Burkhardt

Have you done anything with any of their veg tan as in tooling and the norm on veg?

I was getting from whoever on Ebay and the last few places I ordered from the posts were narrower at the top so a regular setter wouldn't work without using a punch to open up the post then finish with line 24 setter. I even specifically asked the seller about the posts and showed the difference in a picture and still sent the wrong ones. They work but with a extra step.

I use the little cut off wheels but as long as you shorten to the right length and keep all fingers attached is the most important. You'll notice right away with the right length but don't expect to roll over a lot of length, hammer till it won't spin.

The post can bend which will make them crooked but if you don't beat on them to much to deform the pieces it boils down to looks. If you have a little sander or Dremel take a little length out of the post.

As @jrdunn said if you look the posts are to long and it's bending the posts and disforming the caps. Grind/shorten them so when by hand when you push the cap down there's maybe 1/16th to a 1/8th sticking up and don't over set them. When you can't spin the pieces is the hardest you want set them, don't go by how much it rolls the lip over.

The best and kind of rule of thumb way is you have to at a minimum raise the needle up at least a quarter of the way from bdc so the stitch is completed otherwise at the bottom the thread will twist when you rotate it and miss the bobbin and skip a stitch.

That is cool as hell and smoking fast.

Found one spot where you shaded and cut after. Left side between the 2 leafs on the end of a vine next to the turnback.

Look at Al Bane on YouTube he has a really complete library on Cobra machines from maintenance to troubleshooting. Also on Facebook has Cobra tips and tricks but the videos are pretty good coverage on things.

Post in the leather sewing machine section.

My bad

There is a lot of oil tan leather out there that is firm enough and on the cheap if you look.

Once it's set right the only thing you should have to adjust is the tension.

Tag the persons name so they will get a notice like this, @Tim Schroeder

They're 1700 brand new, is your price right?

Now you're sewing on a single piece of leather that might not be thick enough to hide the knot. Another thing I see is how the top stitches have a descent stitch length but are tight on the bottom. How firm is the leather you're using? Does the leather lift at all off the arm when stitching?

From the one picture to me it looks like the timing is off. When I got mine before I ever sewed with it the timing looked similar to the picture and it was late. If your needle is hitting where you show in the picture then it's off. The hook should be in the eye of the needle but it's hard to tell from the picture.

Places like SLC ship things like the Renia Aqualim with a heat pack for shipping if you ask for it so it won't freeze.

Are you using packing tape? I do and if so it can be bad, I see a lot of people use the blue painters tape that I don't think is quite as sticky and getting off it sooner then later.

There are no mistakes in leather working. just added character for a more rustic look.

@Wizcrafts has a really good write up on dumbing down the 441 sized machines to be able to use light thread and a few guys also sell the narrow feed dog for them to sew thinner/lighter materials. @RockyAussie has a informative explanation on how everything works.

It's a lot easier to go one crank at a time then by hand stitching. I think it looks good. I'll look tomorrow I got a whole bunch of different points in the 135x16s and 17s since I'd figure I'd go through a bunch and I used like 3 needles and I have like 10 different packs.

I went from the Chinese patcher to a 441 clone knowing that you're going to always sew something heavier so when pushing the machine (on a lighter model) to the limit and breaking something, I just got the biggest. If you've figured out the patcher then adjusting thread sizes tension wise you should understand the differences. The machines would ship on a pallet so not sure if the distance would be much of price difference. If you're that close I'd pick it up. Spending that kind of money on a machine get all of your Q's answered. You can see @CowboyBob is always on the forum helping answer peoples Q's and I'm sure he would answer anything you ask.

As both @chuck123wapati and @PastorBob said if the leather has been compressed first, after it's sanded a piece of canvas or a part of blue jeans on the leather with a little water and go to town on it. Rubbed enough it will look better than just sanding then apply finish.