Erfan

Thanks guys, think I was being a little overall paranoid (I do have a bit of hypochondria), don't really do any sanding and if I do in the future I'll wear a mask. Have slowly been replacing the materials I use with less harmful ones such as the eco-weld glue instead of contact adhesives. I also don't do any spraying of the dye, just use daubers to apply it onto the leather - although I must admit I have been a little slack with wearing gloves and have gotten dye on my fingers, but have been much more careful, more recently and I use gloves now pretty much for the whole process of making my items. I'm going to be moving my work table out of the house into our double garage too just to keep our study a little cleaner. Just been paranoid recently over the crap I've done in my 20s without full protection (using spray paints, sanding wood/metal etc). I'm much more vigilant these days (early 30's), better late than never to start with protection :D

Hey All, I've been leathercrafting casually for about 2 years now and am mostly involved with making watch bands using vegetable tanned leather (roughly 10 or so hours a week). I use contact adhesive and for the first year/year and a half was using it without a mask, now wear a mask with a filter but can sometimes still smell the fumes so am going to change to using the eco-weld glue (I'm guessing no mask really needed for this glue?). I'm not really sanding any of the leather (have sanded just a couple times using a dremel stupidly without a mask), but I do a fair bit of cutting, skiving, burnishing with gum tragac etc and am not wearing a mask for the full duration of making the product, I do see leather particles and fibers on my work table and use a small usb vacuum cleaner now to clean most of it up, but that's more recently. I've read a bit online about the carcinogenicity of leather dust and am now a little scared, especially as my work table is in my study at home where both myself and my wife spend a bit of time (this is also where I store my hides) - do I need to worry too much about possible small level exposures from making watch bands? I'm guessing (as with most carcinogens) it mainly is an issue for people in the industry breathing the dust constantly every day (and even then not all are affected?) and not really an issue from just manually cutting and skiving as you're not really kicking up any dust and the particles created are too large to be of concern? Would appreciate any help, do you think I need to change anything or move my table? have a bit of anxiety and I think I'm maybe overthinking it all a bit too much.

Cheers mate, I tried 207 thread in the bobbin and on top and it seemed to work fine! had to reduce the tension for it to work but no issues after that. Thanks for the tips re buying separate bobbin cases, never thought of that! Just need to work on setting it right so that the knot is nicely centered in the leather and not visible...

The guy I bought it from used it a couple of times to sew leather patches into jackets, but another business venture took off so he just put it aside and then 2 years later decided to sell it. It certainly looks very new and came with all the books/receipts etc., Now I just have to get the hang of using it and getting the tensions right! Do I have to play around with the tension of the top/bottom threads every time I change the leather thickness??

Thanks mate, was a lucky Gumtree find! I've been told I can use it reliably on veg tan leather up to 6mm thickness, it can certainly handle that (plus more I reckon, but won't test that). Certainly much better than the other older machines I was looking at - so very happy indeed!

Thanks for that! The machine has a knee pad for lifting the feet, do I just lift it like that and run it at high speed? Do I need to oil any parts manually or is it fully automatic with the oiling?

Thanks mate - I'm definitely very happy with the machine (especially as I was looking at older vintage machines that would probably need a fair bit of work for more...). I've attached pics of my machine - I've tested it out a bit a seems to be working well, just need to get my head around thread tensions for a nice even stitch. Also looking at roller guides on eBay, seems like they may fit...

Hi All. This is my first post here - I've been lurking these forums for a while now but decided to create an account and start posting! I've been looking at leather sewing machines over the past few weeks, I found a few old industrial machines (singer and pfaff) along with some domestic machines (singer 201's). After a lot of research I decided I would splurge out and buy a cylinder arm walking foot for about $2500 AUD, I was about to make a payment but then I found a Typical GC0617D for $450 AUD - with table and in great condition (hardly used) so bought it, brought it home and have it all set up. I'm quite happy with the price, especially given the almost new condition the machine is in, from my research online I found it is a compound walking foot that can take thread sizes up to #138/M20, although I did test it out with M15 and it seemed to handle that Ok it is an auto oil system, but don't know much about the brand... My questions are - does anyone know much about the brand and this type of sewing machine? There isn't much information online and I'm guessing it's a clone of another model? Also, this machine is meant to be an industrial machine, however all the industrial machines I saw online had a large motor beneath the table whereas this one has a motor attached to the actual sewing machine... Would this be an issue for sewing leather? Can industrial sewing machines have this type of motor? I'm mainly looking at sewing leather satchels, wallets, card holders and maybe watch straps and belts, would this machine be able to handle all that fine? I've already tested it with a few different types of leather and it has handled everything fine (including a bridle belt and 3x layers of 2mm thick veg tan) but don't want to kill it by pushing it beyond its capabilities. Final question - where would I find a roller guide for a machine like this? The backside seems to have holes for a bracket to fit, however they are used up by the LED light bracket currently. Thank you all - would be great to hear back regarding this machine, I'm currently hand stitching all my work but would like to use this machine once I learn a bit more about it and become a little more competent with machine sewing.