Wizcrafts

Since you woke up this old topic from 2011, I will answer your question about the thickness a Singer 128 can sew. In mid-2016, I sold both a Singer 27 and a 128 from my shop. Both of those machines were from the turn of the 20th Century and sewed perfectly on denim after I did my magic with them. The feed dogs are really aggressive on these machines. This helps feed difficult material, like veg-tan leather belts with smooth or pasted backs. I was curious about their capacity too, so I brought the 1902 Model 27 into the work area, wound the bobbin with #69 bonded nylon thread and threaded the rest through the top tension path. I let the stitch length knob out for the maximum feeder travel inside the throat plate cutout, giving me 5 to the inch. Then I grabbed a spare piece of 9-10 ounce Q-Tan bridle leather and tried hand wheeling into it. The Sumbitch sewed the bridle leather like butter and fed it without dragging (because of the large teeth on the bottom). I plugged in the aftermarket motor and after starting it with a quick spin with my hand, the machine sewed by its own power. I did fishtails and circles, sewed back over existing stitches (Poor Man's Reverse) and it didn't miss even one stitch. The Model 128 did just as well. Both machines were portables in wooden Singer carry cases. I've bought and sold dozens of old domestic sewing machines, but none could match the Models 27 and 128 for sewing 10-12 ounces of bridle leather (that was as thick as they could sew and hold down the leather). I I did manage to get the Model 27 to sew with #92 thread on top, using a #18 leather point needle, but had to crank down the foot pressure spring all the way to keep the leather from lifting with the needle.

Check with local upholstery and shoe repair shops, as well as your local Craigslist for an industrial (aka: "commercial") walking foot machine with compound (triple) feed, setup on a 20" x 48" industrial table, with either a servo or clutch motor (which you can replace with a more controllable servo motor for about $150). Often times, these repair shops sell off old machines when they buy newer ones. Your $400 to $600 should get you a 30 to 60 year old sewing machine capable of sewing a quarter inch of veg-tan leather with no more than #138 bonded nylon thread. If you want something more modern and capable, plan on paying at least $1000, before shipping.

You can't bury the lockstitch knots from #415 thread in leather thinner than about 12 to 14 ounces. Light colors and white thread will fold easier than dark blue and black thread. So, you might could bury the knots of white #415 in as little as 10 ounces, if the tensions and holes are perfect. The reason you cannot equate hand sewing thread to machine sewn thread is because with hand sewing you usually do a saddle stitch with two needles sewing over and under. There are no knots to bury and the stitches look perfect on both sides. In contrast, 0.8mm bonded thread that forms a lockstitch knot will have a working diameter of up to 1.6mm and will require a #26 or 27 needle to poke a wide enough hole to allow the knots to be pulled up sufficiently into the leather.

I do a lot of zipper replacements in a variety of goods, in my commercial leather shop. here's my 2 cents worth... I try to choose the best zipper for the project. When I replace a wrap-around, double pull zipper in a small pouch, I prefer a #5 plastic coil zipper. Ditto for money belt zippers. Jeans typically use short brass #5 zippers. Light weight jackets and blazers are fine with a #5 zipper of any material. But, heavy weight leather jackets are best fitted with a #7 metal tooth zipper. Very heavy items and items under a lot of stress along the zip line will benefit from a #10 zipper retrofit. I either match the color of the original zipper and tape, or ask the customer if they mind if I choose, based on what I have in stock, or have easy access to. In most cases, I use YKK zippers and pulls. They are the most reliable and long lasting whether made of plastic coil or formed Vislon, aluminum, nickle, or brass. If only the pull is bad, but the zipper is not a YKK, I will try a Zlide-on (see below *), or else I must replace the entire zipper set. For this I usually charge a long wheelbase 5. If the zipper is very long, as in a rifle bag tarp or tent, my price goes up exponentially. You can purchase bulk zipper tape in various size rolls from Ohio Travelbag (OTB), Wawak and ZipperStop. If the tape and teeth are okay but the pull won't close the teeth, a zipper plier can be used on the back of the zipper to close the gap until the teeth merge again. You can buy this tool from Wawak or OTB. It resembles a common nickle finish pair of pliers, but there is a wide open gap in the center of the teeth on both jaws. This gap lets the teeth grab the rear sides of the zipper without hitting the pull tab or its mounting bracket. I've saved many a zipper for customers when all that was wrong was the pull needed a little clamping down. It can give the owner a lease on life of the zipper at a very low cost (beer money). European garments may have the separating zipper pull on the left, rather than the right side, which is typical in the USA. You will probably not be able to find left hand pulls mounted on separating jacket zippers. If the zipper is a #5, you should be able to sew it in backwards to place the pull on the left. Some zippers will allow this, while others will warp and fight the pull all the way up and down. If a pull has stopped closing the teeth and clamping down on the back of it doesn't fix it, you can buy Zlide-on* zipper pulls from Ohio Travelbag. They can be popped open to slide them over the teeth, then clamped down to lock them into the path. Zlide-ons are life savers for a zipper repair person. In addition to stocking a wide range of Zlide-ons, you can buy a zipper repair kit containing numerous pulls, end stops and closure brackets. I got mine from OTB. They also sell special pliers to install the little end stops. I usually keep about a hundred zippers and replacement pulls in stock and bags upon bags of end and closure stops, in various colors. ZIppers can be a bonus service and a good money maker for a leather shop.

I use System 794 diamond/tri point needles when I sew closer than 6 stitches per inch on my Cowboy. I get them from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. The stitches lay inline like the S points, but are less likely to filigree the leather. Also, the exit wound is more rounded and it is easier to pull up the knots in very thick stacks of leather. I used a #25 diamond point to sew a 7/8 inch thick holster last year. The S point was cutting the thread.

I apologize to all the females I've offended. I'm done with Leatherworker.net for now. It's been a blast. Goodbye.

It will help if you can post a photo of the machine and the thread mess. Without seeing what's happening, or the machine it's happening on, all I can do is offer general solutions. If the knots are on the bottom and causing the bottom thread to lay flat rather than being pulled up into the holes, either loosen the bobbin tension or increase the top tension. If there is a whole pile of thread in and around the bobbin, first, hold back the starting threads for a few stitches. Next, make sure that the top thread is feeding inside the top tension disks and not lifting out of them. Third, make sure that the bobbin thread isn't jammed tight coming out of the bobbin case. Fourth, make sure the needle is the correct size and system for the machine and thread and that it is inserted in the correct orientation and all the way up inside its mounting bracket. Make sure you've threaded the needle in the correct direction. Finally, check the timing of the hook tip to the eye of the needle as it rises above bdc and forms a loop.

That is an American Straight Needle shoe sole stitcher. If your husband needs to sew outsoles onto midsoles, that will be a good machine for his business. Other than that, the only other possible use might be sewing along the very edge of holsters and knife sheathes. There is virtually no available depth behind the needle, without removing the built-in edge guide. There is no reverse or turning the work around. Also, it is meant for very heavy expensive linen thread run through heated wax, although it could be changed to liquid wax after cleaning out the old hardened wax residue. The American Straight Needle uses an awl to punch a hole and move the leather sideways. The needles comes up from the bottom and a looper arm feeds the linen thread into a barb in the top of the needle. The needle then descends and pulls the thread down and around the bobbin to form a lockstitch.

That's a clone of a Singer Model 27 or 28 treadle machine, but with a different stitch length adjuster than the Singer. The long throat plate covers suggest that it uses a bullet shaped shuttle with an elongated cylindrical bobbin. These machines are from the turn of the 20th Century and, unless well maintained and fully equipped, are best used a conversation pieces. Parts would only be available if old scavenged Singer parts fit it. Otherwise, they are made of Unobtanium. If the machine actually turns freely, moving all of the take-up cranks and levers and picks up the bobbin thread and has needles that fit it in time with the shuttle, it might sew with up to #69 bonded nylon thread. This is based on the last Singer 27 I refurbished and sold. It was from 1902 and sewed well into 8 ounces of bridle leather. I imagine that you could sew chaps with 11 pound test #69 bonded thread if you sew twice into the stitch holes, giving it the strength of #138, which is the normal size thread for serious chaps. It would be better used to sew wallet interiors, pants and dresses.

That knob on the end of the flywheel is the stitch length adjuster. It consists of the know attached to a long steel shaft that has a long tapered cone on the other end. If the threads are not worn off the device, screwing in inward (CW) should lengthen the stitches and vice-versa. If turning the know CW has no effect, the threads may be gone. If that's the case, the stitch length can be adjusted internally via a pair of set screws in one side of a movable block that controls the needle and feed dog motion. The control block I mentioned has a cap screw on one end that holds a very heavy spring in place and it should not be removed. The other end has two set screws, with the top one just being a stopper for the bottom screw, which sets the stitch length against the tapered cone on the left end of that long shaft. The bottom screw usually has a rounded end to push smoothly against the tapered cone. The stitch length shaft can be removed to clean up any gouges, polished and replaced. If I get time I will try to find a parts page showing these ancient mechanisms in an exploded view. Or, maybe someone else will have it handy and post that page.

That is correct. Your particular machine may or may not sew with #207, depending on how the hook has been set up and adjusted. You can buy one spool of #207 to try it out. You'll need at least a #23 needle (#207 just on top), with a #24 being more suited to the task (with #207 in bobbin also). A needle that size requires a lot of torque to punch through veg-tan leather. The pounding and stress on the needlebar and take-up crankshafts may be severe. Softer leather or vinyl wouldn't present as much resistance, which we all know is futile. ;-)

Jim; I split the thread ranges between the machines based on what they each are designed to handle most efficiently. Upholstery grade walking foot machines are made with upholstery thread in mind. That translates into sizes 69, 92 and sometimes 138. The 1.75" long needles are strong enough to not get deflected too easily, which can happen to a #16 or 18 needle. These machines max out at 3/8" of material and have dozens of accessory presser feet available in sets that are relatively inexpensive. There are edge guides, binders and folders of all kinds available. Many, like the Consew 206RB-5 have a large M style bobbin that holds enough #138 thread to sew at least a dozen and possibly 15 belts, rifle slings, or guitar straps. While the upholstery class machines are maxed out, or close to maxing out with #138 thread, the 441 machines are just coming into their own with that thread. Yes, while you "can" load them with #92 and sometimes #69 thread, the super long System 7x3 needles in sizes 18 and 19 are very easily deflected and can bend or break without much warning. They also tend to flex under load as you sew and are pulled hard left by the previous stitches. This pulls them farther away from the hook and makes skipped stitches a possibility. Further, there are no System 794 leather point needles commonly sold in the US market under a #23 (160). That is a good needle to use with #138 thread and even with 138 in the bobbin and 207 on top. I think it is prudent to use these machines in their sweet spots as much as possible. Greater machines can be dumbed down to sew with thin needles and thread as long as you back off the tensions to reduce deflection at the eye of the needle. All of this in just my opinion and how I do things with the (currently) 6 industrial sewing machines in my leather shop.

Yes, a flatbed walking foot and a cylinder arm 441 clone are an excellent starting setup for serious sewing. The Consew can handle leather ranging from a few ounces up to 24 ounces, with thread sizes 69, 92 and 138, while the Cowboy covers items from 6 ounces to 7/8 of an inch with thread sizes 138 and up.

There are heavy duty beehive tension springs available for most industrial sewing machines. I got one from Bob Kovar for my Singer 31-15. I put it on to sew with bonded nylon and change back to the lighter spring to sew with cotton thread.

I especially want to see a close-up or two of the shuttle, race and bobbin case.

Maybe you can tack the spring on with silver solder so it doesn't fall out again.

After talking with Bob about these bobbin springs on the 441 machines, we've come to the conclusion that it is better to load and unload the bobbins with the case facing up, rather than down. Vibration can shake them loose from their mooring and let them fall out if the open case faces down. I've been loading and unloading bobbins with the case facing up and towards me all along. That's probably why I still have the original spring inside my bobbin housing.

Bob Kovar has these springs! They are $3.50 each and he has 4 right now.

My thinking is that the anti-backlash spring is also an ejector spring and is integral to the bobbin housing in a 441 clone. It must be fastened to the bottom of the case and is probably not expected to go missing. If that's how the makers think, they might not offer the spring as a separate item. Hopefully for you guys, I am either wrong or mistaken.

Who woulda thunk it?

Have you asked our friendly leather machine dealers if they have a suitable replacement spring?

I looked up the specs for the Super Bull 2000 and it appears to be very similar to the Cowboy and Cobra 441 clones. If so, you could probably try to buy a bobbin case spring for a Juki 441 or clone. It is a coiled spring that is like a beehive: bigger on the bottom and narrower on top. If that internal spring is not sold separately, a replacement shuttle could be purchased from a dealer.

Stop wasting your time. You are not going to get a good stitch in Biothane with an S point needle! Order a pack each of round point needles (System 7x3) in sizes 25 and 26 and be done with it.

Yes, in System 135x16 diamond/triangle point, either made or repackaged by Organ. So far I've only found then in sizes 18 through 24. I'm starting to look for them in System DBx1 for my Singer 31-15. Besides running cooler, the titanium needles don't get plugged up by leather tape between layers, which I use extensively. This is a real benefit if you sew on a patcher, whose cleft foot tends to let taped leather lift with the needle.

Thanks! I'm hangin' in like Gunga Din!