Arturomex

Perhaps it's a "local" supply problem. This Covid thing really seems to have buggered up a lot of production/shipping. I last paid $19.14 CDN (approx. 10.94 GBP) for an 8oz spool of brown #92 bonded nylon. Just checked the Techsew site, where some of my thread comes from and they have light brown, brown and dark brown in stock. I realized that's not much help, Toxo, but there is brown thread out there somewhere. Regards, Arturo

I believe they will. Campbell-Randall has a large listing of parts here: https://www.campbell-randall.com/shop/fav-fratelli-alberti I'd suggest giving them a call for confirmation. Really nice people to deal with and great service. Regards, Arturo

This system is also be known as DP X 16. As Brian pointed out, leather point needles in this system are designated as a "16" while fabric point needles are designated with a "17." No change in the needle size, just the point. So a 135 x 16 needle is the same as a DP X 16 needle and a 135 x 17 is the same as DP X 17. Not sure but I think you might find the 200/25 size needles a bit big for 207/T 210 thread. I use Organ needles occasionally but prefer Schmetz. I have a PDF copy of the Organ catalogue I found online but can't load it here for you because it exceeds the allowable size. Schmetz and Groz-Beckert both have point style charts online as well. It won't take much digging to find them if you're interested. Sorry I can't give you links but I downloaded them as PDF's and didn't bother bookmarking them. Regards, Arturo

I buy those heavy, firm felt pads that go on the bottoms of furniture legs and cut them into strips about half an inch wide and then cut a piece off that just a touch wider than the edge I'm going to dye. I have a little clamp on a stick that I hold them with but as Bill said, a clothespin will do the trick. The felt is nice and firm and holds and releases the dye well. And, as Bill said, burnish the heck out of the edges and let them dry before you apply the dye. A lot of that bleed is, I think, due to capillary action and sealing the edge fibers will help eliminate that. Right now I'm using a little "bath" system that for dying the edges of belts. Basically it's a small tank of dye with a longer piece of felt immersed in the dye. The dye wicks up into the felt, which is proud of the top of the dye "tank" and the belt edge can be run over the felt horizontally. When time permits I'd like to build a little "guide" that will allow me to set the height of the edge relative to the top of the felt. If you do go the edge paint route, don't burnish your edges first. Sand them down but remember that, unlike dye, the paint needs something to adhere to. Regards, Arturo

I haven't been sending anything out but I've been receiving a lot of things in Canada over the last three months. Everything from overseas came via courier and came quickly. Some things ordered in late June came USPS and it was slow but not terrible. One package from the US was sent to Canada with a courier who then sent it on via Canada Post. What the...? But it worked. At the moment I've been waiting longer than six weeks (yeah, I remember that disclaimer, Chuck LOL) for a package that was sent USPS. When I ordered I asked the vendor if there was any other option than USPS but they were adamant that that's how they shipped and that it would be here in less than two weeks. When it became apparent that my order wasn't going to be here in two weeks I found exactly the same things in the Orient, ordered from them and it actually cost less money. Lower price on the product, lower price on the shipping and it was here in eleven days. I have a bunch of stuff going out on Monday and it'll be going courier. I've given up on Canada Post and USPS. Regards, Arturo

Honestly, if you're confident that a 2750/CB341/Class 26 is going to have the capability to do everything you want to do, I don't think you'll go wrong with any one of them. Lots of accessories available and lots of online documentation. These three are essentially the same machine. There's a $10.00 spread on the baseline price between them (accessories may vary) and I think the biggest difference you might find is the cost of shipping. I opted for the 4800 for a few reasons. It allows me to sew short runs of 277 thread with 207 on the bottom (and I can - tried it out this afternoon) on occasion, I like the automatic presser foot climbing mechanism and bobbin winder as well. But mostly it was about thread size. I've read several online articles/forum posts and and seen some videos where people were talking about sewing with 207 - 138 with the 2750 and they seemed very happy On the other hand, there are also a lot of claims that these machines really top out at 138 on top but I don't think any of the vendors who advertise here would exaggerate the thread sizes they claim. The 4800 lets me sew 207 top and bottom or 207 - 138 day in and day out without any hassle and it does it very well so I'm pleased. As I said, the automatic needle position function doesn't get used much here and the table attachment hasn't seen a lot of action either. Don't seem to need it much but I am happy to have it when I want it. Hope you'll enjoy your new machine. Arturo

I'm going to throw something else into the mix. Have you considered a Techsew 4800 (Juki LS 1342 clone)? A few months ago I literally opened the Techsew site to purchase a 2750 and spotted the 4800. Did a little investigation with the help of the Forum and I bought the 4800. Lots of nice features and it'll sew 207 thread top and bottom through heavy veg tan all day long. Ron from Techsew told me it'll sew 277 on top with 207 on the bottom but I haven't tried that yet. (Note: He advised that if 277 thread is something you're going to use a lot, you need a heavier stitcher.) I bought the "Pro" package and I'm very happy with it. The only thing I don't really use is the needle positioning system. Yes, it's more money but I also think it offers more value. Regards, Arturo

I recently received packages in Canada from two different Korean suppliers. The shipping time in both cases was about two weeks using a delivery service. The difference was the time it took the suppliers to ship the orders. One outfit had it out the door in a couple of days. The other took a more leisurely approach to putting the order together so I'd say a lot of it is down to how efficient/well stocked the supplier is. As a side note, I've been waiting over a month for some sewing machine needles from the US. Some kind of "International Arrival Scan" excuse. I don't understand why a company like DHL, FedEx or Purolater can move something to me in 8 or 9 days while the postal system takes weeks to accomplish the same thing. I don't know if you have the same option in England but if you can, take advantage of the option to pay the duties and taxes online. It really makes the delivery process a lot easier. Regards, Arturo

Hey, thanks for those replies. How well does that Giardini roller box work, Tor? I'm actually waiting right now for a couple of those new wands like the ones @garypl posted. I'd really like this edge paint thing to work out but I'm still on the fence about it and I have to make a decision fairly soon about whether or not to pursue it further this year. Winter is approaching and I like to have all my liquids in before the freezing weather arrives. Giardini is on the Italian summer break right now so I have until the end of the month to decide. In the interim, I've been making folded edges. A little finicky at times but the results are really nice. Regards, Arturo

What's your location and what's your price?

Good choice. I can't speak for others but I think a bell skiver is one of the best investments I've made in a long time. I hope you'll feel the same way. Please, keep us posted. Regards, Arturo

My understanding is that those Nippy feet would fit any comparable machine. If you'd be kind enough to share what Nippy has available, it'd be appreciated. Wiser people here have advised to get a machine with vacuum. I balked at the price for that and opted not to. If I was doing it again, I'd go for the vacuum. Regards, Arturo

I don't know if those are Nippy presser feet or not. I've been trying to track these guys down for a while. On Youtube, the notes attached to the video Jimi posted are in Vietnamese. The website doesn't seem to exist anymore and a search for the trading company that was (is ?) out of Taiwan hasn't brought me any joy. I also would like to get some presser feet from these guys but I think I'm going to go with Campbell-Randall instead just to save headaches. I'm told that Nippy makes good machines but you certainly don't need to go that route. TechSew, Cowboy and Cobra all offer their version of this clone. I recently got a TechSew SK-4 and I'm very happy with it. While I haven't had to call them about this machine I've talked with their service department about a sewing machine I have and there's a lot to be said for being able to easily communicate with a vendor. You referenced "higher temper Herman Oak 3-4oz (1-2mm) leather." It might be a good idea to see how well your leather skives with the supplied presser feet. They can change the leather substantially. Brian (RockyAussie) says he does everything with a roller foot. (Check his videos -he shows how he modified the roller foot.) As a novice, I'm not sure but I think a roller type foot mitigates a lot of the problems caused by using the regular presser feet on, say, tooling leather. Maybe someone with more experience can comment about that. Regards, Arturo

That's great! Are all those fish from the eggs in your pond?

You're not just limited to the edge of the leather, either. There are heads available that will allow you to "freehand" anywhere on the surface. To expand on what Spyros said, it's very common to heat and rework edge paint like Fenice after it's been applied. It's really nice to have a good, constant temperature when you're doing that kind of thing. It looks like Spyros got a good deal.

I'm curious about the construction of the cartridge cases. Are they open at the bottom?

Thanks!

That's great! Beautiful! Any chance of a longer clip? This one is only a teaser.

Nice work there. Regards, Arturo

That's very cool. I found some of the information in the National Park Service "Consvervogram" Number 9/1 from July, 1993 most interesting. Regards, Arturo Convservogram.pdf

Hey, thanks, Frodo.

Not looking to jack this thread but what does "run 1 needle size down" mean?

Yeah, that's my concern as well, Chuck. Then again, once they get saturated it might not be so bad. I'll report back when I've tried out a few options.

They're between 1.0 and 2.0mm. If I recall correctly, you glass and then use edge paint. This might not help with your process but I got a pack of felt at Home Depot labelled as Everbilt "Heavy Duty Felt Blankets." It's that stuff you put under chair legs and whatnot to stop them scratching the floor. I got two 4.25 X 6 inch pieces in the pack. It's really dense, firm stuff about 2.6mm thick and it doesn't seem to shed at all. I just cut strips to size, buck pieces off the strips, fasten them to handles and I'm good to go for dye application. I'm going to try them out with the edge paint as per @fredk and see how that works. Next time I can I'm going to head to Superstore for the spongy bits and try them out as well. Like you, I get the best results with an awl but I'm getting into a run of handbags and staring at a few yards of edge finishing. Was hoping to find a quicker way to get it done.

Those look interesting, Amigo. I know I've seen something like that somewhere, it's the somewhere that eludes me at the moment. LOL Let me tug on your sleeve about Tokonole, please. I just got a bottle of the regular (clear) stuff and I'm not having the success I'd hoped for. I've been trialing it on some veg tan. It seems to take a long time to set up, it never seems to set completely, it seems to have a sticky feel to it even after burnishing and I can't seem to get it to buff up to any appreciable gloss. Does that sound anomalous based on your experience? I'm wondering if I got a bad bottle.