Wizcrafts

The button would be visible in the bed of the machine, somewhere to the right of the bobbin cover plate. Do you have any pushable buttons on the bed of the machine? If not, the hook has no automatic protection and it has been knocked out of time.

Yes, you popped the safety clutch. Clear out all of the jamming thread and cloth. Hold down the button in the body, closest to the bobbin case cover. Rotate the handwheel backwards until you hear a click, at which time the mechanism should have re-engaged. Test the timing and continue sewing, holding the starting threads back for a few stitches. If your machine doesn't have the safety clutch, disregard this tip. Either the needle bar has been knocked out of time, or the hook has been dragged into a retarded position. Either will require retiming the machine.

Darren; Cantman might be referring to the original Singer designation for its walking foot machines, which they referred to as "alternating pressers." In the specs I often see an alternating presser foot and vibrating foot listed in the parts.

I would buy the actual Juki in this case, if it was me.

I have a buddy with a Cobra Class 4 and it is every bit as smooth and easy to sew on as my own Cowboy CB4500. Additionally, "Cobra Steve" has other machinery for sale, including the variable speed MP Burnisher, which I own. I use it to sand the edges of holsters, then burnish them to a high sealed gloss. It is great for finishing the edges of double leather belts and knife sheathes. When it comes to the major brands of what we call 441 clones, the dealer makes a world of difference. These machines do not arrive ready to sew out of the box. They need a lot of time invested to get them into proper sewing condition for leather. It is the attention to small, but necessary details that make one brand stand out over its competitor. Small dealerships invest a lot of hours into making their machines work as good as they can, often when sewing over 3/4 inches of hard veg-tan, with #277 or #246 bonded thread.

Hey Bob, how's it going? I actually bought a Fortuna skiver from Bruce last year. What I'm looking for isn't a skiver, but a splitter.

You may have to change the position of the bobbin latch opener lever for more clearance. I just set mine to maximum and leave it there. Adjust the bobbin for a little less tension than usual. Make sure you load the bobbin so it unwinds counter-clockwise. Adjust the top tension to balance the knots. Use #24 (180) leather point needles. I prefer titanium coated needles in thick, or dense, or taped together leather.

I just finished one this week that is 5/16" thick in some areas and is size 54, middle hole. My pull skiver just isn't accurate enough to get a perfectly even skive over the entire length of a 5 foot long strap. Our bridle leather comes in at 10-12 ounces and even hits 13 ounces along the rear of the backbone. The soft neck and shoulder end always skives less reliably than the butt in a pull skiver. It also tends to stretch out a bit, making aligning double leather belts a pain in the ass.

I am looking for a used, but fully functional, hand cranked leather splitter, with a minimum 8" wide blade. It should be capable of splitting leather ranging from 6 ounces to 16 ounces. I would be bolting it onto a table top. A typical use I would have is splitting 10-12 ounce bridle leather down to exactly 8 ounces, for double leather belts. Let me know the details and asking price, via a PM. Photos will help me choose. I am aware that new splitters are available. They are way beyond my current economic situation. Thus, I'm shopping second hand.

I don't recommend mixing thread sizes on gun holsters. The smaller thread becomes the weakest link, in the event of a struggle, or if the holster gets caught in brushes. #92 thread only has about 14 or 15 pounds breaking strength. #138 has 22 pounds, which is the bare minimum need to hold a 1/4 to 5/6 inch holster firmly together. At 3/8 inches you are already past #138 thread and into #207 and 277 territory. If I was in your shoes, I would try to use #207 top and bottom, if the machine can handle it. If it can't, sew double rows of 138/138, about 1/8 to 3/16 inches apart. Or, spin the holster around and sew back through the same holes, doubling the density of each stitch. If your holster sewing takes off, buy a more capable machine, such as this one.

Okay, thanks. That is more than I care to spend on a backup gearbox.

One item I didn't fully address, which I should have, was when David said he wanted to know if a Singer 29k or 201 could sew with 0.58mm thread. I did a diameter look-up on the thread and needle chart on the Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines website and found that .58mm equates to our commonly used #277 (T270). David had asked if one can simply install a bigger needle to sew with #277 thread on these machines. I failed to answer that the required needle size is: #25 (200). Of all the machines he mentioned, only the Singer 45k can use that size needle, which is about the diameter of a roofing nail. I can't even get my National 300N to sew with a #25 needle, much less a domestic Singer 201. My Singer 29k patchers struggle with a #22 needle and can't even use #138 thread without hiccups. Simply put, there are no #25 needles in system Hax1 (the system used by the Singer 201). Furthermore, there are no #21, 22, 23, or 24 needles in that system. It is difficult to find #19 or 20, if you can at all. The friggin machines weren't meant to use anything larger than a #18 (110 metric) needle, with thin, #69 (T70) bonded nylon thread. At best, this thread will hold a low-stress seat cover on a kitchen chair. It is the smallest size used by upholstery shops, for thin Naugahyde and cloth. It may hold a zipper in place on a Chinese leather jacket. I apologize for this oversight. It must have been caused by my fond, yet foggy memories of too much Canadian beer.

You will have to search far and wide to get #20 leather point needles that fit the Singer model 201. Most sewing dealers only stock up to #18 needles for home machines. The thickest thread you can run through a #20 needle, if you can even find one, is T90, or #92 as we call it here. There ain't no way to run #277 thread through that little old Singer home sewing machine. This forum is about leather sewing machines. The Singer 201 is NOT what we consider a "leather" sewing machine. It is a home sewing machine that is able to sew some types and "thinnesses" of leather, with very thin thread. Good luck dude.

$250, with no needle plate? Really? What happened to the plate? What about the stud that holds the plate down and locator pin?

Yes, I am still looking for a gear box for a Singer large bobbin, long arm patcher. Please send me a PM with the details.

My last recommendation, before I permanently exit this topic, is that you take some of your leather samples, finished and ready to be sewn, to an industrial sewing machine dealer. If you cannot find one close to you, since you are in Canada, mail them to Raphael Sewing in Montreal, P.Q. They are the distributors of the Techsew brand of sewing equipment and are permanent advertisers and contributors to this forum. I have no doubt that Ronnie at Techsew (Raphael) will take one look at your work and get back to you with the best, least expensive machine they have that can handle your work, with the stitch lengths and thread sizes you prefer. Exit, stage left...

David; There is no comparison between an industrial sewing machine (like the 45k series) and a domestic Singer 201. Domestic machines are extremely limited in the thickness and toughness that can be sewn, as well as the allowable sizes of thread they can tension. A 201, which you are looking at on FleaBay, is only good for sewing soft leather, and is limited to using #69 bonded thread. It is built like a tank, but not with sewing leather belts in mind. The tensioning components and hook are too small and thin to use thread heavier than T70 (#69) bonded nylon thread. You will be very lucky if that machine will penetrate more than 12 ounces of soft leather. Then, you may find that the presser foot can't hold down the leather between stitches, so you'll need to crank down the spring over the foot. This will increase the drag on the leather, resulting in shorter stitches, possibly of varying lengths. Since belt leather is typically rather dense - especially after tooling it - the #110/18 needle will probably get deflected and break. Have you even taken the time to read the sticky article on the top of this forum, about the type of sewing machine you need to sew leather? If you had, you would not be looking at domestic sewing machines for making leather belts.

Hmmm

Not in this timeline. Maybe in an alternate future universe. A Singer 29k71 or 29k172 - both of which are in my shop - cannot sew thicker than 1/4 inch (6mm), nor with any thread larger than #92 (T90). Th k71 has a bobbin the size of three US nickes stacked together. The k172 has a bobbin the size of a quarter, stacked thrice. They hold enough #69 thread to sew several zippers onto jackets. Even if they could sew with thicker thread, the bobbins would run out after two or three feet (1 Canadian yardstick). We have machines for sale that can sew with .58mm thread. They are built by Campbell-Randall. Known as needle and awl machines, they sell for upwards of $6,000.

One more thing. The old Singer post machine you mentioned is pretty much limited to using #69 bonded thread (aka T70), with a #110 (#18 US) needle (leatherpoint). That is what I found on the two such machines I owned. You may use smaller needles, such as a #11 or 12, with #46 bonded nylon (T50) thread. This would be for fine detailed pattern sewing on Cowboy boots, at 20 stitches per inch (25mm). leather belts are normally sewn with at least T70 and larger thread. Only the thinnest belts, say under 3mm, would have #69 (T70) thread. Once you cross over 3 to 4 mm, T90 would be better. Thicknesses from 5mm to 6mm are better sewn with T135. This is already beyond the range your old post machine can handle. FYI: I just sewed a double bridle leather belt yesterday, with #277 bonded thread, top and bottom. Only the biggest of the big machines can tension such thread and still hold down the leather as the needle ascends. This thread is four times the thickness.and strength of the largest thread the old Singer post machine can handle

I just now Grokked why we have been having a failure to communicate: You are not on the US measurements scale. Doh! Let me try to translate for you. When I say 1/2 inch, it means 12.5 mm in your system. One inch = ~25mm. 1/4" = 'about' 6mm. 8 ounces = 1/8" = ~3mm So, the ancient post machine you are hung up on cannot sew 12mm stitch lengths. It will be lucky to sew 3mm to 3.5mm stitches, at best. The maximum thickness, of SOFT leather it will sew is about 4 to 5 mm. The old Singer post machines don't have any place to mount an edge guide. You will have to get a dealer to fabricate one, or find a way to attach a drop down guide on the rear of the left side of the machine. Expect to spend about $150 to buy a drop down guide and have it professionally installed. Roller foot post machines were built that way. They are not converted from a regular straight stitch machine. The feed dog is circular and turns continuously in one direction as you sew. Regular feed dogs oscillate, moving forward to feed, then dropping down, moving forward and lifting again to feed the material. This is called drop feed. A straight stitch machine can have a roller foot substituted for its standard foot, but the feed will still be drop feed. Modern roller foot machines are available with a driven top roller. I strongly suspect that you have chosen the wrong type of sewing machine. Have you looked into cylinder arm, walking foot machines?

DavidL; I strongly suggest that you take some leather and visit nearby industrial sewing machine dealers. Show them the material and thickness you want to sew, tell them your budget, then see the nearest suitable machine or machines that can meet your minimum requirements. As for your earlier reply to my question asking how thick you wanted to sew, your answer was 1/2 inch. I only know of one post machine capable of sewing 1/2 inch thickness: a Puritan chainstitch machine. If you really meant you want to sew a stitch 1/2 long, I don't know any post machines that can do that. Most sew very tiny stitches. The ones I used to own managed up to 6 stitches per inch. But, I had to dink with the stitch length adjuster on the end of the handwheel to get even that length. A previous poster was correct about the handwheels on the old Singer post machines. They are about 4 inches in diameter. Now, if you want to get serious about this, get yourself a new 441 clone, sold, serviced and supported by one of our member-dealers. Or, buy one from a local industrial sewing machine dealer who will offer after-sales support. You are going to need it if you have little or no experience with industrial sewing machines. Expect to pay between $1600 to $3,000 dollars, depending on the make and accessories ordered. A budget of $400 will only get you an old clunker that in all likelihood won't meet any of your expectations. I know this because I went through it when I started sewing leather. I wasted a lot of time, leather and money figuring this out.

Are you saying in requirement #1 that you need to stitch 1/2 inch stitch lengths? If so, you are going to need a whole nuther kind of machine. The average post or light duty cylinder arm machine only sews as long as 5 to the inch. My big Cowboy CB4500 sews two to the inch, as does its little brother, the CB3200. Contact Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, or one of the other advertising dealers on our forum to see what they have that meets your requirements.

DavidL; what exactly are you going to sew on your ideal machine? Old machines are very limited compared to modern ones.

Go for the biggest and best machine from the get go (Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4, Techsew 5100, Nick-O-Sew 441), all of which sew over n3/4 inches, or else, buy a Cowboy CB3200, from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, and limit your work to 1/2 inch of stacked leather. Lesser machines have less sewing capacities in thickness, hardness and thread size. More expensive machines are for seasoned pros making a daily living sewing harness, holsters, etc.