esantoro

I read in another post that it's possible to hand crank a powered stitching machine, which is especially nice when you have to make a tricky manuever such as cornering on pockets. I can hand crank my Baby Bull fine. It has no speed reducer. My Super Bull, on the other hand, has a speed reducer and is a bear to hand crank. Is there a way to make hand cranking on this machine easier? Ed

Hi Alex, I'm a bit worried that the backstitching won't hold, and I've noticed on quality bags from Coach and Hermes that the finished off stitches are much neater. What I don't like is the bit of frayed thread that's left at the end. I'd rather it stay in the hole. Perhaps my problem is with the quality of thread I'm using, but I'm pretty sure I'm using good quality bonded polyester 207 and 277, though I don't go through thread that quickly , so the 16 oz rolls are staying around a bit. Good question, Alex. Ed

thanks, Whine, I will order that video. What do you think of these other videos? #0052-00 Secrets of Lacing and Stitching by George Hurst #0049-00 Basic Assembly Techniques by George Hurst #0017-00 Rolled Edges with the French Knife by George Hurst

When I bought my first machine, I was thinking about the boss but wondered why anyone would want to pay $1500 for a hand powered machine when they could get a good enough powered machine for $900 that can do pretty much the same. I did buy a Taiwanese machine, called in various parts a Ferdco Baby Bull, Neel's Model 5, Mach 1, etc., but it's a damn fine machine. I'm sure the Boss, stitch per stitch puts down a nicer stitch, soething coparable with the most expensive machines, but my Tai machine is nothing to sneeze at. It, like the Boss , feeds the leather only with the feed dog and does not have a reverse. Recently, because i saw the real need for a compound feed machine, I bought a machine very similar to the Artisan Pro 4000 and the Ferdco Superbull, but i still prefer working with my Baby Bull, which taught me a lot about reading stitches and tension. it's a machine a feel comfortable experimenting with. I bet you can get one of these machine's raw for about $600, polished up and modified a bit for $800. Ed

Is there a special trick to add to finishing up stitches other than just reversing three or four stitches? For example, maybe, dabbing the end stitches with beeswax, or a tad contact cement if can be applied inconspicuously? Ed

Do any of you know where i can get 5/6 oz chrome tanned or oil tanned that wears similarly to veg tanned? I'm currently waiting for 6 oz baseball glove chrome tanned from the leather guy in MN. I pefer working with veg tanned, and am thinking of starting to work exclusively with 4/5 oz nature tanned, but if I can find oil or chrome tanned that works nicely for aboyt $2.50 sq/ft, I'll go with that. There's a guy on Ebay who has his bags made in Mexico, and I really like the leather he's using. I think it's an oil tanned. Ed

I've been thinking about just that turning the edges in. But it seems like a lot of work on 5/6 oz chrome tanned without a skiving machine. The edges would have to be skived down to 1 oz, yes? Let's say on a 1-1/4" shoulder strap, should I leave 1/4" free on each side of the strap to be turned in? Ed

Thanks, Major. The book is one the way. I ordered it from Tandy a week ago, but UPS lost it. Ed

I make leather briefcase/satchels. Usually I use veg tanned, but now and again I come across a good price for chrome tanned and decide to make a softer bag. Is there a way to burnish the edges of two layers of chrome tanned, perhaps soe sort of rubberized compound for just such a purpose. The well known bag makers seem to do this, but they might be using some fancy and expensive machine. Ed

I've been using the safety beveler mentioned and it works fine, except when I have a partially stitched gusset and I need to get into a small area to skive, especially if I need to reduce bulk around corners. I'm in need of another method for my skiving needs. Have any of you used the paring machines that book binders use. It's a vise-like device with a razor blade that allows you to skive up to 2 inches from the edge. Binders call it a paring machine, even though it's all manually operated. I've seen them on Ebay for no less than $450, but I keep telling myself it's got to be something you can get for $50, if you just wait and look around. I did, however, just order an Osborne 479 skiving knife from Siegel, though I need to learn how to keep such tools sharp. Speaking of sharpening tools, do any of you know good methods for sharpening edge bevelers? Ed