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This helps tremendously. My main goal was to get washers/burrs to fit snugly around a .084" #14 escutcheon pin from weaver. I thought I'd get a pound of the #14 copper rivets and use some of those burrs. The bolt depot is sending me a selection of washers to try. Some have a hole a bit smaller than .08" to which I can take a file to get the snug fit I want. The reason I'm trying to be so precise with the measurements is that I want an extremely snug fit around the escutcheon pin so setting will be short work with a ball-pein hammer. Weaver and Jay-Cee are also my two choices for the #14 copper, but Jay Cee seems to be twice as expensive. Thanks for measuring,Kevin. ed

I have the nasty habit of trying to get the best price, which requires larger quantities. I was thinking of making two molds and was thinking each one would require about 15 lbs. I check out the plumbing angle. After a bit more research, I see that there's soft lead that can be engraved with a fingernail and harder lead. I imagine that I should be looking for the harder stuff. ed

I need to add some #14 copper rivets and burrs to an order with Zack White but first need to check the diameter of the post. If anyone has these #14 copper rivets, could he or she check the post diameter with calipers. I'm expecting the gauging of these rivets to be similar to #14 escutcheon pins, the diameter of which is approximately .083". Thanks, Ed

I also have to change feet in midstream on one or two particular applications. A slight design change may preclude this, though. ed

I've started calling around for scrap lead. Junk yards are yielding nothing so far. But there is a source that charges about $1.50 a pound and free shipping for orders $99 and up. I'd have to ship from California to New York. Is there a particular type of lead I should get? http://www.rotometals.com/Lead-Ingots-s/32...CFQazsgodPx0Q9g It seems like 40lbs of soft lead on Ebay might be the best bet: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?s...o%3D2&fgtp= I gave up one life and a few eyebrow hairs a while back with the lamp fixes. I've got a few more to spare. I can only wonder what project will come after this foray into molten lead. If I had it to do over again, I'd want to be born in medieval Europe. Ed

I should try the leather strip with rouge, but I've been using 800 and 1200 grit sandpaper which works very nicely. A world of difference even on less expensive edgers. ed

I have found the following to be necessary: 1. slotted needle plate, sans feed dog 2. left toe 3. right toe 4. narrow harness makers foot 5. raised holster plate I find myself changing from left to right toe most frequently. ed

Ray, How long approximately does the lead take to cool? ed

Another cool little obsession. I can use my backpacking stove and a cheap pot to do all this outside. Now I've got to do it just for the hell of it. Ray, how thick is your lead block. I was thinking I could get an aluminum, foil, or tin meatloaf pan and make a 4" thick lead block. Ed

Valerie Michael recommends using a lead block and not a steel anvil for doming the ends of solid rivets. Does anyone know where I can find such a lead block? Thanks, Ed

Alex, Richard, and Gary, Thanks for your help in the past. I recently placed an order for some of these locks. Ed

I use the guide for straps. On everything else I crease a stitch line in case I need to move the guide away and eyeball it. Red paint on the center foot sounds like a good idea. ed

Ahh, the "Edge Paint" plot thickens. Will Carlos of LCI fade into oblivion among the jobbers? Will Campbell Randall introduce us to a new and even better product (And where have they been on this topic for the past year?)? Will Midwest Chemical of St. Louis come shining through? Stay tuned till Monday. ed

See, that's the beauty of of it: I don't have to stick anything up the cat. I just aim the laser beam from 20 feet away. You can take this on the street with you to see who's got Swine Flu. ed

With the power on (red light on) but the machine not being operated, energy consumption for 12 hours is .04 kwh. ed

That 18 minutes did include a bit of stopping, starting, oiling, repositioning of leather, etc. I did notice that when I went from slow to fast stitching there was a spike in energy consumption that leveled off. Chances are that there is probably no actual real life stitching scenario I can come up with that would require enough stitching for the motor to consume even .01 kwh. ed

If the red power light is on, but the stitcher is not actually in use, power is still being consumed. I'm not sure how much energy is consumed by a constant 3 watt/.03 amps. I'll leave the power on overnight with the meter attached and report back. I have also heard that leaving the power on when the machine is not in actual use is not good for the motor and will shorten its lifespan. I know that energy rates varyby geography, but what do some of you pay per kilowatt hour? ed

Research a while back told me that "Quebracho" means "The axe-breaker." Found this on Ghurka's website. ed

Now I can say that Walden Bags is a green company. I'm working on the real stuff: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listi...r=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title And I have a couple of black bags I'm finishing up. Does this mean no one wants to hear about my new infrared thermometer pistol and the temperature of the neighbor's cat? ed "It is in procrastination that we work through the complexities of other areas of life. Or it just makes us so behind that we are forced to stay up till 4 am to get the real work done. But the sleep that comes later is bliss." ---Confucious Ed

Thanks for the replies. I found a program that seems to work ok. AVS Editor.

About a year ago I was curious to know how much energy these 441 clones consume. Today, I received a P3 International kilowatt measuring device and have been going around the workshop measuring kwh usage. Please correct me if my usage of kwh is not correct. 1. 75 watt incandescent lamps consume .00133 kwh per minute. 2. 441 with servo motor consumes .0005 kwh per minute. To get this result, I ran the machine with a #25 needle but no thread for 18 minutes straight. Consumption during that time was .01 kwh. Notes: slow, controlled stitching on one or two layers of 5/6 oz chrome tanned pulled 45 watts/1.45 amps. Four layers of the same pulled 48 watts/1.66 amps. Moderately fast stitching of one or two layers of 5/6 oz chrome tanned pulled 72 watts/1.58 amps. Sitting idle the machine draws 3 watts/.03 amps As we get older, the toys only become more practical. Ed

couldn't you just replace the 220 motor with a 110 motor, if there is no way to change something internal on the 220 motor, though there might be a way to do that? ed

It might be as simple as neatsfoot oil and then Tuff Kote (from Weaver). ed

If you want to be able to send your customer a simple solution, or just point him to a product, I second MadMax on sno-seal, which does work well, as does Fiebing's Snow Proof. Aussie Wax is also a good choice. ed