Shoe Mender / Leather Stitching Machine

Several days ago someone who's channel on Youtube I'm subscribed to posted a video of a leather stitching machine he bought for $115. If you're interested in watching the video, here is a link (Chris Zeppieri of Make Everything):
Leather Stitching Machine

Intrigued, I went on Amazon and started doing a bit of research into these interesting machines. Well what do you know, there they are, with many different names and prices. I happened to find one for $99 plus a 5% discount, totaling $102 and change including tax (free shipping). After a week or so of patiently waiting, it arrived today on the UPS truck. Below is a photo after I assembled the contraption.

Packaging was fairly good, as nothing was broken except the molded styrofoam, so I'd say it did its job.

Following are a couple photos of how the machine arrived.

This next photo shows how the thread is routed. The machine came threaded so you know how to do it. One thing I should mention is that the thread only went through one set of tension discs. Maybe the second set is there in case you need more tension on the upper thread, I dunno.

This next photo shows the extra parts that came with the machine: three bobbins (plus the one in the machine) and a shuttle and hook assembly. The two large bobbins are there for size, a Class 15 with all the holes in it and a Class 66. The bobbins on this new machine are tiny. I can see why they sent extras, as you probably won't be able to find them at your local store.

It also shipped with a spool of thread and 10 extra needles. Everything you need to get started.

Several videos online show people making a better stand for these stitchers but with the few times I'll be using this, I'll just keep it on its three-legged stand, at least for now.

One thing I had to do was finish tapping the hole for the spool holder. The threads didn't go completely through the casting, so I ran a metric M6-1.00 tap through the hole. The spool holder pin is quite small also, so I'll probably end up making something to slide onto the small post to hold the large spool of thread.

This next photo is the first try with some scrap leather. I just used the length of thread that was threaded on the machine, and it worked great.

Front side showing the nice, long stitching (the leather on the right was the practice piece that came on the machine):

Back side:

I'm impressed at how well this thing worked right out of the box. Several folks online said they polished things up to make it smoother, so I'll probably end up doing that at some point.

The final two photos show the stitches after I shortened the stitch length quite a bit, then lengthened it a bit partway through the stitching.

I'm still in awe that this leather sewing machine works so well. It is also quite smooth in operation and very quiet. They are made in China, thus the cheap price.