Wizcrafts

This is a question that you should ask the manufacturer, if you can find their website, and if they have a contact form. If you can't find the manufacturer, contact the company that sold you the machine. Maybe they know how to reach the builder. You attempted to link to a flat bed attachment, but neglected to include the URL. Please try again.

That part is known as the "latch opener." It should be set to pull back on the bobbin case as the thread goes around it, then let go after the thread knot is pulled up past the notch in the throat plate. There is a small amount of wiggle room in that cutout for the little tab on the bobbin case/shuttle to move forward and backward. Pulling it back at the right moment frees the thread to go up without hindrance. It should not be set to pull back hard against its stopped position. Leave a tiny amount of clearance at the pulled back position so you don't break anything or wear out the pulled parts.

The Class 26 is not a 441 clone. Its maximum needle size is probably a #24 or #25, but a 25 might be aweful close to the feed dog hole diameter. Ask the dealer. The Class 26 is not too heavy duty for wallets and belts as long as you use #92 thread with a #19 needle or larger. I don't know how well it nandles #69 thread and #18 needles.

I have a Kenmore 158 that I used to use in my shop when I had to sew cloth and linings. It is a good machine and was well built. I don't know about the availability of parts though. I think they are strong enough to sew soft leather, or to sew patches onto vests, but not over pockets. The Adler you have is a 30-70, not the other way around. ;-) It is a great machine for sewing patches over sleeves and pockets, or for sewing in zippers.

The cb3200 is one of the 441 class sewing machines, but, at 1/2 inch, it has less thickness capacity than the cb4500 and similar large models. The arm is shorter too, measuring in at 10.5 inches. Other than that, it uses the same needles, bobbins and thread. However, the Cowboy raised holster and stirrup plates are too tall for the 3200 due to its lower thickness capacity. Further, the optional drop-down edge guide doesn't fit on the 3200. If most of your projects will be between 1/8th and 1/2 inch thickness, this machine will serve you very well.

Yeppers! You scored the Motherload with that type of adjuster. You can position the brake pad as close or far away as you want, within the limits of the housing.

The more the slack, the better. Do whatever it takes to move the brake pad away from the clutch drive plate. If it's already on the verge of engaging, back off the screw to give it more hold vs motion time. Somebody with a shop should come up with an adjustable clutch/brake pad accessory for these motors.

Run on is the reason for leaving the brake on. But, open the motor housing where the lever comes out and look to see is there is a screw adjustment to preposition the lever downward, or to move the brake pad outward. If so, you can move the lever down to a point where the cork just engages, then fine tune it so it to minimize the free play before it engages with the motor. Some folks have actually sanded down the cork brake pad to get more movement before it hits the metal drive plate. That's the ideal situation. Clutch motors have an adjustment for free play that most servo motors lack.

You can read or download the documentation directly from Adler's website, here. There have been discussions about this model on Leatherworker.net. Just use our search box to search for all topics containing the term: Adler 269-373

@reveau There is an online manual for the Efka Variostop sewing machine motors, here. Page 25 deals with the motor's brake action. You must study the manual to learn how to set the braking action to get the motor to stop when you take your foot off the speed control pedal. Please note that the brand name is EFKA, not ELKA.

That needle alignment is weird. It appears to be too far forward in the hole. A proper alignment is dead center front to back. The needle clamp itself can be moved sideways to get closer or farther away from the hook. Remove that clamp and check for foreign material that might be causing the needle to sit on an angle. Maybe the clamp screw is loose. Tighten it after centering it sideways.. If this doesn't solve the problem, maybe the throat plate has two different size holes. Rotate the plate if the other hole is larger. Also, that needle looks very large. Try a smaller needle.

If the needle is splitting the top thread on the way into the material, your check spring ie either not properly set, or is accidentally bypassed, or is missing. The purpose of a check spring is to maintain some tension on the top thread as the take-up arm moves down. The assembly should have a bottom stopper bracket that can be adjusted to stop the downward movement of the spring at a position where the needle has just entered the top of the material. The spring action should be adjustable too. Set it to just hold the thread taut. This should solve the thread splitting problem.

Almost any walking foot machine based on the design of the Singer 111w155 will do that work. Look in your local ads for a SInger 111w155, a Juki LU-563, a Consew 205rb-(number), or any other brand that has triple (compound) feed. They are usually found in upholstery shops and they sell them off when they buy new machines. Expect to pay between $500 and $1200 for a good condition walking foot machine.

The machine is a lockstitch machine, meaning that the top and bottom threads are pulled up in a fist-like knot and into the material. The slightest tug on the top or bottom may pull the knots out and cause stitches to unravel. You should either reverse over the starting stitches, or sew all the way around and go over the first 4 or 5 stitches, or set the stitch length lever to the zero motion position and sew up and down in place about 2 or 3 times, then move on with the preset stitch length. Sewing in place requires a little more aggressive top tension to pull the knots up among multiple passes. Sometimes, just two hits is all it takes to keep the knots from coming out.

What they call upholstery thread is usually v69, aka: T70 bonded nylon thread. It has about 11 pounds breaking strength. You can buy Cowboy bonded nylon or polyester thread in 8 ounce and 16 ounce spools from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Bob Kovar is the owner and is an advertiser here. I use Cowboy thread from him and it works just fine. He has multiple sizes, from v69 through v346, and possibly other sizes outside that range. He also has all manner of sewing machine needles and spare parts.

When I bought my first industrial sewing machine, to sew a leather vest I was making, I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground when it came to machine capabilities! I was sold a tailoring 96k40 machine as a leather sewing machine. The dealer either lied, or wasn't aware. I ended up with a walking foot machine to finish sewing the vest. Most folks who do sew at home use a plastic body domestic sewing machine that was made to sew cloth. Cloth glides easily under the flat presser foot. The take-up and tensioning mechanisms are strong enough to tension #50 cotton or polycore thread. When such a person tries to sew leather, it drags on the top because the feed dog teeth aren't aggressive enough to claw into the flesh side. When they hunt for an industrial sewing machine, the first results are usually tailoring machines, many of which are meant to spin at high speed to distribute the oil that's fed by a sump pump on the bottom. These machines and speeds are no good for sewing leather.

It can sew 15 ounces of shoe upper leather. These machines were built to fix (patch) shoe and boot uppers, but not the soles. The bobbins are tiny due to the small 1 inch width of the nose on the arm. They are meant to use relatively thin bonded thread, usually #69. There used to be boxes of a gross of prewound bobbins available that eliminated the need to wind metal bobbins. Anybody who does have to wind their own bobbins keeps a magnetic pickup tool handy to fin them after they fall out of your fingers and roll across the floor to places previously unknown. When they roll, they also unwind! The range of thread and needles limits patchers to #138 bonded thread. There isn't much capacity on the bobbin for this size of thread. So, while a patcher can sew 1/4 inch maximum thickness, it is normally into soft to medium density shoe or chap leather, not veg-tan. I would limit veg-tan to about 10 ounces. Note, that the maximum stitch length of a pristine, late model Singer patcher is 5 stitches per inch at 6 ounces. As the thickness increases, the stitch length decreases. One might only get 8 to the inch at 15 ounces thickness, or less if the bottom drags against the throat plate. It helps to keep the throat plate highly polished/buffed and use a foot with aggressive teeth to pull the leather along. These feet leave noticeable tooth marks in the top of the leather.

This is what I have, manual-wise. You'll have to figure out the rest of the story. Or, ask a specific question pertaining to its operation. 30.pdf adler30servicemanualpdf.pdf

I like the dipped effects on the axes.

I'm interested too.

I have several used industrial sewing machines that I picked up from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. One is a 20" flat bed walking foot machine that is based on the Singer 111w155. Bob modified the hook saddle to take Juki U size bobbins. They are 2x the capacity of a standard G size bobbin. It has an analog servo motor that lets me sew individual stitches if I need to. One time when I went there, he had a couple of needle and awl lockstitch machines, like a Landis and a Campbell Randall. I think he even had a Union Lockstitch. These machines last over a hundred years and can sew 3/4 inch of saddle skirting.

If your machine still has the bobbin winder tension disks on the front of the revolving head assembly, use them for darning tension instead of the top disks. Just raise the foot and darn it!

The dealers who import Cobra and Cowboy branded machines have to pay all manner of shipping, warehousing, brokerage, tariffs and delivery fees before the machines arrive at their warehouses. Once the boxes arrive, when a wooden shipping crate is opened, the dealer spends between 4 and 6 hours de-greasing, assembling, adjusting and setting up the machine to test it. The machine will only be sold if it is fully within its nominal operating parameters. It will ship with a stack of leather under the foot/feet that is within the upper limits of that machine. For the 341/26 machines, that would be a 3/8 inch stack. Demand for these high quality machines, shipped ready to go to work, is high most of the year. I haven't seen any special sales where one brand tries to undercut another brand. Furthermore, they handle service requests personally. They don't have offshore tech support. If you aren't sure that the prices being charged for a new Cobra or Cowboy machine are very reasonable, ask Google about the price for a new equivalent machine with the Adler or Juki label. Make sure you're sitting down...

Try reversing the direction of the bobbin. It may need to go in opposite to the way you already inserted it. I usually insert bobbins so that the thread makes are sharp turn backwards towards the slot leading to the bobbin tension spring. This back force tends to keep the bobbin thread well placed under that spring leading to more reliable stitches.

You might want to define the meaning of the word "salpa" for us old school leather crafters. Since it is a requirement, it will help to mention if you are supplying it and other materials and hardware to your prospective assignees, who will be freelancing to build things for you.