Wizcrafts

Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, the primary Cowboy dealer in the USA, can advise you about the cost of boxing and shipping a Cowboy machine to Scandinavia. Your local voltage will need to be considered.

It appears that you already have regular sharp point needles. Bonded polyester thread is better than bonded nylon for use in sunlight and moisture. It is also more expensive.

If you want to sew with #69 bonded thread, use a #18 (110) needle. A #150 needle is waaaaay too big! It is meant for #138 thread, which is twice the diameter of #69. Also, do not use a leather point needle to sew vinyl, unless nothing else is available. Your goal should be to hide the knots inside/between the layers. If the bottom stitches are too loose, tighten the bobbin spring a bit. If this causes the knots to lay under the material, increase the top spring tension to compensate. Tighter springs cause tighter stitches. Over-tightening causes puckering of the material. Find a happy balance, but use the correct needle/thread combination.

The CB227R can sew from two layers of denim or vinyl, up to 3/8 inches of leather or webbing. It handles a range of thread sizes, from #69 through #138. It can go slightly over and under those sizes, but not with as much accuracy. It is not so great sewing linings, or thin garments, due to the way walking foot mechanisms are constructed. I keep a separate straight stitch machine for cloth garments. The fixed needle, tiny needle hole and three row feed dogs are better suited to light work and thin, cotton thread. Where a walking foot machine will make you money is sewing patches onto bikers' vests. With a removable table attachment you can keep the backs and front sides flat for large patches. Seat covers are easier to sew on a cylinder arm walking foot machine. Bags are also.

Any of the following, standard upholstery grade, compound feed walking foot machines will handle your anticipated work, and are in the same ballpark, price-wise. Techsew 106 or a Cobra Class 17, or a Consew 206RB-5, or even a Chandler 406RB-1 As for Juki, look into the Juki DNU-1541s.

I would sooner drive to Texas in my station wagon and buy a fully rebuilt Campbell Randall high lift needle and awl stitcher than spend over $8500 on an Adler. I would still have money left over after buying the Randall.

Here is a direct link to the accessories page for the Cowboy 441 machine presser feet, etc: http://www.tolindsewmach.com/cb-acc-pack.html

Andrew, what is the usable width of the blade? I am trying to come up with enough money to buy the splitter and have it shipped. Can you get an estimate for shipping to 48509 (a commercial building)?

If you are going to be sewing with #207 thread, the maximum for your machine, a #22 needle makes too small of a hole. Use #23 or #24 needles for easier action. Your needles should be system 135x17 for cloth, Sunbrella and vinyl, and 135x16 for leather. Needle size becomes much more critical when sewing leather, rubber, wood and webbing, which are hard materials. In these materials, the needle must be large enough to poke a hole that allows the lockstitch "knots" to get pulled inside the material. If the needle only clears the top thread, your knots may sit under the bottom layer, or be visible on the bottom and not fully buried.

I may be that the machine has an extra heavy coil spring for the presser foot. Backing it off made the machine turn over easier. You only need to apply enough foot pressure to keep the material from lifting with the ascending needle. That's all. Some walking foot machines also have an adjuster over the inside foot. If your machine has one, there will be a narrower coli spring around the shaft for that foot, plus there will be a screw adjuster on top, directly inline. This spring can also be backed off for easier action. My National 300N has two pressure adjusters as described. Replace that 4L v-belt with a suitable 3L.

Just curious if the speed reducer turns freely with the belts disconnected? Back off the presser foot pressure screw until it pops out. See if there is still any binding with zero foot pressure. If not, reinstall the adjuster and turn it down enough to keep it from popping out, then tighten the locknut.. Also, back off the screw over the inside foot, if you have such an adjuster.

At this point in the adventure, I recommend removing the face cover plate from the front left end of the machine. Do this with the thread removed, top and bottom. With the face plate off and feet lowered, slowly rotate the hand wheel towards you (always rotate counterclockwise). When you feel the unusual resistance, look inside the head. Pay particular attention to the position of the crank arm that connects to the outer presser foot, where it is inside the head. See if it is making contact with the shaft for the inside presser foot. If not, see if the arm is hitting the top edge of the cutout on the back of the head. Report back here if you find that the presser foot crank is hitting something inside the head. This must be rectified or the machine will be destroyed in a short time.

Have you called the dealer who sold it to you? Or, did you contact Tippmann? I have read a lot of member's posts who own and have trouble with these machines. Hopefully, some of them can reply to you.

All of the machines sold by our advertising dealers are fully backed up with customer support. This goes for Cobra, Cowboy, Nick-o-Sew, and Techsew. These folks love machines and the customers who buy from them. If you need help after the sale, they will be there for you (but not necessarily the same minute!). I have been able to contact all of these dealers and either speak to them directly, or exchange messages, all to my satisfaction. As for the 441 clone machines, they are not all created equal. The three you mentioned in your subject are specially designed and built to the specs of the dealer/importers. The dealers on eBay may or may not be in the same position to have the machines customized for them. If they are not primarily leather machine dealers, then the 441's they sell may be lower grade all the way around. The 441s sold by Cobra, Cowboy and Techsew (at least) have special harness feet (Cowboy feet are also stainless steel), totally smooth feed dogs, available holster and stirrup plates, as well as a flat, slotted plate, special edge guides, speed reducers, and are setup to sew heavy, thick leather with heavy thread. Most offer a table attachment to assist with sewing flat work. A typical 441 sold by our dealers costs half as much as an authentic Juki TSC-441, which isn't even setup with harness feet, and has teeth on both the feet and the feed dog. Beware of new 441 types that sell for much less (new) than what our guys ask for them. You might be getting a machine drop shipped from China, totally unadjusted and with absolutely zero dealer support.

First of all, the Family Sew 550s motors have a brake that stops the motor when the control arm is fully up. You have to barely touch the pedal to release the (cork) brake. I actually removed the brake from one of my FS-550 motors, to make hand cranking easier. Just watch out for motor run-on if you sew fast. The Consew 206RB should turn freely when you spin the hand wheel. Something is mis-adjusted on yours. As Ferg suggested, it could be the feed dog raising up and hitting the throat plate. Check that by unscrewing the throat plate and pulling it off. Rotate the wheel and see if the binding is gone. If so, lower the feed dog at its highest point. You'll need to flip the head over on the table to get to the bolt that adjusts the lift of the feeder. Use a large, flat blade screwdriver and lots of arm. When the dog has been lowered enough that it doesn't hit the bottom of the throat plate, tighten it back down. If it's not the feed dog that's binding, it could be that you have set the lift of the outer presser foot too high. There are two places I know of that the crank arms for the presser foot can hit and cause binding. One is against the alternating foot shaft, inside the head. The other is against the opening on the back of the head, where the crank protrudes. Try lowering the lift on the curved slot behind the head. If the binding stops with less lift, the machine needs to be readjusted to allow the normal full alternating lift to happen. Contact your seller for an adjuster's manual to assist you. Or, ask them if they can email the instructions, or talk you through it. This is not a trivial adjustment and damage can happen if it's done wrong. Was this sold by an eBay dealer? They are usually sensitive to feedback and problem reports.

http://www.consew.com/List/Lockstitch-Sewing/Zig-Zag

The Sailrite and other similar portable walking foot machines do not use the same feet as the Consew 206RB series. Rather, they use the feet as the CP206R

Both of my patchers have little 1.5 amp motors on the back. They are somewhat useful, but need manual help to start. Keep #69 thread in your machine and it will sew farther. Use it for patches on vests, purse and sandal repairs, an occasional zipper replacement and to sew loose pull tabs on boots, or to resew loose panels on shoe uppers, and the like. Don't try to sew anything really dense. The machine is over 100 years old. Be nice to it and it will be nice to you. Thanks Steve. I only have one cup of coffee when I typed that mistake. 135x16 is leather point and only for leather. 135x17 is standard sharp point, for cloth and synthetics.

This is an old post, so I will answer your question. A Singer 29 type is a top feed only machine, using teeth on the presser foot to pull the material to form stitches. The feed can be rotated 360 degrees, meaning it sews in any direction. There were four types of these machines made: Short arm small bobbin Short arm larger bobbin Long arm small bobbin Larger arm bigger bobbin The short arm is 12" long. The long arm is about 18". The small bobbin is the only one available in the ancient 29-4. Later models, having K designations were eventually produced with the large bobbin option and a removable gearbox to hold all the bobbin drive components. The sewing capacity is limited by the height of the foot in action. It usually works out to a maximum of 1/4 inch on a 29-4. The machine may require some readjustment to get this lift. Keep in mind that the foot needs to clear the leather so it can move forward for the next stitch. The height of the foot is controlled by a sliding block with a thumbscrew, that moves along the tension spring along the rear side of the machine. Slide it all the way to the right for maximum lift. The thread handling capacity of your 29-4 is #69 bonded thread. The machines used to use system 29x3 and 29x4 needles. However, these are no longer made by any of the major needle manufacturers. Instead, patcher owners had to switch to system 135x15 and 135x16 (walking foot) needles. The most commonly used sizes of needle in patchers is #16 and #18. You can install larger needles, but may not be able to also load it with heavier thread. It depends on how tight and well timed your machine is. Assume that #69 is your thread size and feel blessed if it handles #92 (with a #19 or #20 needle) as well. The stitch length varies with the thickness under the foot. A brand new patcher could sew up to 5 to the inch into 4-6 ounces of shoe upper leather. But, that usually drops to 6 to the inch at 1/4 inch. An old worn out machine will be lucky to get 7 or 8 to the inch, at any thickness. IHTH

Andrew, have you sold the American splitter, or is it still available?

For one thing, the back side stitches always look different than the top (on sewing machines). But, it seems to my eye that the bobbin tension could stand to be backed off somewhat. This will allow the bottom thread to lay looser across the holes. If you have less bobbin tension, you'll probably have to also back off the top tension, to balance the knots. I use my machine with relaxed top and bottom tensions, but adjust them to suit the work.

I never heard of that brand. Please post a couple of photos of it, from various angles. Don't bother. That is just an older standard home sewing machine with zig zag. It is not a leather sewing machine. Please read my sticky topic, at the top of this forum's opening page, about the type of machine you need to sew leather. You can avoid a lot of headaches and broken machines if you go for the correct machine from the get-go. Suffice it to say, you probably won't be able to sit the machine on top of a regular table. Rather, it will have a table of its own, with a very large motor under it

This reply applies to CB3200, 3500, 4500 and similar 441 clone machines. I use a #19 or #20 needle with #92 (T90) thread, which is the smallest size I use on my CB4500, and then only on very rare occasions. Such thin thread requires a lot of reconfiguring of the entire tension path. I find that #138 thread sews best into leather with a #23 leather point needle, the smallest leather point size commonly available in system 794. I prefer a #24 for #207 thread and always use a #25 needle for 277 thread. Finally, I use a #26 needle on those few occasions when I need to use #346 thread. I have found that using any needle under #22 increases the chance that it will be deflected by the layers of leather, into the throat plate, or side of the feed dog, and bend or break. For this reason, I sew thin projects on either a patcher, or a walking foot machine, both of which use system 135x16 leather point needles. These needles are much stronger due to their shorter shaft, relative to the system 794. In fact, I stopped using system 190 in both walking foot machines due to excessive deflection and breaking of #18 and #19 needles.

What model is your Cowboy machine?

I refurbish and sell some old Singer sewing machines. I have a Singer 66 on the display rack. All tuned up and optimized, it can only sew into the thinnest and softest leathers, like chap or vest leather. The stitch length is very short, by design. The largest thread size would be T70 (US #69) bonded thread, using a #110/18 leather point needle. Normally, these machines are used with cotton or polyester/cotton garment thread. The needle bar is secured with one light duty set screw. Trying to punch through tough leather may cause it to slip upwards, putting the machine hopelessly out of time. I would never recommend such a machine to anybody looking to get into leather work. It will let you down, quickly. Stay away from old straight stitch machines. Restrict your search to compound feed walking foot machines, with industrial motors and tables.