Wizcrafts

You can buy the servo motor from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (one of our supporting advertisers). You will also need needle, thread, thread snips, bobbins, and oiler tubes, to start.

You will definitely want a walking foot machine of some type. Your options include flat bed, post bed and cylinder arm models. The feed system that leaves the least marks on top is either bottom feed or compound feed. The worst option is single or dual feed with feet that have teeth on them. Based on your stated thicknesses, you'll need a machine capable of properly handling bonded thread sizes 69, 92 and 138. The corresponding needle sizes are 18/110, 19/120, and either 22/140 or 23/160. The first number is the US standard size. The second is the metric equivalent. Some good current machines that can handle this work include the Consew 206RB-5, and the Juki DNU 1541. Either can be ordered with a servo motor that is easy to control for beginners and experts alike. Juki machines are more expensive though. You can sometimes find old used Singer walking foot machines for a few hundred dollars that can do the work, but with limitations that often include no reverse lever, or small bobbins. Some ancient Singer walking foot machines had a spring loaded presser foot that merely followed the work on top as the feed dogs on the bottom grabbed the flesh side and pushed it to the back (the single feed I mentioned). Been there and done that. I'd go with a modern machine.

There was a discussions about a Singer 132k6 on our site a handful of years ago, which includes close up photos of the machine. They are humongous! I owned one for a couple of years in the mid-1980s. One of their intended uses was sewing buffing wheels and the dangling car wash cloths. Another was parachute harnesses. I think the head weighed about 150 pounds. The only reason I got rid of it was that the jump/kick foot occasionally slipped on slicked leather and the stitches varied in length. The only feed is on the bottom. The outside presser foot just follows along with the feed dog. I did make some pancake holsters with it. The stitch length on the 132k6 was up to 1/2 inch. The maximum thickness sewable is 1/2 inch of medium temper leather, or cloth, or webbing. It did fine with #346 thread and a #25 needle. Mine had a 1/2 horsepower clutch motor which I slowed with a 2 inch pulley that fed the larger pulley on the machine. It was a speed demon getting about 3 stitches per second, flat out! ;-)

Nope! It's a light duty home sewing machine for fabrics. It takes thin cotton thread and small domestic needles.

I use edge guides and they compensate for turns for me. Mind you, the exact length of the corner stitches can vary ever so slightly depending on how far in the stitches are from the edge.

I use these needle sizes with these thread sizes: #18 needle with #69 thread #19 needle with #92 thread #22 or 23 needle with #138 thread.

I want to add another tip for hot leafing in leather. I always press down a couple of times, fairly hard, to de-boss the leather before I apply the gold leaf. This ensures that the foil color will go into a channel instead of just laying on top of the leather where it could rub off. It's best to use a backing cardboard if the leather is thin, to avoid harming the type. If your embossing a belt the backing isn't needed. Just hold down the lever for a couple of seconds before applying the foil. I usually set my temperature to about 230 degrees on my Kingsley heat presses. One half to 3/4 of a second of foiling seems to work best. You can always hit it again to add more foil as long as the work is clamped down and hasn't moved.

I don't recommend that. The sole means of feed is those sharp teeth. Rather than dull them, try sliding some flexible carburetor tubing over the legs. Or, simply reduce the foot pressure via the pressure screw.

Aside from learning to feather the clutch, you're best alternative is to swap the motor out for a servo motor. like this one.

Aside from, or in addition to trying a smaller #22 needle, you can tighten both the top and bottom tensions and re-balance the knots. Tighter thread tension can sometimes offset knot placement problems caused by the machine or the leather.

Tony Luberto retired several years ago; I think pre-covid. His Luberto stitcher was a clone of the long-discontinued Number 9 Machine. The only way you'll get a manual is if somebody who has one will scan it into a pdf, or photocopy it. I saw one of these beasts at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines about a dozen years ago.

We ran into a sizing problem a few months ago where my partner measured the customer around his belt line for a 3 inch gunbelt. When he came to get it, it was way too short. His belly size was much bigger than where his belt loops were. From now on, we will measure from the belt line up 3 inches to allow a full range of adjustment that accounts for body contour.

@Ken1967 All of the Puritan sewing machines are chainstitch machines and only use one thread, which is on top. A looper forms a chain under the leather or wood as you sew. Because a chainstitch is vulnerable to being pulled apart, the Puritan machines have a (heated) wax pot that holds either dry or liquid stitching wax, which hardens or congeals after being sewn. You can also use waxed stitching thread in these machines, but may need to adjust the looper slightly to pull the sticky thread off the barbed needle. If you use regular bonded thread, glue down the starting and ending stitches on the underside. A chainstitch is beautiful on the top, but ugly on the bottom. Only use it where the bottom won't be part of the visual experience. Some uses of Puritan machines are work boots, shotgun cases that are lined, briefcases and luggage. In fact, many Redwing boots are sewn on Puritan machines with multiple needles. Some shoe soles are also sewn with a different style of chainstitch machine, known as a McKay stitcher. The chain is protected by an insole.

Yes. I tend to load all of my bobbins so that they feed into the bobbin spring slot at a right angle. This keeps the thread firmly seated under the spring and slightly increases the bobbin thread tension. It isn't gospel, but helpful with some thread that might be twisty.

25! Or, a drop-down select box for the user to choose. I'll try to throw together the HTML for one...