Wizcrafts

I hear you Mike. As a part time web developer I have learned to resize and reduce images and compress codes to reduce bloat for people on metered Internet connections. It's not just mobile phone users either. In the USA there are people on satellite ISPs and still some on dial-up modems. When I got into web design I was on dial-up. So, I resized and reduced until my own web pages loaded in a reasonable time. I also write my own scripts and host them on my server. The only external scripting comes from Google ads.

Mike; You can deactivate all or some notifications through your control panel on LWN. There are separate categories for browser notifications and email notifications. As for the default settings, they are standards set by the software developer. They leave it to sys admins to alter the universal templates affecting all selectable board options. In our case, this is an ongoing slow process.

When I made the video of me zipping around the rifle slings at 15 stitches per second, I was using an edge guide, had lots of practice and was doing it on a piece work basis in my "free time" after working in my friend's leather shop all day. When I sew anything requiring precise stitch lines, I go fairly slow, mainly around curves, slots, gun shapes, etc. Belts get pressed against the edge guide, the dial gets spun to full speed and I floor the pedal. The heat helps melt the knots inside the leather.

It definitely will sew wallets. I may sew 9-10 oz belts. I probably won't sew holsters. You are limited to 1/4 inch under the feet and #92 thread. It is primarily sold to boat people for onboard repairs to vinyl and duck cloth sails, Bimini covers, seats, windscreens, tarps, etc. Whatever veg-tan leather it sews will have tooth marks on the top and bottom. You will need to upgrade to the Monster II Wheel to punch into leather over 10 ounces thickness.

I've been using Cowboy brand bonded thread since Linhanyl stopped exporting to the USA. I think that was around 2011 or 2012. It has matching color codes across several sizes. That means I can order #69, 92, 138, 207 and 277 in a particular color code and they all match. Of course, white is white and black is black. But everything in between can be color matched. You can order Cowboy thread from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It is their brand.

It's a crap shoot whether it can handle #207 thread at all. There is no strength advantage to mixing sizes. The smaller thread is always the breaking strength.

When I started making vests I bought an old Singer 31-15 straight stitch machine, then converted it into a roller foot machine. I have another one now that I only use to sew garments. But, with a roller foot it sews about 8 to 10 ounces of garment leather. You will be limited to using #69 or maybe even #92 bonded nylon thread, which is plenty strong. I recommend sewing at 5 stitches per inch (6 minimum), to avoid weakening the seams. Sew in 1/2 inch on the flesh side, with the grain sides stapled or taped together. Where there are stress lines, fold the sewn seam over itself one 1/4 inch and flat fell sew it down.

I have converted two of my straight stitch machines into roller foot machines and have learned that the bottom of the roller must almost touch the left edge of the needle to form correctly placed knots into thin/soft/floppy leather. Chrome Excel is part of that group. You need to get the bottom edge of the roller as close as physically possible to keep the leather from lifting and messing up the knot placement.

Place a parts wanted ad in our Classifieds section, called The Marketplace, under Sewing Machines > Used. If anybody has these partw and doesn't need them, they may sell them to you. FWIIW: I had a hard time even finding bobbins for my 42-5. Replacement parts haven't been available for many decades. As for the tension disks, you're better off drilling it out and tapping the head for a modern butterfly tension assembly. Just be aware that there is no tension release system at all on this model.

You can remove the belt from the flywheel by loosening the upper bolt on the outside right side of the square mounting bracket that the reducer wheel mounts to. This is under the table. After loosening the upper bolt, lift the entire reducer assembly all the way up, then tighten the bolt to hold it in the raised position. The v-belt should be loose enough to flip off the pulley on the flywheel. When you are ready to reassemble it, pull the belt onto the wheel, turning it towards you if necessary. With the belt inside the pulley, loosen the bolt and push down hard on the reducer wheels to tension the belt, then tighten down the securing bolt. You may need to loosen the adjuster nuts on the long threaded bolt on the front of the motor, allowing it to move up with the reducer assembly. Start by loosening the top nut. I think it needs an 18mm wrench.

Back off the bobbin spring tension screw (middle, not right end) to reduce the tension of the bottom thread.

You can use a regular sharp point #16 or #18 needle, with #69 bonded thread, to sew chrome tanned bag leather. If you move up to #92 thread, use a #19 regular point needle for the cloth/leather combo. Use regular point needles when sewing webbing.

My race spacer is perfect. The largest needles (#27) just clear the hook, as it passes by the scarf of the needle. Thinner needles are pulled to the left as I sew, as is the nature of lockstitch machines using high tensions and heavy bonded thread. The check spring can be tweaked to throw more thread down for the loop, offsetting this increased distance with thinner deflectable needles. I suppose one can use a thinner shuttle spacer shim if one uses only smaller needles, up to a #23 or #24. This will make for more reliable sewing with thinner thread and needles.

CowboyBob prefers to take care of business over the phone, rather than by an online shopping cart. Give him a call at 866-362-7397.

For the same money you can order a brand new Consew P1206RB, shipped.

When you get your new tension assembly it will have the check spring installed on the bottom shaft. All that holds that spring in place is the round nut on the split shaft. Hopefully, it will arrive preset with some amount of spring action. Before changing anything you should first remove the old unit and install the new one. Leave the lower set screw going into the underside of the body finger tight. Tighten the top screw all the way. Use a finger tip to pull up on the check spring, then let it go. It should snap down until it hits the movable stop bracket that is attached to the body with a set screw of its own. If the spring doesn't have enough tension to make it all the way down, back off a tad on the nut and use a screw driver to turn the split shaft counterclockwise, until the spring goes all the way down on the left side. Tighten the nut on the shaft, then tighten the set screw that secures it to the body. This ensures that the spring action won't change on its own. The check spring has a job unique to itself. It should move far enough to keep the top thread taut as the take-up lever moves down. Once the point of the needle has entered the material the spring should stop moving down.

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?