Wizcrafts

@DieselTech, The narrow feed dog and matching narrow throat plate are aftermarket items that are manufactured by two of our members. I linked to their profiles earlier in this thread. One is in Australia and the other is in the USA. I have the Australian narrow set installed in my cb4500 and haven't had to remove it to sew with #277 thread. I haven't tried using #346 and the larger #26 needle yet. That might be a bit too wide for this feed dog. I'll try it when I go to my shop later today (unless I forget!). The other set is best suited to smaller needles and thread. I have switched over to his set once to hem a pair of jeans. It worked perfectly! However, I also have a Techsew 2700 cylinder arm machine that already does that work, natively. With a Cowboy cb4500, or Cobra Class 4, or Techsew 5100, and one or two narrow feeder/throat plate sets, one can sew anything from a pair of denim pants, or a wallet interior, up to a 7/8 inch thick holster. Just change the feeder, needle and thread, balance the knots, and sew the project at hand. The flatbed table attachment makes it easier to sew some flat items. I have one but rarely use it.

Find a leathercrafter who does this work and hire him or her to make the collar. You can advertise what you want made in this section of the forum. Please start a new topic for your job request. Note, that all guest posts must wait to be approved before becoming visible. Also, unless you become a member of Leatherworker.net, you cannot use our email or private message system. You will have to post your contact info in a publicly viewable manner.

The wax pot causes the thread to make a shape turn down and then up. Wetting linen thread weakens it when it is under stress. Linen thread can't handle that sharp angle when it is wet. The Cobra was not designed to use linen thread. The best sewing machines that are designed to use linen thread are needle and awl harness stitchers, like the Union Lockstitch and the Campbell-Randall Lockstitch, as well as the Puritan Chainstitch, and the Landis 12 series curved needle and awl shoe sole stitchers. All of these machines have gentle turns for the thread and use rollers in the wax pots, which typically contain bees wax, not silicone lube. Should you attempt to run liquid wax in your wax pot, it will gum up the tensioners and the eye of the needle. The 441 machines are meant to use bonded synthetic thread.

@DieselTech You are getting way ahead of your requirements when you say you want the EPS system on a Cowboy cb4500. or equivalent. That is a needle position sensor that either stops with the needle up otr down all the way. This system was developed for the garment needle trade where they frequently sew at 90 stitches per SECOND, or faster! My Cowboy cb4500 is equipped with an analog servo motor which has a speed limiter dial and knob. It has a 2 inch pulley that feeds a 3:1 speed reducer, which drives the huge balance wheel. The overall reduction is between 9:1 and 10:1 from the motor to the machine. When I set the motor to the slowest setting where it still turns over and powers this reduction stack, the maximum machine sewing speed is about 1/2 to 3/4 stitch per second. I can easily feather the motor down to 1 stitch in 10 seconds. You don't need no stinking EPS on a cb4500! @DieselTech You can order your cb4500 and accessories that make sense, HERE

Yup

That is NOT a proper threading wire! The real wires are totally round and are slotted on the bottom to catch the thread between the slotted legs. Some new replacement rods a just v gouged on the very end. They barely hold onto the thread. The rod should be no more than 1/32 inch in diameter.

@Nametaken, Something may be plugging the paddle spring. It could be a balled up or ripped off piece of thread. Or, the spring may have gotten twisted out of position so it is blocking the threading wire. If you can't ram the wire through, you should remove the needle bar and see what's going on under the paddle spring. If you remove the spring, keep the tiny screws apart and in the order you removed them. They are shaped after assembly to fit one side OR the other, not either side. Both the paddle spring and its screws are replaceable. I recommend that you take a clear close-up photo of the screws so you can reshape them after replacing the assembly.

@DieselTech I have a Cowboy CB4500, along with every accessory they offer. I also have the narrow feeder and throat plate from @RockyAussie (link) and one from @Patrick1 (video link). With these narrow sets installed, my Cowboy is able to sew even soft leather and blue jeans cuffs with thin needles and thread that suit these projects. The bonus is that at least with RockyAussie's set, I don't need to change them to sew a holster of sheath with #277 thread. Before getting these sets, I had to remove the feed dog and install my narrow slotted flat throat plate when sewing thin or soft materials. That's what I did when I wrote about dumbing down a Cowboy, Cobra or other 441 machine. Now, all I have to do to dumb it down is increase the bobbin tension and decrease the top tension, plus change to a smaller needle.

Man, I would love to have a foot lifter link that on my 30-7!

Whenever you have top thread not pulling up on the bottom, despite increasing the top tension and reducing the bobbin tension, move up one or two needle sizes. The bigger hole may reduce the friction enough to pull up the knots. Since you are sewing synthetics, you should use round point needles. Both Schmetz and Gross Beckert make special needles to make it easier to sew difficult materials and threads. The Schmetz Serv 7 needles have a bigger eye space. GB makes a higher end needle type they call Gebedur which are coated with titanium. See if you local dealers in Australia carry these needles in the system used in your machine.

Try using a different shuttle. Maybe a smaller diameter will let the thread pass around it more freely.. Or, use smaller thread.

Most of the industrial sewing machine dealers in California are in and near Los Angeles, which is where the movie studios are located, as well as fashion shops. Leather Machine Company is located in Ontario, California, which is near San Bernadino. You mentioned Viking machines. While they build some decent sewing equipment, it is 100% geared towards the cloth and embroidery fields. Most of the dealers for these machines don't cross over into industrial sewing machines field, much less leather sewing machines. Really, I would recommend that you contact Leather Machine Company and chat with them about what you want to sew. They are a reputable dealer of real leather sewing machines, as well as other leather working machinery.

Back off, or remove the pressure screw over the inside foot. That may reduce the hard spot as the foot hits the feeder.

Some walking foot machines have a separate pressure screw above the inside foot. It sticks out the top of the head, on the left side. I have one machine that was limited in how high I could lift the feet because that spring loaded foot was set too tight. As I backed off the spring pressure, the feet began lifting higher. Now, I run it with the inside foot spring almost all the way up. I rely upon the outside foot pressure spring to hold the leather down.

That 'splains it! I assume you got no help from the seller. That's why we recommend buying new machines from known, respected dealers, most of whom are paying advertisers on this forum. Their reputations depend on good after-the-sale service. Amazonians have no such edict. You buy, you cry! Bye! May years ago there were kit cars sold through ads in magazines. I pitied the people who bought those things. Good luck putting your kit machine together., I'm sure you'll figure it all out.

Okay. If you must use the 29-4, buy #22 & #23 leather point needles, and some spools of #138 bonded nylon thread for sheathes. The thinner jobs can be sewn with #69 or #92 thread, using a #18 or #19 needle, respectively.

You should begin searching for an upholstery class compound feed walking foot machine. You can find them in good working condition from $500 up to $1200. This will get you started until you can afford a real leather stitcher. These machines are Singer 111w153 or 155, or clones, like a Juki LU-563, or a Consew 206RB-(number).

You might do better with a post machine, with walking feet. I have an old Singer post machine and it is great for sewing bags, hats, and arm holes on vests. It can sew on the bottom of a bag, which my cylinder arm machines can't do. PS: I have a Techsew 2700, which sews perfectly. I've never had any problems I couldn't solve with a twist here, or some oil there. I have a friend who is an industrial sewing machine dealer. If you contact him, he can recommend the best machine for your projects. He is also a Juki dealer. Mention a walking foot post bed machine.

Unless your 29-4 is in factory condition or rebuilt, the stitch length may have already decreased from the factory standard 5 to the inch, down to 7 or 8 to the inch. That length would be when sewing about 6 ounce leather, as is used in shoe uppers. At 16 ounces the maximum stitch length usually drops to almost half. I would recommend that you check how much slack exists in the foot driving mechanism. Do this as follows: raise the foot up all the way with the hand foot lift lever. Loosen the thumbscrew on the stitch regulator bracket and lower it until it stops against the top of the raised foot. Tighten the thumbscrew. Now, push and pull on the foot to see how much slack it in its driving components. In order to get 5 to the inch, at 6 ounces thickness, there shoul only be enough slack in the foot mechanism to allow it to rotate without binding. I found in my own experience with 29-4s, that even 1/32 inch of slack translates into a drop of one stitch per inch. This is not a scientific measurement, just my finding on my machine. There are at least 3 places that can wear down that contribute to the loss of stitch length: the feed motion cam; the roller bearing in the revolving head housing, and the roller bearing on the back of the take-up rack. The reason I pointed out the stitch length issues is bacause you are planning to sew knife sheathes together on that machine. Even if you limit them to 1/4 inch thickness, the best stitch length you would get out of a brand new patcher might be 7 or 8 to the inch. On an old worn out patcher from the early 20th Century, you might only get 9 to 12 stitches per inch, or worse. That would pretty much filigree the leather, especially if you use a #23 needle to sew with thre required size 138 bonded thread.. A 1/4 inch thick sheath should be sewn at 5 or 6 to the inch. As for the thread sizes, the #138 I recommended has about 22 pounds breaking strength. I consider that the absolute minimum size thread for holding something together that's 1/4 inch thick and will probably be under a lot of stress along the stitch line. When I sew sheathes that are 1/4 inch thick, I use #207 (w/#24 needle), or 277 (w/#25 needle) bonded thread. This is way beyond a Singer 29-4's capability. I have a box of prewound bobbins I use in my small bobbin patchers. The thread size is #69 bonded nylon. Each one only contains 9.2 yards of thread in the box. I usually wind my bobbins fairly tightly, and estimate that I can load up to 10 yeards of #69 thread onto a steel bobbin. When loading a bobbin with #138 thread, it will be lucky to hold 5 yards, and will probably only make it to 4.5.Each 1/4 inch thick sheath will require between 2 and 3 feet of bobbin thread. Adding the starting and fininshing tails, call it a yard per sheath. Each bobbin load will sew about 4 sheathes. It takes a lot of force to punch a #23 needle, with #138 thread, through a 1/4 of veg-tan leather. If the leather is very dense, the feed mechanism will take a pounding and over time, the stitch length will worsen even more. The leather will tend to lift with the ascending needle, which causes skipped stitches. To counter this lift, you'll need to crank down the foot pressre. This will cause the teeth on the foot to really dig deep marks on the top grain. It will also make it harder to pull the leather back for the next stitch. Thus, the stitch length weill drop even further. Are you sure you want to sew knife sheathes on a Singer 29-4 patcher?

For our info, where did you buy the machine that sent it out in this condition?

You definitely don't need a speed reducer if you buy the motor listed on this page and have it fitted with a 45 or 50 mm pulley. Your machine has a large enough pulley on the balance wheel that there will be significant speed reduction/torque amplification. But, you w2ill probably need to buy a new type 3L v-belt if the old one doesn't fit the new servo motor. You can buy it at your local Ace Hardware.

You should be able to glean a lot of information about using and adjusting your machine by watching the videos posted by Sailrite. They make portable stitchers based on the Thompson mini walker. It's also possible that their upgrades and accessories will fit your machine. Use the contact form and ask them.

Once you get your new bobbin spring, make sure you insert the bobbin so it feeds against the direction of the slot. Pull it tight and it should come out beteen the fingers on the end of that spring. That will allow you to properly set the bobbin thread tension. Do not attempt sewing with zero bobbin tension!

I usually adjust my feed dog so it is coming up as the inside foot is coming down. I have them meet at the level of the throat plate. Then as the needle and inside foot begin to move, the feed dog rises above the throat plate to help move the work. I try to keep the height to 1mm maximum. If the work has trouble feeding at that height, I lower the feed dog a little bit. The only rule is that is must be slightly above the height of the top of the throat plate and never below it. This would squish the bottom of the material into the slot.

I own a 211g156. I installed a servo motor with a small pulley. At the lowest usable motor speed, it runs at about 2 stitches per second. Because the machine pulley is so small it lacks the punching power of my Singer 111. So, I turn up the motor speed knob to punch through the work. This leads to the machine taking off when my foot isn't completely steady on the pedal. I only bought the machine for its reverse lever and due to the shutdowns of 2020, where our main machines were locked inside the commercial building hosting our business. If I had it do do over, I would not buy another 211 machine. It is designed for high speed upholstery, or banners, or tarps, not veg-tan leather. It really needs a reducer to get slow speed with punching power. And, it only has a G size (1x) bobbin. I also find the harp space limiting when sewing leather jackets.