John Bianchi and ??

[Red Cent]

Well, I have watched all three videos about three times, I will watch them a couple more times before I get them back to Slowhand Bob the first of the week. One can pick these up for about $55.00. Robby, I really appreciate the loan of the videos. I talked to the estate attorney and the ship should arrive in a week or two.

Guys, John B. is in love with TrailRider's sewing machine. He never mentions the "Dream Machine". He heaps praise on the Ferdco 2000 Pro. You can see the machine blush.

Neatfsoot oil seems to be the oil of choice. Do you dye first or do you give the leather a bath first and then dye?


How do you burnish? I have a couple of electric motors in addition to a buffing station. The felt rol
ls look too simple to try to figure out something else.

Do any of you use the roll cutter? I believe we touched on that a while back. Long and rather straight runs would seem to eaiser with the roller rather than the head knife. What say you?

Tandy is surely one of the sponsors of the videos. Is the Tandy Leather Weld any good?

Gettin' fidgety.

[Cliff Fendley]

Those videos are old, the "Dream Machine" wasnt around then. The Cobra 4 is a copy of the machine he is using in the video. I believe Steve said John called it a Dream Machine because of the presser foot designs and the electronic servo motor and other options that come standard on the Cobra 4.

Two friends of mine have roller cutters and love them. I don't remember John using one in the video, I thought he used a round knife. I use an old fashion utility knife and a round knife. I don't use the stock utility knife blade, I polish and sharpen the blades to my liking.

I've been meaning to build a burnisher like John uses in the video but for now I do it by hand or chuck a dowel I have shaped into a milling machine and run my belt edges on it.

[outrider]

Cliff,
You took the words out of my mouth....both the Ferdco Pro-2000 and the Cobra class 4 are both copies of the Juki 441.  I ordered at set of the presser feet from Steve about a year ago but they are too long for my machine...or at least major adjustments are needed to use them...I asked Steve about it awhile back but he never got back to me.  You can get a standard DC servo motor or one of the fancy ones like John B had with the programmable needle positioning...they are about $500.00.

Over all the machine design is a good one

[Cliff Fendley]

That is the one thing that is lacking with the Cobra 4 and that is instructions on programming the motor. I have jacked with mine and wound up having it run backwards and everything else. I wound up getting it set where all it will do is run on a fairly slow speed and just left it since I have a heck of a time controlling the speed.

You would think that running dozers and heavy equipment with foot pedals and being able to pick up a golf ball with one I could control a dang sewing machine but that thing just gets away from me at times. I just figured setting it to run slow is better then someone walking in the shop one day and find me inside a sewing machine with a holster sewn to my arm.

I just position it by hand and take my time. I wish I did know how to change the speed settings easier for when I have several belt seems to sew. I guess I just need to call Steve and ask for directions.

[Red Cent]

Interesting Cliff. My wife is a software guru and a good friend and shooter is a programmer for a large bank. Maybe I can luck out and pass it along.
If John thought that much of the Ferdco, I can see why he called the Cobra a dream machine.

The wife is a quilter also and,  I believe, will be a great help on sewing. She has all the tools including the roller cutters, hand needles, and who knows what. The spare bedroom is full of machines and tables. No space is left wasted on the walls.

John B. does not show any thing about dye. He simply gives the finished product a bath in Neats Foot Oil. I would guess you do not dye that holster and belt.

Well, I believe I will start clearing a bunch of space in the garage.

[Cliff Fendley]

Red Cent, the Cobra IS the same basic machine as the Ferdco that he was using in the film.

After Steve Tayrien left Artisan to promote the Leather Machine company John Bianchi tested the Cobra 4 with all its bells and whistles and smooth operation he called it a "Dream Machine".

John Bianchi had input in designing the presser feet on the Cobra 4 machine in order to do bullet loops and other things without needing to be modified.

[Red Cent]

Thanks Cliff.

[Slowhand Bob]

You are right, Bianchi does not dye the leather in the video.  After oiling he exposes the leather to ultra-violet lighting to help start a mellowing process.  I just can not come to grips with that much oil, even lined leather, which does not suck it up so fast.  I frequently dip dye but always hand oil very sparingly. 

On his technique for edge dressing, there is a guy who is really trying to push something similar commercially but his prices are really high.  For edge work I go 50/50 with bees wax and paraffin plus add a small dash of neatsfoot oil and am generally satisfied with the look and the money I save mixing my own!  A lot of my holsters break JBs rule concerning size of concave curves, I can get a lot of polishing done in tight areas with a Dremel and a felt bob (a med speed).     

[Massive]

I though he used a head knife throughout also.  With holsters, the curves are too tight for a roller knife.  With straight runs they would be fine.  The problem I have with roller knives is that they get little nicks, and then one finds the cut will not separate and one has to go over it.  This happens also with HKs, but they are easier to track in a cut, and they also are easy to sharpen.  I am using a standard sewing roller, and have bought a Tandy one that may be more durable, though the blade looks the same.  I use the roller a lot making cloth goods like tents and backpacks.

It is possible to sharpen the rollers, but not as easy as an HK.

[Slowhand Bob]

Red, I am using a hawk-head utility (box-cutter) knife with the interchangeable blades as the primary bench knife.  An active cutting day at the bench for me would definitely see at least three knife styles being used and all are styles that use quick change blades.  I keep several spealty cutters for straps, fringe etc etc ready to go also.   I received two or three bad cuts through the years with the head knife and just figured I wasnt smart enuff to practice the necessary safety rules, and this knife leaves little room for poor habits.  Truth is this subject has come up several times through recent years and might still be searchable?   Fixing to go out but will try to add more on knives later.