Toro 3000 Issues / Questions

[BigRiverLeather]

I made my first production holster last night with my Toro 3000. Everything went pretty good, though I have these marks in my leather. I'm not sure if I can smooth them out when I wet form or if they will still show through. Is there an adjustment I can make to reduce/eliminate these without comprimising anything else? I ground off the groover on the bottom of the needle guide thingy. I can see the that was a good move. Here are pictures of the marks -

The other question I have is my thread ends. When I start my stitching, should I be backstitching if I won't be going back over that spot at a later time? What do ya'll do with the top thread? I tried poking it down with an awl but that just cut my thread in the stitch I was trying to poke it down through. At the end I've been back stitching. I hope this is proper. It sure does not seem as secure as when I was saddle stitching by hand then backstitching. OF course with that, my starting stitches were never an issue.

When I am at the end of a run I lift the presser (I try to do this when the take up lever is up all the way) and sometimes it will just have the top and bottom thread and other times it will have 4 threads, basically a loop or whatever. This seems odd, but I guess I like it better when this happens because when I cut my thread, I can pull the one piece out and it leaves both ends of my thread on the bottom side, eliminating the need for me to do something with the top thread. I've just been cutting it off close, but there has to be a better way, isn't there?

[BigRiverLeather]

FYI, I talked with David and he advised me that the silever know on top adjusts the presser foot tension. 2 full rotations reduced it some. Also, after a day or so then wet molding, the marks all but dissapear.

Thread ends - just cutting them short, pulling through to the bottom when I can.

4 strings when pulling the hoslter out - I need to do this when the takeup arm is fully raised. Problem solved.

[Mongo]

When using a sewing machine, many of us backstitch 3 or 4 stitches to our desired starting point and then put the machine in the forward stitching position. This effectively backstitches the start of your sewing. Another method is to leave long enough threads on top and bottom and then use a pair of needles and a saddle stitch to finish the start. I just backstitch with my machine to my starting point.

I've always trimmed my threads short and then pushed what remained back into the hole. Because I am now using nylon thread, I'm going to start melting the end of the thread before I push it into the hole.