Wizcrafts

His profile plainly states: Raleigh, NC.

I know they are as rare as hen's teeth, but see if you can locate a Singer 168G101 7" post machine. These are compound feed walking foot machines that use the same feet, bobbins and needles (and tension unit) as a Singer 111w155. The stitch length adjustment is totally different than on any other Singer machine in the shop. It is done by turning a spring loaded screw that's accessible under the top rear cover plate. I am able to get better than 4 to the inch at the longest and too short to talk about at the other end. Expect to pay about $1400 to $1500, complete with a table with a servo motor (plus shipping or gas to pick it up). If you find one, buy some spring edge guide feet. Or pay the dealer to install a drop down edge guide. There is no room on the post to add a standard guide.

If your budget is only around $500, you're going to have to buy something used and abused, privately. Search Craigslist for your state and neighboring states. Also, take a look in our Marketplace section, under Sewing Equipment, under the Refurbished or Used categories. The least expensive industrial sewing machine you can purchase as a complete unit is about $1100, plus shipping. Even a hand cranked heavy duty machine sells new for $1400 (Tippman Boss and Cowboy Outlaw). You can find some real awesome machines there. The biggest obstacle you will encounter is the thread size limitations of various types of sewing machines. As a hand sewer you may be used to waxed linen thread that is between 1/2 to 1mm thick. None of the modern lockstitch walking foot machines are able to pass that thread without gumming up the works and needle. That leaves you with dry or lubed bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread as your 2 options. Machines designed for upholstery are usually limited to a maximum thread size of #138 (aka, T135), which is rated at 22 pounds breaking strength. Some walking foot machines have been upgraded by specialty dealers, like our dealers, so they can handle #207 thread on top. But, that still leaves a weaker thread on the bottom. Not good for horse tack. See this thread and needle size chart for a reference. The machines that are designed with the required heavy duty parts for tensioning heavier thread (#207, 277, 346, etc) cost much more money and are much bigger. Be prepared to quadruple your budget for a truly qualified new harness stitcher. Even a used one will often sell for over $1300. Check our Marketplace, which I linked to in the first paragraph. I use this machine to sew harness, holsters, saddlery, knife sheathes, saddle bags, etc. Look at the pictures and read the specs.

I acquired one of those old post machines in the late 1980s. It needed parts. I solved that buy buying another one for $50 from a dealer who had it on a bottom shelf.

It will, if it has a 50mm (2") or smaller pulley. When set to their slowest startup speeds (for controlled detailed leather sewing), these motors have much less torque than the rated amount. That happens at a certain speed. The smallest possible pulley will slow down the machine speed and let the motor rev higher at any sewing speed, thereby transmitting more torque to the mechanism. Find out first if the motor you are looking at has a minimum start speed measured in hundreds of rpm, rather than a gradual ramp up from zero. Push button servo motors are notorious for starting with a bump at a few hundred rpm. Disclosure: I have been using servo motors with brushes and speed limiter pots for several years. They start at zero and need 2" pulleys to punch through most leather until I get the speed up to several stitches per second. They seem to come into their own power range around 5 stitches per second. Adding a 3:1 speed reducer really changes the dynamic. The larger the balance wheel pulley, the more torque that is delivered for any motor or pulley configuration. This also applies to clutch motors.

Tailor shop sewing machine, geared for high speed. Optimized for the thin cotton thread typically sold at fabric stores.

Did you mean to type "back" tack rather than "bar" tack?

I have dealt with the spammer.

Not all of the Chinese street patchers are equal. I know of one brand that was fully cleaned up, toleranced and sewn off before it was sold. One of our members sold them.

Is the motor shaft keyed? If so, make sure you line up the key slot in the original pulley with the key. If the new pulley lacks a key slot it won't go on unless the key is removed.

It is a Chinese or Vietnamese shoe patcher. They are used by street people who repair shoes in SouthEast Asia.

This section of the forum is for discussing leather sewing machines. If you want to sell this machine, please place an ad for it in our Marketplace section. There is a sub-forum for used sewing machines. Also, add your location to your profile so interested parties know if you are nearby, or on a different continent. Include an asking price, description and photos of the machine.

Perhaps we haven't fully defined the type of machine you are going to need. It will not be in a little self contained wooden box, nor on a fancy fold away table. It won't have a little foot pedal speed control that you put on the floor. It won't weight 35 pounds or less. It will be a full blown industrial sewing machine that either sits on a 20" x 48" industrial table, or a pedestal table, with steel legs and a big motor hanging under the table. The speed control will be via a very large foot pedal that pulls down on an arm emitting from the motor. The machine head will likely weigh well over 75 pounds. There will be a flex lamp and a thread stand with 2 or more platforms that hold thread cones. There will be a bobbin winder attachment, or one will be built into the machine head. The bobbins will probably be very large compared to domestic machine bobbins, with some holding many times as much thread. The head and table, assembled, will likely weigh over 150 pounds. Here is just one machine that potentially fits your work description. Here is a lesser machine that can still do the work you mentioned. Read the specs on these machines, then compare them to this upholstery class machine that's good up to 3/8 inch. Think these are expensive? Look at this fully qualified Adler sewing machine that Weaver Leather has for sale. I hope this helps rather than hinders you.

Besides needing to be a walking foot machine, the take-up lever itself needs to be beefier (is that even a word?) than an average upholstery class machine. This puts you into the heavy duty end of the walking foot spectrum. The reason has to do with the abrasive nature of these particular threads. With repeated use they can act like fine grit round Emory tape (more so the Kevlar thread). You will need to focus on walking foot machines capable of sewing 1/2 inch out of the box. These include the Juki LU-1508NH and the Cowboy CB3200, as well as some Adler machines that can sew 1/2 inch with Nomex thread. Of the two, the Cowboy is less expensive.

What materials will you be sewing on top and on the bottom layers? How much stress will there be on the sewn seams? What temperatures might they need to withstand? The answers to these basic questions will help point you towards the type of sewing machine you will need to handle the thread and material. Hint: The machine will obviously have to be able to sew into 1/2 inch of material. There are several that we deal with in leather work that sew well beyond 1/2 inch. But, you may need to use Kevlar or high temperature, flameproof Nomex thread for firefighter use. That's a whole nuther ball of wax.

Click on the above link and look at the photos in the original listing. This was definitely a walking foot machine. It has a presser bar, alternating foot bar and needle bar, plus a walking foot mechanism on the back. The feed dog is a wide single row, sitting under the narrow inside foot. The name sticker says Consew, but is not an official decal.

Will you be sewing stirrups and next to hardware (dees, buckles, loops)? If so, the Cowboy CB3500 or Cobra Class 3 will do the job because they take the same raised throat plates as the long arm 441 clone machines. If you don't have to sew round shapes, or around dees, a CB3200 will handle the work. If it is still too expensive for your budget, and if the bottom appearance isn't so important, the CB2500 will do the job. All of the above machines can sew as little as 6 or 7 ounces. The 3500 and class 3 sew over 3/4 inch, while the 3200 only sews up to 1/2 inch (actual). The 2500 is limited to 7/16 inch and is bottom feed only, with aggressive teeth on the feed dog. All of these can handle from #138 through #346 thread.

According to the IP address, the OP is in Chester, Virginia.

Liquid bees wax or other compounds that get into the linen fibers and harden after they dry. When I had Union Lockstitch machines I used Ceroxylon from Puritan Industries (the makers of Puritan chainstitch post and cylinder arm needle and awl machines). It is a clear liquid wax that air dries and locks the stitches and fills the holes when it dries.

I must be living in my own time zone. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

This is December November of 2018. The topic you replied to was last updated on June 14, 2016. The annual Weaver auction won't happen again until June of 2019. If you need a machine and skiver now, you will be buying them new, not used. The prices are in the catalog and online. If you file a business and tax ID with Weaver, you will get lower prices on most items than the listed prices. Weaver Leather is one of our paying supporters. They run banner ads in the groups of ads on top of every page. Sometimes they offer a discount code to members of this forum. If you refresh the page you get a new group of 6 ad banners. Eventually, you will see Weaver banners. If you don't see any ad banners, please turn off your ad blocker. These advertisers are keeping the lights on at Leatherworker.net.

I am only addressing the needle, not the tension (which is variable). That is an S point System 794 needle. It is probably a #25. Check the open package to verify the number. There are two commonly available types of leather point needles for the 441 type machines. S and D. The S slices lengthwise. The D has a triangular or diamond point and it pokes a 3 sided fairly narrow hole in comparison. For any stitch length setting, a D point needle lays a longer looking stitch on top and on the bottom. The needle bar pivots from the top, like a pendulum. The thicker the stack of leather, the shorter the stitches are, compared to a single piece of 8 ounce leather. Throw a slicing point needle into the mix and you get those huge dashes between the thread ends. You can compensate by lengthening the stitches for thick stacks. Do this by lowering the stitch lever. Loosen the nut on the threads to lower the lever. If you want to sew close stitches in thick leather, buy some D point needles. The gaps will be farther apart than an S point needle.

The presser feet, feed dog, throat plate and needle clamp need to be replaced. The shuttles will need to be moved to match the new needle positions. Then the timing will need to be set on the hooks. That may not be everything. An industrial sewing machine dealer can assist you with getting all the necessary parts in a complete kit.

I think that the lifting of the top layer may be controllable by adding more thread slack on the upstroke by adjusting the check spring travel and its position in the slot in the disks on the bottom of the tension disks. Shortening the travel adds more slack thread. Moving the position of the disks to the left and right fine tunes the slack. I adjust the check spring disks position to reduce the snapping as the top thread goes around the shuttle.

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, I count the stitches as I sew them. I also move the light around from time to time and move my head for a different line of sight of the stitch line. On long runs, like belt edges, the edge guide does all the work and I just sit back and guide the belt against it. I used to sew dozens of the same thing in one sitting. Moving my head, body and fingers all helped me to stay alert. It is harder to concentrate if your hands and eyes are the edge guide.