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The largest needle commonly available for domestic sewing machines is a #18/110. I once found some #20 needles for an old iron body Singer from yesteryear. Those machines held up much better than the plastic body machines of today. I mentioned this because most so-called Upholstery thread is #69 bonded nylon. This size is normally sewn using a #18 (Metric 110) needle. Leather point needles work best on leather, as opposed to round points. You should be able to get a decent stitch using #69 thread with a #18 needle by balancing the bobbin vs top tension and enough foot pressure to keep the leather from lifting with the ascending needle. But, if you plan to sew leather on a regular basis, buy an iron body walking foot machine that's mounted on a 20 x 48 inch industrial k-legs frame and table and powered by a 3/4 HP servo motor.

I did mean the marketplace here. That's why I linked to it. In fact, I'm not on fb so it never occurred to me that there might be confusion... 😄

To me, that shredding still looks like the needle is too small for the thread. If that thread came from a regular fabric store, I wouldn't think it's bigger than v69. According to this handy chart it wants a 16 OR 18 needle. Maybe an 18 will solve the shredding. How about trying some smaller thread with your size 16 needle on some scrap? It might prove the concept.

Wonderful Work Welcome to the forum.

Hi! I’m Olena, a leather designer who enjoys creating a bit unusual patterns. I love animals, so you’ll often see them in my work 🐾, but I also get inspired by steampunk and fantasy ideas. I share my projects on leatherpatternts.com and make video tutorials for each pattern on my YouTube channel.

I moved your post to Leather Sewing Machines

But now it’s doing this, took off walking foot but this is just two scraps.

Part of the process of tanning is adding back oils/fats and one of the treatments is called fat-liquor. From what I read - not a single substance but various sorts of sulfonated oils depending on tannery. I was told years ago that sulfonated neatsfoot oil was one of them - one of the major ingredients in Lexol leather conditioner. The reason that the historic casing mix recipe I was given contains Lexol conditioner.

I'd go for the for sale section on Leatherworker.com before I did anything else. Going over to marketplace you're not gonna have the same people looking that they do at Leather worker

I like how you're thinking, but I'm not gonna find my work truck in a scrapyard. I should have specified it's a semi.

Trying to help someone who just acquired one of these, but no help or info from the previous owners. New owner isn't experienced. Threading through the tensioner and check spring - parts don't look the same as the parts manual. Check spring has an external little coil along with the standard U-shaped bend. The check spring adjuster/stop has a wide range possible. Timing seems off, Hook/shuttle, bobbin case mechanisms appear sloppy. Any guidance appreciated! Can get pictures later today.

Changing needle seemed to work!

Hers some pics, changing needle to 100/16 to try. Thread is nylon upholstery thread. I’m not sure of size there’s some numbers on spool. Sews fabric perfectly.

That's a beautiful rig, the colors are gorgeous, and the carving is excellent; that sure is work to be proud of. Oh, that curly maple would be unreal, no inlay, the wood says it all by itself.

What size of thread are you trying to use??? The max size of needle ( #18 / 110 ) in the manual indicates it could handle maybe V69. Even through the machine could handle the same thickness of fabric when you are dealing with any type of leather or thickness the machine is going to struggle. In a nut shell this is the Wrong machine that was made / designed for fabric. kgg

I really like the accent carving, but in my opinion, a single layer of leather with no means of retention on a gun as heavy as a 1911 will become sloppy over time, making it a dangerous situation.

More foot pressure might help the lifting. Does it sew cloth without shredding? How about the thread and needle size?

I have seen something similar while wet forming on some hides not all, cost effective 2/3 and 4/5 oz veg tan leather and not from Tandy. It has appeared as dots or small lines. I figured it was fat appearing but this topic caused me to do an AI search related to the Tandy Econo and probably applies to other suppliers the results were: i) "The milky substance rising from Tandy's Econo Veg Tan leather while casing is likely natural oils and tannins leaching out of the leather as it deeply hydrates. Casing involves thoroughly wetting the vegetable-tanned leather so the water penetrates evenly through the fibers, which can draw out waxes, fats, and residual tanning materials causing a cloudy or milky appearance on the surface. This is more common in economy grades like Econo Veg Tan because they may have more natural variations and less refined finishing compared to higher-grade leathers." ii) The regions most commonly associated with these Econo vegetable-tanned hides are South America—especially Brazil and surrounding countries—and in some cases Asia, depending on availability and market supply. These regions are major global suppliers of cattle hides used in mass-market leather production, which matches Tandy's focus on affordable, large-batch material for their Econo line. @chuck123wapati I agree Not helpful. Could have been worded a little differently. kgg

Hi everybody, Newbie here trying to sew pigskin. Singer 6700C machine with polyester upholstery thread and “leather sewing needles”. Thin pigskin about same thickness as poster paper. Problem is the thread starts shredding kind of and bunches up right before it goes thru the eye. It tries to lift the presser foot when the needle goes upstroke. Eventually it will choke if I keep going. Thanks, Dano

Calling the people trying to help you a peanut gallery probably won't help in getting your questions answered. Good luck with your problems.

Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate your input regarding the milky color. Most recently, it happened to be 2-3oz and 5-6oz econo veg tan from Tandy, probably Argentinian in origin, if I had to guess. (Before the peanut gallery chimes in dishing on their quality, it’s what I have available, and more importantly, it’s what I can afford…) As far as casing goes, I don’t believe there’s any problem with my process involved, only my execution. And I’m aware of it. Skill comes with practice, and im still learning the craft. These pieces I didn’t bother to clean first, and I only used a spray bottle of tap water, so it couldn’t have come from me. I had considered the possibility of it being something from the tanning process, but I also freely admit that I know nothing of the tanning process. I don’t know if I’m “glad” per se, but at least I know I’m not crazy, and someone else has also experienced this. — AZR

Hey - I forgot that I ever posted this. I should be able to post the manuals I've been able to find. On my way to work right now but will try to check once I'm home. I'm not certain of the exact model I have, but in my case the problems seem to have been partially due to the shuttle hook being extremely worn, the tip seems to have been repaired with brazing at some point. However, I discovered that it is nearly identical in size/shape to the one used in a Singer 29k, save for a few distinct differences. With some minor grinding & polishing, I was able to retrofit a Singer shuttle & the machine works perfectly now. I am also working on a CAD file for the bobbin shuttle & can post a 3D scanned version of the original. Cheers

They are some really beautiful pics . Not a bad way to test out the ' burb' . Yep, time passes by so quick . We often ask that question ' where has the time gone ? ' it will be Christmas soon. I had one of those Bavarian pork knuckles again, geez they're nice. Dad doesn't eat the crackling, more for me 😀 even the left overs are tasty. HS

That would look nice. Curly maple is awesome looking stuff

Curly maple grips with mahogany or padauk diamond accents would look nice. Love the colors on the leather work.