FredF

Selling my Cobra Class4. Used it only a handful of times on a couple of practice pieces for what I thought was going to be a new business venture. It is in perfect condition. I prefer local pick up. It is a monster of a machine and I can't even imagine having to disassemble to pack! I am located in South Florida, Ft. Lauderdale area. $2100.

1988, and 4000 miles on it? That's amazing! did somebody forget they had it? Nice bike. I've got a Honda VTX 1300, that I'm slowly making some leather's for. Hopefully I can post something in the next few months.

Paula, I sent you a PM, and have not heard back from you. Please check your mailbox. I'm interested in hearing more about the business, etc. Thank you, Fred

Yes he has. I got my Cobra 4 on Wednesday, and have it up and ready to play with this weekend. Very smooth transaction as well. Fred

Nobears, The carving and tooling is not necessarily artistic. There may be someone who is very skilled at handling tools, who can stamp and carve better than most, that may not necessarily have any artistic inclination at all. There are many companies that manufacture goods, that are designed by an artistic person (a designer). Some of these people that manufacture are mechanical, more than artistic, and can handle the tools with great skill, but not be able to come up with the ideas themselves. There are people of ideas, and there are people of skill (and there are people of both as well). So carving or no carving don't make you artistic. Artistic is having an inclination for coming up with and developing, ideas for artsy types of things. Ok, I'm done waxing philosophical on this artistic / Mechanical conversation. It's making me think too much, and I'm starting to wonder if I know what the H. I'm saying! Although I'm pretty sure that I do.....

I think anyone who creates (or enjoys creating) things that have a visual art component to them could be considered "artistic". It's not so hard to see why someone seeing such a thing might think the person that made it is artistic (even if the object made was copied and making it was purely mechanical). The person seeing this would never know that. I don't think this is the same as being an artist though. I think the Mechanical side is the means to the end. Drafting, Handling the tools, assembling, stitching, finishing, etc. are all mechanical functions. The artist, I think, is the person who has the vision, and can bring that vision to fruition through a complete mastery of the mechanical functions. With regards to "form follows function", it is exactly that: Function is the purpose for the design. Form, is how we make that design appealing. It does not mean that form should be ignored. It shouldn't. Good design doesn't ignore form. It understands the place of both. I don't think an ornamental stitch line is wrong, anymore than ornamental carving is wrong. I don't think a table that can support a 2000 lb. fishtank is good design, if it is not pleasing to look at. It could do both. Ed, there is no way you can say that your bags are only functional. They are functional, yes, but they are also aesthetically pleasing, and that is no accident. You put some thought into that. Made some choices, both is shape and color. Othewise there would be no practical reason to choosing brass over bronze over stainless. There would be no reason for color choice, the shape of the flap, the proportions of some of the elements, etc. There is definetly art involved in these cases. Just my two cents.

So where is the store? And what do you sell? It is ok to sales pitch on this website.

My experience in life, so far, has been that 1. The best thing to do is what you love the MOST. This is a career that you will be able to do your best at, because you will love to go to work every day and will enjoy and really get into what you do. 2. If you don't nail that, then something close to that. As long as you are working in a field that is "in the ballpark" of what you like to do You should still be able to do pretty well and have a reasonable level of enjoyment throughout your career. 3. Stick to what you are good at. If you are good at mechanics, and figuring things out, then maybe engineering, would be a good field, and there are many branches in that field. 4. Don't career hop throughout your life. Decide on something and stick to it. The only way to get good at anything is to spend a lot of time doing it. And as you get older, you'll see that you become more and more knowledgeable, and more of an expert in your field. That is why I think it is important to find a field that you like, or one that is in the ballpark of what you like (or are good at), because it makes the long time you are going to spend doing that job, more enjoyable. But even if you don't nail it or think you picked the "perfect" career, stick with it and get really good at what you do. And best of luck. Everyone goes through this at this stage of their lives. Just try to make a "pretty good" choice. Fred

This will be the second machine Ed, so I think the virus has already set in. But a third? What, like a post bed? Or one of those that sews up the cylinder? I already see that I could also use one of those!! and a strap cutter!! and a skiver!! and a clicker!! Where does it end!?!?!?!?! Rice and beans?? I think me and my family better learn how to survive eating leather scraps! Anybody know a good leather scrap cookbook? Fred

I really appreciate the help. I'm glad I didn't make that mistake. I had already decided on a Cobra Class 4, when at the last moment I saw a listing for that Consew on Craigslist. I figured that it was 1000 dollars less, and if it was as good a machine, then I was going to go for it. Whew! That was close. Thanks to all again, Fred

Thanks Sewmun, Consew still seems to make this machine. Wouldn't they have the feet? Fred

Consew 756 R. Is this a good sewing machine for thick leathers, and is $ 1800 a good price for a 20 yr old machine? Does this compare to the Artisan and Cobra 4's Looking at one today. Thanks for your imput. Fred

I'd like to take about 8 of these. Do you take paypal or how would you arrange payment. what weight or thickness are these? Let me know. Fred

Can't wait to get my hands on one of those. Soon..........real soon..............

Hey Torquewrench. Thanks, No I machine sewed everything with a Consew 206 I got a little over a month ago. Could have used something with a little thicker capability (like an Artisan or Cobra!). Hopefully next time.........

That is a beautiful piece of work. Very good balance of color and texture. I love looking at things like that. Fred

Ian, I wanted to put feet on it, but didn't want to wait anymore to close the whole thing up, and I had already ordered all the hardware. I used a piece of a leather tile sample I had, which is about 1/4" thick. I didn't know what to use. I remember seeing cardboard in cheap bags, but I don't know what expensive bags use. The leather tile is stiff, but a little flexible. Diana, It was just hard for me because every step was something I had never done before so I had to stop and think how things were going to fold, and finish and come together. A real mental challenge for me! I don't think it is a difficult bag to make for someone who knows a little about this. Even hand sewing, although I assume it would be a little more difficult that way. I designed the bag myself (again, I had never made a pattern before or seen one made, so it took some thinking) I drew the bag full scale and then made partial patterns of some of the pieces. Somehow it all came together pretty well so I guess I did something right! The white part is hair on hide. Thank you all, Fred

Thanks Panther, that helps. I have seen liners that look like they are cemented in, but I wasn't sure if they are cemented directly to the leather or to a panel that was then attached to the leather. Fred

I already posted this in the Show off section, but thought I would post it here as well. It is a bag I designed and made for my wife for mother's day. It was a huge challenge for a total novice in this field, but I enjoyed making it, and am very pleased with the outcome. I think I made mistakes on just about every step of the process, but I finished it and the mistakes are not so obvious now (some are!).

Thanks everyone. Art. I thought the liner was one of the hardest things to figure out. I'm sure it is not as hard if you know what you are doing, but I had no idea so it was a real challenge. I guess all assembly is like that. You have to figure out the order in which to sew things together so that in the end everything looks right. All-in-all it took about 15 hours to make this. I think with patterns, and experience it would take about a day or so. I'd love to know how people line their cases and bags. Maybe some of the bag makers on this forum can chime in.

I made this for my wife for mother's day. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I've only owned a machine for a little over a month, and never sewed anything before that. I sewed a few tester pieces, before I dove straight into this huge project. I made dozens of mistakes (including sewing the strap to the bottom..............TWICE!!!!). It was a real mental challenge, but what a huge learning experience. I have to say the two hardest parts by far were figuring out how to do the bottom, and figuring out how (and when) the liner goes in (I don't think I quite figured that out yet!). Anyway, I hope you enjoy and let me know both positive and negative feedback. Fred

Johan, I like the more abstract pattern as well as your doodling examples on your previous post. I guess I'm drawn more to modern things, so in general I have not liked much of the tooling I've seen. I don't know why you don't see more of this older technique applied to more modern patterns. I think you're on to something here. My favorite side of this book cover is the one with the multiple dots. I think it is cool and unique. The more geometric side I don't love as much. Cool stuff and techniques you are exploring. Fred

You should contact Herman Oak, or Wicket and Craig leathers to see if you can get a distributorship down here. If you look at their website they have distributors in other places but not down here. It certainly would make it easier to select the leather than having to purchase blindly online. Good luck, and please post the store name and address so I can stop by.

Wildrose, I think if he has OCD in a clinical sense, then you run a pretty good risk of not being able to please this guy. On the other hand, if he is saying that he is OCD just to let you know that he is very particular then if you feel you can do the job, by all means jump on it. I think challenges like this force us to be more careful and do better work, which ultimately makes us better at what we do. If he is just extremely particular, I personally would take the challenge and work hard to make it the best bible cover out there. If he has OCD I would steer clear, but if you decide to take the job anyway, I would make sure to get paid up front so that you don't expose yourself to a loss. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, I read somwhwere on the internet that the Reliable and Artisan are the best, and that the Yamatas, and Family have that problem. The place I purchased it from said they would swap it for a Consew when the Consews came in (because they are backordered). I'm going to see if I can swap it for a Reliable 3000 or 4000 like you did. Thanks,