??'s on Setting up a leather stitching shop, review machines please

[Jbinpa59]

I'm aquiring my equipment for a retirement hobby business that I want to pursue

I'm fortunate to live about 2hrs from the Wicket & Craig tannery and they do retail sales 

And I like tooling shaping and stitching leather but saddle stitching is slow so........

as a business I'd like to mostly do belts, chaps, sheathes, and holsters

but might try wallets, Totes, watch bands and whatever also.

at this time I have :

an older consew, a 226 (Seiko build) that I plan on doing the lighter work on using 69 and 92 thread

for Watchbands, wallets and other work below 8oz and medium fabric work

 

Another older consew  a 206rb-4 (Seiko build) I'm planing to use for 138 and 207over138 thread work 

I Plan to use it for Belts and simple sheaths below 20 oz total 

How much tweaking would a 206 take to reliably run 207 in the bobbin?

 

A cb3200 which was my first leather stitcher And second sewing machine of any type

before the Acquisition virus took hold

i plan to continue to use this for pancake holsters, heavier belts, and welted sheaths up to 32oz total

using 207 and 277 thread

 

a CB4500 for everything heavier than 32 oz or needing 346 or 415 thread

 

and finally I also have a China cobbler and a herd of Black iron singer domestics for the really light stuff

 

I believe my intended usages are appropriate to the machines in hand

Any suggestions or something I'm maybe not considering?

I'll still be working for a few more years so as OT  is available i will add the equipment thats still needed

Like a powered splitter and strap cutter and possibly a better patcher?

Tia

Jim

Edited September 30, 2018 by Jbinpa59
Typos

[chrisash]

I guess that all you need now is a electric swivel chair to wizz between each machine, tha's a great selection of machines

[R8R]

Only thing you're missing at this point is an assistant.

[Jbinpa59]

6 hours ago, chrisash said:

I guess that all you need now is a electric swivel chair to wizz between each machine, tha's a great selection of machines

More space would be nice!

Course then I'd probably buy more toys to fill it up

[JJN]

You might look into a skiver for thinning the edges of your leather if your projects require that.

[RockyAussie]

A clicker press, a good skiver with suction, and some machines and methods for applying contact cement. A clicker press and a good knife/dye maker are just about the first importance other than sewing machinery.