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I have been able to adjust the to and fro placement of the inner presser foot on a 441. I've also been able to adjust the rotation of the outer presser foot on this machine, but is it also possible to adjust the front to back placement of the outer foot? I need optimum placement of the inner and outer presser feet when used with the curved hump of a raised stirrup plate. Might anyone know which screw makes this adjustment? Thanks, Ed

beautiful bags.

I backstitch by hand with harness stitching needles 4-6 holes.

I've never done it. but I'd like to get that type of leather'

Thanks for this great post on laser engraving machines. Ed

I've had some customers ask about custom engraving and stenciling (the latter for journals not bags). I have a few questions about getting started in researching options. How much would it cost to get into the following machines: 1. An adequate laser engraving machine 2. A stenciling machine 3. An engraving machine for stainless steel, sterling silver, and brass plates. Thanks, Ed

looks like 346 nylon to me.

I thought the only difference between those two machines is that the 146 can do zig zag as well as straight stitch. I do like like this little machine. I can take it out for a few tasks and then put it away. It puts down a nice stitch. ed

Hi John, You've got to get Sailrite's Monster II balance wheel for your Consew. Difference between night and day. ed

I finally put this little machine into production use. Very nice. I was able to pull it out from underneath my work table, prep some suede pockets in just a couple of minutes, then put it away and get back to other work. I don't even need to plug it in, as the hand cranking wheel is enough. Ed

Just got back from Michael's. Picked up some acrylic paints in squeeze tubes. I think they are all heavy body, but only the Liquitex reads such on the tube. The Grumbacher and Windsor & Newton were a bit cheaper than the Liquitex. Black was easy to find (Mars Black and Ivory Black) but for brown I had to go with a Burnt Umber. I'll post pics of my R&D. Ed

fantastic work!

welcome to the forum.

Hi Art, When I was in the Hermes store the other day talking to the leather craftsman and having him critique my bag, I noticed a jar of Meltonian shoe cream on his work table. Do you think this would work well for edges? http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/s...it_1991_4719408 Thanks, Ed

Hi Luke, I just ordered some brown edge kote. i'm also heading to the art store tomorrow to pick up a few colors of heavy acrylic. Edge kote comes in only black in brown. Is there something one can do to alter the shade? I'm also want to take Art's advice and look into some shoe polish. If I remember correctly, the polish that comes in the little round glass jars does look a lot like edge kote. Thanks for the pics of the WC chestnut. Good looking stuff. ed

Nice sheaths, Luke. Did you dye the edges with black edge kote? ed

Hi Brent, How is it going with the edges? I'm thinking of heading out to Michaels tomorrow to some acrylics. Would you say heavy body is the same as deep body? I'm thinking of getting these: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/display...oductNum=fa0297 I'm going to try to use polyester felt folded over and about the width of the edge I'm dying to apply the acrylic paint. Did you have to thin the paint at all? Thanks, Ed

You've got to love the background music for these heavy stitchers.

Hi John,This is a slightly oiled chrome tan. I'll leave it as it is, though I am thinking of starting to dye some veg tan.Thanks for the compliments and thank you to all who have helped out with my obsession over getting just the right tension settings.Ed Thanks, spider.

I have this fantasy that this machine will allow me to split an 6" wide 8 oz strip of leather down to 4/5 oz in 1.5" increments. But now that I think about it, if I'm willing to spend $350 for a machine that might do this with some patience, why not spend $500 to $600 for a 12" or 8" hand crank splitter. Would such a splitter have an open ended side to allow me to do six to nine inches on one side of a 12" to 18" piece of leather side and then do the same on the other side? Ed

I don't know. I sure am tempted to buy this machine and give it a try. It just looks so well engineered. Valerie Michaels use one for 6 oz or thicker veg tan in her book (though I think it's the Brockman type) , but I know to trust your experience, Bruce. I'll email the company and ask if I can return it if it doesn't suit my needs. It would probably be easy to sell later for the same price. Would it be redundant both to skive a gusset edge and gouge about a half inch from the edge? ed

In reading Ghurka's website the other night, I noticed that that Ghurka gets its leather from Spain and Italy. Siegel has some "Spanish leather" in colors that sound very intriguing. By any chance is Spanish leather something like Spain's version of bridle leather? ed

I just put in an order for some black and brown linhanyl with Artisan. They sent me a sample of the Linhanyl natural, which is too white for my tastes. I was told over the phone that they do have a "sand" color, which is similar to the natural on the Rice color chart, which Artisan has on its website. This sand color is the regular price of $18 a spool, not like the others which are on sale for $12 a spool. Ed

I'm pretty stingy with my scraps, as I'm always using them to test stitch on or test edge, or test paint, or test anything. ed

I've been experimenting with using edge coat on edges with polyester felt. Not sure is this is the stuff to use. Picked it up at a fabric store. It seems that others are talking about wool felt to make burnishing wheels. Is wool felt also to be used for painting edges with edge kote? This polyester felt seems too stringy and hairy and causes some edge kote to go astray. By the way, does anyone know where to get paper gum? Ed