Summary section? Voting section?

[Margaux]

Les't say that I'm hunting for the best sewing machine.

So I read and read through all the topics and forums relating to sewing machines, and sometimes the information is useful, and many times the messages are "me too!" or "I have this one". There are lots of comments, but getting the overall summary picture is difficult.

Can we have a summary section, or perhaps it can be voting, so that the basic information is available in the executive summary format?

I can image this would be useful not only for which sewing machine is better/worse, but also for a lot of other subjects

Best/worst supplier of..... (saddle trees, tools, leather, glues, patterns, machines,...)

Best sites for information regarding.... ( holsters, chaps, saddles, trees, dyes, glues,...)

Best places to go for tutorials, books, DVDs.

Best/worst hardware/brands.....(, like glues, trees, machines, tools,....)

It could just look like the suppliers page (http://www.leatherworker.net/suppliers.htm) , but with a ratings, similar to amazon rating of their products.

If there were lists like that, I could still go down into the archives to see the details, but the picture would start out a lot clearer.

Thanks,

Margaux

[Johanna]

It's a good idea in theory, but within our small community of leatherworkers, we have too much diversity. What is "best" is subjective, because what works for Jim in Utah may not be the right answer for Tim in Australia or Jose in Brazil. Joe might need a machine to sew chaps and chinks, while John might need one to do harness work. The "best" sewing machine doesn't exist, only the "best one for you". Same with tools, hides, books, suppliers etc. Someone just posted about tools, and got several recommendations. "I like his backgrounders, and someone else's bevelers, and take a look at the basketweave stamps made by so-and-so." You might say, "Oh, those backgrounders are way too small (big) for me, and I like the basketweave stamps made by this maker. Meanwhile, someone else is saying, "Great, but they won't ship any of it to Siberia, where I live."

Depending on what you are making, what your style is, who your customers are and where you live changes the "good, better, best" rankings. But when 85 saddlemakers say, "I get my "blank" from "a-company", that's a good indication that if you are a saddlemaker, you might want to try it too. Ten people can post horror stories about something they bought, then one rocket scientist will post an exquisite work of art made with the same thing, and we all go, "hmmmm..." and wonder what they did differently? The best source of information is right here on the board, with hundreds (thousands?) years of experience and opinions. Occasionally a crackpot will post, but his peers usually clear up any misunderstandings immediately. ("Point the blade AWAY from your other hand!") That's really the best that we can do, to draw on the collective knowledge and experience of the members.

Johanna