Wizcrafts

@AngryDick Are you aware of the various surcharges, fees, and tariffs that you will be liable for in addition to the actual price of the machine and shipping? If you go ahead and have one drop shipped to you, after paying all the various fees, possibly including a power gate delivery fee, do you have the skill to uncrate, de-grease, deburr, assemble, time, and mount the machine onto a pedestal table that contains a servo motor (with a switch box) and speed reducer (which requires two type 3L v-belts of different lengths)? I asked one of our dealers how much time they invested in a 441 clone that was in a crate from a well known industrial sewing machine manufacturer in China. He told me it is approximately 6 hours of professional work in their well equipped shop. If you get into a bind, or parts are damaged or missing, who ya gonna call? Do you speak Chinese?

I'd probably add a couple cans of compressed air, a #2 rubber mallet, a couple 4 ounce precision oilers with brass tubes, Walmart 18 packs of cheap white wash rags to clean oil drippings, a jar of Goo-B-Gone, wool daubers, a bunch of large flat metal theaders with the diamond shaped wires on the end, some felt pieces to replace any that are missing, and some rubber machine corner mounts to replace those that are missing on tables, plus thin nails to secure the corner mounts.

That's what I do on most of my machines that lack reverse. I call it Poor Man's Reverse.

@Northmount - I sent him a private message with instructions that will help me pinpoint the location of the potential scammer.

You need to increase your budget. $1400 is about the bottom price for a new stitcher capable of sewing 12 ounces of veg-tan. Here is an example of a $1400 leather stitcher that comes with a servo motor and table. You may find some deals on used walking foot machines in your local Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist. I see decent walking foot machines selling from $800 to $1200 all the time. They are basically upholstery sewing machines, with triple feed. Many can sew up to 3/8 inch of soft to medium temper materials, and about 1/4 inch of hard temper belt leather. These machines would max out with #138 bonded thread, which has 22 pounds breaking strength.

Does anybody here know about any available equivalents of Puritan needles and awls (and needle brackets) for our new member's Puritan cylinder arm machine?

@Uwe, can you help this new member?

The arm on my Adler 30 is about 17 or 18 inches long. It's narrow at the left side and wider as it gets closer to the main body. You have to sew halfway, then pull it out, turn the work around, and sew the other half.

I buy my servo motors from here. Some go direct to the machine if the pulley is large enough (4"+). Others feed a speed reducer which powers the machine with lower top speed and higher torque. The motors on that page are analog and have a knob to set the top speed. They lose torque at the slowest settings. So, I usually set the knob to the slowest setting that still has good punching power. It's easy to feather the speed with the floor pedal.

How do you plan to, or are you currently sewing them? Your sewing method will point towards the best type of sewing machine for this job. I have sewn a few cue stick cases and other round pouches and dice cups in the last 10 years, or so, In all those jobs i used a long arm, large bobbin boot patcher to sew up the arm. I used #138 bonded nylon thread on the top and bottom, with a #23 leather point needle. The early cylindrical jobs were sewn on a Singer 29k172 patcher. The later ones were done on an Adler 30-7, which replaced the Singer in 2018.

I know you tried to sign up and failed. So, if you want to contact a person looking to hire a leathercrafter, you can post your email address, but obscure it to hide it from harvester bots. Here's an example: joe dot james at somemail dot com. This doesn't work against humans, just bots. Try signing up again, but disable any script blockers. Also, make sure you check any checkboxes to agree to our terms.

That is the G style bobbin that we rate at 1x capacity: the gold standard. I have 5 walking foot machines that use that same size bobbin. That is convenient, especially for prewound bobbins.

We have a Singer 29-4 patcher in our leather shop that was built in March of 1908. I use it regularly to sew patches over pockets and repair purse strap tabs.

I researched the bobbins for the Singer 236 post machines. The Singer part number is: #233939. They are a different size and profile than the G bobbins my machine uses. Goldstar Tool sells them, on this page. Cutex sells 10 packs of bobbin #233939 even cheaper. Here's a parts and basic operations manual for the Singer model 236, if you need it.

I have a different model Singer post machine. But, looking at the parts manual, the bobbin and case look similar to mine. My machine uses G size bobbins, which are the same ones used in the Singer 111 series. The bobbins fit inside and do not protrude above the top of the case. If they did, the spring loaded latch would not be able to close to keep the bobbin in place.

@Rob2613 I used to have an Adler 204-374, which is the flatbed version of the 205. I used it for about a year until I got a Union Lockstitch machine. The Adler was very smooth and solid. It sewed 3/4 inch (20mm) of veg-tan leather with #346 thread. The bobbins were huge cylinders, like the big Cowboy 441 clones use. My only reason for letting it go was that a person with a Union Lockstitch offered to trade it, even Steven, and I'm a ULS fanboy. The ULS are super finicky, but I Grok them. Two years later I learned about the Cowboy machines and proceeded to sell the Union Lockstitch. I've had a Cowboy cb4500 since 2012. It is solid and fully capable of sewing leather and webbing, or other materials, up to 23mm thickness, with bonded thread sizes up to #415. It has never let me down in the 12 years I've had it. The machine gets regular use and I oil it frequently (with light weight sewing machine oil). One consideration to bear in mind is the cost of accessories and replacement parts. Parts for Adler machines are very costly. Cowboy parts and accessories are more affordable. Every part and accessory I've bought fits perfectly. They are very high quality machines; part of the HighTex brand.

@MarshalWill One of our members just placed an ad for a Cowboy Outlaw for sale. Here is the post.

@Patrick1makes them in the USA. Read this topic to get up to speed and order a set.

When I started accumulating industrial sewing machines, they ALL had clutch motors. There weren't any servo motors available yet. So, I asked the dealers how I could get control over the clutch and they explained the tricks and techniques to me. One thing I did (and still do) is to add slack movement to the control arm so it takes more movement before the disks engage. This is done by backing off the large screw that goes into the motor on the clutch cap end. The more you back it out, the greater the free movement. Next, I learned that applying a very thin coating of machine grease allowed the clutch to slip a bit before it fully engaged. I eventually stopped needing to do that. The final adjustment was positioning the floor pedal to take any stress off of my foot. The linkage coming down from the control arm can be adjusted to raise or lower the inside edge of the pedal to suit your foot and ankle.

Your machine needs "System" 1738/16x257/DBx1 needles. That is the correct length and top width. The "size" is the diameter of the shaft below where it mounts. You want "size" 18 needles for #69 (T70) thread. So, buy a pack or two of "System" 1738 (DBx1/16x257, etc) needles in "sizer" 18 from whomever sells them online. Here's a link: DBx1 needles size 18 (round point for cloth). Leather point size 18 (16x257LR, 1738LR).

It is a fine upholstery and medium duty leather sewing machine. It can easily handle thread sizes 69 through 138, top and bottom. The high foot lift will let you clear thick seams or hardware. This machine has been discussed several times on Leatherworker.net: here and here are just two good topics.

The thread stub should not be attached to the bobbin latch! Remove it asap. I recommend installing the bobbins backwards to the flow.This keeps the bobbin thread under constant even tension.As for the tightness in the top thread, adjust the check spring to give more slack thread. That is done by rotating the thread check disk assembly to the right on systems like your machine. Loosen the little screw inside its curved slot, then loosen the nut on the front. Turn the disks to the right and lock it back down.

Once both feet are moving freely (doing whatever that takes), loosen the big screw on the back joint, lower the needle until it is just above the level of the throat plate and feed dog, then push the inside foot down to just hit the plate, and tighten the big bolt to lock it in place. This setting usually gives the best ratio of lift between the inside and outside feet.

You are missing the little known fact that the Adler 205 uses shims/spacers to set the distance between the hook and shuttle race. I've never had one of those machines, so I can't give you a better definition. Your machine may have been setup for #138 thread to optimize it in production use. In order to use larger thread, you need to buy the correct spacer. I think Weaver has them. If not, Campbell-Randall should have some. As a last resort, there's Durkopp-Adler USA..

As I suspected. The Consew 230 must be a tailoring class machine that uses System 16x257, aka DBx1, aka 1738. The shank on these needles is thinner than the walking foot needles being mentioned earlier. Machines using this needle system are meant to sew cloth. I use this system in my ancient Singer 31-15 tailoring machine and in a Pfaff serger.