Wizcrafts

It looks like the top tension is already too tight, or the bobbin is too loose. That's why there are knots always visible just under the top surface. Try tightening the bobbin tension screw about 1 turn. If that doesn't help, back off the top tension nut. Check the top thread path all the way from the spool itself to see if there is any thread binding along the way.

@Nightshade I have an entire sewing room full of industrial and non-industrial sewing machines. Some are heavier duty than others. What I have learned over the decades I've been doing this are that one should purchase the best built machines that can perform particular desired jobs best and with the least downtime and that have plenty of aftermarket or real market parts available. To that end, while my primary bevy of machines are all walking foot or patcher machines, I do have one straight stitch tailoring machine that is best used on garments and satin linings. That machine is a 1920s Singer 31-15. It shares an industrial 20x48 inch table with an early model Singer 111w153 walking foot machine. I swap out the walking font machine for the 31-15, move the knee lever and adjust the motor position to accommodate the bottom feeder. That ancient Singer machine does a beautiful job on materials too light for any walking foot mechanism. Best of all I only paid $180 for that machine, including the table (Craigslist ad). I did swap out the old clutch motor for a servo motor I got from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. If you search your local (SC) Craigslist you can probably find some inexpensive low speed (manually oiled) Singer or Consew sewing machines, or even real Juki machines at a price you can afford. Then you will have enough left to order a brand new CB3200. BTW: Since you plan to sew holsters and sheathes, consider saving up for a full blown CB4500 instead. It sews over 3/4 inch, while the 3200 stops at 1/2 inch.

I asked Bob Kovar about this edge binder set and he says they are available by special order for $450. Bob owns Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines.

The Juki DDL-227 is not a walking foot machine, nor a leather machine. It is just a high speed straight stitch machine meant to sew cloth garments.

I use #277 bonded nylon thread, top and bobbin, with a #25 leather point needle when sewing holsters up to 1/2 inch thick. Beyond that I switch to #346 thread, top and bottom, with a #26 needle, and increase the stitch length a bit. My current holster machine is a Cowboy CB4500. A sticky topic is fixed at the top of the list of topics when you enter each forum. I happen to have such a topic that has been locked and remains in its place near the top of the entry page of the Leather Sewing Machines forum. That topic is labeled: The Type Of Sewing Machine You Need To Sew Leather. All of the topics that don't move down with time are called "sticky" topics. It is done by our forum's software.

As needle size number increases, so does the diameter of the business end. As the bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread size increases, so does its diameter. There are very few sewing machines that can even approach using 1mm thread. None of the ones in common use or new ones for sale from our dealers can do much more than 1/2 mm diameter. Only needle and awl or shoe sole machines can use 1mm thread.

The UFA is a small bobbin patcher machine. It was designed to sew shoe and boot uppers with thin thread. The intended thickness is limited to about 1/4 inch. The foot has to have enough clearance left to lift off the leather and move forward for the next stitch. The thread handling capabilities are too small for the thickness needed to hold a holster together. Lastly, the maximum stitch length of a factory new patcher like that was 5 to the inch at about 1/8 inch. Even if a holster edge could fit under the foot and the foot had enough jump left to pull it along, the maximum stitch length would likely drop to 8 to the inch, or less.

Been there and done that. Installing a roller equipped or an even feed foot does improve the feeding of two layer seams. But, both types reduce the available clearance under the foot. If the original foot allowed for sewing 1/4 inch of material, a roller or even feed foot may only allow between 1/8 to 5/32 inch. Also, in order to sew a veg-tan leather belt on a model 66, the foot pressure spring screw may need to be cranked all the way down to keep the leather from lifting with the ascending needle.

Buy System 135x16 leather point needles in sizes 18, 19, 22 and 23. This covers a bonded nylon thread range of v69 through v138. If you are going to sew cloth or woven material, buy 135x17 round point needles in the appropriate sizes. Your machine can use up to #138 bonded thread. It can also sew with thinner thread than #69. Here is a thread and needle size chart to help you choose the best combinations.

Your Singer 66 is a straight stitch, bottom feed machine. It can never be a walking foot machine. Those have three bars coming down. Yours has two. It will always only be a bottom feeder. That said, the model 66 can sew with #69 bonded thread and a #18 needle, which is its maximum size. The maximum thickness sewable depends on the density and collapsability of the material. Cloth up to 1/4 inch is doable. With leather you will likely max out at about 8-9 ounces. It is possible that your mileage will vary.

#5 zipper teeth are exactly 5mm across. This is the standard measurement system. A #4 is 4mm. A #10 is 10mm across, et al. However, the vertical height varies a bit as the size increases. It would be best to buy one zipper of each size and composition to ensure accurate 3D printing of your alignment parts. I mostly use #5, #7 and #10 replacement zippers on jackets, boots and purses that come in for repair (the customer usually specifies the width, or else I replace the same size as original). Most are either brass or aluminum teeth. But, I also use the much taller and stronger Vislon hard plastic tooth zippers. The vertical profile is much taller than metal or plastic loop zippers. All are YKK brand. IHTH

I neglected to mention that APC Back-UPS' are also surge and noise protectors. One bank of sockets have battery backup. The other bank has just surge and noise protection. If one is planning on using such a device to protect a motor, the unit would have to be at least a 750 watt protector, or it would pop the breaker. Alternately, look into the Tripp-Lite Isobar surge protector multi-outlet power boxes. I connect my music amplifier and mini-power packs to one that goes to all of my gigs. They have great protection and fast breakers. There is noise suppression to (via an LC filter).

My computers, cable modem and router are plugged into APC battery Back-ups boxes. My TV is also plugged into an APC. I don't even consider it an option. It is a basic necessity in my World. I prefer the 650 to 750 Watt/Hour models. The batteries are good for about 3 years. Then you buy a new battery.

It appears to be a Singer 143w2 zig zag machine

Either a dealer or an enthusiast with a caliper will have to find time to measure their machine's output shaft to answer that. Knowing Singer, it will be some bizarre diameter, somewhere between right and wrong.

The time and materials cost will probably exceed that of having them milled and finished at a machine shop.

One of my buddies had a touchy motor on his Cobra and Steve sent him a new motor at no cost. I had a motor go bad on my Cowboy and Bob sent me a new motor. I have no doubt that Techsew does the same for their customers. All of our supporting dealers try to go the extra mile (km in Canada) for their customers. The supporting dealers all run ad banners on top of all of our pages, with a new batch of 6 shown each time you load or refresh a page.

RockyAussie; Would you mind posting the new details and .stl file links in our 3D Printers and Lasers forum? There are a few members lurking there that would appreciate seeing this. You can link to this topic in a post you make in that forum. I for one will try to find somebody with a 3D printer to make your zipper guides for me (our usual 3D printer guy just moved). I mostly use #5 YKK zippers in Biker wallets and money belts. But, I do use a #4 or 4.5 on occasion.

If I lived within a hundred miles I would scoop it in a heartbeat!

Aside from the previous replies about installing a smaller motor pulley, adding more free movement with the motor's clutch/brake adjuster screw, and/or lengthening the motor's control arm, you could disassemble the right end of the motor and smear a little grease on the clutch pad. This should let it slip a little, allowing you better control before the clutch fully engages.

I have a CB4500, which is the big brother of the CB3200. I have sewn leather as light as ~6 ounces on it - with #92 bonded nylon thread. When it comes to sewing thin leather, it must be firm or it tends to get pushed down into the throat plate, or worse, into the hole in the feed dog. So, in those instances, I may remove the feed dog and change the throat plate to a flat one that has a narrowish slot. Further, when using thin thread, I back off the thread tension on the check spring and top tension disk, balancing via the bobbin tension spring.

I would like to add one more item to your checklist, Paqman. Check the functioning of the thread retaining paddle shaped spring (Singer #8656) inside the needle bar. Many owners of patch machines aren't even aware of this spring's existence. It can really only be seen when the needle bar has been removed from the revolving head. The job it is meant to do is to hold the top thread static as the bar moves down to BDC, then makes an upward jog to form a loop for the shuttle hook to pick off. If that spring is weak, broken, missing, or bent, the top thread will have nothing stopping it from dissolving the loop as it tries to form. If the spring on top of the trapeze shaped driving arm is still engaged, it will simply pull the thread loop up before the hook gets there. This used to drive me crazy until I figured it out and learned how to replace the spring. In some older machines, especially those that were using #138 thread, not only have I found worn paddle springs, but also slight thread depressions under them in the steel needle bar. This double wammy makes even a new spring fail to secure the top thread on the up/down stroke at pickoff time. Note: Anybody planning on removing the thread retaining spring 8656 should note the positions of the two tiny #590 screws as you remove them. Keep them apart and reinstall them into the same holes when you replace the spring. They are usually filed on one side to avoid binding and gouging the inside of the revolving bushing as the bushing it rotated. Left as is one or both will hit the bushing in certain rotational positions.

Contact Bob Kovar (Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines) or any authorized Cowboy sewing machines dealer near you and ask them about placing an order for the new wide mouth vibrating binder attachment for the Juki 441 and its clones. Allegedly, it has enough clearance through its mouth to feed and add binding to leather edges (I don't know the maximum thickness). It has to be custom ordered by a dealer as far as I know. Be forewarned that this attachment sells for about $450, landed, in the USA. New information The Cowboy/Hightex binder appears to be a complete set and is described as follows: "HT-BH01 Binder: synchronized with presser feet and needle plate that allows binding of acute radiuses, for binding heavy materials, such as shoes, carpet, bags, pouches, belts."

They used really thin 3 cord glazed linen thread. I have some of this thread in my shop on a mini spool. It is thinner than the 3 cord linen thread from Barbour. I'm guessing between #69 and #92 in diameter. Could be Tex 80.

Almost all of our belts are made of bridle leather. We just rub out foot marks and any other scratches or range marks with a modeling spoon, and sometimes even a teaspoon.