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Springhill huh ?

I will give you all my Marine and auto business. I want nothing to do with it. I do pretty much just specialize in RV work as I only work in the winter months.

I am right next door to you in Brooksville ( about 5 miles away ). :)

This area needs a real good auto guy as well as someone who does quality marine work. I know of one other guy who does motorcycle seats and his work is awesome so motorcycle upholstery is another good bet. The RV side of things is tough around here. Alot of the campgrounds and resorts are low end so the owners do not spend much money. :( 

Why don't we meet up for breakfast sometime. If your interested in doing motorcycle seats I can put you in touch with some of the bikers in this area. I attend a lot of the bike events and bike nights in our area and would be glad to take you along with me. You can also hit a couple car shows with me as well.

Welcome aboard.

Chris

I think, and I am not sure maybe Greg can add to this, but I believe that alot of these vendors on E-Bay can offer deep discounts because:

1.) They have no employees

2.) They have no storefront, thus, no overhead

3.) They buy in bulk and are able to pass volume pricing down to their customers.

I am sure Bob and Greg are paying much more for these parts / attachments then some of these e-bay vendors because they buy in small quantities.Some of these vendors have thousands of transactions so when your selling 1,000 folders versus 50, your price is going to be low.

I bought a binder from one of my e-bay suppliers for a 1/4 what I would have paid through Sailrite or another machine dealer with a storefront. It was the same exact model as what other dealers sell.
Bob said the e-bay price on some of that stuff is below his cost. ( I teased him and told him to start buying on E-Bay. :)

I also got some amazing prices on M bobbins. :)

But there are some things I am leery about buying. In regards to machines, there is a huge difference between buying on E-Bay and buying through Bob or Greg. The E-bay dealers simply drop ship your machine. Bob and Greg actually have possession of it, take it out, set it up, run it and adjust it before you get it. And the kicker is Bob's prices ( as well as Gregs ) are nearly identical to those selling new machines on E-Bay.

I think E-Bay offers some good deals on some items but your still better off buying direct from machine dealers on other items.

Chris

The latest computer models show that the area Mike and I live in has a 20 % chance of seeing any oil.

The Key's as well as Miami is now looking at an 80 % chance of seeing oil.

In regards to the political aspects of this oil spill, I am not going to comment except to say I hate oil companies as much as I hate politicians.

Nuff said.

Chris

I get so bored sewing solar screens for RV's that my brain screams for something creative.

Once my chemo regimen slows down and I get this upholstery shop finished I am going to start on a creative project - making a leather chair ( so I can dump this recliner ). I want to pattern it after out leather couch ( same style, etc. ). I have a full blown woodshop I want to put to use so I will make the frame as well.

I do have a couple motorcycle seats sitting there waiting for me that came off my buddies Indian. That should allow me to get some creative juices flowing.

I did my boats interior a year and a half ago and did all the design work and patterns and I loved it. I had a ball laying out the designs and putting it all together. I would love a job like that again.

But, sewing these solar screens drives me nuts. Boring, straight forward and no chance to get creative. If I didn't have such a high profit margin with them I would never sew another one again. :)

Chris

I was just wondering, after a discussion on another thread, do any of you ever buy upholstery items on E-Bay ?

I think most of you know about my disaster when I bought a Tuffsew machine on E-Bay. That was my biggest mistake of the decade. I learned my lesson on that one so when I went to buy a new machine this year I bought it from one of our vendors here on this forum ( Bob at Toledo Machine ).

But I have and still will buy simple things off e-bay such as needles, bobbins, folders, binders, zipper feet, welt feet, etc. For the most part I have had good luck and have gotten some incredible deals on some very high quality parts. But I have also gotten a few parts that were extremely cheap and were useless.

I bought 10 yards of vinyl off E-Bay a couple years ago and was surprised to learn it was Miami Corp that sold it to me. :) For the most part I never buy fabric on E-Bay but have bought foam and leather. The one thing I really like about using E-Bay is being able to use Paypal.

I was just wondering if anyone else has used E-Bay to buy upholstery items.

Chris

Ahhhhhhhh......... The thread goes down a tube. OK, then this makes sense.

My wife has a serger but I have never paid any attention to it. It is a Suzy Homemaker type machine and not a commercial machine.

I have never seen one of those models where there is a tube. Thanks Greg for the info.

BTW, the guy sending me the flier every couple weeks is from an E-Bay store. I have ordered from him in the past and found some of his stuff made very well. I bought a binder from him and I am still using it. Great quality.

I know you hate e-bay and while I would never buy a machine through anyone on E-Bay ( been there and done that ), but I will buy needles and such from time to time simply because my upholstery account is tied into Paypal. I pay for 90 % of my stuff on the internet through Paypal. :) Heck I just bought a video camcorder through Walmart using Paypal.

Here is a listing to this guys store. Some of his stuff is a bit flimsy, some of it is very good quality. It is hit and miss on some of the items. I know he busted his butt to find a part for me a year or two ago for my Tuffsew and then sold me the same part that Sailrite carries for half the price. :)

For little things I do not mind using him but if I need a part for my machine then no I wouldn't bother with him.

Here is his E-Bay store -

http://stores.ebay.com/cutexsewingstore

I think I this store link to Bob from Toledo Machine for Bob to look over.

Chris

I get an ad once every two weeks on sale items that a parts supplier sends me. He normally runs sales on folders, binders, feet and other machine attachments, needles, etc.

I never pay attention to anything on there unless it pertains to my machine. But this one item caught my eye. The sale was on threading wires for a Singer 29-4.

I do not own one of these machines and have never seen one but am curious as all get out to know what the heck a threading  wire is and how they work ?

The only machines I have ever seen or used had a pretty straight forward way of threading. What would this wire accomplish ?

Chris

Speaking of Canada, I just watched a special on TV last night about how we are fishing out the worlds oceans. I had no idea that the Newfies fished out their Cod to the point that the government shut down all commercial fishing of Cod. They stated that it put 40,000 Newfies out of work.

I have also heard they have a hard time finding oil workers and the Newfies refuse to leave their area for work elsewhere.

Any truth to all this ?

Chris

That is something I have always wanted - a family quilt with articles of clothing from my father and little brother.

I think it is an awesome gift and one I know you will cherish.

Thanks for sharing that Darren.

Chris

Catfish is one of my favorites. Coming from a Southern family I ate a lot of it while growing up. Red Snapper is my favorite, but hard to come by and expensive.

Catfish has a bit of a sweet taste to it. It is a mellow tasting fish ( when cleaned properly ) and lends itself to being battered well. Of course green fried maters is the ultimate side dish with catfish.

Mike and June are probably going to suggest I get my head examined as I think both of them are grouper lovers ( seems everyone in Florida is crazy about Grouper ) , but for me, a good ole plate of catfish cannot be beat.

The best eating fish I have ever had was fresh snapper out of the Pacific. Grilled on a cedar plank, dang, that was some good eating. :)

Chris

Darren:

I know how much you enjoy fishing so I thought I would extend you the invitation to do some fishing
" Southern Style ".

No big fishing boats, no comfy fishing shanties, no poles, no bait.

I can cook up my famous beer battered Cajun style catfish, green fried tomatoes with Cajun Corn on the
Cob.

One ole channel cat will feed us all. Heck I will try and get Mike to come along too ( if I can get him off that big yacht of his ). :)

Here is the fishing that awaits you brother. Ya just do not know what your missing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LksuKTD8y0o

Ya'll come down and lets have some fun. :)

Chris

Vancouver ?  Is that even in North America ?

I still do not know why we just do not annex Canada and Mexico and call it good. Heck we could do an exchange between the cannucks and the bandidos ?

Tell ya what Darren. I will give you all of DC ( and its inhabitants ) for your oil sand fields. :) There is a lot more worth in your oil then in anyone in DC. :)

Chris

I thought instead of posting a joke, I would post this 911 call of some idiot with a Ferrari.  It reminds me of why some people should not be allowed to have a drivers license.

Enjoy,

Chris

The 911 call:

http://www.break.com/index/911-call-after-ferrari-mangled-by-train.html

WOW........................ Amazing work.

I would be real proud of that job. That is some of the best I have seen.

Congrats.

Chris

Dang Kyle:

What a day you had. I think it would have been better for you to stay in bed.

Hope your week ends on a high note.

Chris