in the can.

The correct solvent for regular Barge contact cement is Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK). You can purchase this in quart cans and larger at various hardware stores. A google search will turn them up for you. Note that this is the correct solvent only for Barge, no others, as they all use different stuff.

Josh...I just wanted to point out that I'd mistakenly called the Consew a 441 clone...no...its the Cowboy, among a lot of others, that are copies of that machine.

I'm no expert, but I'm sure they'll be around shortly. I just went through the process of purchasing a sewing machine and was looking for the 'one size fits all' solution which is like finding a unicorn in a pasture of spaghetti bushes. I was duly thrashed...well...not really...but I could see it on their virtual brows, that feeling of "oh no...not another one". lol Anyway, I've found that something like a Consew 1206RB (Juki 441 clone), a flat bed machine, will sew up to 3/8" leather and likes the lighter stuff. I'll be purchasing this, or one like this in the next few days. I've already purchased a Cowboy CB3200 for heavier applications. From the sounds of it, for what you do, you'd be better off with something like the Consew or similar, and maybe, since you don't do a lot of heavy stuff, go to hand stitching for that.

I see....sorry for the confusion. Edit: Just looked over your price list and it looks very competitive. Approximately how much would it be to ship, for instance, a double shoulder to the U.S., or for whatever your minimum order might be.

I saw nothing about pricing on your website. I see that you have a price list available for asking via email, but I think you'd be hard pressed to get many takers unless you post prices on your site as well as shipping costs, just as a matter of convenience. All online companies that I deal with do this. Of course, just my opinion. Good luck with your new company.

Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Mark...I suffered from newbie to sewing machines syndrome going into this but I'm over it now. In fact I'll be ordering the CB3200 this afternoon, and then I need to go down to the car dealership to buy a Mini Cooper to haul lumber and cinder blocks in.

Thank you to everyone that has responded, I know these things have been discussed ad nausaum. Yeah JL, I considered just doing the thicker stuff by hand, but I'm now at the point where I believe I will be buying the Cowboy CB3200 and then, over the next few months look for a used flat table machine which seem to be found rather commonly in order have something set up for thinner leather.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just got off the phone with Alexander at Solar Leather Machines and he advised that for what I want to do that the CB3200 or (something he thought would be better) the CB3200 Pro which apparently a little heavier duty, has a heavier stand and a sewing area which is more accessible. He didn't seem to think that the optional table platform would do much good in sewing thinner leathers and also indicated that the minimum thickness that could be sewn would be about 6oz stacked...and then only with careful adjustment. This last part worries me a bit considering its my first machine. So I guess my new question to the group is this: Has anyone sewn thinner garment leathers with this model and what was your experience? Thanks in advance for you help!