Moore Leather Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Have had these a few years now - and having discovered the site I thought I'd share brielfy some details & images. The No. 6 machine manuals I have are 2 versions: 5th Edition & 2st Edition. As can be seen from the pics I attach, they are quite different externally. The second batch of attached pics are of similar period manuals to the latter No.6 machine manuals...no idea at all about the machines they are for, just posted them on here for reference Third batch of pics - a FULL catalogue (less title page, unfortunately!!!) of the complete range of products available from BUSM Co. Some of these will probably be of news to a lot of folk on here - just goes to show the wide-range of what they had available. Not having a title page means I am not able to date the cataloge...the only way to do this would be by the prices: and not done this yet, sorry... The big plan is, if there is enough interest in the No.6 catalogues, that I can either scan them properly & upload them/transfer to disc OR I can use a couple of contacts & have a facsimile copy printed up Same applies for the catalogue - may even do all 3 items in one little booklet/brochure Just waiting delivery of my new scanner. Happy to answer questions... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moore Leather Report post Posted November 17, 2009 (edited) Edited November 17, 2009 by Moore Leather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moore Leather Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SteveBrambley Report post Posted November 18, 2009 Thanks for posting all the old BU catalogues, I am always interested in the many different items of machinery they once produced. I don't suppose that you have ever come across any info on the BUSM 'Pilot' harness stitcher by any chance? I think this machine (see pic) is a lot later than those in your photos. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Report post Posted November 19, 2009 I was blasting through the photos and read the dock stuffing machine as duck stuffing machine and immediately thought of pate de faus gras, although that machine was not the original design, it might work. Art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyc1 Report post Posted November 19, 2009 Have had these a few years now - and having discovered the site I thought I'd share brielfy some details & images. The No. 6 machine manuals I have are 2 versions: 5th Edition & 2st Edition. As can be seen from the pics I attach, they are quite different externally. The second batch of attached pics are of similar period manuals to the latter No.6 machine manuals...no idea at all about the machines they are for, just posted them on here for reference Third batch of pics - a FULL catalogue (less title page, unfortunately!!!) of the complete range of products available from BUSM Co. Some of these will probably be of news to a lot of folk on here - just goes to show the wide-range of what they had available. Not having a title page means I am not able to date the cataloge...the only way to do this would be by the prices: and not done this yet, sorry... The big plan is, if there is enough interest in the No.6 catalogues, that I can either scan them properly & upload them/transfer to disc OR I can use a couple of contacts & have a facsimile copy printed up Same applies for the catalogue - may even do all 3 items in one little booklet/brochure Just waiting delivery of my new scanner. Happy to answer questions... My strap cutter is the same as this one. Instead of being hand cranked it has had a motor put on it to save labour. Tony. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimsaddler Report post Posted November 20, 2009 My strap cutter is the same as this one. Instead of being hand cranked it has had a motor put on it to save labour. Tony. Hi all The contri brought back a lot of memories of Machines I've owned and operated over the years. If you scan them would it be possible for me to get a copy for our Archives (SHMAA). As I am the Official Historian and I get asked by the younger generation about these Machine regularly. The Pearson A1 was a particular favorite of mine for Decorative Stitching of Leggings, Beautiful Stitch and tension. Unfortunately I took so many of them to the Islands with me and they have "disapeared". The Saddle & Boot Emblem stood for something with all of the Tradesmen I learned from. The elusive item I never got was the Dock Stuffer. Has anyone got one or used one? And the the Pilot was one of the few that could sew arround Stock Saddle Knee Pads. It's a pity that this grand old Company has gone. Kindest Regards. Jim Saddler. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moore Leather Report post Posted November 20, 2009 Hi all The contri brought back a lot of memories of Machines I've owned and operated over the years. If you scan them would it be possible for me to get a copy for our Archives (SHMAA). As I am the Official Historian and I get asked by the younger generation about these Machine regularly. The Pearson A1 was a particular favorite of mine for Decorative Stitching of Leggings, Beautiful Stitch and tension. Unfortunately I took so many of them to the Islands with me and they have "disapeared". The Saddle & Boot Emblem stood for something with all of the Tradesmen I learned from. The elusive item I never got was the Dock Stuffer. Has anyone got one or used one? And the the Pilot was one of the few that could sew arround Stock Saddle Knee Pads. It's a pity that this grand old Company has gone. Kindest Regards. Jim Saddler. Hi Jim Glad you liked the postings - that's why I put them on here: I did have a LOT of scanned images from both the BUSM cataloge & the No.6 machine handbook (5th ed.) on a previous PC - but when it died I lost them. I'd burned them onto CD & supplied the Leather Museum in Walsall, West Midlands with a copy. More than happy to do likewise for your organisation. I just bought a scanner which I hope to collect this weekend... Funny thing is - when I was last in the Walsall museum I was taking LOADS of pics of the No.6 machines & their 45k's too. A member of staff noticed & was surprised to hear that I not only owned both types but also used them....turns out they used to employ someone on weekends to stand & use the No.6 - but he was too old to do it & none of the staff had much knowledge of the No.6 & how it goes. I'm down to one No.6 now - which is a pity...love to hear the "click-clack" as they sew. One I bought had been used with a motor: braver man than I was, given the size of needles the No.6 uses... Anyway - I can sort out scans once I have picked up the machine - I'll update these postings to reflect that they're now done. Jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJ1935 Report post Posted November 21, 2009 This A1 Pearson & Co machine appeared on TradeMe last week. It was described as working condition and with handbook and spare bobbins etc. I believe Pearson and Bennion merged with the USMC in 1899 to form the BUSMC so this machine must predate that. Unfortunately I was too late to bid - it sold for a measley $NZ 100. Will be kicking myself for a few weeks! DJ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimsaddler Report post Posted November 21, 2009 This A1 Pearson & Co machine appeared on TradeMe last week. It was described as working condition and with handbook and spare bobbins etc. I believe Pearson and Bennion merged with the USMC in 1899 to form the BUSMC so this machine must predate that. Unfortunately I was too late to bid - it sold for a measley $NZ 100. Will be kicking myself for a few weeks! DJ The funny thing about the A1 is they usually go very cheap. I never paid more than $A20. for one. One word of warning though is they need a lot of experience to use one as the tension is fiddly to set up from Thread to Thread. But the Stitch is so neat when you get the Tensions right. Better luck next time (if I don't see it first). Kindest Regards. Jim Saddler. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
celticleather Report post Posted November 22, 2009 Here's my BUSM A1, that I bought a few months ago for a very reasonable price. It came complete with spare shuttles, bobbins, about 90 assorted needles and a manual! It hadn't been used for about 20 years, and was a bit stiff to turn; I stripped it down, cleaned out accumulated wax and thread balls, and it runs like a dream. Unfortunately it didn't have the original stand, so I've had to adapt an old Singer treadle stand, but it works well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cem Report post Posted November 22, 2009 Thankyou for posting them Jon, I love to see old machines cause where I live I'm extremely lucky if I even get to see a new leatherworking machine somewhere. Cheers, Clair Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amuckart Report post Posted March 8, 2010 Greetings, Thanks for posting these. Did you ever get the chance to scan the No. 6 manuals in full, and is there any chance I could get copies if you did? I'm just about to get one of the machines. I'd be very interested in high-resolution copies of the catalogue if such a thing were possible too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amuckart Report post Posted March 8, 2010 Here's my recently acquired A1. I bought it on TradeMe (NZ's auction website) ages ago but only managed to co-ordinate the 500k round trip to pick it up last weekend. It was a nice drive though up through a bit of New Zealand I've never seen before. It cost me more in petrol to drive up and get it than the NZ$70 I paid for the machine. I bought it with the intention of restoring it to as close to its original condition as I could, whether or not it would ever actually sew. I think it will though but some parts are going to need shimming for the feed to be consistent. The fun part was stopping in to the Central Hawkes Bay Early Settlers Museum in Waipawa on the way home and seeing this machine, which is just like my one only newer The paint on the museum machine is in much better condition than mine so I took a bunch of photos of it so I have some reference for the pinstriping even though it's a later livery. According to the person who sold it to me the saddler who owned it before her used it to sew the horse covers for the first NZ equestrian team to go to the olympic games which was in 1964 so it was a fairly old machine even then. Other than that I know nothing about its history. It is marked Pearson & Bennion rather than British United Shoe Machinery so it's a relatively early one. I can't see anything resembling a serial number on it anywhere though. Various parts on it are marked "16" for reasons I don't know. Thanks to Celticleather I've got a scanned manual for it and I've started the process of cleaning and restoring it. It was seriously caked in gunk. A mix of old grease, dust, oil and horsehair several mm thick over much of the machine and I'm going to have to go after some bits with a brass pick to get the dried grease off. The big surprise for me was cleaning it and discovering that what appears to be its original japanning was a rather striking shade of blue! I can't be sure of course, but given the state of the machine, the fact that the varnish has gone black the way old oil-based varnishes will, and the fact that it dissolves easily in methylated spirit I suspect this is its original japanning and not a more recent repaint. The colour is consistent on all the originally japanned parts, including the flywheel and the various actuator rods and the stand is the same colour. Once I've photographed it I will check under the remaining pin-striping on the lettering on the stand to see if that's blue too. The blue only really became apparent when the top varnish layer was removed. I plan on getting it soda-blasted back to bare metal and I was going to paint it with automotive spraypaint but I'm seriously tempted to make up some blue japan and re do it in as close to the original finish as I can. The only problem is that I don't have an oven big enough to put the stand in The other nice surprise was emptying out the drawer and discovering that there were five different presser feet (including two pricker feet), four guides, four shuttles, eight bobbins two different feed dogs, two different feed dog plates and a tin of needles with it! The original bobbin winder was screwed to the table when I got it. None of the shuttles are in great repair though so I might need to buy or make a new one before the machine will sew. One of them has had the point built up with brazing and the other three are variously dented and blunt but now that I've seen the mechanical condition of the rest of the machine I think it's worth getting going. I've extensively documented the disassembly process so I can put that in a new thread if anyone's interested. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moore Leather Report post Posted March 16, 2010 Here's my recently acquired A1. I bought it on TradeMe (NZ's auction website) ages ago but only managed to co-ordinate the 500k round trip to pick it up last weekend. It was a nice drive though up through a bit of New Zealand I've never seen before. It cost me more in petrol to drive up and get it than the NZ$70 I paid for the machine. I bought it with the intention of restoring it to as close to its original condition as I could, whether or not it would ever actually sew. I think it will though but some parts are going to need shimming for the feed to be consistent. The fun part was stopping in to the Central Hawkes Bay Early Settlers Museum in Waipawa on the way home and seeing this machine, which is just like my one only newer The paint on the museum machine is in much better condition than mine so I took a bunch of photos of it so I have some reference for the pinstriping even though it's a later livery. According to the person who sold it to me the saddler who owned it before her used it to sew the horse covers for the first NZ equestrian team to go to the olympic games which was in 1964 so it was a fairly old machine even then. Other than that I know nothing about its history. It is marked Pearson & Bennion rather than British United Shoe Machinery so it's a relatively early one. I can't see anything resembling a serial number on it anywhere though. Various parts on it are marked "16" for reasons I don't know. Thanks to Celticleather I've got a scanned manual for it and I've started the process of cleaning and restoring it. It was seriously caked in gunk. A mix of old grease, dust, oil and horsehair several mm thick over much of the machine and I'm going to have to go after some bits with a brass pick to get the dried grease off. The big surprise for me was cleaning it and discovering that what appears to be its original japanning was a rather striking shade of blue! I can't be sure of course, but given the state of the machine, the fact that the varnish has gone black the way old oil-based varnishes will, and the fact that it dissolves easily in methylated spirit I suspect this is its original japanning and not a more recent repaint. The colour is consistent on all the originally japanned parts, including the flywheel and the various actuator rods and the stand is the same colour. Once I've photographed it I will check under the remaining pin-striping on the lettering on the stand to see if that's blue too. The blue only really became apparent when the top varnish layer was removed. I plan on getting it soda-blasted back to bare metal and I was going to paint it with automotive spraypaint but I'm seriously tempted to make up some blue japan and re do it in as close to the original finish as I can. The only problem is that I don't have an oven big enough to put the stand in The other nice surprise was emptying out the drawer and discovering that there were five different presser feet (including two pricker feet), four guides, four shuttles, eight bobbins two different feed dogs, two different feed dog plates and a tin of needles with it! The original bobbin winder was screwed to the table when I got it. None of the shuttles are in great repair though so I might need to buy or make a new one before the machine will sew. One of them has had the point built up with brazing and the other three are variously dented and blunt but now that I've seen the mechanical condition of the rest of the machine I think it's worth getting going. I've extensively documented the disassembly process so I can put that in a new thread if anyone's interested. Nice find Will see about scanning the catalogue in a better resolution & will try to find time to scan the No.6 manuals too IF the planets were better aligned I'd be typing this from the Ch-Ch area so we'd almost be neighbours!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amuckart Report post Posted March 17, 2010 Nice find Will see about scanning the catalogue in a better resolution & will try to find time to scan the No.6 manuals too If you can that would be absolutely brilliant, thanks! IF the planets were better aligned I'd be typing this from the Ch-Ch area so we'd almost be neighbours!! It's a shame that didn't work out for you, Christchurch is a nice city to live in. I moved there from Edinburgh nearly 20 years ago and lived there for 16 years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moore Leather Report post Posted March 17, 2010 If you can that would be absolutely brilliant, thanks! It's a shame that didn't work out for you, Christchurch is a nice city to live in. I moved there from Edinburgh nearly 20 years ago and lived there for 16 years. Interesting I live just outside Edinburgh in Haddington...not too bad a place (only been here a year or so...) Lived in the Scottish Borders for a few years & had a workshop in Coldstream for a couple of years or so. Off to visit a mate tomorrow in Pencaitland so will drive past the Glenkinchie distillery to his house Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
janistan Report post Posted January 21, 2013 are you still on here it was some time ago, tring to find the name of the machine i have. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeterMain Report post Posted July 28, 2017 ....just saw this posting....the images from Moore Leather for the HM6 manuals seem no longer available. I would love to have copies of these. I love my Pearson. Peter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Constabulary Report post Posted July 30, 2017 On 28.7.2017 at 11:04 PM, PeterMain said: ....just saw this posting....the images from Moore Leather for the HM6 manuals seem no longer available. I would love to have copies of these. I love my Pearson. Peter Hey Peter - this also is a very nice restoration. I´d like to see some more detailed pictures if possible.I already admired you A1. If you don´t mind could you post some good pictures of the flat bed attachment. I´d like to make one for my DVSG / BUSMC #6 and it should be as close to the original as possible. On 8.3.2010 at 3:07 AM, amuckart said: Here's my recently acquired A1. Al, and if you don´t mind could you post some close up pictures of the A1 bobbin winder please. My A1 unfortunately came w/o the winder. THANK YOU both! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeterMain Report post Posted August 3, 2017 ...I remade the timber table for the HM6 from Cedar. Shall do photos of the A1 winder when I have a moment spare. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted August 4, 2017 On 11/17/2009 at 11:45 AM, Moore Leather said: Have had these a few years now - and having discovered the site I thought I'd share brielfy some details & images. The No. 6 machine manuals I have are 2 versions: 5th Edition & 2st Edition. Moore Leather --- Can you update this thread with photos that have gone missing due to being linked to a sharing site? Seems they have been deleted, moved or otherwise changed permissions. Please add them to a new post here, or to a gallery here. If you need help to do so, PM me so I can help. I can even stuff them into the original posts if you make them available to me. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Constabulary Report post Posted August 13, 2017 Ha - now that I see the curved piece on the back side (flat bed rest) I remember mine came with a curved piece too but I had no idea what it it good for - now it makes sense. There are a lot of "standard" pictures of a #6 Machine but often no one took pictures of the details. So THANKS A LOT for the pictures!!! That really helps me I hope I still have this curved piese... have to check... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Constabulary Report post Posted August 13, 2017 There we go So another project - making a fat bed attachment... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shikikan Report post Posted December 13, 2021 HI ALL Would love a manual on the A1 if anyone has a copy Been searching all the old posts no luck yet Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
