Wizcrafts

The Singer 31-15 is a garment sewing machine. It uses the typical system DBx1 garment needles. The fairly thin needle bar is held in time to the hook by a single set screw. It takes very little force to cause the bar to move up, throwing the timing out. This causes skipped stitches. A bent or burred needle also causes skipped stitches. In case you missed my comment about this being a tailoring machine, it is designed to sew cloth garments. It can sew soft chrome tanned leather using a roller foot. It is not built to withstand the pounding caused by veg-tan leather. Further, these machines are not equipped with strong enough springs and take-up cranks for #138 thread sewn into hard temper leather.

4 x 5 oz = 20 ounces = 3/8 inch. This is the very top limit your machine "may" be able to sew. Even if your machine can sew 20 ounces of veg-tan leather, #138 thread is inadequate for any serious hand gun holster. It is too easy to break the knots during a struggle or panic draw. I would not sew a gun holster with less than #277 thread, top and bottom unless it was just for show, not go. Then #207, top and bottom would be minimally effective. If you choose to ignore this advice and sell holsters sewn with #138 thread, hire a lawyer, just in case something happens because the thread let go.

I have bought them off eBay in various sizes in leather point. Here is just one source of System 190 leather point needles.

This is my "Sticky" topic about the type of sewing machine you need to sew leather. It stays put on the entry page to this section the "Leather Sewing Machines" section of the Leatherworker.net forum. All sticky topics remain above all standard topics that float up and down with activity or inactivity.

Pictures and descriptions absolutely make the difference in online sales. But, in our case, all sewing machines for sale need to be in a new topic placed in our Marketplace forum. The appropriate sub-forum is: Marketplace > Items For Sale > Machinery > Sewing and Stitching > Used

Is it possible that your belt is slipping, not the clutch?

Adjust the timing belt for the best result. Ignore the marks they inscribed onto the bottom shaft. It could be inaccurate.

No matter what brand name machine you buy, if you get it sent directly to you from China, you become the "dealer" for servicing purposes. You will be responsible for all repairs, adjustments and parts costs. It is highly unlikely that you will receive any after sale assistance. If there is any assistance, unless you speak Chinese, it will have to be handled by email, using a translator. Worse of all, if the machine is totally defective from the start and needs to go back to the factory, you will be responsible for packing and shipping it at your own expense. Some Chinese sewing machine companies may offer phone, text, or online chat service agreements for an additional up front fee, making the machine more expensive. The problem with that is, do they speak/read/write your language, or do you speak/read/write theirs?

NO! The LU-563 and its successors are limited to #138 thread. This is okay for many jobs but not gun holsters. The thread is simply not strong enough to withstand the forces that can be exerted by holstering a handgun. I use #277 thread for all holsters. I owned a 563 and found it inadequate for holsters and had forward/reverse length mismatches. It also suffered from a floating stitch lever that changed stitch length with the speed I sewed at.

Rustic; I once was friends with a harness shop owner who made top end harnesses for race horses. Sometimes his customers, or other makers' customers would ship items to him for repairs or resewing. Some of his machines were equipped with stitch counters. He would note the count at the beginning and end of a repair job and charge by the stitch, not the length. Perhaps you can calculate the value of one stitch of each thickness of thread you have in stock and mark it up to what both you and your customers can live with. As for counting the stitches, you can either count out loud as you sew, or count the holes your needle made, minus one at the beginning and end (there are two holes per stitch). Plus, the thickness sewn would enter into it.

The IP address resolves to 191.97.122.108 Paraguay

Huh? Please 'splain that.

The Singer 111w155 is good for up to #138 bonded nylon thread. It can sew 3/8 inch of compressed material. It uses System 135x16 leather point and 135x17 round point needles. The maximum stitch length is longer than 4 to the inch. This is a great upholstery grade machine that is useful for sewing intermediate density leather projects, parachutes, banners, tarps, denim jeans, webbing and tow straps. The machine only sews forward. You need to spin the work around to lock in the stitches.

New swear words will also be invented and tools flung if one inadvertently unscrews the tiny bobbin tension screw all the way and it falls out!

Use a torch with a very small flame on the frozen screw. The heat will loosen up the threads so it can be unscrewed.

The Singer 111w100, 111w102, 111w114 and 111w151 are all bottom and needle feed only; not walking foot. You can see photos of the various 111 machines on Mark Rofini's website. Also, several members have ended up with non-walking foot 111w machines and started topics about them. Here is just one topic about a 111w102 needle feed machine.

If I were you I would have a serious talk with the dealer and tell him/her that you need to sew with #138 bonded nylon thread into up to 3/8 inch (~10mm) of leather/canvas/webbing. For this the machine would have to accept either a #22 or #23 needle. If the dealer can set up the machine with #138 thread, top and bottom, and sew into a stack of leather or webbing without skipping stitches and get 5 stitches per inch at 3/8 inch thickness, then do the deal. If you are looking at an online only deal, ask for a sample to be sewn as described above.

If you want to discuss the LU-1508 series, please start a new topic of your own. People who own, or sell, or repair them will offer the best answers. To answer your specific question about the needle system, only the 1508NH is setup to use system 190 needles. It can have the needlebar lowered to use system 135x16 if the extra height isn't required. This may require retiming the hook to match the motion of the needle. You can read the descriptions and specs on the Juki.co.jp website.

You are most welcome! Glad to have been of help.

I hate to close an active topic, but this one has gotten out of hand! Rustic has asked for advice, received it and argued with those giving it. This is non-productive. He is not getting the results he wants and people are belittling him for being strong headed and ignoring their advice. There is nothing good to come out of this topic if it continues to deteriorate. So, reluctantly, I am closing it now. In the future, I would suggest that members offer advice once, then leave it be if ignored or argued with. Rustic, this is not a forum for arguments.

Negative. You should look for a machine capable of at least #92 bonded thread with a #19 needle. That's the minimum I use when sewing purses and their tabs. I found specs showing that this machine can handle Metric 30/3 thread, which is equivalent to our #92 (T90) bonded nylon. I did not see the needle size limitation mentioned by the OP. Could it be that the machine in question has been modified for smaller needles and thread? If it was, those parts need to be replaced.

That is a tailoring machine for cloth only.

According to an article published on the Sophos Naked Security Blog, thousands of Internet connected 3D printers are at risk of remote exploitation unless they are properly secured. Since this section of the LW.N deals with these printers, I recommend that any of you with remote access enabled should read this article. It may or may not pertain to your existing printer, or software, but knowing about the threat will be beneficial. I strongly believe that all IoT devices need better security out of the box.

According to the specs, the DNU-1541 can handle up to #138 thread, top and bottom.

I would love to be able to heel down to lift the feet on several of my machines.