Wizcrafts

You should lower the presser feet before running that test. That will allow the top tension disks to tighten against the top thread. Other things that can cause the thread to be picked up but not pulled all the way around include failure to thread through the take-up lever and failure to thread through the check spring. or timing that is slightly out due to the needle bar moving up from striking something hard and ungiving.

You won't go wrong with any of the compound feed Cowboy machines. Alexander is a very knowledgeable dealer and will assist you when you are cornfused about some facit of the machine. He has videos for the viewing about most of the machines he sells and services. As I added after my first reply, a new Cowboy machine will arrive threaded and with leather sewn off under the foot. Photograph the thread path and direction the winding on the bobbin face in the bobbin case.

These machines are easy to learn to use and adjust. There is little that is not obvious about them. You will get a basic instruction sheet with your machine, plus there are numerous videos on YouTube that demonstrate the setup and use of these big harness stitchers. When you buy one of these machines new it will arrive threaded correctly with a thick stack of leather sewn off, sitting under the presser foot/feet. Most people who are torn between a bottom feed CB2500 and CB3200/3500/4500 will buy the compound feed model with a smooth feed dog.

The Singer 331 is a newer version of the ancient 31-15 (which I own). These are tailoring machines. The needles are fairly short, in the scheme of things and not readily available in sizes over #18 or 20. Based on my experience with the 31-15, the machine should be able to sew 6 ounces with #69 bonded thread, using a #18/110 leather point needle. You can get all manner of accessory presser feet, including a complete roller foot conversion kit. A roller foot is the best foot to use on a straight stitch machine for sewing leatheror Naugahyde. Most tailors and seamstresses who own these old machines sew garments and sew them very fast. I used to live across the street from a Romanian lady who donned a babushka when she sewed at about 30 stitches per second on her 31-15, which was powered by a clutch motor geared 1:1 with the machine pulley. The 331 you found will probably have a clutch motor with a similarly large pulley. It will be a nightmare to use to sew leather, which you'll probably want to sew at 5 to 10 stitches per second and under. I can foresee a Family Sew servo motor with a small pulley in your future.

Domestic sewing machines are not leather sewing machines. They are cloth sewing machines that may or may not be physically able to sew limited thicknesses and densities of leather with thin thread and short needles. They have tiny motors that are not strong enough to penetrate 8 ounces of medium or hard density veg-tan on their own. The take-up cranks and levers are thin, as are the tension springs, as they are meant to only tension cotton or polyester thread, not the heavy bonded nylon leather stitchers use. Getting a domestic machine to sew thin leather (up to 1/8") is not a big challenge; I've done it. But, try sewing a double 8-9 oz holster on one and you'll see what I am talking about. This is the domain of real, heavy duty leather and harness stitching machines. We deal with thread sizes #92 and UP. Domestic machines use #69 and DOWN. Most of us sew with #207, 277 and 346 bonded nylon thread for the added strength to keep a holster from ripping apart from the internal pressure of the gun. A typical holster will often have thicknesses exceeding 1/4 inch, with some over 3/4 inch. These should not be sewn on domestic sewing machines sold at antique shops and yard sales.

It sure looks like a broken off paddle spring to me. That means there is nothing holding the thread loop in place. It must be replaced. Once the new spring and screws are ordered, begin dismantling the needle bar at the top. Everything in its way must be removed to allow it to come out the top. Also remove the needle mounting clamp! There are two tiny screws holding the paddle shaped check spring in place. In most cases, at least one will have been filed down on one edge to clear the barrel it rides in. If you reuse these screws, make sure you replace them into the same holes. If you install new screws, if you feel tightness when turning or lifting the needle bar, you may need to file the side or sides of the screws to clear the barrel.

Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines sells pedestal style tables for some of their cylinder arm machines. I have one and so does Ferg. In fact, I was there when Ferg bought his Seiko cylinder arm walking foot machine and I tested it for him on a pedestal table. There was a speed reducer under the long slot and the servo motor towards the back. The bottom has locking metal wheels, making it easy to move the machine around. The pedestal table is shown in the main photo on this page.

You should contact Campbell Randall in Texas to see if they or somebody they know can work on your machine. Other than them, the only other places I've heard about that rebuild Landis machines are: Landis Sales & Service 115 E Cr 500 N Arthur, IL 61911 Phone: 217-543-3464 Or Gateway Shoe Machine in Lebanon, Illinois; TF#: 800 752-7897 Or possibly, Pilgrim Shoe and Sewing Machine company in Massachusetts : 800-343-2202 If these can't help, contact Weaver Leather in Amish country in Ohio. They may be able to find somebody who works on these machines.

I think if about 10 of us go in with a grand each on a Cyclone, we might could get of to share. Of course poor Mike would have to fly in from France to use it. ;-(

I see that you are looking at price over specs and mechanisms. Here's the skinny about these four machines. The CB2500 and TS3650 are similar and are only single feed machines, via huge feed dog teeth. There will be tooth marks on the bottom that will have to be ignored, lived with, or rubbed out. They are rated at 7/16" thickness, with #346 thread. They are both based on the Singer 45k machines of yesteryear. Sewing higher, or with bigger thread requires so much foot pressure that it will be hard to move the leather, or hold it down as the stitches are formed and locked. Being a static foot, climbing over new layers will require the use of the foot lifting pedal or hand lever. But, installing the optional big roller foot will let it roll up and down over layers much better than the flat foot. The CB3200 and TS3850 are based on the Juki TSC-441, meaning they have triple feed and smooth feed dogs. The alternating feet easily walk over and down from layers and can be adjusted for more or less lift. They sew 1/2 inch out of the box, without additional tweaking. They can sew with #415 thread and still hold down the leather. There are other mechanical differences, along with totally different shuttles and needle systems, but I've explained the most important differences. If tooth marks on the bottom aren't important to you and you won't exceed 7/16" and #346 thread, the bottom feeders will save you several hundred dollars.

These thicknesses are totally different than the ones you stated in your original post. They are in fact magnitudes apart! You won't need a 441, 205 or any other harness stitcher to sew soft, thin leather like in the link you posted. These machines will eat that leather. You should probably contact a dealer to see what they can recommend. Based on your new information, I'm leaning towards a Consew Premier P1206RB. It is all you'll need for sewing from about 4 ounces (1/16") up to about 24 ounces (3/8"). Good luck

A friend I used to work for and I both faced the same decision in 2010 and 2012. He made the leap first and bought a Cobra Class 4, which I sewed on. He uses his Cobra daily to sew rifle slings and guitar straps for his Internet business Two years later I partnered up and opened my open shop and bought a Cowboy CB4500, which is my main money maker. We use it constantly to sew holsters, pouches, cases, gun belts, double leather belts, guitar straps, etc. I even use it to hem jeans! If you do any saddle work, or holster work, go for a big machine like these, with a 16.5" cylinder arm. Don't dink around with equipment not built for tough jobs. It takes too long for your hair to grow back after you pull it out in frustration!

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My answers are based on your statement that you want a machine that can sew between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch of leather. Ounce-wise, that corresponds to 32 to 48 ounces leather thickness. If this is correct, do nothing. If not, correct the unit of measurement and I will recalculate the machine lineup.

None of the above are really suitable for leather upholstery. You should refocus your search to find a compound feed walking foot upholstery sewing machine. Did you know about the new Consew Premier P1206RB? It sells for just under a thousand dollars. If you can find one at a dealer within driving distance you can save the shipping cost (~$150 to $200).

The document you uploaded to your Google account requires the viewers to also have Google account, or to create one. You can drag and drop or choose a file to upload directly into a post using: "Drag files here to attach, or choose files " Then the viewers can either download the pdf, or open it in their default pdf reader, which in Windows 10 is called Twinui 111W152_W153_W154_W155.pdf

I have friends who make custom shoes in downtown Flint, Michigan. One day last year, a young lady who worked there at the time came to my shop to sew a difficult pair of new boots on my patchers and CB4500. It seems (no pun) that their then existing machinery was more geared towards assembling insoles to uppers, then to outsoles, than upper assembly. My long arm patcher did everything until the pull tabs needed to be sewn onto the back of the boots. That required the use of my CB4500 to go through the solid 5/16"+ combined thickness with #207 thread, which was just beyond the capability of the Singer 29k172. If I had an Adler 30-70, or a Claes patcher (I wish), the entire job would heave been doable on it alone.

I've seen mention of that foot in a Singer 45 class manual. It is a shoe sole foot that is curved to the right to clear shoe uppers as the sole is sewn around the perimeter..

I have been able to sew inside the toe area on half boots and most flat shoes to resew loose threads, using my Singer 29k71 patcher. The nose is just 1 inch wide and tall. The main person in the factory photo is sewing a side seam on a 29-4. Patchers cannot sew soles, just uppers.

If you really need to sew 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch stacks of leather, you will need either a 441 class, 205 class, or Campbell Randall machine. The 441 refers to the Juki TSC-441. It is the machine which gave birth to the Cowboy, Cobra, Techsew and multitudes of other clones that represent about 75% of the professional leather sewing machines in use today. The 441 first hit the market around 1989 and was setup to sew cloth, webbing, buffing wheels and things of that nature. The 441 is built in Japan, is still made, and sells for about $5900.00 new, or about $2500 to $3,000 used. Clones, like the Ferdinand Bull, Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4 and Techsew 5100 sell new for under $3,000, which is half the price of the original machines they are based upon. The 205 class refers to the venerable Adler 205-370 leather stitcher. This machine was available before the Juki 441 and was the choice of many top notch leather holster makers and harness shops. It was favored by the Mennonites and Amish because of its German origins and dependability. There are some clones available from Cowboy and other builders. New, they sold for up to $6,500. Used Adler 205s can be had for about $3,000. New 205 clones sell for well over $3,000. The Adler 205 was discontinued about two years ago when they released their model 969 ECO, which Weaver sells for just over $10,000. The Randal machines were specifically made to sew harness and have been around since the late 1800s. They are sill in production in Texas and sell for a base price of around the mid 6k figure. Used Randalls can go for the high 3ks through the mid 4ks. All of these machines can sew 3/4 inch of real leather with very heavy thread (#415). The Campbell Randall can sew through plywood and even a copper penny! Methinks you are going to need to triple your budget to buy a suitable harness stitcher that can sew between 1/2 and 3/4 inch of veg-tan or bridle leather. However, if you can double your budget, you can buy a new Cowboy CB3200, or Techsew 3850, both of which sew up to 1/2 inch.

The best way to explain the limitations of the 206RB and similar compound feed walking foot machines is that the way they are built, the inside and outside feet are linked together to alternate up and down, with a maximum height that is reached when the descending needlebar's bottom thread guide hits the top of one or both feet, or when the inside crankshafts hit the presser bars and stop moving. Further, walking foot machines require at least 1/8 inch clearance on top of the material to allow them to alternate and do their thing. This usually happens at a maximum material thickness of 3/8 inch, but can occur at a lesser height. An eighth of an inch is equal to 8 ounce thickness leather. This works out to a maximum sewing thickness of three layers of 7-8 ounce leather, not 8-9 ounces. IOW: 24 ounces would be the usual maximum sewing thickness on a Consew 206RB or equivalent. If you need to machine sew 27 ounces of veg-tan leather, the Consew 206RB is not the machine for that job. Not only will it be trying to climb higher than its mechanical limitations, but the maximum thread size it's meant to handle is too light for such a thick stack. You will need a stronger machine that is built to sew thicker leather with thicker thread and bigger needles than the 206 and similar machines.

The Consew 255 takes standard type 111 (Singer 111w155) presser feet. It also uses standard walking foot system 135x17 (round point) and 135x16 (leather point) needles. Note that there are several flavors of leather points, each yielding a different lay of the thread and bottom stitch appearance. It takes a large M style bobbin.

If we lived in the quilters' world we could use the thread tension scales made for that market. I see this device in my Wawak catalog and advertised by Superior Threads. But, it is designed to take the bobbins used in domestic machines, not most leather machines, generally speaking. If such a device was made available to users of 441 and 205 type machines, we could more easily set the bobbin tension whenever we changed bobbin thread. With a fixed bobbin tension, all one would have to do is tweak the top tension for different sizes of top thread. As it is, we must adjust both the top and bottom when changing spools, colors, sizes and brands of thread, in order to keep the knots centered betwixt the layers. As has been mentioned, when you change from a larger diameter to a smaller diameter thread, on top or in the bobbin, the existing tensions are bound to decrease, but not always equally. The top tension is also affected by the amount of tension in the thread guides, the check spring, and the lower roller on the 441 and 205 machines (and some others). Furthermore, the replacement bobbins for the 441 and 205 machines are not always precision made, in my experience. Some of them are longer or shorter than others. Shorter is no problem as they remain inside the end of the case where the bobbin spring alone sets the tension on the thread. But longer bobbins protrude from the end of the bobbin case and can press against the frame of the shuttle, increasing the tension on the thread beyond what you set on the spring tension screw. This happens on my Cowboy CB4500 and on my Singer 31-15, both of which have horizontal axis bobbins on the left end of the machine. I don't notice this problem on the vertical axis, top loading bobbins in my Singer walking foot machines. Oh, by the way, black bonded thread is often double dyed, which sometimes results in it coming off the spool like a coil spring. This increases the thread tension and can even cause twisty knots and thread being thrown out of the tensioners to happen at the worst of times.

Every shoe repair shop has one or more patcher machines. Some are Singer, some are Adler and others are Claes brand. These machines are a must have if one is asked to repair stitches inside a cylindrical object, or to sew a patch over a pocket on a vest, or onto the sleeve of a jacket, or to resew something on a shoe upper, or replace Velcro or elastic on a shoe or replace a zipper in a boot. They can also be used to resew internal sections of wallets that have thread going or gone. I use mine for all of the above, plus, resewing and replacing strap tabs and zippers on purses and other bags, sewing cue stick cases, sewing certain otherwise inaccessible areas on rifle bags, sewing patches and hatbands/sweatbands on hats, and last but not least, darning tears in boots, vests, jackets, purses and other soft leather and denim goods, So, in a nutshell, if you repair leather things, you'll probably need a patcher. If you only make new things of your own design and choosing, you probably won't need one. With their little tiny bobbins, the 29-4 patchers are only good for repairs, not production. Finally, when a customer asks you to sew a torn seam on their valuable-to-them purse, wallet, boot or shoe, tooth marks aren't going to bother them.

The Chandler CM406RB-1 was built by Consew. It was their B brand, sold at lower prices than the same machines wearing a Consew badge. A dealer could explain the differences to you. I'm guessing they are all inside the body. But, despite any internal differences, I think it would be a fine acquisition for a slow speed hobby sewer.