What started it all-
Back about 1978, I was in a hurry to leave for work. I filled my Zippo
lighter just before I left. Unfortunately, I put a little too much fluid in it
and it leaked in my pocket. By the time I noticed, there wasn't much I
could do about it. As the day wore on, it became apparent I had a
problem, and one that took a few weeks to heal.
At the time, I was living in Millersburg, Ohio, a small town with a large
Amish population. I bought a piece of leather at an Amish harness
shop from which I made a pretty nice quick-draw holster for the
lighter. A friend liked it so much, he asked if I could make him one
also. Several days later, he wanted a dozen more for the guys he
worked with. Next thing I know, I'm in the leather business. Over the
next year or so, I started doing tooling and acquired Tandy's complete
set of tooling stamps by buying a couple at a time. There's more profit
margin in clothing, so I rigged up part of a 10-speed bicycle frame to
power a sewing machine and taught myself how to sew. Although it
was a 'home-type' machine, it worked well enough to sew light leathers
for vests, leather 'jeans', and chaps.
I was working a regular job and the plan was to hibernate during the
winter months to build inventory, and maybe sell through ads in the
biker magazines and during the summer months, hit the road on the
bike with the saddle bags loaded up. This would have worked out
better if I was making enough money to live on and invest in tools and
materials. Like most businesses, leather work is capital intensive. The
larger the quantity, the cheaper the materials become. I couldn't
afford to buy enough to make a high enough profit. I moved back to
Canton to look for a better paying job. Since those were hard to find, I
struggled along until some unforeseen financial troubles made me put
it all in storage.
My current situation is such that this is a good time to try it again. I
now have an industrial machine and currently working on a new pedal
powered contraption to make it go. In the meantime, I'm doing what I
can setting up to make the handcrafted items, like lighter and pistol
holsters.
Back about 1978, I was in a hurry to leave for work. I filled my Zippo
lighter just before I left. Unfortunately, I put a little too much fluid in it
and it leaked in my pocket. By the time I noticed, there wasn't much I
could do about it. As the day wore on, it became apparent I had a
problem, and one that took a few weeks to heal.
At the time, I was living in Millersburg, Ohio, a small town with a large
Amish population. I bought a piece of leather at an Amish harness
shop from which I made a pretty nice quick-draw holster for the
lighter. A friend liked it so much, he asked if I could make him one
also. Several days later, he wanted a dozen more for the guys he
worked with. Next thing I know, I'm in the leather business. Over the
next year or so, I started doing tooling and acquired Tandy's complete
set of tooling stamps by buying a couple at a time. There's more profit
margin in clothing, so I rigged up part of a 10-speed bicycle frame to
power a sewing machine and taught myself how to sew. Although it
was a 'home-type' machine, it worked well enough to sew light leathers
for vests, leather 'jeans', and chaps.
I was working a regular job and the plan was to hibernate during the
winter months to build inventory, and maybe sell through ads in the
biker magazines and during the summer months, hit the road on the
bike with the saddle bags loaded up. This would have worked out
better if I was making enough money to live on and invest in tools and
materials. Like most businesses, leather work is capital intensive. The
larger the quantity, the cheaper the materials become. I couldn't
afford to buy enough to make a high enough profit. I moved back to
Canton to look for a better paying job. Since those were hard to find, I
struggled along until some unforeseen financial troubles made me put
it all in storage.
My current situation is such that this is a good time to try it again. I
now have an industrial machine and currently working on a new pedal
powered contraption to make it go. In the meantime, I'm doing what I
can setting up to make the handcrafted items, like lighter and pistol
holsters.
Here's a couple pictures of the old sewing
machine drive. I cut up a bicycle frame,
keeping the part that held the pedals and
the back axle. I put a sprocket on the
opposite side of the axle from the 5-speed
gear mechanism. The loop of chain at the
top of the first picture, connected that
sprocket to the counter-shaft. Since the
machine ran in the opposite direction of the
pedals, I made a crude tensioning device
for another loop of chain that connected
the machine to the counter shaft, by
running over the top of the counter-shaft
sprocket. It was pretty crude but
functioned very well for the purpose, which
is all I wanted. The lowest gear gave me
the control I needed to drop stitches one at
a time and high gear let me sew long
seams quickly. The only drawback to this
setup was the bike frame was so large,
that the table top was about 4 feet high
and I had to sit on a tall bar stool.
machine drive. I cut up a bicycle frame,
keeping the part that held the pedals and
the back axle. I put a sprocket on the
opposite side of the axle from the 5-speed
gear mechanism. The loop of chain at the
top of the first picture, connected that
sprocket to the counter-shaft. Since the
machine ran in the opposite direction of the
pedals, I made a crude tensioning device
for another loop of chain that connected
the machine to the counter shaft, by
running over the top of the counter-shaft
sprocket. It was pretty crude but
functioned very well for the purpose, which
is all I wanted. The lowest gear gave me
the control I needed to drop stitches one at
a time and high gear let me sew long
seams quickly. The only drawback to this
setup was the bike frame was so large,
that the table top was about 4 feet high
and I had to sit on a tall bar stool.
This is the start of the new sewing machine.
I still have to finish rigging up the drive from
the bicycle. Excuse the mess.
I still have to finish rigging up the drive from
the bicycle. Excuse the mess.
After moving back to Canton, I bought a pickup truck. I took out an ad in some local papers
for cleaning out basements, garages, etc. I did motorcycle and small engine repair from
the garage, and CB radio repair and leather work from an extra room. To make a long story
short. A motorcycle accident took me off my feet for a few weeks and well, so much for
that.
By 1987, I'd started a family and bought a house. I filled the basement with a model
railroad (a childhood fantasy) which was an offshoot of my interest in electronics. That
evolved into a basement hobby/business in CB and amateur radio repair. That started
working out until I was notified by the city that I can't run a business in a residential zone!
I'm hoping this time, since I plan to be doing mail order and wholesale to local stores, I
won't have the traffic that caused the problem with the city in the first place. Worst comes
to worst, I'll go through the hassles and expense to get the (expletive deleted) 'home
occupation permit'!
for cleaning out basements, garages, etc. I did motorcycle and small engine repair from
the garage, and CB radio repair and leather work from an extra room. To make a long story
short. A motorcycle accident took me off my feet for a few weeks and well, so much for
that.
By 1987, I'd started a family and bought a house. I filled the basement with a model
railroad (a childhood fantasy) which was an offshoot of my interest in electronics. That
evolved into a basement hobby/business in CB and amateur radio repair. That started
working out until I was notified by the city that I can't run a business in a residential zone!
I'm hoping this time, since I plan to be doing mail order and wholesale to local stores, I
won't have the traffic that caused the problem with the city in the first place. Worst comes
to worst, I'll go through the hassles and expense to get the (expletive deleted) 'home
occupation permit'!