CHT

Thank you Mike. We know both of those firms. District is not that far from us.

Hi: Wondering if anyone knew if there was a leather splitting service in or around the east Tennessee Knoxville area? Thank you Chuck

Thank you

Hi: We broke a needle in the TechSew 1660 and the clutch will not release. Tried the handle and clutch button separately and together and still does not release. Was wondering in anyone had some ideas how to get it to reset? Thank you Chuck

Thank you, is not black, looks more like mildew. Can wipe it off, but if you leave it alone for a while and it reappears. Going to follow your advice along with the guy who said add a fan to the storage area. Thank you Chuck

Thank you. Also saw a video on using diluted lemon juice with water, then when drying (air dry) and apply neetsfoot and buff. Like the idea of the fan. Thank you for that input. Chuck

Hi: We live in the east Tennessee mountains and build some leather products that we sell on our site. It is wet here and we store our hides in a flat area that has an outside wall (concrete filled) that faces the mountain. We have noticed that some of the hides have a form of mold, especially ones that we have had for a while. Someone we know whom we sent some products to evaluate noticed that the two products they used daily were fine, but the others when left in the box formed a soft milky like substance which we are thinking is mildew or mold. Is there a way to clean these hides without damaging the leather? Thank you Chuck

Hi: Some of the hides we get that are veg tan come in a bit opaque when new. When we want to clean up the image we have been hand buffing with canvas, but this takes a long time. Was wondering if anyone else had found a way to shorten this process? Thank you Chuck

Thank you both, we look into the Columbus wax.

Hi: Was wondering if there is a material or method that can be used to seal seams on a given project. For example if you are building a wallet and have several thin layers that come out to the edge, multiple stacked card folders for example, is there a method or material that will fill in the exposed seams to give a smooth edge? We've been sanding and that gets the edges uniform but a small seam line still shows. Thank you Chuck

Thank you

Hi: Looking for a good source of colored true vegetable tanned leather and wondered if some on here would have some info. Thank You Chuck

Thank you Ferg, makes sense. We re timed the machine and then stitches looked better but needle failure. So larger makes sense. Thank you Rahere for the thought. We need to stay with machines for now. 138 is not a whole lot thicker than 92 so will give that a try.

Hi: We are building some new things that, at one point are thicker. When we sew 3 pieces of veg tan together it comes to about 22 - 24 ounces of leather. We have been breaking needles and wondered if we should be moving up in size and thread? This is on a Juki 1508, using Schmetz size 21 needles and Superior Thread 92 size bonded nylon. Anyone have input and thoughts? Thank you Chuck

Thank you.

Was at a show, first day back and Schmetz needles are here. Will test this week. Was wondering if the thread might also be an issue. We are using Superior #92 bonded nylon, Thank you again Chuck

Thank you, again. That makes a lot of sense. I know Bob and will give him a call and see what he says about what he has. It is frustrating now that things are often not what they seem and we have to check and test everything. That last point sounds like that may be a possible solution. When this happens (almost always on this material going to less thick) we hear a sort of sound like the impact of the down stroke at bottom is hitting harder. That seems to be correlated to the then messed up bottom stitches. So we will also research that. The machine is relatively new (got back in May or so) and does not seem to have many issues with lighter material. Also notice that Schmetz seems to be preferred by many other leather workers. Will get some Schmetz as soon as they open (if he is there today) or on Monday. Appreciate the help.

Thank you for that. Looking at that item we make and the front piece that attaches to the back piece (spine) only has about .75 inch of attachment at the top and bottom. So skiving that part is a good idea and will try that. Would reduce the thickness quite a bit. We like the design that we have there but is also an issue sewing it. Would be a major hassle to have to change tension for about an inch on the top and bottom. Question: We are using ORGAN DPX17DIA size 20. So would you think at 21 or 23 would work with 92 thread? If needle size would do this is a much simpler solution. Thank you again. Chuck

Thank you Ferg, was afraid of that. Interesting that after you have a couple of bad stitches it evens out. So,, guess we will test since this is a regular thing we do and get some tension settings for the heavy and then the little less heavy and change them as the stitches move from one area to the next, Best Regards Chuck

HI: We recently purchased a Juki 1508. Good machine. We are building a variety of leather items using , mostly, veg tan. Weights run from 11 ounce to 3 ounce. The machine works well but, on occasion, we will get birds nest stitches on the bottom. Pictures attached. This happens, mostly, when we are sewing heavier things that go from heavy to a lighter part of the item. Example, a binder we do puts two 11 ounces pieces together on the back and the stich line drops off from about 22 ounces to around 14 ounces. We seem to see this when the depth of what we are sewing changes. Would be grateful for any suggestions on how to address this. Thank you Chuck