Wizcrafts

First of all, the Viking 263 is NOT an industrial sewing machine! It is a purely domestic sewing machine. I found a source for the manual, here. They are also in the UK, where you bought the machine.

The first two are portable dual feed walking foot machines that are made for sail and upholstery work. Both can do light leather sewing. The Artisan is a shoe and boot patcher. Here is its manual. https://artisansew.com/pdf/manuals/exisiting/29_273_BB_29_172SBmanual.pdf

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...

If the shuttle has passed the needle after the up-down jog, retard the hook timing. This is done by poking a long flatblade screwdriver through a hole in the right side base of the machine and turning the eccentric screw that couples the down shaft to the shaft inside the arm. There is a nut on the back of that coupling that may need to be loosened first. After you successfull time the shuttle, tighten the lock nut again.

@hampasragnar There is another possible cause for the shuttle not picking up the top thread. I'm assuming that you already have threaded the top correctly and have the thread going through the take-up lever. That cause would be a worn out, bent, or gouged paddle spring inside the needle bar, which is visible just above the needle clamping bracket. Lower the needle bar all the way, then look above the clamping bracket. You should see a paddle shaped spring. It has to press against the thread and hold it in place as the needle makes its down-up-down jog at pick-off time. If that spring doesn't hold the thread in place during that cycle, you'll get missed stitches because the thread can't form a good loop on the right side of the needle. Sadly, replacing that spring is like rocket science. ;-(

What size thread are you running on the top and bottom? What size needle? Is the needle a round point or a leather point? Are you trying to sew through cemented or taped layers? The glue or \sticky tape can clog the eye of the needle. If the layers are dry but the needle is too small for the thread, it can lift the leather on the way up when the lockstitch knots try to come up through the hole on the bottom, but it's too tight. A bigger needle helps overcome that problem. As mentioned before, increase the foot pressure to help hold down the leather as the needle ascends. Another thing that can cause the needle to stick in leather is sewing too fast. This causes extreme heat to develop as the needle penetrates the leather and comes back up. Slow down to a couple stitches per second and this should stop being the problem. Also, extremely dry thread might cause some problems.

I agree with Constabulary's list. Those topics can be unpinned, or archived. Still, I like the idea of the user having an options box to choose the number of topics to display per page. When I'm at home I'm on cable Internet. I can load a hundred lines of topics in the blink of an eye.. My cellphone is usually connected to a router unless I'm driving. I only use it when I'm stationary. I think that 25 lines is a good default setting as long as the users can choose less in an options box.

There was a previous discussion about the Adler 30-15 on Leatherworker.net. It was determined that this model uses the shorter System 332, aka: 135x16, 135x17, 29x3, or 29x4 needles. If that needle doesn't pick up the thread, the timing is probably off because the shuttle driving gears are loose, worn out, or misaligned. Or, maybe the shuttle hook is damaged or incorrect for the machine, or maybe you need to move the needle clamp closer to the hook.

@hampasragnar Your video link is no good. Try creating a YouTube account and upload it there. Then link to it and it will appear here.

Sometimes, if the thread is very coily, knots will form on the top of the leather. The same twistiness can cause the thread to jump out of the business area of the tension disks, or bobbin spring. Weaver thread is known for this problem in the darker colors. Black and dark brown are the worst offenders in this regard. I try to counteract clockwise coily thread by wrapping it counterclockwise around two holes in the top thread guide post on my Cowboy CB4500. It really does help cut down on the twisting at the needle.

Thanks! One reason for me using Schmetz Serv 7 needles is that the larger eye is a little less likely to get clogged up when I sew through double-sided leather basting tape from Wawak, or contact cement, or other glues.