Wizcrafts

If it's anything like the 111W105 I'm rebuilding, the entire tension unit is secured with two screws. One is on the upper front left of the unit. The other is underneath it on the body and holds the bottom check spring shaft in place. Loosen that bottom screw and remove the top screw. The entire unit will lift out. Fit the replacement unit in place and set the top left screw to secure it. Use a flat blade screw driver on the bottom split shaft and turn it counterclockwise to get some tension on the check spring, then tighten down the inside set screw.

What has your 400w1 got to do with the topic about the 42-5? They are unrelated machines. Please start a new topic for this machine.

Remove your small roller foot and take it and the unusable large roller back to where you bought it. Ask for a large roller that has the same mounting bracket as the small one that does fit.

The 204-64 does not have a walking foot, but does have bottom (drop) feed and needle feed. The foot has a long slot down the middle to allow the needle to move forward and backward. It can sew with very heavy bonded thread and is a good machine for sewing anything that is flat on top and at least 3/16" thick (12 ounces). It has a barrel bobbin that holds lots of thread. I am not sure about the needle system the -64 uses. I read one ad claiming that they use system 328 needles and can sew up to 5/8 inch of leather. These needles are usually only available in leather point in sizes starting at #23 (160). This limits the smallest thread to #138. To use smaller thread would require using ball point needles. $700 is a very reasonable price, especially if there are a bunch of needles and bobbins going with it.. It all depends on the expectations of the buyer and type of work he or she wants to sew. This is a great flatbed stitcher for single top layer projects without big steps up or down.

I read the specs for your machine and see that it uses a M style bobbin. My previous National 300N also used that bobbin and here is what I remember from it's thread capacity. With a fully loaded bobbin, of #138 Weaver bonded nylon thread, I was able to sew between 12 to 14, two piece, suede lined rifle slings together (tails and bodies). This was with tightly wound bobbins set to auto-unload at the maximum safe capacity, wound evenly across their internal width. This meant spending a few minutes centering the tension disk on the other end of the bobbin winder. They are almost never set perfectly right from the get-go. When sewing typical dress belts or guitar straps, I would get about 12 per load. #138 thread has 22 pounds breaking strength and has a bolder than normal appearance, compared to something from China. If you use #69 thread, you should be able to sew twice as many belts or straps. Using #92 will split the difference. This assumes that the spools of thread are actually the diameter that their "size" actually requires them to be. I find that cross section diameters sometimes vary between brands of thread.

I have my screws backed off between 1/2 and 1 turn most of the time (1 turn for #346 thread). I only tighten them inward when using #92 or 138 thread. Then I back off to 1/4 turn. Also, keep oil inside the track in the shuttle race.

The belt to the machine may be misaligned and scraping the edge of the cutout slot in the table, shredding it. If so, move the speed reducer sideways. Here's how... There should be two bolts holding the speed reducer wheel to the underside of the table. If you loosen the bolts you can move the assembly left or right to center the belt going to the machine. There are three bolts on top of the table that position the motor. You can loosen them and move the motor left or right to line its pulley up with the reducer. Standard practice is to go from the motor to the largest pulley on the reducer, then from the smallest pulley on it up to the machine. There is another bolt on the reducer's square shaft that hangs down, that allows it to move up or down. Adjust it for about 1/2 inch of finger deflection in the middle of the belt. There is a double nut and threaded bolt on the front of the servo motor that lets you adjust it up and down. Set it so that the belt on the motor pulley doesn't slip. One has to wonder why these items that apparently were aligned at the dealer's shop were no longer aligned when you got it to your shop? As for starting threads, hold them in any direction that keeps the top thread from getting pulled into the shuttle on the starting stitch or two. Unsecured threads tend to get jammed under the work and into the bobbin case.shuttle, halting the machine in seconds. Technically, you can hold just the top thread, if the bottom thread is covered by the work (vest, jacket, seat cover, etc). If you only hold the top thread, try to just keep it from being pulled down. Don't try to pull hard on it or your starting stitch will show knots on top. Holding both threads back with equal force usually centers the starting stitch. Pull the bobbin out and check it after x number of items are sewn. Eventually, you will learn to gauge how many of the same thing can be sewn with the same size thread per bobbin load.

When I use #346 thread in my CB4500, I use a #26 needle, tighten the top tension and loosen the bobbin tension. Plus, I back off the two spring loaded screws holding the shuttle race in position. This allows the thicker than normal top thread to pass around both sides of the bobbin/shuttle assembly without binding/pinching. In effect, the thread pushes the shuttle to the left to allow it to go around. If the screws are too close to fully tight, the thread will bind on the way around.

If the Landis is still available, what extra parts and accessories are going with it? How deep is the throat to the right of the needle and awl? Will it sew 3/4" as setup now?

I paid about $700 for an Adler 204, complete, back in 2010. You should be able to get at least that much, cash and carry.

Kirk; PM = Private Message. This is a sub-system of this forum that allows members to send messages to each other privately, with notifications about new messages showing on top of the logged in user's pages. Since you still have a "Guest" account, you cannot access our PM feature. If you join LWN you will have the use of this and other special features.

If while winding a bobbin you have the little movable thread aiming guide misaligned on the left-top of the machine, the windings will build up on one side or the other (it should be adjusted to feed evenly across the bobbin, with good thread tension). Or, the bobbin loading thread may be jumping in and out of the bobbin winder's tension disks on top of the machine. A bobbin loaded thusly is unbalanced and may wobble as it feeds the thread through the tension spring. Or, if the owner leaves too much length on the starting thread stub, it may catch intermittently on the ejector/anti-backlash spring inside the bobbin case. This will cause the bobbin to feed in a jerky fashion, rather than smoothly. Finally, the bobbin itself may have been formed less than perfectly aligned on the disk ends. Or, the length of the bobbin may be under or over optimum length. I have accumulated 441 bobbins that have different lengths from end to end. The oversize bobbins tend to bind a bit in the shuttle and add unwanted tension to the bobbin thread, compared to a slightly shorter bobbin.

Try spraying some Belt No-Slip on the leather belt and the iron pulleys. You can buy it in auto parts stores. No-Slip is used on fan and air conditioner v-belts to stop squealing from slippage.

It is either caused by an out of round or badly wound bobbin, or twisty/excessively bonded top thread, or rawhide in portions of the leather.

Decide what your bottom price is and mark your local ads with FIRM on the price. That will eliminate some of the tire kickers. Of course it won't stop the Nigerian overpayment with kited check scammers!

If that 111w156 is in working condition and not seized or rusted, or missing parts, that is a reasonable price (high end of reasonable). There are some things I can tell you from looking at the photo. It has the rare push down reverse lever (thus a sub model 156). It has a clutch motor, meaning you will have to learn to feather the clutch, or buy a replacement servo motor and different v-belt. It has a small machine pulley on the flywheel. This means it probably sews very fast. If the pulley on the motor is about the same diameter as the machine's pulley, it will sew as fast as the motor turns. If the motor pulley is larger, the machine will sew extremely fast. Machines that are geared like the above don't have a lot of punching power at slow feathered speeds. Walking foot machines geared high are typically used to sew long runs of upholstery, awnings, tarps, banners and boat covers or sails.They can sew leather but require feathering the clutch and using the little hand wheel for detailed work. If it was mine, I would have a 2" motor pulley for better control at slow speeds. Better yet, I would recommend adding a speed reducer to also boost the torque at starting speeds. I would also get a larger diameter handwheel/pulley. From the photo the entire machine and table appears to be complete. It uses the narrow right floor pedal to lift the presser feet, rather than a knee lever. I have the same setup on my long body Singer walking foot machine. It's six of one and half dozen of the other. Some people sew while sitting on a stool, or standing up. That makes a floor lifter a necessity for raising the feet while keeping both hands on the material.

Unless you know what you are doing, I'd stop right there and take it to Gregg. You've never seen this happen before, but I'm sure he has and knows where to start looking. It is possible that a C clamp has popped off one of the crank shaft mounts inside the head, or a screw has worked itself loose inside the body.

I read the description of the bag you linked to and they say that the tabs and straps are made out of bridle leather. I work with bridle leather for belts and horse tack and it can be stamped or tooled with alphabet stamps and leather craft tools. If you want to dye the impressions, use acrylic paint with a fine point brush. Wipe off any overflow on the top grain with a wet cloth. Add a clear sealer to make the dark impressions permanent and you should be good to go.

They are the latest new craze in the Asian shoe making trade. The answer to the McKays with their limited availability, hugeness and heavy weight. I have seen these machines online, with a few different name badges, but not in person. I think it would be interesting to get more details about them.

I cannot imagine any way to convert a walking foot or any other type of lockstitch machine to sew like a McKay. It is a machine unto itself. McKays only have one thread, which is fed up a long tube on the bottom, with a very special mechanism that forms proper stitches on the outside, with chain stitches on the inside. The end of this tube has a bent horn to hold a shoe upside down. That horn and the assembly it is attached to are movable in any direction, as you hold the shoe upside down and sew through its outsole and insole. Here is an instructional video by a McKay user...

Nope. The shop is under 600 square feet. The trailer is 890 square feet.

There has to be more than a different name tag to account for a price difference of $2,500. Somebody is pulling your leg. You get what you pay for in sewing machines. Ask for a warranty that covers parts and labor for x number of months, just in case, plus ask if you can call the dealer for help when things go south.

Out of 6 domestic machines I have for sale, only one can really sew through 8 ounces of leather on its own. That happens to be a - wait for it - 1902 Singer Model 27. I have demo'd the machine sewing #69 bonded nylon thread into 8-9 ounces of bridle leather, as well as 2 layers of 4 ounce suede split. It starts sewing on its own and continues, at slow or fast speed, until I back off the pedal. All the rest of the old machines need to be hand wheeled to start sewing into more than 4-5 ozs.

My bad. Sorry bout that Chief. I am not yet versed on the 1341. But, I can tell you from my very brief investigation, they sell for the mid to high 4k US range. That would put the price in Canadian dollars at least at $5,000. So, I assume you are buying a very used machine for only $1900 CDN

Make sure you get a demo of the machine sewing your own leather. Ask all kinds of operational questions. Record the demo sewing and all adjustment tutorials you are offered. Buy all manner of needles, bobbins and thread. Buy a quart of Juki oil. Get thread snips. Make sure you are comfortable with the position of the knee lever, or get it readjusted before you take the machine home. Get any accessory feet, folders and edge guides at the time of the sale. Juki machines are well built, no matter which Country has the factory. The parts and tolerances are high quality. Parts are available all over the World and there are hundreds of aftermarket accessories that fit them.