Sewing machines, stitchers, profanity & thoughts of violence.

[BruceGibson]

I haven't posted in a while and I remembered this category on the forum.  I wrote a blog post this morning on the general topic of leather sewing machines--more specifically, MY leather sewing machines, and the love & adoration I have for them.  Anyway, here's a link to the post--feel free to share the whole thing here if it's appropriate.  Here's the link:

http://www.brucegibsondesign.com/sewing-machines-stitchers-profanity-thoughts-violence/

[TinkerTailor]

I like  this blog post a lot, much truth there. The only thing i would also like to know is the story on the one in the barn.

I have to put on the right music for my machine (not me...) Lisa Sorrel has a great video about the music her machine listens too.  I also must  be careful how many cups of coffee I've had.There is a delicate balance between too slow to react and too twitchy control the motor....

Btw, it looks like the belt alignment is a little off on the artisan though it could be the angle of the photo. If you loosen the pinch bolts and slide the handwheel out on the shaft a little, It should make the belt track straighter. The machine may be quieter and the belt will probably last longer. I know mine is quieter when i have it straight.

[Wizcrafts]

My last Union Lockstitch machine was like that; touchy about changes. She preferred Travis Tritt when I sewed fast on her. Sometimes I'd play "He Walked On Water" (Randy Travis) to calm her down for fishtail stitching on gun belts.

[BruceGibson]

Mine tend to get along with CCR's greatest hits.  Max volume, of course.

[TinkerTailor]

Violin is what my machine wants. Katica Illenyi is his favourite. She is absolutely amazing.

A little tango to keep those feet stepping right:

 

And this one blows my mind, how in tune she is with the music. In this video she is playing a theremin, an instrument controlled literally by waving your hands near it. Imaging being this in tune with a sewing machine:

 

 

[BruceGibson]

HA!  Mine aren't that cultured.  They're more beer joint, country & rock.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Great blog, but you forgot the part about what happens when things go really bad!  I think I've uttered more really foul cuss words while sewing leather than at any other time, except maybe perhaps when working or sorting cattle or horses:-)

And I prefer dead silence when I'm sewing, anything else is too distracting. Half the people that come in comment on why I never have a radio on.  I think I'm more focused and efficient when I'm not half listening to a bunch of blabber.

[BruceGibson]

2 hours ago, Big Sioux Saddlery said:

Great blog, but you forgot the part about what happens when things go really bad!  I think I've uttered more really foul cuss words while sewing leather than at any other time, except maybe perhaps when working or sorting cattle or horses:-)

And I prefer dead silence when I'm sewing, anything else is too distracting. Half the people that come in comment on why I never have a radio on.  I think I'm more focused and efficient when I'm not half listening to a bunch of blabber.

Thanks!  I never have a radio on--for the same reason.  If there's music, it's CD's.  CD's...maybe that's showing my age?

[Dwight]

34 minutes ago, BruceGibson said:

Thanks!  I never have a radio on--for the same reason.  If there's music, it's CD's.  CD's...maybe that's showing my age?

Thank you Mr. Bruce (don't squat with your spurs on) Gibson, . . . CD blarin' CCR's greatest hits, . . . works for everything except dyeing.

Gotta have silence for dye jobs, . . . or everything gets the same color..........lol............

Just wish I had more CCR than I got, . . . would make life better maybe. 

When they get done, . . . Johnny Cash comes on the scene.  I'm never in the shop long enough to wear out all the music I got of both of them though.

And speakin of age, . . . if I feel especially melancholy, . . . I can always pick up my favorite four stack of Jimmy Swaggart, . . . flip on the 33 1/3 machine, . . . flip em over after they played the "A" side.  Yeah, . . . it still works.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited November 6, 2016 by Dwight

[TinkerTailor]

6 minutes ago, Dwight said:

Thank you Mr. Bruce (don't squat with your spurs on) Gibson, . . . CD blarin' CCR's greatest hits, . . . works for everything except dyeing.

Gotta have silence for dye jobs, . . . or everything gets the same color..........lol............

Just wish I had more CCR than I got, . . . would make life better maybe. 

When they get done, . . . Johnny Cash comes on the scene.  I'm never in the shop long enough to wear out all the music I got of both of them though.

And speakin of age, . . . if I feel especially melancholy, . . . I can always pick up my favorite four stack of Jimmy Swaggart, . . . flip on the 33 1/3 machine, . . . flip em over after they played the "A" side.  Yeah, . . . it still works.

May God bless,

Dwight

I just might have a few of them black plastic musical plate things around myself. I even have ones made of shellac.....I have thought more than once of getting an old juke for the shop and filling it with my 45s. If I ever have a public storefront this is going to happen fer sure.

[dikman]

I'm with you, Big Sioux. I love music and when I'm casting boolits I'll play some nice easygoing instrumental/orchestral stuff but when I'm working with the leather - nothing. It's too distracting because I listen to the music, rather than concentrating on what I'm doing (and as you know, one mistake can ruin a project!).

[TinkerTailor]

1 minute ago, dikman said:

I'm with you, Big Sioux. I love music and when I'm casting boolits I'll play some nice easygoing instrumental/orchestral stuff but when I'm working with the leather - nothing. It's too distracting because I listen to the music, rather than concentrating on what I'm doing (and as you know, one mistake can ruin a project!).

Part of the problem isIi have the choice of listening to my music or the neighbors......Silence is not an option. .........Ahhhh, city life, where it is just not nearly as acceptable to fire off a warning shot to get them to turn it down as it may be in Dwights neck of the woods......

[dikman]

Yeah, I can see where that can be a problem (I'm sort of rural but close to the city, so almost the best of both worlds - almost).

I forgot to comment on Mr. Gibson's excellent blog, much truth in there.

[Dwight]

4 hours ago, TinkerTailor said:

Part of the problem isIi have the choice of listening to my music or the neighbors......Silence is not an option. .........Ahhhh, city life, where it is just not nearly as acceptable to fire off a warning shot to get them to turn it down as it may be in Dwights neck of the woods......

Ammo is getting too expensive for warning shots, . . .  

Our "big" noise problem is these nutcase kids who have a $300 vehicle, . . . but have 5 grand in the sound system, . . . just so they can crank up the base and shake the little birds out of their nests as they drive by.  

And don't think I haven't toyed with the idea of "target" shooting up next to the road when one goes by.  About 100 grains of triple 7 in my old muzzle stuffer can make all the newly buried sit up and take notice, . . . 

But, . . . back to music, . . . guess I'm just from the generation that started out having to have it as a part of their lives, . . . so I enjoy it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[NikkiPizzini]

The Landis K shoe stitcher my associate Kelly learned on was called "La Beastia"   It was a monster, a finger biter and a needle breaker... Kelly was convinced that my standing directly behind her and staring down " La Beastia" while threatening to cut her up into many pieces and sell her to the scrap metal factory allowed Kelly to safely stitch countless pairs of pointy toed Luchesses without a problem ... So I oblige d. The second Landis K Kelly stitched on was a honey of a stitcher, and appropriately named Buttercup. We had a crotchety old Singer 29 K patcher that we called Clementine, and so I would sing " My Darlin Clementine" each time I had to stitch something expensive. I believe all leather workers have such stories, what would be the fun otherwise??? 

[BruceGibson]

6 hours ago, NikkiPizzini said:

The Landis K shoe stitcher my associate Kelly learned on was called "La Beastia"   It was a monster, a finger biter and a needle breaker... Kelly was convinced that my standing directly behind her and staring down " La Beastia" while threatening to cut her up into many pieces and sell her to the scrap metal factory allowed Kelly to safely stitch countless pairs of pointy toed Luchesses without a problem ... So I oblige d. The second Landis K Kelly stitched on was a honey of a stitcher, and appropriately named Buttercup. We had a crotchety old Singer 29 K patcher that we called Clementine, and so I would sing " My Darlin Clementine" each time I had to stitch something expensive. I believe all leather workers have such stories, what would be the fun otherwise??? 

LOL!   Love this!  

Thanks everybody for all the comments ...most of us work in isolation, to some extent, so it's cool to me to see that we all deal with machinery that's "possessed" at various levels!    Mine run the gamut from predictably annoying to full-on Stephen King novel, and all points in-between.

[makitmama]

I must confess that I have a whole set of CDs I made up, and use a different one for each task. Hand quilting/jewelry making? Harry Chapin/James Taylor/Carole King. Fast housework? ZZTop/BTO/classic rock. cross-country drive? southern trash rock.  sewing on my Class IV? hymns/southern gospel. That way when I pray that the bobbin doesn't run out/needle doesn't break/thread doesn't jam, I can pray to music. Since starting the gospel music, I haven't hit or kicked my machine once.

[Wizcrafts]

12 hours ago, NikkiPizzini said:

The Landis K shoe stitcher my associate Kelly learned on was called "La Beastia"   It was a monster, a finger biter and a needle breaker... Kelly was convinced that my standing directly behind her and staring down " La Beastia" while threatening to cut her up into many pieces and sell her to the scrap metal factory allowed Kelly to safely stitch countless pairs of pointy toed Luchesses without a problem ... So I oblige d. The second Landis K Kelly stitched on was a honey of a stitcher, and appropriately named Buttercup. We had a crotchety old Singer 29 K patcher that we called Clementine, and so I would sing " My Darlin Clementine" each time I had to stitch something expensive. I believe all leather workers have such stories, what would be the fun otherwise??? 

I experience these moments when I sew on my patchers. At any given moment in time, one or both of them will skip stitches on an important repair job. The very next job will be sewn perfectly. They both prefer to listen to Internet Country radio stations. They agree with my choices of KEQX in Texas, or KWKZ in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

[Constabulary]

I think you folks should oil your machines instead

[TinkerTailor]

2 hours ago, Constabulary said:

I think you folks should oil your machines instead

On other forums there is a smilee that is giving the bird just for these kinds of comments. Try to imagine it now for me please.

[cdthayer]

 

7 hours ago, TinkerTailor said:

a smilee that is giving the bird

Ouch.

CD in Oklahoma

[TinkerTailor]

11 hours ago, cdthayer said:

 

Ouch.

CD in Oklahoma

If he was sitting across the table from me, that "you guys should oil your machines" comment would have warranted a grinning bird.......just sayin.

Id still buy him a coffee though.

[Wizcrafts]

The strange thing about patchers is that they don't care if you bath them in oil or just drip in a drop or two every now and then. Most of them are hand wheeled, or treadled at such a slow speed that friction from heat never occurs. OTOH, glue or tape between pieces, or very flexible leather does affect the loop formation. Then there's that thin paddle shaped check spring to consider. They wear out faster than you'd think and stop providing good back tension to the top thread coming down the barrel. That's probably 50% of the problem and it is a real pain to replace them on a patcher.

[BruceGibson]

Mine are oiled, dusted, adjusted.  Well-adjusted, I like to think.  Kinda like I look at my kid, as a parent.  Babied, pampered.  Just between us, I talk to 'em.  Most of the time, they come through--I think they know that they have to.  Otherwise, they'd be offshore reefs, or pricey supports at the edge of the road holding up the mailbox.  Conversation pieces.

After all these years they never stop surprising me--never in a good way.  I'm seriously starting to think they mess with each other's adjustments late at night when I'm not looking.  What worked beautifully yesterday doesn't today.

Naw.  That's crazy.  That would imply they have minds of their own, and mobility.  I should edit this.  Cut that part out.  Yep, crazy.

[chuckgaudette]

Bruce, I take your blog post as permission to buy a second machine and continue this love hate relationship