Members Josh Ashman Posted January 17, 2020 Author Members Report Posted January 17, 2020 Thanks Eric! I appreciate that! All the best! Josh Quote
Members sheathmaker Posted January 18, 2020 Members Report Posted January 18, 2020 10 hours ago, Josh Ashman said: Thanks Vikefan! I use a Cobra Class 4 I picked up from Springfield Leather. I don't have a single bad thing to say about it. At the same rime I will admit that it's the only leather sewing machine I've ever used, so there may be better ones out there and I just don't know what I'm missing. Best, Josh Nope! None better than the Cobra, some nearly as good, but none better! by the way your work is great! Paul Quote Paul long-----108 Briarwood Ln. W-----Kerrville, TX--78028------830 367 5536-- pfl@cebridge.net
Members Josh Ashman Posted January 20, 2020 Author Members Report Posted January 20, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 7:35 PM, sheathmaker said: Nope! None better than the Cobra, some nearly as good, but none better! by the way your work is great! Paul Thanks Paul! I appreciate that and I have to agree that the Cobra sure has been great for me! All the best, Josh Quote
Members sbrownn Posted January 20, 2020 Members Report Posted January 20, 2020 24 minutes ago, Josh Ashman said: Thanks Paul! I appreciate that and I have to agree that the Cobra sure has been great for me! All the best, Josh Can you post a picture of what the backside stitch looks like? I am thinking of buying a 441 clone but am concerned about what the backside looks like. Seems like results are all over the place depending on the leather type and the set up. Right now I'm using a Campbell-Randall to stitch in pre-pricked holes and it looks okay but I need a machine with a long cylinder arm for a project I'm doing. Quote
Members Josh Ashman Posted January 20, 2020 Author Members Report Posted January 20, 2020 2 hours ago, sbrownn said: Can you post a picture of what the backside stitch looks like? I am thinking of buying a 441 clone but am concerned about what the backside looks like. Seems like results are all over the place depending on the leather type and the set up. Right now I'm using a Campbell-Randall to stitch in pre-pricked holes and it looks okay but I need a machine with a long cylinder arm for a project I'm doing. This rig was shipped out last week so no backside pics for it. I do happen to have this picture that shows the backside of an IWB holster I made a while ago. No particular reason I picked it other than it was on my computer and it shows the backside stitching. In my opinion my Cobra does a fine job on the backside unless you go over about 5/8" thick and then it gets a little wonky. Not real bad, but enough that You want to be careful and not be too surprised if it throws a stitch out of line. At around 3/4" thick my machine will also occasionally skip pocking up the bobbin thread. these issues may be caused by my machine being a little out of adjustment. I've had it for a good long while, I think 4 or 5 years and have never done anything but sew on it and oil it each time I refill the bobbin. All the best, Josh Quote
Members sbrownn Posted January 22, 2020 Members Report Posted January 22, 2020 Thanks for posting the picture. The backside looks pretty good. What would you do further if you needed the backside to look as good as the frontside? I have tried a number of things but have yet to come up with a protocol that works as good as I would like. Quote
Members Josh Ashman Posted January 23, 2020 Author Members Report Posted January 23, 2020 18 hours ago, sbrownn said: What would you do further if you needed the backside to look as good as the frontside? Hello Sbrown, my honest answer to your question above is that I would change my way of thinking. I don't need, or expect the backside of my stitching to look the same as the front. Anyone who has ever seen the cantle binding on one of my saddles knows just to what extremes I'll take this line of thinking! In fairness to my saddle building skills, I use rawhide binders and stabbing an awl through 2 layers of rawhide and 3 layers of skirting leather and having it come out perfect on the backside is not that easy. There are people who are remarkably good at it, I'm just not one of those people. At any rate, if for some reason I thought the backside had to be better than my machine could sew I'd probably use my machine without thread to make the holes then hand stitch. The other option would be to stab the holes with an awl and then hand stitch. Back before I had a machine my awl skills were much higher and I could get a pretty nice stitch line on the back side, however I seriously doubt I could do so now. I suppose a person could try a modified version of the Stohlman method for stabbing the holes on a cantle binding and stab halfway through from each side, he says the awl blade will find the hole fromt he other side assuming your layout is all perfect. I've never put this tot he test but I'm 100% positive it requires skills I don't have. I admire your pursuit of backside stitching perfection even if I don't happen to share it. Good luck in your endeavors! All the best, Josh Quote
Members dikman Posted January 23, 2020 Members Report Posted January 23, 2020 Josh is right in that the only way to get better looking stitching on the back is to hand stitch. It's the nature of machine sewing and leather, the back will never look as good as the front. Quote Machines wot I have - Singer 51W59; Singer 331K4; Seiko STH-8BLD; Pfaff 335; CB4500. Chinese shoe patcher; Singer 201K (old hand crank)
Members noobleather Posted January 28, 2020 Members Report Posted January 28, 2020 A nice,very smart looking cross draw rig there. Thanks for sharing Quote
Members Josh Ashman Posted January 28, 2020 Author Members Report Posted January 28, 2020 Thanks Noob! Best, Josh Quote
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