Wizcrafts

Pokeriknot; It appears your machine is in need of expert repair. Take, or ship it to an industrial sewing machine dealer. If it is under warranty, send it to the dealership who sold it to you. If you dink with it and make it worse, the cost of dealer repairs will go way up.

Needles have to be fully inserted into their mounting clamps/brackets, plus aligned to position the thread loop towards the approaching hook. If the needle is too many degrees out of alignment, the hook may not pick off the loop. On top of that, thread coming off industrial spools twists. If it coils in the opposite direction to the rotation of the hook, the loop may be hard to pick off. In this instance it may help to wind the top thread backwards to its twist around a post on top or before the top tension disks. This will counteract the twist and may give a better loop at the eye of the needle. Black bonded nylon thread is double dyed and is the most twisty of all colors.

I can't tell from your photo if the needle is inserted correctly or not. Make sure that the ridge is on the left and the cutout "scarf" is on the right. Thread from left to right. Make sure you haven't forgotten to thread through all tensioners, the check spring and the take-up lever. Make sure there is thread in the bobbin. What else? Inspect the needle to see if it is bent. Make sure you inserted it all the way into the needle bar needle mounting clamp. Check the shuttle to ensure that is is rotating and is in time.

Even the folks at Sailrite will tell you that their portables are not meant to sew anything tougher than upholstery leather. I think you will do well with the Artisan 335 portable walking foot machine. It should easily handle 3/8 inch of compressed leather, using the standard system 135x16 needles. I also believe that they have clearanced the hook to allow it to sew with #207 thread. I would send them some of the material you plan on sewing and ask for a demo on that machine.

How thick are the combined materials, what size thread do you want to use and do you need a cylinder arm or will a flat bed machine do? The answers will help us point you to an appropriate machine that can handle the job.

The old iron Singer is the most likely candidate for sewing wallet interiors. But, you will have to upgrade the motor to a brand new one drawing twice the power (e.g., 1.5 amps/150 watts) of the one supplied by this seller (0.8 amps). Expect to pay between $75 to $100 for a new motor, with the proper plug and foot controller. The 0.8 amp motor is likely to overheat if you routinely sew leather. This will cause it to smoke out and possibly catch fire. You will also need a Teflon or roller equipped presser foot to keep the leather moving. The rest of the accessories that come with the machine are useless for leather sewing. Finally, buy leather point needles in size 18 and 69 bonded nylon thread. I recommend the more expensive titanium coated needles. Stay away from the plastic body models. There is no such thing as an industrial strength sewing machine. It is a marketing term used by rip off sellers on eBay. It is either a domestic/household OR industrial/commercial sewing machine. There is no in-between unless you go to a portable Sailrite walking foot machine (dual feed only. Marks leather).

Flat bed sewing machines are best for sewing totally flat items. If your saddle components are to be sewn flat, a flat bed gives lots of support to move and turn them without losing balance. However, if any of the parts must be sewn on an upward or downward curve, a cylinder arm is a necessity. Also, if you have to sew directly to the right of a surface the extends below the top layer, a cylinder arm is needed. There are extra heavy duty flat bed machines that use the same hook and bobbins as our 441 type machines. They allow you to sew with up to #415 thread. Just keep in mind that a flat bed will always need to sit inside a cutout in a table. A cylinder arm machine sits above the table to let items curve down as you sew, or to let lower levels pass by on the left side (hardware, formed cases, riggins, stirrups, etc.

Modern cameras, especially those in the newest smartphones, take photos of many megapixels in filesize. these photos can be enlarged and printed in magazines and even on outdoor banners and signs. If you are only taking a picture for use on a web page, try reducing what is referred to as the "resolution." 800x600 pixels is a good size for web use. Forum software will reduce that to about 50% for the on-page display, then render the full size when it is clicked upon. As is, your photo is already at 931 kilobyes and just over 800 x 600 resolutiion. Otherwise, this simple close-up of your patcher shuttle, can occupy several megabytes and render at banner size.

Try contacting Weaver Leather. They are an Adler supplier to leather sewers and are located in Amish country, in the USA

I gotta ask; is the #22 needle you are using a 7x3 round point? I ask because leather point #22 are hard to find in system 794, or 7x4. If you are using a round point system 7x3 in leather, it will grab, overheat and cut the thread. Instead, order a pack of system 794 #23 leather point needles. You will have much better results.

Unless the machine being converted has wide feed dog teeth on the left of the needle hole, I recommend buying the complete roller foot conversion kit. The feeder that come with the kit places a nice wide aggressive tooth dog exactly to the left of the needle and allows you to position the edge of the roller directly next to the needle.

That is the presser foot pressure screw. Remove it, then loosen the screw or screws that secure the presser foot raising block to the bar, raise the bar until the unfolded foot sits flat against the feed dog, then tighten the screw and reinstall the spring.

As for sewing close to hardware with a narrow edge, Cowboy made a set of feet that are inline for the 441 clones. I have that set for my CB4500 and use it for those rare times when i have to sew a sole back onto a boot or shoe, or sew a shaped pouch or case very close to the raised side (with too little room on the right). Contact Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, at 866-362-7397, for the price and availability.

If you can get a fully operational Campbell Lockstitch machine, with extra bobbins, needles and awls, in good condition, for only $3,000, grab it! These machines list for $6,000 plain Jane.

Here's one source for a roller foot conversion kit. Most industrial sewing machine dealers I know carry these.

I used to have that model. I used it to sew vests around the arm holes, pants legs cuffs and other circular items. It is an okay machine as long as you know how to deal without reverse. I has a smallish bobbin that is best limited to #92 thread, although it may be able to clear #138. You can slow down the motor by swapping it out for a servo motor with a smaller pulley and shorter belt to match the new distance. This machine is a bottom feed machine meant for light material. It will fight against sticky materials of any kind.

HorseLady21; This machine has what I call Poor Man's Reverse. You either spin the work 180 degrees, or lift the foot with the needle up and pull the work back a couple stitches and sew over them, or sew all the way around and stitch over the starting stitches. Since you are using a Singer 27, you may not have a tension release with the foot lifted (mine doesn't). In this case, if you lift the foot and want to pull the material towards you to over-tack, pull some thread out of the top tension disks by hand. You can pull it anywhere between the tension disks and the take-up lever. Otherwise, you may bend or break the needle.

Mikesc; Terms were developed by the manufacturers and are standardized. It may seem backwards to us users, but dealers, importers and parts suppliers use these descriptions in common to avoid confusion. You are free to personally refer to the axis of the bobbin any way you wish. But, if you contact a dealer, or replacement parts supplier and they ask whether your machine has a vertical of horizontal bobbin, use the manufacturer's designation. Otherwise, you may get the wrong parts. To clarify, using manufacturer's designations, the horizontal and vertical axis's refer to the position of the final shaft that drives the shuttle in which the bobbin resides. If that shaft runs lengthwise under the body and the shuttle and driver is connected to the left end and sits under the bed, or inside the cylinder arm of the machine, it is a Horizontal Axis bobbin system. If the drive mechanism uses gears to drive a shaft at a right angle, coming straight up to drive the shuttle and the bobbin is dropped in from the top, it is a Vertical Axis machine. The axis of the drive shaft for the shuttle is the deciding factor.

Ollie, the price you saw for a P1206 is a little high, especially if it is in a box and needs to be fully assembled and adjusted. One of our member dealers offers brand new Consew P1206RB machines, fully setup with a servo motor, adjusted and sewn off, shipped on a pallet, for just under a thousand dollars.They also carry new 206RB-5 machines, also complete, for about thirteen hundred. Others may also carry these machines at similar prices..

You have to consider the thickness of the material when choosing the thread combination. The goal is to place the lockstitch knots deep into the material so they don't show. In my experience, if your leather is very thin, #69 may be the maximum you can use and still bury the knots. For this, use a #18 needle for medium temper leather, or, for a tighter knot in soft leather, use a #16. You may have to ramp it up to a #19 for harder leather. When the thickness is over 4 or 5 ounces, #92 thread can be used and still bury the knots. It is 50% stronger than #69 thread. But, you'll need either a #19 or 20 needle, depending on the temper of the leather.

The 31-15 is a garment and tailoring machine, capable of sewing leather chaps and vests. It will need a roller foot conversion to feed properly. The conversion kit includes a 1" roller, a heavy duty single row feed dog and matching throat plate. The machine should be able to sew with #69 and possibly #92 thread, depending on its age and type of shuttle. I recommend titanium coated needles if you use double sided basting tape. You'll want to get #18, 19 and 20 needles, in system DBx1 / 16x257 / 1738

Correct. Most new sewers can learn to operate and adjust a walking foot machine in one day. After a week it should be old hat. And, help is found on all kinds of forums and from industrial sewing machine dealers (if you buy something from them).

I also have a Singer 27 and it gives me 5 stitches per inch. If you can't get that spacing, either the feed dog height is too low, the stitch length lever isn't going all the way down, or the upholstery leather is fighting against the feed, reducing the stitch length. It that's the case, you can hold it up in front of you as you feed it to the machine. You don't want the stitches so close that they filigree the leather! Also, if your machine takes modern presser feet, you can buy a Teflon foot that will glide over the top of the leather.

It might help if you added your location to your profile.

If you buy them, let us know how these erasers work out.