Wizcrafts

I have the same machine and use standard size G bobbins in it. These are the same bobbins as used in the Singer 111, 153, and 211 machines and many others.

This has happened to me and many others when we have either purposely, or inadvertently increased the lift ratio of the presser and alternating feet too high. Once you increase the alternating lift, and are actually sewing something, the internal crank shafts can make hard contact with the presser foot bar, jamming the action.

The Schmetz S point is NOT available in System 135x16, which is the designated needle system for the Juki LU-563. However, Schmetz DOES make the S points in System 134-35, in sizes 80 through 200. These needles are about 1mm shorter than the standard walking foot needles and were made for certain Pfaff machines. In order to use the S points in a Juki 563, or equivalent, one must lower the needle bar 1mm, then check the timing of the hook. Some people, myself included, have been able to use the Schmetz S point needles, without any adjustments, in Singer walking foot machines that only sew forward, not reverse. The Juki LU-563 is often used with reverse to lock the stitches at the beginning and end. Sewing in reverse requires precise timing of the hook and needle. This could be a problem with the shorter needle, unless the timing and check spring were tweaked to the Tees. I would simply lower the needle bar to place the hook above the eye, as per the machine's specfs, and leave it there, only using S points, or other System 134-35 needles. The maximum sewing thickness would be reduced by 1mm.

I had a set of the original inline feet taht needed the height adjustment. I found out a couple years ago that @CowboyBob Bob Kovar got in new ones that were already the right length. They go on without requiring any further adjustment.

I got a set of inline feet from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, for my Cowboy CB4500, which is almost the same as a Class 4. I made a video of the inline presser feet in use. I believe that they cost about $125 or $130, plus postage. With the inline feet you can actually use the machine to sew outsoles onto a shoe, if it has 1/4 inch width before you sew and trim it.

The Consew analog servo motor sold by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines is probably all you will need. It can be ordered with a pulley as small as 45mm. This is less than 2 inches diameter. I'm pretty sure that the pulley on your Pfaff balance wheel is at least 4 or 5 inches diameter, giving you more than 2:1 speed reduction/torque multiplication. You can install it yourself. Your local hardware or auto parts store will have a selection of type 3L v-belts to connect the motor and machine and leave 1/2 inch of slack in the center. The knob on the front of the motor limits the top speed and can be changed on the fly as you sew. I do it many times. I might start with a slow speed setting until I get to a long seam. Then, I reach down and spin the knob and it's off to the races. Still, it is possible to slow down the motor gradually from the top speed setting. It's just not as smooth on the ramp up compared to a much lower setting.

The roller feet I've had in the past had a spring that held them in position, and a screw to adjust the distance from the bottom of the wheel to the needle. I've found that they work best when the needle just misses the edge of the wheel. The farther away the wheel, the more the material/leather can lift with the ascending needle. This causes skipped stitches.

Are you referring to the Consew Premier CSM550-1 servo motor? If so, the start up speed is barely spinning. I have its predecessor, the Family Sew FS-550s on several of my sewing machines. Some power the machines directly, with a 50mm pulley, while others feed 2:1 or 3:1 speed reducers. If there is little to no load on the motor, it starts spinning very slowly. Under load I have to give it more pedal or knob rotation to overcome the resistance. The machine will still run very slowly unless I turn the limiter knob up high. Even then, the slow speed is fairly easy to control with my steady foot. One of my machines fed directly from a FS-550s is a long bed walking foot machine with a 5" hand wheel pulley. I can run the machine at 1 stitch per second with ease and it ramps up from zero smoothly. I frequently use that machine to sew patches onto the back of bikers' vests. The analog servo gives me total control over the speed. I can stop it with the needle down to turn corners.

I once owned that same zig zag machine. I used it to sew on a leather vest I made. It is best limited to #69 or #92 bonded thread. The machine in your photo has the wrong presser foot. You will have trouble zig-zagging with that foot, if at all. You need a wide Pfaff foot with a sideways slot that lets the needle move right and left. Perhaps the other foot is in a parts drawer. If I recall, that zig zag isn't very wide; like maybe 1/4 inch maximum. My recollection of the machine is that it was very quiet and smooth in operation. The feed is bottom only, which is typical in zig zag machines.

Try a different leather point shape than diamond. Sometimes a slicing wedge performs better in dense leather. This would also let you move up one needle size if tight holes are the problem. Little known factoid: Schmetz make System 134-35 needles in "S" point, which is an inline slicing wedge. They are about 1mm shorter than System 135x16/17. Sometimes they work with out any needle bar adjustment. Otherwise, lower the bar 1mm when using 134-35.

I agree that the analog servo motors have low starting torque. On the machines where I need low speed with high torque, I add a speed reducer. That cures the problem entirely. Some are 2:1, others are 3:1 speed reduction/torque multiplication. These motors and reducers came from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. One of my 10 machines is mounted on a table I've had since 2010. I've change the machine heads several times, but kept the table and motor. The motor is branded SewPro 500GR. It is an analog servo motor with a built in 3:1 speed reducer. That motor powers any machine that fits in the cutout through the densest leather. I tried to buy another SewPro 500GR motor two or three years ago but learned they are no longer made. Evidently, the people who made them in China went out for lunch and never came back! No motor for you!

I will be ordering a couple packs of ten!

Welcome back, Eric! We've missed your input.

In system 794, or 7x4, the smallest leather point needle available is from Schmetz. It is a #23 needle with an S point, which is an inline chisel. This needle is best used with #138 thread on top and bottom. However, you could load #92 thread in the bobbin and tighten the bobbin tension to pull the knots down inside the layers. Since you asked about using #69 thread, you *can* run it in the bobbin, *if" the bobbin tension spring will clamp it down tight enough to control the position of the knots. To run #69 on top requires the machine to be able to loosen the top tension a lot more than expected. Finally, if you can make those two adjustments, you can buy a pack of #18 and/or #19 needles in system 7x3 - round points. They will poke perfectly round holes that will look large compared to leather point needles. If the leather is dry, or dense, those needles will squeak and may even grab the leather, lifting it up as the needle ascends. This will cause skipped stitches. To offset this problem, fill the lube pot with clear sewing machine oil, or liquid silicon lube and run the top thread through it. ANybody who has a 441 type machine, including the Cowboy Outlaw, wanting to use small thread and needles in it to sew a thin project, should read my blog article about Dumbing down a Cowboy cb4500, Cobra Class 4, or similar harness stitcher.

There are a handful of machines that fill the gap between a full blown 441 clone and a traditional walking foot upholstery grade machine. These in-between machines start life as walking foot machines that have beefed up take-up parts, extra large hooks, and stronger thread tension and foot pressure springs. Some even have dual top thread tensioners. Here are some for your consideration. Most of these can tension up to #207 thread, top and bottom and sew up to 7/16 inch of medium temper leather. They can still handle thinner needles and thread so you can sew wallets, as well as tooled rifle slings/guitar straps with suede linings. Adler 869 Juki LU-1508NH Juki LS-1341 Cobra Class 26 Cowboy Cb6900 (aka: Cb1341) Techsew 4800

There are aftermarket feet with teeth. They are sometimes sold as zipper foot sets. I've bought them in left toe and right toe. The teeth are meant to grip zipper tape and get a good grip on leather. Just be prepared to rub out the tooth marks. There are also double toe feet with teeth that outdoor vinyl sewers tend to use. Vinyl is pretty slippery. Banners and boat covers are also sewn with toothed walking feet. Sailrite may stock the feet you need.

If I Grok your setup, your patches are 5oz veg-tan and your thread is an astonishing size 207! I sew on patches for a living and I would use #92 bonded thread, with a #19 needle, for that thickness. With this thread size you'll have no trouble hiding/burying the knots. You are simply using a thread that is 3 times thicker than the leather can conceal. I don't use #207 thread in anything thinner than 10 to 12 ounces. It dawned on me that you might be using this oversized thread for appearances only. This is known as the Topstitching Effect. If this is the case, load the bobbin with #92 or #138 thread and use a #23 Schmetz "S" point needle.You'll have to tighten the bobbin tension to keep the knots below the top surface. The #23 S point needle makes a very tight inline slice that pulls the leading and trailing edges down below the top grain. By using a smaller bobbin thread, it is easier for the bobbin thread to overlap the top thread and form locks. The #207 top thread will try to overpower the smaller bobbin thread. Back off the top and tighten the bottom on test pieces until you get it right.

I can't comment on the age of that particular sewing machine. But, I can show you what the authorized USA Cowboy cb4500 looks like since 2012.

This must certainly be a digital servo motor and probably an early design at that. When servos first appeared on industrial sewing machines, they either started rotating at 100 or 200 RPM. Cobra came up with a variable density transparency that replaced the existing light blocker attached to the control lever on the left side of the motor. Some folks made their own variable density filters with pencil strokes on clear plastic. I got the filters from Cobra and they worked well for about a year, then began to have a hiccup as the motor started up. About that time, the new style analog motors made their appearance and I bought one for every machine in my shop. These motors have a knob that is attached to a pot or a rotary switch that limits the top speed. I usually set mine about three steps up from the minimum setting. The startup from zero is totally smooth. I get my analog servo motors and speed reducers here.

The only Ritza thread suitable for sewing machines is Ritza 44. It is only available in black, white and one shade of brown (JK21). It is not waxed, but is lubricated with a silicon coating. It currently only comes in 0.6 and 0.8 mm widths and is a flat braided polyester thread. Some sellers in the World may have new old stock of the 0.4mm width, which is now discontinued. Ritza 25 Tiger thread is waxed for hand sewing. The wax will strip off as the thread goes through the eye of a standard sewing machine needle, clogging it up. If any of you are thinking about running Ritza 25 through a sewing machine, only do this on a hook and awl machine; not a closed eye needle machine. Examples of suitable machines include the Union Lockstitch, Campbell-Randall Lockstitch, Randall Lockstitch, Landis 3, Landis 16, Landis 12 series, the American Straight Needle sole stitcher, all Puritan chainstitch machines and most hook and awl sole stitchers, including most McKay insole stitchers. People on our forums have tried running Ritza 44 and 45 on their 441 clones and had numerous problems. One problem is that the spools are not designed to feed off the top like normal industrial spools do. The Ritza spool will fight all the way if you put it on a standard thread stand and try feeding its thread up to the loop above the spool. For consistent results, you should mount the spool so that it feeds directly inline with the spool. This can be by mounting it on a post on top of the machine, where it may struggle to rotate freely, or by constructing a horizontal mount behind the machine to let the thread spin the spool on the shaft with less resistance. Possible workarounds to use waxed thread in a closed eye machine. Use an oversize needle 2 sizes larger than you would normally use with that size of thread. You want to have as large an eye opening as possible in the hope that the wax will simply pull through it with the thread. However, the wax will still get stripped by the top guides and tensioner, as well as the check spring. Run the thread through liquid silicon or clear sewing machine oil in a lube pot on top of the machine. Do this before any thread guides if possible.

The Hightex 204-370 is a clone of the Adler 204-370 and -374 (smooth feed dog). Hightex and Cowboy have the same parent company. I don't know the price of a Hightex 204-370, but there is a page with pricing for the Cowboy CB243 that is basically the same machine.

I measured my ULS needles (hooks) and awls. The needles are 2.5" and the awls are 2 3/8" long. The older needles have longer shanks than the newer ones.

I held onto a few of my Union Lockstitch barbed needles after selling the machine. I use them in a stitching awl handle when I need to hand sew something with thick thread and don't want to use 2 needles to saddle stitch. I just hold down the bottom thread and form loops as I poke the needle through the leather. Are Union Lockstitch needles and awls the same length as the ones for the Champion that the OP needs?

You can start by removing your existing balance wheel and measuring the diameter of the shaft. Note if it uses a key to position the wheel. Then measure the diameter of the wheel and search online, or contact Adler or Weaver to see if they sell a larger balance wheel as an upgrade. If the shaft diameter is more or less standard, you might find a larger wheel for a Consew or Juki.

The 31-15 is a tailoring machine. I have one from the early 1920s, as did my Dad in his tailor shop.These machines aren't made to take a pounding from sewing anything heavier than a wool coat. They are meant for cotton or polycore thread, but I use #69 bonded nylon thread in mine. Some members have used a 31-15 to sew chaps with #92 thread. But, chap leather is soft temper. What you're up against with firehose and possibly canvas is that their density will force the take-up mechanism and needle bar to take more of a pounding than they can handle. The take-up lever might bend and the needle bar might slip, throwing off the timing. I recommend getting an upholstery class walking foot machine. Most can handle 3/8 inch under the feet. Most will tension up to #138 bonded thread, which as 22 pounds breaking strength. OTOH, #69 bonded thread only has 10 to 11 pounds breaking strength. Their take-up components are usually double the strength of a tailoring machine.