Wizcrafts

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.

I call those knobs Barney Knobs, as in Barney Rubble.

I posted some instructions for reducing the file size of an image taken on an iPhone, here.

I sew on patches for about 1/3rd of my income. I use these main machines. A Singer 29k71 small bobbin patcher. It has a 1" wide and deep nose and gets into the tightest spots. An Adler 30-7 big bobbin, long arm patcher. It can sew with #138 thread and has a 1.25" wide nose. A Singer 168g101 post bed walking foot machine. It can sew patches onto hats. It can also be used to make hats. A Singer 111w103 walking foot machine. Any 111 type machine is a must have for a well equipped leather shop.

The second pulley is used to change the pulley ratio from the top and bottom. In your machine's case, the spare pulley is smaller. If you connect it to the treadle, the speed will increase as you pedal the machine. You will empty the tiny bobbins even faster with this small pulley.

I edited his post and removed the odd formatting. I also added missing periods and commas.

I just got a great tip from our sewing machine guru, @Uwe A simple “Samsung photo resize” search reveals these instructions: https://www.samsung.com/sg/support/mobile-devices/how-to-resize-photos-in-the-gallery-app-on-your-galaxy-phone/ To summarize the instructions, open your Gallery. Click on the image you need to resize. The image will open on-screen. Under the image, click on the pencil icon (Edit). On the Edit screen, click on the three dots to open an options menu. From the options, choose Resize. There are several radio button options starting at 20% on my Samsung Galaxy A53. Choose the amount of reduction you want, then click on Done. Now, click on Save on the upper right of the screen. Or, click Revert to unsave the resize. A text screen will popup asking if you really want to save the resized image over the original. If you don't need the large original, click on Save on the bottom right. But, if you want to save the original, follow the instruction in the text box to save the resized image as a copy. I found similar instructions for resizing photos on an iPhone... Open the Photos App, and scroll your screens to find the image you want to adjust image size. Tap the image and find the “Edit” icon on the upper-right corner of the screen. Tap it and select the third crop and rotate image icon on the bottom of the screen. Find the third gray rectangular icon on the top of the screen and tap it. You will see lots of options to resize images. You can customize the image size as you want, make square images, resize image wallpaper size, and other photo sizes. Choose one image size ratio you want, and apply it to your images. After you have resized images, tap “Done” to save your images to your iPhone.

Yes. Make sure that you install the needle/throat plate with the cutout facing the shuttle/bobbin case. Before you fully tighten the two screws, place the bobbin case tab under the detente, then tighten down the fore and aft screws.

Definitely, either repair or replace the take-up lever. I had problems on one of my patchers where it formed loops on top. After replacing the take-up lever and one internal spring, the problem went away.

This topic was from 2017. @alexitbe has not been active on our forum since March 25 of 2020. You might try sending him an email through the forum. But, we all know what happened in March of 2020.

Then your timing may be off. Slide open the needle plate, insert a good shuttle, then rotate the hand wheel to bring the needle down all the way, then stop when it rises up and halts. At this point in time, the tip of the shuttle should be just meeting the needle, above the eye, and in the scarf area. Your next movement of the wheel will bring the needle down and the hook should pass above the eye. If the hook is in any other position, in front of or behind the needle's eye, the timing is off.

Maybe the tension on the check spring is too strong. Loosen the set screw under the check spring housing, on the inside of the body. This lets you rotate the shaft to get more or less spring tension. Turning it ccw backs off the tension. Set it for less tension and lock down the set screw. The spring only needs enough tension to hold the thread taut during the end of the take-up cycle until the spring stops against the adjustable stop bracket. It should stop soon after the needle penetrates the work.

You might try installing Faststone Photo Resizer if you have a Windows computer. Otherwise, there are phone apps that do image resizing. Typically, cellphone cameras on let you change the resolution you shoot at. The smallest files are produced at the smallest length and width. If that's not enough, a resizer can take it a step farther. Faststone's resizer can reduce not only the dimensions, but also the quality. I usually reduce the quality of uploaded files by 15% with no noticeable degradation. This makes a huge difference in the file size. If you need a phone-only app, read the descriptions and user ratings first. Choose one that can reduce the quality, and other parameters. Use caution! Phone apps from individuals, or unknown companies are like the Wild West.

Move the check spring disk to the right to center the screw in the curved slot. This gives it more slack. You have it on the tightest setting now.

You are now in the correct forum to discuss and diagnose problems with industrial leather sewing machines. While you aren't sewing heavy leather, you have a machine that is capable of sewing almost 3/8 inch of soft to medium temper leather, or many layers of cloth or synthetics. I don't have a Consew, but all but one of my machines have walking foot mechanisms. Without having your machine in front of me, or seeing a video of it being turned over, my best guess is that the pressure foot may have too much pressure. This would reduce the rotational window where you can wheel to TDC before the pressure forces it to proceed downward. This is a shot in the dark, but try it anyway. Back off the foot pressure and see if the needle can be held up at TDC.

The top disks are your primary tension adjusters. The lower roller adds or subtracts a little tension. This roller was more effective in the distant past when the leather stitchers had liquid or melted wax in pots that the top thread ran through. Nowadays, with lubricated, bonded thread, the bottom roller does very little until you get into very large sizes of thread. It adds friction, rather than pinching the thread, as the top disks do. Those holes look way too big for the thread you are using. Try a size smaller needle. If the knots are still visible, add bobbin tension, or subtract top tension. If the knots are still a problem, move down one thread size in the bobbin. The needle holes are round. Are you using round point needles? You should use leather point needles in veg-tan leather. Schmetz sells them in System 794, as "S" point. They have an inline slicing point that actually partially submerges the ends of the stitches.

The free play I referred to is forward and backward. This affects the stitch length.Sideways motion affects the tracking, which you can adjust for as you sew. You want the least free play when you push or pull on the raised foot, forward and backward. Even 1/32 inch will cause a loss of maximum stitch length. Bear in mind that the stitches get shorted at greater thicknesses and, it is harder to move the stack. Slop in the presser foot will definitely lead to extra short stitches at 1/4 inch thickness.

Yep, that's acceptable. Now, test the play in the presser foot, with the stitch length regulator all the way down to the raised foot. A pristine machine will barely have any slop in the foot.

Wiggle the shuttle driver and see how much wiggle room there is. The less the free motion, the better the timing will be as you sew.

I still remember the exhilarating sound and feel of my ULS pounding through 1/2 inch thick leather straps at 15 stitches per second! The room shook and the racket bounced off the walls! Liquid wax splattered every which way and smoke came off the awl. It was awesome! I imagined that it felt like firing a Thompson sub-machine gun on full automatic! It was the same thing, but different.

The Adler 30-1 is NOT meant to sew with anything thicker than #138 bonded thread.

135x16 and 135x17 are needle "systems," not sizes. A system designates the geometry of the needle. These two are the same geometry until you get to the area under the eye The x16 will have some kind of slicing, or diamond, or triangle point. The x17 has a rounded sharp point. When you ask if a needle will be acceptable with a size of thread, you are really asking what needle "size" do I use with size X thread? In your case, to sew leather with #138 bonded thread, you need a #23 leather point needle. #23 is the US needle size numbering system. The Metric equivalent is number 160. You need to know that your 100+ year old small bobbin patcher was not built with that size or type of thread in mind. There was no bonded nylon thread back them. The patchers used linen thread made in Ireland, by companies like Barbour. It is still available to this day from select dealers in various numbers of cords twisted and glazed together. The big difference between linen thread and nylon thread is the flexibility. Linen thread is very flexible, while nylon isn't as flexible for the same diameter. Thus, in 1920, a shoe repairman might load a bobbin with 3 cord linen thread and it would probably sew properly. Today, if you load a patcher bobbin with #138 bonded nylon, you'll have to crank up the top tension, reduce the bobbin tension and crank down the foot pressure screw on the flat spring along the back. You will over-stress the century old machine and may throw it out of time if any of the driving gears are loose or worn down. There will also be more stress on the feed motion came and ring as it pulls the leather against this heavy thread. So, in answer to the question about if it's acceptable to use #138 thread in your machine, I'd say only in an emergency, or only for short projects that aren't more than 3/16 inch thick. I wouldn't sew 1/4 inch thick pancake holsters on that machine if you intend to keep using it for other jobs. It is made to patch rips and loose seams on shoes and boots. I use mine to sew embroidered patches onto vests and jackets. I use #69 bonded thread, with a #18 needle, in my Singer 29k71, which is a small bobbin machine like yours, but much newer. Once in a great while I will up it to #92 thread, top and bottom and use a #19 needle.

Your machine was poorly constructed. Your only hope would be to move the entire needle bar and both presser bars to the right. It is doable, but not painless. I would think about returning, or selling it, and buying a Cowboy CB4500, or actual Juki TSC-441, if they are available in Sweden. But, keep the narrow plate and feed dog.

I posted an article in the Wanted section of our forum, warning about forum scammers targeting our members. The same information applies to people posting items for sale. I urge you all to read the warnings and familiarize yourselves with some of their tricks and names they commonly use to scam our members.