Smaller than they look. Only good for decoration, not really much sound, just a light tinkle (but a nice tinkle). Holes are already drilled. That's a small plus. Not bad priced though, since I cannot find anything to compare them against online or in the stores. I felt sort of lucky to find this National Aircraft company. I don't know of any other manufacturer that sells pre-drilled chimes in different sizes at all anywhere. I hung them onto a small wooden birdhouse.
Showing posts with label sewing machine parts suppliers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewing machine parts suppliers. Show all posts
Tonic Studios 776 Simplicity Pattern Punch Celtic Strip
List Price: $14.95
Sale Price: $14.90
Today's Bonus: $0.05 Off
This punch makes a nice, clean, attractive strip that looks lovely on handmade greeting cards and other paper crafts.
It punches smoothly and easily.
24 Half Round Hollow Eyeballs fit into mask skull- Halloween
Excellent collection of eyes for building Halloween props. Overall given the relatively low price these are amazing quality, they are not going to fool anyone when examined closely however they are more then sufficient for prop building.
Nelson 50947 Triple Spray Aqua-Drive Oscillating Sprinkler
List Price: $46.99
Sale Price: $43.86
Today's Bonus: 7% Off
The Nelson Triple Spray that I've had for 10 years finally broke. It looks completely different from the one sold today (Functional not Attractive design). The base is actual metal and it has performed great for all this time.
I was going to buy a new one today but I won't now. It looks like the quality that I paid a premium for 10 years ago is gone. Very sad. I've always been a fan of Nelson products but it looks like they made some business decisions that sacrificed quality.
Off to the lathe to make a new part (hose connection).
Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat
I've had a lot of experince with cutting mats and die cut machines. This mat is no better or worse that any other mat that comes with these types of machines. Most people that die cut alot have tips for getting the most out the mats. Here are a few of mine:
-All mats are very, VERY sticky when they are brand new. They will shred your paper if you are not careful with them. Solution: Get some of the stickyness out by rubbbing a cotton T-shirt all over the mat. The barely visable fuzz from the shirt will soften the sticky to a managable level for your paper while not interferring with the blade.
-Sticky wears off after time. This is not really true but it seems like it. The real problem is dust and paper fibers adhere to the mat over time and block the sticky. Solution: Rinse with cool water and rub some dish soap with your hands over the mat. This will remove the debris thats blocking the sticky. Let air dry when done.
-Washed the mat way too many times and now the sticky really IS gone. This happens much later on in the life of the mat. Solution: Buy a can of spray adhesive (Making Memories Slice Removeable Adhesive works GREAT) or a broad tipped glue pen and reglue the mat yourself. Make sure it is completely dry before use. If you chose to use a Spray, make sure the unsticky edges of the mat are covered before you spray so they stay that way. You can YouTube "Reglue Cricut Mat" for the technique.
Hope this helps with the mat problems alot of reviewers are having. Rest asured, this is typical and normal issue and not at all exclusive to this machine or this mat.
-All mats are very, VERY sticky when they are brand new. They will shred your paper if you are not careful with them. Solution: Get some of the stickyness out by rubbbing a cotton T-shirt all over the mat. The barely visable fuzz from the shirt will soften the sticky to a managable level for your paper while not interferring with the blade.
-Sticky wears off after time. This is not really true but it seems like it. The real problem is dust and paper fibers adhere to the mat over time and block the sticky. Solution: Rinse with cool water and rub some dish soap with your hands over the mat. This will remove the debris thats blocking the sticky. Let air dry when done.
-Washed the mat way too many times and now the sticky really IS gone. This happens much later on in the life of the mat. Solution: Buy a can of spray adhesive (Making Memories Slice Removeable Adhesive works GREAT) or a broad tipped glue pen and reglue the mat yourself. Make sure it is completely dry before use. If you chose to use a Spray, make sure the unsticky edges of the mat are covered before you spray so they stay that way. You can YouTube "Reglue Cricut Mat" for the technique.
Hope this helps with the mat problems alot of reviewers are having. Rest asured, this is typical and normal issue and not at all exclusive to this machine or this mat.
ComposiMold-LT Reusable Mold Making Material, 4 Ounces
I really like the fact that this is reusable. I've gotten fair results, but be very careful about causing bubbles because it's very hard to get rid of them, it's really viscous. The bubbles don't just float to the surface and pop, but kind of stay put and cling. I've heard that using this in a vacuum chamber is very bad news and will foam up and spill over. It has a very low melting point so they don't recommend using any molding material that generates heat because it will deform the mold. I've used resin in it a few times and it hasn't been a problem yet, but you can also pop it in the freezer for a while. I can get rid of bubbles if I bake it in the oven for a few hours, but then it dries out. I've added water to thin it, but it seems to be losing its integrity. I do like it and will continue to use it, but it could be improved.
10 pcs .925 Sterling Silver Grommet Eyelet Rivet For Pandora
List Price: $13.99
Sale Price: $5.98
Today's Bonus: 57% Off
I can't review the item yet, but I will review the shipping and then revise the review later if warranted. So far, I'm not impressed. I ordered this product on May 24 expecting it to arrive in, at the latest, a week. Ten days would be really pushing it. Nowhere on this description does it indicate that there is an extended wait for this product. I just now checked on my order, because I thought it was strange that I hadn't gotten it yet, only to see that the delivery window for this product is somewhere between JUNE 20 and JULY 9!!!! It has shipped, but there is no tracking information available for it so I have no idea what's going on or why it's taking such an exorbitant amount of time to get here what do they have to do, mine the silver yet????? I can only assume that this product is coming from Hong Kong or someplace similar, even though I did not see mention of that anywhere on the listing. I always steer well clear of things coming from outside the country that take that long to arrive unless it's something so unique and special that it is worth the long, long wait. Being an Amazon Prime member, I admit I'm spoiled as far as getting items quickly is concerned, but this is outrageously long. There should be a disclaimer in the listing, in my opinion, so you at least know what you're in for as far as the wait is concerned.
I'll go elsewhere for my grommets, thank you so much. They're not THAT unique of a product that I can't easily find them in a hundred other places if I put myself out a little bit. I don't want to wait until possibly after July 4 to make my beads!!!!! Beware, if you're in a hurry, or even wanting these in a reasonable amount of time, because you're not getting them from Dreambell.
Logan 301 Compact Mat Cutter
List Price: $119.95
Sale Price: $98.96
Today's Bonus: 17% Off
I bought this about a year ago to save on framing our wedding pictures. I knew less than nothing about mat cutting, but the directions were clear and the process was fairly intuitive.
The good:
Simple to operate, good instructions. Great for smaller, pre-sized pieces. Offers the opportunity to save money and be more flexible with mat designs.
The Bad:
No squaring arm for cutting down full mat sheets. This is a real drag as full sheets are the most economical way to go. Since it has the straight cutting head, I assumed it would make provisions for cutting large pieces. In addition, the straight cutting head pivots somewhat on the guide rail, leading to slightly wavy cuts. I became aware of this and am now careful to try and avoid it, but its been a consistent problem. If one cut is off, especially when making complex or multi layered mats, the whole thing will be off. Finally, the mat width is limited to 4.5 inches. Yes, its plainly noted on the box. I thought that would be plenty. It isn't. This isn't a flaw in the product, more of a heads up to potential buyers.
Overall it is a decent product. I understand its more of an introductory model, but the manufacturer seems to have skimped in some areas that in my opinion are crucial to the success of the eventual user.
If I had it to do over again, I'd spend the extra money and go for a slightly larger model with a squaring arm and more professional features.
Badger Air-Brush Company Heavy Conversion for Model 100 and 150
This is just what it's advertised to be. An aircap and needle assembly. Built with the same quality that Badger is known for. It does just what I expected it to do. If you need a bigger spray pattern for your airbrush, this heavy conversion will do it for you. The price was very fair for the items received.
Fiskars Paper Trimmer 12 Grey
Yes, this is not the fanciest paper trimmer out there. But for $20, I've found it to be reliable and durable. I've been using mine for many years. Maybe the reviewers who say they can't get a straight cut didn't place the paper against the top edge of the cutter? I agree, it would be impossible to get a straight cut if you place the paper in the middle of the cutter. But if you line it up and hold it securely against the top edge, 99% of the cuts are straight. A couple of things I like about this trimmer as opposed to others: I like the ruler that folds out to the side. (I wish it measured up to 12" though. I think it measures only to 11".) And I like the ruler markings on the clear part that holds the blade. (I have other trimmers that don't have ruler marks there.) I don't like having to replace the blades, but at least the blades are readily available. For $20, it's a decent little trimmer.
Brother Project Runway Computerized Embroidery and Sewing Machine
List Price: $899.00
Sale Price: $349.99
Today's Bonus: 61% Off
I was going to get a regular sewing machine, but it was only about $50 extra for one that could also do embroidery. The machine I decided to get was the Brother LB6800PRW. This is exactly the same as the SE-400, except it comes with a carry-cart for portability, and has some 'project runway' branding on it. Both have a 100mm by 100mm embroidery field (4 inches by 4 inches, though the hoop looks bigger in pictures). The LB6800PRW was only a few dollars more than the SE-400 when I purchased it, and the bag that comes with the LB6800PRW will at least keep the dust off the machine once I get bored with it. Both the SE-400 and this one have 512k of memory that can be accessed though USB, so you can make and load embroidery patterns from a computer. I don't understand why that is even optional, all embroidery machines should allow USB connectivity, there is more than just letters to embroider. Software to make your own embroidery is another matter, as nothing comes with the machine for making customized patterns, and it is pretty expensive, so keep that in mind.
The machine has a touch screen for choosing stitches and built in patterns, which I like. I don't like that the default stitch is one that I will never use (left stitch instead of centered in the foot), but I got used to always changing it pretty quickly. The auto-threader is awesome as well, threading the needle was usually a pain, especially with thicker thread. No issues on this one after a few months of use. The auto-thread-cut is a great feature as well (push a button and the machine cuts the top and bobbin thread)
The first thing I did was make some curtains for a small half-moon window in my bedroom. There is an annoying streetlight right on the other side, so it definitely needed a curtain. Trimming one from the store to 24" long solved the problem nicely. The machine did great, though it was only about 40 inches of sewing. No issues to speak of. The feed tracks straight, so when sewing only minimal left-right adjustment is needed to stay on track.
Once that was completed, I wanted to try out the embroidery functions. There were 2 main projects I wanted to use the machine for. Those were a custom shirt for someone at work, and a baby bib for a friend who is having a baby. the first thing I tried was putting my name on a towel for a test using the built in embroidery font. That failed miserably on the first try because I did not use a stabilizer. The instructions said a stabilizer was 'recommended', but it is actually pretty much required. I have yet to find a fabric that can be embroidered on this machine without a stabilizer.
Once I put on a stabilizer, the result looked fine when I took it out of the machine, but as I started to trim the jumps between letters, the thread started unraveling. I put it back in the machine and embroidered my name right over the existing design again, and paid more attention to what the machine was doing. Sure enough, the machine was not locking the thread at the beginning and end of each letter (backing up and going over the thread again to keep it from unraveling). That's a pretty big oversight in the programming. I was able to get around it by manually going over the end of each letter. Still, it was an annoyance, and the results didn't look as good as I would have liked. Some letters are worse than others, with the lowercase 'A' being the worst. In some instances, the 'A' would start unraveling while the next letter was being sewn.
I also broke a needle by following the instructions. The instructions state to gently hold the tread for the first few stitches, so the top thread doesn't pull out of the needle. Well, 'gentle' is actually 'not at all' as the needle can only take a very small amount of force before bending enough to hit the foot and break on the down stroke. So I swapped out the needle, and made my first accessory purchase, a pack of 100 needles.
After giving up on the built in fonts, I tried some graphical embroidery. I looked around for some patterns (besides the ones on the machine) and found that they all cost a decent amount of money. I found a free dragon finally, and put it on a wash towel using some overlock thread I had laying around. It looked really good, and the design had the lock stitches built into it correctly. It was actually a surprising amount of stitches, more than 10,000. It took about 20 minutes for the machine to sew it, so the machine averaged about 500 stitches per minute on that design. I timed a few different designs, and it looks like the average speed is around 300 stitches per minute. I wish there was a way to slow down the machine manually sometimes; I think some designs and fabric would benefit from that.
Since the first try, I have embroidered more than 50 different things with this machine (shirts, patches, dinner napkins, towels, felt), almost all of them custom designs that I created using software called Embird Digitizing Studio. So far, the machine has worked great! Moving designs from a computer to the machine is easy as cake. A regular USB cable is used, and the sewing machine shows up as a drive on the computer. All that is needed is to copy/paste over a design. I tried Windows 7, XP, and a flavor of Linux and they do not have an issue accessing the machine.
I have done surprisingly little regular sewing on the machine, but it works well, with no issues there either. The only things I think could be better is that the cord for the foot pedal comes out of the side of the pedal instead of the back, and the pedal has almost no weight to it. The combination of these 2 things make it so the pedal can move around on the floor when you don't want it to.
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Now that I have had this machine for about a year, I can add more to this review. My LB6800PRW is starting to show it's age I use it all the time, it is just too much fun making stuff! I can't figure out how to check the stitch count, but back of the envelope math on how much stabilizer & thread I have used says I am somewhere between 20 and 30 million, with only a few minor problems along the way.
I do swap out needles often, since they are only about a dime when you get a hundred at a time. I have used about 75 or so. There is no reason not to swap them out often, besides that it is somewhat of a pain to do it if you have larger fingers like I do. I have managed to break a few needles, most of the time it is due to the thread wrapping around the spool pin when unwinding. It happens maybe once a month, so it isn't too bad. I used to wind my own bobbins for embroidery, but that takes until forever, so I switched to prewound ones. I really like the ones from World Weidner here on Amazon, they have constant tension, and unspool well. Several other brands I have tried have winding knots in them, and will jam the machine. I have never had that problem with World Weidner's, and I went though 2 gross of them so far.
One of the problems that I had was that the needle threader stopped working. When I pressed it, it would stick at the bottom, and not try to 'wrap' the needle. I took the needle threader apart, and used a drop of sewing machine lubricant on it, and gently worked it a few times. The needle threader then worked again. I have had to do this twice in the last year.
The embroidery foot itself actually wore out as well. The foot moves up and down with each stitch, and the guide pin actually elongated the hole of the presser foot. This made the foot move enough so that it would block the needle threader, and too much more wear would have allowed the needle to hit the presser foot. I looked all over for a replacement, and couldn't find one on Amazon. I ordered one direct from Brother for about $15 because I could not find it anywhere. It is part number XD0474151, and fits both the SE400, and the LB6800PRW. 20 million stitches sounds more than fair for how long it lasted.
Besides those 2 things, the machine has been flawless. I need to clean the lint out of it and wipe it down, but those are both normal maintenance things. It runs like champ both when doing embroidery and regular sewing. All in all, I highly recommend this machine. I even bought another (though the SE400 instead because I didn't need a case) to give as a Christmas present. It is very quiet, and can sew circles around any machine I have used in the past.
Vintaj 2-Piece Altered Jewelry Blank, Rectangle, 32mm
I used 5 of these blanks to make a beautiful bracelet.
These are very versatile for bracelets, pendants and connecters.
I definitely recommend this product.
These are very versatile for bracelets, pendants and connecters.
I definitely recommend this product.
Paasche TG-3F Double Action Gravity Feed Airbrush
List Price: $178.00
Sale Price: $116.65
Today's Bonus: 34% Off
I use this airbrush for painting miniatures (Warmachine, Warhammer, etc) and larger scale model kits. I'd never used an airbrush before, so I did a lot of research before buying anything. This model has the three things that were most important to me -dual action, internal mix, gravity feed. I also like that it comes with three needles and tips. When painting minis, I use the smallest needle. When applying gloss varnish or basecoating larger models, the next size up works great. I haven't tried the biggest needle yet, though it would probably be good for painting terrain/dioramas.
The airbrush is very easy to assemble and disassemble for cleaning. This was a big plus for me, as I was very intimidated at the prospect of having to take this thing apart and put it back together again. The instruction manual doesn't help much, but there are some good tutorials for this airbrush on YouTube. Just be careful with the needle! It is incredibly delicate.
The only issue I've had is that the trigger sometimes sticks a bit when you press it down. I read of this problem in other reviews, and some even suggest how to file down a couple pieces to fix the problem. I haven't attempted this yet, but I might. However, the sticking trigger isn't really a big deal at all. Hasn't affected my painting, as far as I can tell.
One thing to note -the hose that comes with this airbrush didn't fit with the regulator on my air compressor (and the hose that came with the air compressor didn't fit with the airbrush). I just brought the hose and regulator to a hardware store and they found the right adapter. I guess whether you have this problem will depend on what compressor you get, but in the end it was only a $2 problem.
In the end, this is a great airbrush. It feels very durable and it will be a LONG time before my skills exceed the capabilities of the airbrush. If you're looking for a quality airbrush that will work the way you want and last a long time, but don't want to pay the high prices for an Iwata, this is the way to go!
Cricut 2000595 Baby Steps Cartridge
List Price: $89.99
Sale Price: $26.99
Today's Bonus: 70% Off
This cartridge is so darn cute and is worth every penny. I love how this cartridge portrays babies that are beginning to walk and add extra detail to scrapbook pages of my children when they were babies. I would recommend this cartridge to anyone who wants to add fun to thier projects. I give it 2 thumbs up!!
Cricut 2001007 Elegant Edges Cartridge
List Price: $89.99
Sale Price: $26.56
Today's Bonus: 70% Off
This should be the first cartridge every Cricut owner should buy, even before you buy font cartridges or other cartidges. If you've every used Bazzill's Cardstock with an Edge, this cartridge allows you to take any piece of paper and create your own border or frame to stack your paper and make and beautiful layouts. I've only had my Cricut for a few months so I consider myself a newbie, but this cartridge is easy to use if you follow the manual. I absolutely love, love, love this cartridge!!