Wizcrafts

If you opened the gear box you may have reinstalled parts slightly out of sync. Try tweaking the timing of the hook, either by moving the gears, or the long rod under the arm. It is connected to an eccentric that comes down from the top. There is a hole in the base for a flat blade screwdriver to turn a big screw that moves the position of the hook. There is a locking nut on the inside of the parts that needs to be loosened first.

If you use this machine to earn money, buy a new hook. It is a writeoff and will keep you in business with the least downtime.

Are you aware that Ticket 10 thread is the equivalent of #277 bonded nylon thread ( .586mm )? This requires a #200 needle, which pokes a big hole and requires a harness stitcher to handle that thread and needle combination. The minimum thickness needed to bury the lockstitch knots is at least 4.5 to 5 mm (11 - 12 ounces). Will your wallets, etc, be this thick? If less, the only way to use #277 (Ticket 10) thread would be #277 on the outside and #138 on the interior side. This would allow for about 3.2 mm minimum thickness. It would also be tricky to balance the knots to keep them in the same vertical position. The reason why is because hand stitching is usually done with two needles doing a running saddle stitch, crisscrossing up and down through round holes, producing an equal appearance on both sides with thick thread, whereas a sewing machine has to over-lock two threads inside the layers to produce a lockstitch. The larger the thread, the larger the knots and bigger the holes must be.

I have various programs on my computer for editing photos. One of them is also installed on my Galaxy S5 smartphone. It is the previously mentioned FastStone Photo Resizer. This program ("App" for kids, or "Software" for people my age) lets you crop, resize, sharpen, rotate , rename and reduce the quality. Cropping, resizing and reducing the quality all reduce the file size. Using just crop, resize and quality reduction (to 80%) can reduce the original file size by 100:1. If a resized photo loses sharpness, add some using the Preview function. I find that adding 15% sharpness is plenty for web sized photos.

The Sailrite can't sew over 6 to 7 mm without mechanical modifications. It is also limited to T90 bonded thread. Keep looking for a real leather sewing machine that is rated to sew the thickness and thread sizes you want. 10mm is usually the maximum that an upholstery class walking foot machine can handle. But, most can use up to #138 thread. So, they are a step up from a portable machine. There is a new portable stitcher on the block! It is the Cowboy Outlaw and is a clone of the original Boss hand stitcher. This may be the machine you are really looking for to do short runs and prototypes.

Be sure to bring your material with you so Bob can help you find the best machine within your budget.

The half inch thickness is going to be a problem on a narrow (~2.5") cylinder arm lockstitch machine. Most are not designed to sew over 3/8 of an inch. High sewers need longer needles, like system 190, or 214, or 7x3. A post machine can sew along the bottom of a bag in any direction if the material goes over the post. I know of a very narrow snout post machine (and cylinder arm) that was made by Puritan. They are used to sew Redwing shoes and golf bags. The only drawback is that Puritans are chainstitch machines. You should check around to see if any turn up on Craigslist in your State.

The Consew CP206R portable is a light duty dual feed walking foot machine, with a 1/10th hp mini-motor feeding a tiny speed reducer. It is rated to max out at just over 1/4 inch thickness, with up to #92 bonded thread (15 pounds test). There are serious teeth on both feet and on the feed dog. It is often marketed to prisoners who earn money sewing and doing leather work. It would serve as a nice hobbyist's machine as long as the leather is soft to medium temper and not thicker than 1/4 inch. The items sewn with #92 thread should not be subject to a lot of strain (no holsters or buddy seats). The only way to compensate for the weak thread would be to sew parallel stitch lines on felled or piped seams. If your work requires #138 thread, top and bottom, go to a full blown industrial walking foot machine on a 20 x 48 inch table with a powerful servo motor. The previously mentioned Consew P1206RB-1 is an excellent walking foot machine that can produce professional results.

What make, model and voltage is your servo motor? A 600 wide x 400 high pixel photo of the motor would help.

If the model 26 is a triple feed walking foot machine, it probably uses standard type 111 inside and outside feet. They are sold by all industrial sewing machine dealers who aren't exclusively Adler or Pfaff associates. Ebay sellers have all manner of walking foot sets. Then again, try the place where you bought your machine!

Thread around that little spring loaded mini-disk on top, by the thread guide. It will help keep the thread down inside the upper tension disks. Make sure the thread stays inside the disks and doesn't rise up as you sew. Feed around the disks and down and around the check spring. It is necessary to prevent loose thread getting pierced by the needle. Operating and adjusting industrial sewing machines is mostly by feel, test sewing and intuition.

Are you saying that Beiler's flat plate retains the use of the moving feed dog? I thought you were telling me about an alternate narrow slotted throat plate that would sit above the top of the feed dog as it moves up and down. My holster plate already does that. I can leave the feed dog in when I install the raised holster plate. Could you post a picture of this new style flat plate? I Grok things better visually. Before I got my Cowboy CB4500, I used Union Lockstitch machines for holster and harness sewing. They are dual feed with jump foot and needle feed. This was a better system in my opinion, until you get into thinner needles.

Bob has always had a flat slotted throat plate since he started carrying the Cowboy machines. I have one in my shop. The only difference is that the Cowboy slotted plate requires removal of the feed dog. It is very thin, just like the standard curved plate. This takes me about 5 minutes. I will contact the Amish Country dealer about his plate. Thanks Glenn.

Okay, I Grok you now. Sewing thin material on a 441 clone requires you to dumb down the machine (read my blog article). This involves lessening all tensions and pressures. It also calls for some thin needles that are really easily deflected. In a nutshell, you need to spend 20 minutes or so changing settings and tensions in order to be able to sew 6 ounces or less with 92 thread with a #19 needle. I do this when I hem chaps, jeans and work pants on my CB4500 (because I don't currently own a medium duty cylinder arm walking foot machine).

I can't find this company in a Google search. Would you know if they have a website, or are on social media? A link would help.

Really? I serviced a few model 27, 28, 127 and 128 machines and they never had that problem afterwards. The biggest problem I encountered was securing the bobbin thread to wind a bobbin! The last Singer model 127 I refurbished and sold could sew with #92 bonded nylon thread into a 10-12 ounce bridle leather strap. None, and I mean NONE of the other old iron body Singer domestics could even come close to that. That includes classes 15 and 66.

Both of these machines are known as 441 clones and are equally caapable. They are clones of the Juki TSC-441, from around 1988 or '89, which was marketed to companies sewing buffing wheels, heavy webbing tow straps and leather harness. The 441 had a huge double toe presser foot, a wide inside foot and a wide feed dog, all of which had teeth to grip the material. The machine used needle sizes 23 to 27, covering thread sizes 138 through 415. Most users threaded it with #346 thread. It was never expected to be used to sew thin material with small needles and thin thread. For that they made the LU-563, which I had. The Cobra and Cowboy 441 clones have a different type of foot design that is geared towards saddlers. It is known as the "harness foot set." The outside presser foot is about 3/8 inch across and the inside foot is just under 3/16" wide. Because the machine was cloned from a TSC-441, the feed dog is still very wide and has a wide, long hole for the needle. This extreme needle hole is needed because the feed tolerances allow quite a bit of range off-center as the feed dog moves forward and backward at different stitch lengths. Aerospace tolerances would solve that problem and allow for a more rounded hole, but that isn't the current state of affairs. Further, because the 441 clones are expected to be used with thick threads, up to #415, they have to allow for needles from #23/160 (for #138 thread) up to a #27/230 (for #415 thread), which is about the diameter of a roofing nail. So, you have a long and wide hole/slot inside a very wide feed dog that rides inside an even longer and wider rectangular slot in the throat plate. Thin and/or narrow straps are easily pushed down into the throat plate slot and sometimes the feed dog hole. Backing off the foot pressure reduces the tendency to push the material into the slots, but is just a stop gap measure. My solution is to remove the feed dog and change to the optional slotted throat plate and back off the presser on the feet to lessen the drag on the throat plate and foot impressions on the top grain. This takes about 10 minutes to change over. Better still would be to use a smaller machine to sew anything under 8 ounces, with thin thread and small needles. I have a bunch of such machines in my shop. Your Cobra and Cowboy dealers sell a slotted throat plate, which is already included in the deluxe accessories package. If you are going to sew as part of your business model, plan on buying more than one type of sewing machine. There isn't one that is equally adept at sewing from a few ounces up to 3/4 inch or more.

I believe it is a presser foot knee lift roller, but I could have misread the description.

Check out the new Consew P1206rb, which sells for under one thousand dollars, plus shipping.

We discuss industrial leather sewing machines here. Your question might get a better response on a forum that deals with plastic body domestic machines. I'm sure somebody has tried sewing leather on such a machine and can advise you of how that went for them. My own experience with plastic body electronic domestic machines sewing 5 or 6 ounces of leather was parts flying across the room. Now, if you were asking me about an old iron body Singer model 27 or 127, that's another story.

That is one beautiful piece of work! Kudos!

It is spring loaded and free turning. You just turn it to the desired position before it is hit by the needle bar. It can be mastered in about 5 standard Earth minutes.

I have a Fortuna skiver (date unknown) and a newer Singer 29k71 patcher. I have owned numerous patchers, all the way back to the 29-4 model from the turn of the 20th Century. Here is what I've found about your 51-28 (last one made in 1938), which says the recommended replacement was the 51-54, having these specs: Post bed; one-needle; rotary hook; lockstitch. Speed 3000 spm For general stitching in the manufacture of shoes; vamping; sewing in gores, etc. Needle system 128x4. There was a recent discussion about the Singer 51-54 needle system on this page on Leatherworker.net. You can search our site for any other discussions mentioning the 51-28 or 51-54, using our own search engine, on the upper right, under the ad banners.

Here ya go! Darning attachment.

Yes, I have darning attachments on my Singer 29k71 and Adler 30-7. I use them once in a while to get longer stitches, or to darn across tears in material. These attachments have three positions: off, medium lift and high lift. You just rotate the T shaped handle so it either hits or misses the rising needle bar.