Belt Thread

[chuck123wapati]

19 hours ago, kgg said:

There is always going to be market for items completely hand sewn and those willing to pay for the extra time but the market is much smaller then similar items sewn with machines.

You are getting 8 hours of sleep? Hell I only get 5, I feel cheated.

You'd be lucky to get a good machine for $1500. Since a hobbyist should be able to get at least 10 years out of a machine so the machine would cost $150 per year. If you were just doing belts that would be 7.5 belts or 7.5 hours of machine time plus cost of electricity to run a 1hp servo motor for 7.5 hours which would be $1.40 ((1hp=746watts) /1000 x .25 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity x 7.5 hrs = $1.398).

kgg

funny thing yesterday i went over to a customers house to pick up some work. His wife showed me her quilting sewing machine over $12, 000 bucks she has into it and its just her hobby. doesn't sell just makes and gives away but man its awesome. just program the thing and it sews, it even counts the stitches, all she does is  adjust her quilt. Any pic any design. She uses her regular machine for the front piece but this bugger for the quilting of the complete piece. i admire quilters for the amount of sewing they accomplish, my granny made them by hand back in the 70,s and 80s still using only a treadle singer her dad bought her as a young woman.

You know when  I can afford a machine, if i ever can, better than my Chinese patcher, i will surely get it and use it and love it just like everyone else, heck i love my patcher and my old singer slantomatic. But on one hand it seems kind of anti climatic sometimes i mean a guy spend hours hand making, hand tooling  a project then in the end drop the hand sewing and pull out the old machine. In the end there is no right or wrong way only the way each of us wants to do it or in my case can afford to do it lol. On the other hand and honestly I would use one if i had one unless i had a customer who wanted different. I'm not a top shelf guy my tooling work isn't good enough and will never be at my age I'm past having the time to gain the experience. 

[kgg]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

His wife showed me her quilting sewing machine over $12, 000 bucks she has into it and its just her hobby.

Yes the quilting people do spend a lot on their tables let alone their machines where the sky is the limit. Most of use, me included, complain and ponder about spending any amount for a new machine. Some hobbies are more expensive then others.

kgg

[Handstitched]

13 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

His wife showed me her quilting sewing machine over $12, 000 bucks she has into it and its just her hobby.

One of my friends is a ' quilter' and  she showed me her very  ex$y machine, around the $12-14k mark.  OMG !! Very impressive. She does it as business and does great work and just one quilt could be in the hundreds. 

The machines I could buy with $12k?? 

HS

[chuck123wapati]

6 hours ago, Handstitched said:

One of my friends is a ' quilter' and  she showed me her very  ex$y machine, around the $12-14k mark.  OMG !! Very impressive. She does it as business and does great work and just one quilt could be in the hundreds. 

The machines I could buy with $12k?? 

HS

lol if i had an extra 12 k to spend I would be setting in an ice hut drinking hot toddies and jigging for walleyes and buyin my leather goods already made.

[Doc Reaper]

22 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

lol if i had an extra 12 k to spend I would be setting in an ice hut drinking hot toddies and jigging for walleyes and buyin my leather goods already made.

I’d have that and a pretty waitress serving us food too, but at a warm beach

[Bert03241]

2 hours ago, Doc Reaper said:

I’d have that and a pretty waitress serving us food too, but at a warm beach

[Stephen111]

Step-by-step assembly of the electrician's tool belt. Step 1: Choose a sturdy belt with pockets of different sizes. Step 2: Hold your most important tools in your dominant hand. Step 3: Store less-used tools on the secondary side. Step 4: Add/remove or change pockets.Step 5 - Use braces to support the weight.

[JLSleather]

On 3/11/2023 at 8:30 AM, chuck123wapati said:

 I would use one if i had one

this is likely true.

On 3/11/2023 at 8:30 AM, chuck123wapati said:

at my age I'm past having the time to gain the experience

this is likely not.

 

[AussieTanker]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:03 AM, Outfitr said:

This is what I usually use, .8 tiger thread, 4mm hole spacing. All hand done...about 4 hrs of stitching per belt. I think it looks better than machine stitch but is it worth the time?? Not sure.

That is one mighty fine looking belt. Is it hand tooled as well? If so, how many hours to make the entire belt,  start to finish? I also really like the colours that you used.  It's beautiful!

On 3/7/2023 at 1:59 AM, Handstitched said:

My machine is set up for 277 M10, #24 needle. 

Thank you for that info.  It's really helpful

On 3/11/2023 at 4:48 AM, kgg said:

You'd be lucky to get a good machine for $1500.

What would a reasonably priced machine cost? Not top level, but one suitable for an enthusiastic hobbyist.

 

I have seen some basic sewing machines advertised in the headers on this website. They are hand operated.  You pull a lever and the needle and thread moves forward one or two positions. They seem like they might be an easier starting point,  altho I think that they might be rather tedious in a long belt, considering how many times you would need to pull that lever down.  Does anyone have any thoughts on those types of machines?

Edited August 27, 2023 by AussieTanker

[dikman]

There's been a few posts on here about the advantages/disadvantages and use of those "one-arm bandits" but being in Oz those machines aren't going to be easy to find. I looked at importing a 441-class machine from China (where the prices are fairly reasonable) but by the time all the other costs were added in there was no advantage so I bought local. And since then shipping costs have skyrocketed. Living in Oz gives us limited choices.