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A machine can be shipped to you mounted onto a pallet, on a truck. The table and motor will be strapped separately from the machine head and supplied accessories. Assembly does not take a rocket scientist. However, using an industrial sewing machine is different than the machines you used in home Ec, or see at Joann's. If you anticipate buying a walking foot machine, which is very likely (whether it be flat bed or cylinder arm), search for a local upholstery shop. Ask them if you can see how they operate and control their walking foot sewing machines. Ask if you can try one out. They may even offer to sell one they plan on replacing soon. If there aren't any upholstery shops nearby, look for a tailor or alterations shop. Sometimes they keep a walking foot machine for heavy denim, leather and fur repairs and alterations. Ask for a demo. The most basic tip I can give is to hold back the starting threads as you begin to sew. Failure to at least secure the top starting thread usually results in a birds nest around the bobbin and a halt to your sewing until it is cleared. If that happens, and if the machine has a safety clutch, the machine can be easily returned to service after removing the tangled thread. If it is a less expensive machine, or a very old model that has no safety clutch, the timing could be thrown off by the thread jam. Also, try to choose a machine with reverse and easily controlled stitch lengths. Old walking foot machines had odd methods of adjusting the stitch length than may be difficult to set accurately. You will get what you pay for. If you spend $500 or less for a complete machine and motor/table, it may not have modern bells and whistles. It will probably have a clutch motor that runs fast and may be hard to feather to slow it down. A servo motor makes it easier to control slow speeds and is usually used in leather sewing. Adding one on will cost you both time and money. Rectangular drive is from Juki. Prepare to spend serious money for one. You won't regret it though if you need to sew light weight material, like linings.

Cowboy, Cobra, Techsew, Nick-O-Sew, Consew, Juki, Chandler, Adler, Pfaff, and lesser tier brands like Tacsew and Econosew - all have medium duty, cylinder arm, walking foot machines capable of sewing light to medium leather, vinyl, cloth and webbing projects. The first four advertise with us, thus supporting the very existence of the forum. The remainder are manufacturers whose brands are sold by industrial sewing machine dealers. You should contact our member-dealers and see what they have to offer that will match your needs perfectly. As for the second part of your question, you need to do some more research about the types of machines being offered by sellers. A Campbell Lockstitch is a needle and awl machine for sewing extremely heavy leather, like harnesses, saddles, holsters, sheathes,horse tack and such. I know how to operate a Campbell-Randall needle and awl stitcher, due to having decades of experience in this business and being a former owner of a similar machine. I cannot even begin to imagine a newbie to leather sewing operating such a machine. To answer the last part of your question: not likely. The Campbell Lockstitch may be technically "capable" of sewing fairly thin leather (or Biothane), with the proper combination of thread, needle and awl sizes, but a total readjustment would be needed, as they are normally setup for thick, hard leather (or Biothane) and very large thread. They can easily penetrate plywood luggage and are known to sew through copper pennies You are not going to sew purses and wallets with 6 cord linen thread run through a wax pot, or #415 or #554 bonded polyester that is almost 1mm in diameter. This is way more machine than your work calls for. Most of your projects will only require a thread with a tensile strength of between 11 and 22 pounds pull. That encompasses our typical bonded sizes 69 through 138.

Most of the machines you will see advertised in local (Craigslist, etc) ads will be flat bed machines. Upholstery shops use them exclusively. But, cylinder arm machines are specialty items that don't normally appear outside of garment factories or custom builder shops. It is possible for a cylinder arm machine to be retrofitted with a table attachment for flat work, but not vise-verse. A flat bed machine will sew your seams inside out and do a fine job. But, once the bag/purse takes on a shape, it gets harder to sew it on a flat table.

For bags and purses, I strongly recommend that you buy a cylinder arm, compound feed, walking foot machine. The narrower the left side of the arm, the better. The thread capacity should reach #138 bonded thread, which requires a #22 or #23 needle. The lift of the alternating feet should be high enough to sew into 3/8" of material. This usually means that the static lift of the fully raised feet would have to be at least 1/8 inch more, or 1/2 inch. You may have trouble finding old machines with these specs (or not). Something made during the last 10 years should meet these specs. Our member-dealers, who advertise here (see banners), all offer a medium duty walking foot cylinder arm machine meeting or exceeding the aforementioned minimums.

Since you are in Ohio, Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines may be able to help you with missing, extra parts. You can call them at 866-362-7397.

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Not so. I got my CB4500 from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It sewed a 7/8 inch, non-compressible sample stack of leather before I took it home. After readjusting the feet numerous times, I had to restore the highest lift and sewing capacity for the aforementioned gun holster project. The leather was virtually non-compressible, 7/8+ inches thick. It cleared the point of the needle by about 1/8 of an inch. The feet lifted to the same height as the needle. I would not recommend sewing at that height all the time, but it is doable when needed. If I had the space and money, I would buy a Campbell high lift .... period.

The chain from the lift pedal, feeding up to the rear of the lift rod on the back and its central pivot arm, eventually connecting to the lift block inside the left face of the head must all be optimized to lift the feet to their mechanical maximum height. Tweaking, not twerking, is usually required. However, the tweaking may cause one to twerk after a few hours of frustration with the interrelated and often non-intuitive adjustments. Any binding between the links in the lift chain and the holes in the rear of the body will interfere with the lift and release. If the top mounted pressure adjuster was drilled off-center, or out of round, the lifted presser bar may hang at these altitudes. Lift related cranks inside the head may need to be removed, cleaned, polished and oiled directly, then reassembled, after ensuring that they have the necessary full range of motion without binding. Finally, you must use the standard flat plate and (smooth) feed dog. The feed dog may need to be lowered slightly to just reach the top of the throat plate cutout. I had to do all of the above recently, to sew a 7/8 inch thick holster. I also had to change the needle to a diamond point #25. As for the 205 machines. it depends on who sets them up and what modifications they make. I know people who can do this in their sleep and others who can only dream of doing it. Ditto for Union Lockstitch machines.

All walking foot machines whether compound (triple) feed, or dual feed, have two feet: one each; inside and outside. These two feet must alternate up and down a certain distance to do their walk of life. Typically, a minimum alternation of 1/8 inch is required. More often than not, users increase the lift of the feet to climb over new layers that are regularly encountered. The higher the alternating feet lift, the less room there is for material. Thus, a machine with feet that can be raised up 1 inch cannot sew any thickness exceeding 7/8 inch, if even that much. Some machines have other mechanical limiters that reduce their maximum thickness even further. I own a Cowboy CB4500 (441 clone). Due to me making numerous changes and adjustments, when a 7/8" thick project came along, it no longer lifted the feet high enough to clear the leather. I had to restore the original configuration in order to get the feet up over 1 inch (original was 1 1/8" lift). The point of the needle sits at about 1 1/8" at TDC. The feet need not lift beyond that height. Some machines ship with less lift than others. Everything depends on how it was setup by the dealer you buy it from.

Olfoot; Are you saying that you ground a curve inside the two legs? Kind of like a big piping foot might look?

I should mention something important about the Singer 15-91. It does not accept any external motors. If the built-in pod motor burns up or seizes, it must be replaced, rebuilt, or rewired. Machines with external motors can have newer, higher power motors attached on the back.

Mine maxed out at actually sewing about 8 ounces, with #69 bonded thread, using a #16 or 18 leather point needle. Anything thicker either stood still from the increased drag on the top, or lifted with the needle and skipped stitches.

I have a 91 Olds Custom Cruiser I drive every day!

Catskin; The O.P. owns a Techsew 3800, which is the Canadian equivalent of the US Cowboy CB3200. These are 441 type triple feed machines, with modern harness presser foot sets (also used in the biggest 441 stitchers). There is no metal behind the inside foot on the outside feet; just open space. The bottom of the inside foot is either totally flat, or could have a tang protruding to push down the stitches (depending on the manufacturer of the foot). These feet are radically different from standard type 111 walking foot sets.

The best I can do is offer some suggestions. Try them and hopefully, one will solve your tension differences. Reverse the direction of the bobbin in the bobbin case. Readjust the tension on the bobbin spring, if necessary, for the best knot position. If this changes nothing, try increasing the bobbin tension. Increase the top tension to match. Sometimes tighter top and bottom tensions will overcome variations in the knots and bottom thread. Sewing in reverse means that the hook arrives sooner above the eye of the needle than for the same stitch length in forward. If your timing is just barely adequate, the loop may be drawn around the bobbin case and shuttle at a different tension than in forward. Retarding the timing a few degrees might help if this is the case. The hook to eye of needle timing should be set with the stitch lever at zero, between forward and reverse. This gives the best compromise. Set the needlebar a little lower to give more travel on the upstroke. However, you can overdo this and make matters worse. Sometimes you have to set the needle bar to its designated position, then adjust the hook to meet it in the middle of the scarf at so many degrees on the upstroke. Consult your adjustments section of your owner's manual. The throw of the check spring affects the loop. It should keep the top thread under tension until the needle just meets the top of the feed dog, or passes the top of the throat plate slot if no feed dog is used. It must let go and give the top thread some slack before the needle reaches BDC and begins its upstroke. Otherwise, the loop will be dissolved on the upstroke. The bigger the loop, the easier it is to pull it around the bobbin case and tension and the less likely it is to skip stitches.

You can buy a Family Sew FS-550s, equipped with a 2" (50mm) pulley and a new v-belt, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. They are in Toledo, east of the airport by about 15 miles or so, off I-475. There are maps on their website, which is at: www.tolindsewmach.com

Use #92 on the bottom, instead of 138. The knots will be easier to hide and it won't bunch up as much. I do most of my wallets using #92 top and bottom. For this size thread I would recommend a #19 needle.

I set up a 111w153 for a friend of mine. It needed about $90 in replacement parts, which included a new timing belt and smooth bottom presser feet, bobbins, needles, etc. He still needs to buy a servo motor with a 2" pulley and a shorter v-belt before he can actually control it. That will cost another $125 or so. The one in the photos looks to have all the parts on it. But, as was noted earlier, the timing belt needs to be checked to see if it is cracked and going or gone. I have a long body version of the machine and it too has no reverse. I use the Poor Man's Reverse (spin the work 180º), or with the needle up, lift the feet with the knee lever, pull the work forward a half inch and sew over the last few stitches. The stitch length adjustment is alien to most people. It is changed by turning a big knob on the back of the hand wheel. Turning it inward shortens the stitches and outward lengthens them. The range of adjustment is set inside the top of the head, under the long rectangular cover plate. There are two threaded chambers on a block that moves as the adjuster is turned. One has a wide, flat screw that holds down a strong spring, which you don't want to unscrew unless an invasion is taking place! The other chamber has two set screws that take a narrow flat head screwdriver. The top screw is the set screw. The bottom one that actually makes contact with the turning adjuster moves up to lengthen and down to shorten the range of adjustment. The set screw keeps that range locked in.

On average, anywhere between $300 and $600 for a short arm, and between $400 and $800 for a long arm, big bobbin model. Patchers that are mounted on the correct cast iron base, with a double treadle pulley, usually sell for much more than a head only. There are always exceptions to prices. A pristine machine with very little prior wear and tear will fetch a higher price than a typically used and abused machine. A rebuilt patcher that sews 5 to the inch is worth more also. The condition of the moving parts and sewability is more important than its birth date. Those prices are for private sales, not necessarily from dealers.

In a nutshell, it is a shoe outsole stitcher. It can also sew straps, as well as some pouches and cases, as long as they don't get caught up in the moving needle feed mechanism on the front. They were made to sew with liquid waxed linen thread. Nowadays, folks usually put thread lube in the wax pot and run bonded polyester thread through them. The assembled weight is in the neighborhood of 750 pounds. The motor may be wired for 110v or 220v, depending on who owned it last. If you desire to get into boot making or shoe repair, this machine will be a good start, once it is cleaned, lubed and has the rust removed.

When buying and selling antiques, the original selling price often doesn't enter into it. The going market price is based on what average buyers are willing to pay at any given time. This changes,just like the price of Futures and Commodities. Chances are that you will pay a lot more now for a pristine 29-4 patcher than what it sold for new. You will also have to pay in full in cash, where the cobblers in the early 1900s may have bought them on time, direct from Singer salesmen.

I have a 15 class and it definitely has a horizontal axis hook, just like the 31 series I also own. You snap in bobbin cases on the left lower side, under the bobbin access slide plate. Vertical hook machines have bobbins that drop in from the top. Horizontal axis machines have bobbins that fit into bobbin cases that snap into openings in a frame, under the machine. 441 and 205 type machines have bobbin cases that are attached permanently with a pin. They open with a spring latch to allow the bobbin to be removed and replaced.

Your machine will pound more when the lift is higher. Lower lift makes for a smoother running machine. But, most leather sewers sew so slowly that they won't notice the change in vibration. I sometimes sew flat out, on long runs. When I know I will be doing that I lower the lift for less pounding. Then I forget and try to sew over thick seams and wonder why the feet won't climb as high as usual. Doh!

I haven't seen Allen posting replies here. But I do see quite a few from Gregg, including in this very topic. Doesn't he deserve to get a sale for his efforts?