Wizcrafts

Hightex Special Sewing Machine (China) owns the Hightex and Cowboy brand names. Cowboy USA is their preferred brand sold in the USA. The company's website is www.cowboysew.com

I have a blue body Singer 29k172 long arm machine that says Made In Japan on the tag on the back. I almost bought a Singer 22U with a blue body that also said it was made in Japan. It might be that the Japanese built Singers had blue bodies to distinguish them from those made in the USA or UK.

I bought a slotted inner foot and a short left toe presser foot set for my Singer 139w109 walking foot machine from Leather Machines Company (aka: Cobra).

I am on my 3rd skiver right now. It is a Fortuna, bottom feed only, and works well, if I don't mess up the clearances. The most important clearance is between the right side of the foot and the blade. Of course, the blade needs to be sharp to be effective and be deburred. Choosing the best feeder makes a big difference in the quality of the feeding of the material. My machine came with both a serrated steel and an abrasive stone wheel. The steel wheel is best used with veg-tan leather. The stone wheel tends to slip under veg-tan, but has positive feed for garment and chrome tanned leather and vinyl. I keep the blade close to the foot on soft leathers and farther away for veg. Keep the machine oiled. I ended up putting a servo motor under my skiver table. As long as the blade is really sharp, it cuts at slow speeds as well as fast rotations. Cutting slowly leads to better flow control and less eating of the leather.

The machine is a chainstitch post machine using a needle and awl system with a jump foot. It is used to sew golf bags, rifle bags and similar objects. It should not be used where the bottom thread is visible or exposed to chafing. Because it produces a looped chainstitch, there is no bobbin used. The chain needs to be secured by sewing across it, or by using wax on the thread to lock the thread in place. Most companies using these run either hot or liquid wax in the waxpot. It works best with linen thread, preferably, Barbour's Irish linen thread (over $50 a pound).

Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has a videos page that has a video showing how to thread a CB4500 (and related models) and others demonstrating how to sew different items on it. The links load the selected video into a frame on the page.

I own a first generation Singer 31-15 from the early 1920s and I can tell you without hesitation that is cannot handle #138 thread in its shuttle. In fact, I am limited to a max of #69 thread. It sews about 1/4 inch of compressed soft material and is best used as a tailoring and alterations machine for cloth and linings. The take-up links and needlebar mounts are not strong enough to withstand the pounding that sewing veg-tan leather would place on them. A much later generation of the 31-15 can probably sew with #138 thread. I know some folks who use later builds to sew chaps and shoe uppers.

This section of the LW.N forum is for discussing leather sewing machine capabilities and their suitability for particular types of projects. Please visit our Market Place section of the forum where there is a sub-section for buying and selling new/rebuilt and old sewing machines. Most posted on Leatherworker.net are leather sewing machines with various capabilities.

Keep an eye on the thread as it unwinds from the spool. Follow the thread as it makes its way to the top tensioner disks. Watch for any sign of binding as the thread comes of the spool. Watch out for twisting that forms loops and knots in the top thread. Either of these things will increase the top tension temporarily, causing the knots to move up.

This machine has a dual, top and bottom feed walking foot drive. It is meant to forcibly pull material from the top and bottom. It does this by means of the aggressive teeth on the feet and feed dog. The needle and inside foot have a static position and only move up and down. The presser foot is operated by the crank on the back left end of the head and is synchronized to the feed dogs. Machines like this can typically handle up to #138 bonded thread and a #23 needle. The bobbin and bobbin case are on the left end of the machine (known as a horizontal axis bobbin). A photo of that end tilted back would expose the bobbin case and we might be able to discern if it uses standard capacity or oversize M style bobbins. Because this type of machine has teeth on the top and bottom, they are best not used with any veg-tan leather that would memorize the tooth marks. They will even leave some tooth marks in chrome tan leather. However, this feed is great for webbing!

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If you don't get any recommendations for an industrial sewing machine repairer in your neck of the woods, and you have a hankerin' to try to fix it yourself, take this topic over to our Leather Sewing Machines forum and start a new topic. We have lots of experienced members and several dealers who frequent that part of LWN. Don't pursue a hands-on repair in this forum. Every reply will need to be approved by a moderator before it goes live and it can become frustrating.

TomG; Did you know that there is a type of heavy duty sewing machine that can handle up to #346 thread, sewing up to 7/16 inch of leather, that sells for about one thousand dollars, assembled on a table? This type of machine could handle those extra heavy thread jobs at a reasonable cost. The main thing to be aware of is that it is a bottom feeder only.

There are machines that are built to do light, medium, heavy and extra heavy sewing. Each step up is accompanied by more beefed up take-up parts, springs, tensioners and shuttles. However it is configured, the shuttle must have sufficient clearance between the hook and needle and any other obstructions to clear the largest thread it is expected to sew with. There has to be clearance over and under the bobbin case to allow the top thread to go around it without binding. The heavier duty machines may use two screws to hold the needle bar in place. When all is said and done, your machine is NOT built to clear #207 or heavier thread. There are no tricks I know of or would recommend. The stresses of #207+ thread on the take-up and drive mechanisms are too much for a medium duty sewing machine. If you really need to use #207 and #277 thread, consider a heavy duty machine like the Cowboy CB3200, or an extra heavy duty 441 clone, like the Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4, or Techsew 5100.

I would recommend a double fold binder attachment. Use a swing-away inline model for straight runs and outside curves, or a right angle binder with special presser feet for inside curves.

PRELUDE Most members of this forum know me as a frequent poster on the Leather Sewing Machines Forum on Leatherworker.net. Some may assume that I know more about specific machines than I actually do. However, in many cases, I have had or currently have plenty of hands on experience with a particular machine, or type of machine. As a result of my own experiences with various types of sewing machines I am often able to give advice or provide assistance to other members who ask for help with this or that machine, or want to know about its capabilities or limitations. I have owned or worked on industrial sewing machines ever since 1985. But, my hands on experience goes much further back than that. It all began when as a boy I hung out at my Father's tailor shop. I watched him sew clothes both by hand and with his Singer sewing machine. While I don't know for sure, I believe that he used either a Singer 31-15 or a Singer 96k40. I only remember that it had a clutch motor and looked much like the Singer 31-15 that is sitting in my leather shop. I never touched that machine until I was in my early teens. One day my Dad sat me down in front of the machine and explained what the floor pedal and knee lever did, as well as how to feather the clutch, control the material, hold back the starting threads and wind a bobbin. He also taught me how to not sew my fingers or thumbs! This was in the early 1960s and it was my first experience with any sewing machine. Of course, I had other plans and wanted no part of that occupation. I never sewed on that machine after about 1964. Fast forward 20 years to 1984 when I got into leathercrafting as a hobby. Like most newbies to the craft, I began by lacing and hand sewing my projects. It didn't take too long before that got old. The final straw was when I decided to construct a leather vest from a pattern pack I bought from a Tandy Leather store. I knew from the first attempt at penetrating the chrome tanned leather than I was going to need to do this on a machine. This was the moment when I began my unexpected adventure that became a quest, not for a mystical Ring, but for a sewing machine capable of sewing real leather. THE JOURNEY BEGINS I still remember asking the manager of the local Tandy Leather store for his recommendation for a sewing machine that could sew the vest I was making from Tandy's pattern pack and leather. His first thought was to try out a machine that another customer was willing to sell and would bring to the store. That machine was there the next day. It was a Singer 503A Slant O Matic Rocketeer which had a slant needle system. I brought in a small piece of the leather I bought for the vest and placed two edges together under the presser foot, lowered the foot, held back the threads and pushed slowly on the controller pedal. The needle came down at its designated forward slant angle, met the top grain of the leather and broke into zillions of pieces that Rocketeered into the store. I passed on that machine. YOU REALLY NEED AN INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE Those were the Tandy manager's exact words after the disaster with the Rocketeer. I asked if he knew where I could find those. He had no idea, so I let my fingers do the walking in the phone book. Sure enough, there were industrial sewing machine dealers all over the place within my city limits. I picked the closest dealer and called them, asking if they had a machine that could sew leather vests. The owner assured me that he had exactly the machine I needed. I headed there as soon as I hung up the phone, bringing a wad of cash with me. And what did I find waiting for me when I got there? A Singer 96k40, mounted on a 20" x 48" wooded top, steel legged table, with a big clutch motor underneath. It looked like the sewing machine my Dad used in his tailor shop for many decades. I bought it for $300 cash, which included a few packs of #16 and #18 needles, spare bobbins, a couple cones of heavy cotton or polyester thread (button weight) and a small bottle of sewing machine oil. NOT EVERY INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE IS A LEATHER SEWING MACHINE It didn't take very long for me to discover that as impressive as that old Singer black body machine was, it was not a leather sewing machine! It did okay when sewing two flat seams, but skipped stitches and broke needles when I tried to sew hand cut fringe onto the back, or pockets onto the front sides. The third layer was too much for the straight stitch, bottom feed machine, especially when it encountered a new layer on top. It tended to just come to a halt and sew into the same hole until I remembered to use the knee lever to raise the foot to get on top of the new layer. This was really just a tailoring machine. Disappointed, I called the dealer I bought the machine from and explained the problems I was having with the machine. He said: "then you need a walking foot machine." He told me to keep 96k40 and the table and for another $250, sold me what he called a walking foot machine head. It was a Singer 31k47 and it dropped right into the same cutout in the table. The motor needed to be readjusted to compensate for the higher balance wheel/pulley and the knee lever had to be moved to hit the lift rod on the bottom of the machine. This machine was not a walking foot foot in the true sense. It had a spring loaded follow foot that moved back with the top layer, which was transported by the bottom feed dogs, then lifted and sprang forward for the next stitch. It had an alternating inside foot, which, like the needle, remained in a static position and just moved up and down. It did however manage to climb over new layers and sew my leather vest! After finishing my leather vest I began experimenting with sewing belts and straps. I found that the spring loaded presser foot on the 31k47 tended to slip on the top of my carved and hand polished belts. The hard veg-tan leather didn't feed well on that machine and it didn't like any thread larger than about #69, although I did coax it into sewing with #138 thread. So, I made some inquiries at other industrial sewing machine dealerships and finally found one that clued me into the fact that what I needed was a triple feed walking foot machine. They had them and wanted anywhere from $1500 to $2500, depending on the age and brand. This was a problem for me at that time because I couldn't come up with that much money in one shot. Just when I thought I had reached a major roadblock, a friend told me about a friend of his who wanted to sell all his leather craft stuff, including a sewing machine. After meeting with that guy, I handed him $1000 in cash and went home with a ton of hardware, leather, patterns, kits and ... a Singer 111w155 triple (compound) feed walking foot machine! That machine paid for itself and all the hardware in two months. WHAT KIND OF SEWING MACHINE DO I NEED TO SEW HANDGUN HOLSTERS AND KNIFE SHEATHES? I think a lot of leathercrafters reach a point of development when they want to make holster and knife sheathes and need a sewing machine that is truly up to the task. I reached that point in 1988. I had tried to sew pancake holsters and three layer sheathes on my Singer 111w155 and found that it struggled to penetrate the hard leather. Further, it could not handle any thread thicker than #138 bonded nylon. I tried using a #25 needle and #347 thread and all it did was skip stitches, break thread and filigree the leather. And, it was all I could do to start it sewing at all into that hardened leather. So, back to the industrial sewing machine dealer! I HAVE JUST THE MACHINE FOR YOU TO SEW VERY HEAVY LEATHER... That's what he told me on the phone, sometime around 1887. When I arrived at the store I was taken to a back room and shown a monster machine made by Singer; a model 132k6. I was told this machine will sew anything you can fit under the foot with up to #346 thread. That foot, which lifted to 1/2 inch, was a spring loaded foot, just like my 31k47, with an alternating up/down inside foot and static position needle. I had my doubts, but parted with $1300, plus tax, and took the machine home in my 1976 Ford Country Squire station wagon. I didn't beat around the bush with the 132k6. I loaded the top and huge bobbin with #346 thread, verified that it had a #25 leather point needle installed, cranked down the foot pressure, tightened the top tension and began sewing into a mock-up holster with an 8 ounce side filler. The leather lifted with every other stitch until I cranked the pressure spring all the way down. I did get it to sew up to about 3/8 inch of veg-tan holsters and knife sheathes, but had to almost sew one stitch at a time with the handwheel. Like the smaller 31k47, the presser foot tended to slip on top and this resulted in varying stitch lengths. This was not what I had in mind for a real leather sewing machine. When I complained to the dealer he shrugged and said it was the strongest machine he had or knew about. He would not buy it back ;-( I limited my few holsters and sheathes to two layers and sewed them on the 132k6, biding my time. I did fine into a little over 1/4 inch of veg-tan with #346 thread. During that time frame I began buying old Singer sewing machines from that dealer and from individuals. I had post bed machines, long arm and very short arm cylinder arm walking foot machines, a 45k25, a pull down lever sole stitcher, a blind stitcher and a small table top serger (I did some garment work to make money). I acquired two skivers: a Fortuna for light leathers and a United Shoe Machinery Puma for veg-tan and shoe soles. AT LAST, A REAL HOLSTER SEWING MACHINE! It was 1988 when I finally found a sewing machine that could actually do serious sewing into thick stack of leather, with heavy thread, producing stitches that didn't vary every few inches. I stumbled upon it at a Tandy Leather distribution warehouse, which was behind a retail shop. After rounding up some hand tools and other supplies, I asked if I could see the warehouse. The manager and I were the only people there and he said "okay." He switched on the lights and let me into the warehouse. As I looked around in amazement at all the products and kits stacked everywhere, something very large and black caught my eye. Right in the middle of the huge warehouse was the biggest sewing machine I had ever seen, much less imagined. It stood almost as tall as my head! It was a Union Lockstitch Machine, made by Randall, in NY, NY. I jokingly asked what they used it for and he told me that they had a man who used to sew bags, horse tack and large kit parts on it, but he had retired. The machine hadn't been turned on in at least 5 years. Best of all, they planned to put an ad in all the newspapers in the area to try to sell it! So, we haggled... An hour later I had left a $100 deposit on the machine. The next day, after going to the bank, I went back, 60 miles away from home, and bought that Union Lockstitch for a total of $1500. The manager and one employee helped remove the head from the table and loaded the beast into the back of the Country Squire wagon (it had a 400 c.i. motor). All it came with, besides the head, motor and table, was the needle and awl that were installed, one bobbin that was in the shuttle, and one spool of white #346 bonded nylon thread. I spent another $2000 over the next year buying needles, awls, bobbins, accessory feet, throat plates, edge guides and replacement parts. Most importantly, I bought two threading rods. The owner of a harness shop was nice enough to run a copy of his own manual for his Union Lockstitch. Having that machine was like having the Stargate to me. It sewed holsters and sheathes up to 3/4 inch thick and above. I figured out how to trick the foot to lift higher and used it to sew a holsters up to 7/8 of an inch! This was around 1989 and was very unheard of at that time. I got some of the heaviest thread made and by changing to the largest needle and awl was able to sew holsters with #554 thread, or 6 and 7 cord Barbour's Irish linen thread, run through Sellari's liquid wax in the huge waxpot. AN END COMES Leather work was a good business for me until 1996. By that time things were changing. The house I had been renting, where I had about 13 industrial sewing machines setup in the basement, was sold to a new owner, who asked me to leave. Despite searching for a half year, I couldn't find any house that was comparable at anywhere near the price I had been paying. In all the years I was renting the house for tiny increases ever few years, rents had gone up in that city to almost triple what I was paying and could afford. I contacted a good friend in another city, 250 miles away and he found a house in his city for half what I had been paying. But it was a much smaller house and the basement tended to leak when it rained heavily. So, I sold all but two sewing machines. I only kept my Union Lockstitch and the first machine I bought, the Singer 96k40 (which now had dozens of feet, folders and accessories, including a roller foot conversion). I did keep all of my thread, hardware, tools, books, patterns, dyes, arbor press and cutting dies. When I made that big move I tried doing leather work in the new location, but didn't have much success. I had been developing skills using, building and troubleshooting computers and came to a decision to switch careers. By 1998 I was a computer troubleshooter and no longer did any leather work. In the year 2001, I sold my Union Lockstitch machine and all of the parts and cartons of thread that went with it (thousands of dollars value), for $5,000. A few years later I sold almost all of my leathercraft tools, patterns, dyes, cutting dies, hardware, books, the 96k40, press and anything else I had pertaining to that trade and life. I did keep a small set of special stamping tools, some setting tools, a few alphabets and a head knife. All these tools were inside a Graflex press camera carrying case. This Union Lockstitch is a REAL leather sewing machine! NEW BEGINNINGS (next entry to come soon) After doing computer work for a dozen years, in 2010 I came to the conclusion that my heyday as a computer builder and troubleshooter had reached a natural conclusion. It wasn't exactly an overnight event, but rather a slow decline in business. The final straw was when I was called into a computer store, with whom I had previously left my resume, for an interview for a computer technician. The owner took one look at my 62 year old face, looked down at his hands, then asked questions like: "How well do you get along with younger workers?" "Do you have any medical issues that would interfere with doing your job?" "Do you have to go to a clinic or hospital for regular treatments?" Not once did he ask about my abilities as a computer builder, troubleshooter, or network tech! Luckily for me I had a very good long time friend who owned a leather work store. I asked him if he could use me a day or two a week to help in the shop. He tossed me a few days here and there and eventually took me on as his right hand man. I did most of the sewing and repaired leather jackets, sewed patches onto vests, repaired purses, built holsters and replaced zippers. When I first went to work for him in 2010, he only had an Adler 30-70 motorized long arm, high lift patcher. But, he later acquired a Cobra Class 4. I was a natural on both machines. In 2009 I wanted to do some leather projects on my own, so I hunted on Craigslist and found a really nice Singer 29k172, long arm, big bobbin patcher, complete with a matching cast iron treadle base. I began taking in some repairs and custom builds at home, which paid for the machine in a few months. In the middle of 2010 I bought a used National 300N walking foot machine from an upholstery shop. Then I began taking rifle slings and guitar straps home from my friend's leather shop to sew on a piece meal basis. I sewed so many slings and straps that it paid for my National sewing machine in one month! One year later, in 2011, I traded a recently acquired (Craigslist again) Adler 204-374 flat bed machine for an old, barebones Union Lockstitch machine. It was on again! Stay tuned folks! There's more to come. More photos of sewing machines I have had or still own.

I tried swapping out my Cowboy OEM shuttle on my CB4500 for a high end Japanese shuttle (couple hundred bucks). It worked beautifully in forward but had a distinct snap in reverse and the reverse stitches were not well laid (too loose). I put back the Cowboy shuttle and the clicking/snapping stopped, as did the poor reverse stitches. Go figure! In hind sight, the clearances created by the Japanese shuttle were too close for my machine.

That is not a model number. It is the serial number of a machine. So, I ran a lookup of your serial number on Ismacs and found that you have a 1939 Model 66 domestic sewing machine. It is strictly designed to sew light cloth in a home setting. It uses standard domestic needles in system HAx1, which are sold everywhere domestic sewing needles are sold. It uses a special Class 66 bobbin, which you can buy in Joann Fabrics, or Walmart (plastic nowadays). You should use regular cotton or polyester garment thread in this machine.

Some people are still unaware that they now must pay a monthly or annual fee to PhotoBucket to have permission to embed their photos on 3rd party websites (like ours). They no longer allow that for free and all we see are ugly warning images telling the posters to upgrade their accounts.

Decades ago I had a sewing job on a Juki LU-563 and needed a binder to lay double folded bias tape along the edges of the work. We settled on a custom made double folder, costing $450, and 1 1/4" wide spools of bias tape. A special contraption was built to hold the roll of tape in the best position to feed to right angle folder. Special presser feet were used with the folder. Something similar could be made for the newer Juki DNU-1508. Check with Atlanta Attachment Company.

I just buy standard size, but higher quality cones of serger thread at Joann Fabrics, or any other store that sells domestic sewing supplies. I use system DBx1, size 14 needles. I could move down to #12 needles for tighter holes, but see no need for it. Test both sizes in a test seam of your canvas. If you buy extra heavy thread, like size 80, you'll definitely need at least #16, or possibly #18 needles. Size 80 is light weight "jeans" thread. I buy #80 thread, along with #105 heavy jeans thread from Wawak.com. All of the above mentioned thread is either cotton, or polyester, or cotton wrapped over a polyester core (aka: Polycore). The better quality serger and jeans threads are not as fuzzy as lesser quality brands. It's a good idea to examine the thread on the cones before buying it. The better Q thread cones cost double what the el-cheapo cones sell for.

The correct needle system for a Singer 31-15 is DBx1, also known as 1738, or 16x257 (and a few other designations). They are definitely round on the top shank and do NOT have a flatted side! Only domestic sewing machine needles use that flat side system, mostly is HAx1, the most common type in home sewing machines. Do NOT use HAx1 flatted shank needles in an industrial sewing machine unless it specifically is built to use them (I can't imagine why it would).

I keep fusible iron on tape, a half inch wide, on hand for sewing satin linings and soft cloth. I use a Singer 31-15 for those jobs.

I just splice in about 3 stitches before where the bobbin ran out. But, I try to bury the existing knots before sewing over them by pulling on the top and remaining bobbin threads. I hold the old threads out to the right side so I cross them once, then continue on.

I often use the FastStone Photo Resizer, found here. It is fairly simple to understand and can compress, reduce, crop, enhance and sharpen images to fixed or variable dimensions. I like that it has the option to create a new image name containing the changes, leaving the original untouched. Best of all, it is free for most home/private users.