niftycurly Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Hello lovely people, Would anyone be able to recommend a dealer, show room, trade show or any other such location near-ish Los Angeles where one could see and test a variety of the more budget friendly leather specific cutting, skiving, machines in person? I've been reading and reading on these forums but nothing beats a test drive. Many thanks, -Ellen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Melanie Machine in Vernon or Steve Tayrien Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kustom Report post Posted June 10, 2012 Melanie Machine in Vernon or Steve Tayrien Both good choices. If you go to Melanie for a skiver make sure to let him know it's for hard leather if you're using it on veg tan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted June 10, 2012 Both good choices. If you go to Melanie for a skiver make sure to let him know it's for hard leather if you're using it on veg tan. Melaine Machine had everything from small sewing machines up to clickers big enough to cube a car when I was there. I took my leather down to Melanie Machine and that helped a lot. I took a mix of chap leather, oiltan, and vegtan up to skirting. He had a few choices in new and used machines. We played with the different machines and switched some parts like the milled steel feedwheel back and forth to test the choices. Arnold also has the cleanest warehouse I have ever been in. It looks like one guy's sole job is to walk around with a duster. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niftycurly Report post Posted June 11, 2012 Thanks very much for the great advice everyone! Melanie Machine is only 12 miles away, hurrah! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites