Juki 441

[esantoro]

Art and others who have a machine similar to the Juki 441,

if you have the narrow presser foot , how is the steel is it firm and inflexible or can you squeeze the feet and see flex. I'm asking because I'm still trying to trouble shoot a problem with stitch quality. If I'm going through two layers 0f 6 oz veg tan, then the narrow presser foot i have works fine. However, if I'm going through two layers of 6 oz chrome tan, the machine doesn't put down nice stitches with the narrow presser foot (mine does show flex). If i change to the stock wide presser foot the stitches are beautiful. I like using the narrow presser foot, but not at the expense of poor stitch quality. Now I'm wondering if there is a better narrow presser foot available out there.

thanks

ed

[Art]

Hi Ed,

Yes, I can squeeze the outer feet together, but I'm a big dude, the wife can't. Chrome tan is much squishier (technical term) than veg tan, it makes sense the wider foot would cause less compression. Best thing I can say to do is back off the presser foot tension. The veg tan goes through like a brick while chrome tan goes through like fabric. I have a blanket foot set that is huge, so the squishier the material, the bigger footprint you need.

If you do get additional feet, try to get them from the same vendor, like Artisan or Ferdco or whomever you got your machine from. I once tried to switch a foot from a Ferdco 2000 onto the Artisan 4000P and they fit, but the outer foot was shorter and the machine had to be adjusted to compensate for this, so yes they are 441 parts and they do interchange, just not always without adjustments. If you go to a show, Steve from Artisan usually has a box full of parts there to choose from, some not advertised.

If you like the narrow foot, you might want to try using a right side foot (right side gets you close to something like on holsters, zippers, and bags, whereas left side gets you close to the edge or makes it easier to follow an edge guide).

Could you post a couple of pics of the stitching?

Art

Art and others who have a machine similar to the Juki 441,

if you have the narrow presser foot , how is the steel is it firm and inflexible or can you squeeze the feet and see flex. I'm asking because I'm still trying to trouble shoot a problem with stitch quality. If I'm going through two layers 0f 6 oz veg tan, then the narrow presser foot i have works fine. However, if I'm going through two layers of 6 oz chrome tan, the machine doesn't put down nice stitches with the narrow presser foot (mine does show flex). If i change to the stock wide presser foot the stitches are beautiful. I like using the narrow presser foot, but not at the expense of poor stitch quality. Now I'm wondering if there is a better narrow presser foot available out there.

thanks

ed

[esantoro]

here are some images of poor stitches (far left) , with the narrow presser foot, and quality stitches with the standard heavy presser foot (the other two).

[Art]

Hi Ed,

Just to start off, increase presser foot spring tension but also lower the foot a little. It looks like the foot might not be contacting the material well enough to get good spring compression and hold it still. Like I said before, sometimes the different feet are not the same length and you have to adjust the foot height. Compare the feet and see if one is a little longer than the other.

Art

here are some images of poor stitches (far left) , with the narrow presser foot, and quality stitches with the standard heavy presser foot (the other two).

[esantoro]

Hi Ed,

Just to start off, increase presser foot spring tension but also lower the foot a little. It looks like the foot might not be contacting the material well enough to get good spring compression and hold it still. Like I said before, sometimes the different feet are not the same length and you have to adjust the foot height. Compare the feet and see if one is a little longer than the other.

Art

Art,

I have just now understood this old post of yours, due to some experimentation the past few days.

The toes on my narrow harness makers foot make contact with the flat needle plate; whereas the toes on the standard blanket foot, which allows for problem-free stitches, that came with the machine do not touch the plate.

The result is that unless the leather is thick and somewhat firm, the narrow harness foot that I have will pose some problems. My guess is that perhaps due to the low position of the toes on the harness foot, there is too much pressure on the leather, especially thinner, softer leather.

The fix: make sure presser foot tension is backed off quite a bit when using the harness foot. I'll now go and experiment more.

Ed