Murphy

This weekend was the small (thirty or 40 vendors?) outdoor flea market that only happens twice a summer in the parking lot of an antique mall.  It is hard to predict what you will find at this one, but you can be sure that you will more than likely find something inside the mall if you don't score on the outside.  I found this outdoors.  I do not think I could have imagined it on my own.  I like to compare it to a Murphy bed.  I do not have loads of space at home, but I should not complain because I am one person in a space sometimes occupied by small families.  Can you guess what this is?  The two rubber stoppers on the top are a small hint.

Look!  It has wheels, too.  I can take it on the road.

That box on wheels unfolds to become this wonderful work space.  Those rubber stoppers were on the bottom of two legs that slide into the box when closed.  For now, it solves my workbench question.  I am currently avoiding moving my butcher block table up many flights from storage.  For now, this will do the trick and it will not take up much space when not in use.  How clever is this?  I will probably add another piece of wood on top when I am working so I do not damage the existing table.

All of that dedicated tool storage.  A notch and a hole for everything.

Below we have shelves for hardware and supply storage.  I now have no excuse not to get my butt moving and set-up my workspace.

Cedarburg! Best find....ever!

Cedarburg was yesterday and I am so excited because I was lucky enough to find something I NEVER thought I would be able to find.  I am sure that nobody else will share my  excitement, but that's OK.  My greatest find to date is in the photo above.  It might not look like much, but it is going to make a huge difference in my work.  It is a custom made metal add-on table for my patch machine.  Below is what it looked like attached to another machine at the flea market.  I could not believe the guy was willing to sell it to me, but he did.  He is an iron worker and had made the table himself.  What are the odds that I would find the exact custom made item I needed at the flea market?

Why is it so important?  I am not sure if you can see it in the picture below, but the machine only has a very narrow arm as a sewing surface.  The foot rotates 360 degrees making it great for sewing shoes and around tight corners, and the arm makes it easy to patch shoes, sleeves, etc..  Since there is such a narrow base surface it makes it incredibly difficult to sew a straight line on a larger piece of material.  The table helps to alleviate that difficulty.  Now I am an even happier camper.

 

 

I also found that large leather tool bag.  It isn't very old, but I just really liked the look of it to store my tools.  Oh, don't worry.  This is not all that I found.  I had a nice haul in my car by the time I left.

This is not a new theme

I swear this is not a new blog theme.  I will back off from the sewing machine posts soon.  The one thing that would be easier on an industrial type machine than on my 29-4 is straight line sewing. of larger flat pieces.  I could use a machine that would handle the thinner leather in larger pieces and leave the thick pieces requiring special maneuvering to the 29-4.  Then I remembered that my grandmother's old sewing machine was in my Mom's basement.  It was manufactured in 1942.  Such pretty design work.

From what I can tell, it will be able to handle the leather and some of the heavier materials I might want to sew.  I dropped it off at a Singer distributor today. The woman who waited on me was very excited to see this machine.  I am hoping that they can get it into good working order and I will pretty much be set for anything.  Don't you just love it when you can shop for free in the basement?

Everything Works Out in the End

Let me start out by stating that these are not my photos, but photos from Craigslist.  This long winded story begins with me trolling Craigslist for tools.  I was not looking for an industrial sewing machine at all.  I would also like to mention that you might notice a pattern forming here.  When I get excited about something, I tend to dive in blindly.  Especially when it comes to equipment.  Case in point, my letterpress.  I had never done any letterpress work before, but I went and purchased one anyway.  Ever since I started working in my leather class I have found that it is something I really enjoy doing.  I enjoy the construction and end product so much more than with any other material.  During class, I used one of the industrial sewing machines for leather a couple of weeks back.  I liked using it, but they can be rather large when you factor in the table and motor.  Back to Craigslist.  I started trolling the industrial sewing machines and found this ad for an entire shoe repair place that was selling off all of the machines including the sewing machine above.  It was up in Wisconsin, but I happened to be going to a town very close by.  The ad had been up for about 5 days already so I called to see if they would be willing to just sell the sewing machine.  I called and he had just sold the entire lot the day before.  Damn.  Why am I always one step behind?

So now, for some reason I was determined to find an industrial sewing machine so that I could continue to work with leather at home.  A few days later I found the machine above on Craigslist again.  It was a great price.  It would take me awhile to drive there, but it was worth it for that price.  I e-mailed and then called.  I asked when they would like me to come and see it.  They told me 2 days later.  They were also going to call me the next day to give me the model number and measurements.  The next day they called and said that somebody was coming to look at the machine and they would call me to let me kn ow what happened.  What?  I was ready to come and look at it when I called and they chose to put it off.  Now they were basically selling it out from under me?  Of course, the other person bought it.  I was pretty pissed.  This is why I do not like Craigslist.  I was not deterred.  I then came across the Singer 29-4.  I had never seen or used one before.  It was on ebay, it was about an hour away and it was pick-up only.  It is a machine that was originally used mostly by cobblers.  I needed more information so I contacted my instructor.  She was very enthusiastic about those machines and said if the condition is good I should definitely go for it.  Now I had my plan.  I would bid on it and see what happens.  The problem was that I would be in the middle of my class when the bidding ended.  You know what happened.  I lost by $5.  Again.  So behind.

I had seen this 29-4 on Craigslist, but it was more than I wanted to spend.  It is fully restored.  I decided to contact the seller and see if they were open to negotiating.  They were.  I low-balled at a price that was about 2/3 of what they were asking.  They weren't going for that.  They counter offered and stressed that the machine was fully restored.  I thanked them, told them I understood, but that my budget was not able to afford that price.  In a few minutes I had another e-mail with a final offer good for that day only.  I told them I was on my way.  I scrounged up my Christmas money and borrowed the rest.  The owner of this machine was the nicest guy.  He was very attached to the machine.  It was his first machine it was in rough shape when he found it.  He had fully restored the machine all by himself.  He spent time to show me how to work it, give me information I might need about it and also threw in some small extras.  He told me that I could contact him at any time if I had questions because he knew everything about that machine and was happy to help me.  When I returned home I found two e-mails from him that were sent about 10 minutes after we parted.  He had sent me links about suppliers and sites that offer good general discussion.  So, I now own this beautifully restored  machine and I have the valuable resource of the previous owner who knows it inside and out.  In the end, I think it was worth being patient and letting things work themselves out.

On Becoming a Dude

After my adventures in Cedarburg I realized that I might have started becoming a dude.  The above shot is from when I was last at Elkhorn. I used to look at booths filled with rusty tools and doodads and walk on by.  I had no need and I had no interest.  From what I could tell, there was also some type of dude appeal to those booths.  There were always crowds of dudes huddling about.   No more.  My interest was sparked by leather class and all of the tools we used. I found myself spending time shuffling through boxes of metal looking for treasure.    I walked around with loads of heavy iron and metal in my bag, sweating all the way.  By the end of the day I had been welcomed into the dude brotherhood.

I found this cobblers tool and swooped on it.  I think it has a very sculptural quality to it.

A nice old riveter.

Another cobbler's tool.  I think most people are buying these for decorative purposes, but I need to actually use it.

More tools. 

I wanted to share my irrational purchase.  I was doing so well all day.  I was so focused.  I did not have a single miss-step.  I bypassed many things that were good finds, but were not on my list. (Remember those scooters?)  Well, I cannot explain this metal horse's head.  I think it must be from an old post.  I saw it and bought it.  Luckily, it was not a lot of money.  I have no idea what I will do with it. All day I kept thinking about "The Godfather" as I walked around with a horse head in my bag.

A New Trick

I just started a class in leather work.  This is my first project.  I really like when you can get a project finished within the parameters of class time.  I would still like to add some rivets so it is not completely finished, but at least I left with some sense of accomplishment.