Wizcrafts

Do post photos of the work you sew on this machine.

Check with Mother Superior to see which colors are in stock. I found limited options in certain sizes and formulations of bonded thread. Now, if you want cotton or polycore thread, Superior is one of the better places to go to, especially for Tailor Made thread. The cotton thread they sell is among the best available. The Thread Exchange has a huge supply of nylon and polyester bonded threads. Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has long racks packed full of bonded nylon and bonded polyester thread. Their prices are among the best for 1/2 and 1 pound spools. They are the distributor for Cowboy brand lubricated nylon thread. That said, both Superior and Wawak are stocking more varieties of nylon thread than previously. I just received a shipment from Wawak, with an 8 ounce spool of lemon yellow #69 nylon and a dozen 1 ounce patcher spools in various colors and shades, also in size 69. Furthermore, Wawak is where I get my Venture Tape leather tape. It's available in 1/4" and 1/2" widths.

If the machine works for what you are sewing, who cares what anybody else thinks? But, if you haven't bought it already, opinions won't be favorable for this, or any brand of portable walking foot machine. All the current crop of portable walking foot machines are dual feed only, using a combination of a feed dog on the bottom, moving in sync with the outer presser foot. There are teeth on the foot, so you see tooth marks top and bottom. But, smooth feet can be found or teeth ground off. Moving past that, these machines are often poorly cast and sanded, and have soft metal moving parts that bend and jam fairly easily. I bought one on eBay that apparently was dropped in shipping. The box was intact, but the machine had a broken rear belt protector cover and was hopelessly jammed and could not be freed up. While trying to get it to turn, I opened the top cover. The casting was horrible! Rough edges everywhere. Shafts and bearings were junk Chinese steel. The arm that moves the outside foot was bent. Aside from any manufacturing flaws or shipping problems, the machines are able to sew with #138 thread with a #23 needle, but only up to 1/4 inch of leather. If that leather is dense, the machine may not penetrate it under its own power, unless you hammer down on the pedal to get started. The tiny motor has limited slow speed punching power for a walking foot machine mechanism. If the leather or material is not too dense, and doesn't exceed 1/4" to 5/16" thickness, a portable walking foot machine may do the job, (unless UPS drops the box on its rear side during shipping, jamming it beyond repair).

I sew chaps and zippers on jackets with my CB4500. I rethread it with #138 top and bottom, using a Schmetz #23 leather point needle. Back off the bobbin tension (should happen automatically if changing from previous #277) and top tension.

Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines and Wawak for my thread purchases.

I usually insert my bobbins so they feed counterclockwise, in all sewing machines. But, on my CB4500, sometimes the thread is extra grabby under the bobbin case tension spring. In those instances I will flip the bobbin so it feeds clockwise, which tends to be smoother. What a lot of folks are either forgetting or ignoring is the beehive shaped coil spring inside the bottom of the bobbin cases on all the 441 clones. The spring serves to help eject the bobbins for quicker reloading. BUT, it also acts as an "anti-backlash" spring. These springs are meant to keep the bobbin from spinning on its own from the inertia of the thread being pulled out at high speeds, which could lead to jumbled up thread inside the case. Most 441 clones are operated at breakneck speeds like 1 or 2 stitches per second! Not much spin develops at those speeds. This is just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

The hook is retarded by at least 1/4 turn. You may need to find out how to advance the hook. But, first you should set the needlebar to the correct factory setting, to make sure it is not adjusted too high. This could happen if the needlebar screw got shaken loose by the pounding of sewing hard leather. It could have slid up a smidgin at a time until it went completely out of reach of the hook. Ensure that you are using the specified needle system.

I use a CB4500 every day, in my shop. I can't imagine having anything shorter or less powerful. You will really appreciate the long arm if you start sewing long western gunbelts. I did one Monday that was over 5 feet long. I often flip these items around to back tack, so I can see the needle as it approaches the previous hole. It's hard to see this when sewing in reverse. It's an old habit I developed while sewing on Union Lockstitch machines, which don't have reverse. Earlier in the day I sewed a vinyl motorcycle seat to repair a rip in it. The total package with the inside patch was about 6 ounces. I used #207 thread on top and #138 in the bobbin, with a #23 Schmetz leather point needle. My machine is routinely used with thread sizes 138 through 277, with needle sizes 23 through 25. Occasionally I sew something huge with #346 thread, using a #26 needle. The thickest item was just under one inch. Bottom line is you will NOT regret buying a CB4500.

Your Singer 292 is still a very good garment machine. It can be used in a dry cleaning and tailoring shop for repairs and alterations. Gown and formal wear shops can use them to make dress garments. High end suit shops need to custom fit suits and this machine works fine on suit cloth. One way to get it to sew some leather, without compromising its real purpose, is to power it with a servo motor having a wide range of controllable speeds. I own a Family Sew 550 servo motor that is easily controlled from 1 to 60 stitches per second. Replace your clutch motor with one of these, after finding one setup for your local voltage and frequency. Most of them come with a 75mm pulley. You may need to change v-belts to match the middle position of the servo motor adjuster bolt. After getting a servo motor, buy a presser foot equipped with little steel rollers. This foot will let leather slide under it, rather than dragging. You will regain lost stitch length, up to the machine maximum. Cranking down on the foot pressure spring will hold down the leather between stitches, while the rollers will allow it to flow during the feed cycle. A set of wider, taller feed dogs and matching throat plate will help pull the leather through better. These dogs will still work with cloth, but not light weight cloth and lining material. Switching between feeders and plates takes about 10 minutes. I actually have three sets of feed dogs and throat plates, for my straight stitch machine. Make sure there is always plenty of oil in the oil pan. Add oil to the top holes on the machine that may have soft plugs covering them. Load bobbins at full speed on the motor, to distribute the oil.

To appreciate what I am writing about, as regards these high speed straight stitch machines, watch this video. Yes, you can run them slow for a while. But, they need to be run full out once every so often to get the oil to the extremities. Some people wind the bobbins at full speed to oil the wicks. But, these machines are not meant for continuous slow speed operation.

You can slow it down to about 2000 stitches per minute and still get decent oil distribution. That would equate to a very manageable top speed of 33 stitches per second. If you use a #14 needle, with #46 bonded nylon thread, and set the stitch spacing to about 16 per inch (1/16" per stitch), you will sew 2 inches per second. That is fairly easy to control! Or, if you stretch out the stitch length to 5 per inch, if it will even allow that length, you could cover about 6 to 7 inches per second. Get 'er done! Now that's moving along.

The 210/6 designation represents the Asian thread measurement system. D means Denier. the rest is unclear to me. I suspect that the /6 means 6 strands of whatever diameter 210 Denier works out to be. I seem to recall reading that Denier might be a weight measurement for X amount of thread, in length. Whatever it means, the fact that you say it appears to be .5 mm means it will only work in heavy duty walking foot, or harness stitching machines. My chart equates .505 mm with T210, or v207 bonded thread. This requires a #24 (metric 180) needle. None of the regular straight stitch machines can use this thead or needle.

The Singer 191 and 292 types are high speed garment and drapery sewers. They are meant for use with thin polycore thread (e.g. Tailor Made T27, or long grain Egyptian cotton size T50), with very short stitches (~16 per inch), into soft materials, sewn at unbelievable speeds approaching or exceeding 90 stitches per second.

Find out (measure) the diameter of this thread, in decimal or metric size). You can consult this thread and needle chart to find the smallest appropriate needle size for your thread. If the diameter of the thread exceeds 0.33mm, your machine probably can't handle it. You should be able to find a #120 needle (Singer #19). This is about as large as the machine can manage. It would pass #T90 thread, IF the tensioners can tension it. If my memory serves me still, thread designated as 210/3 is equal to v69 (T70). If true, 210/6 is double that thickness and would equal #138 bonded nylon thread. This requires a minimum #22 or 23 needle and strong tension springs, plus a heavy duty presser foot spring. That is outside the range for your garment sewing machine.

That type of machine is designed with an oil pump and oil wicks. It is meant to spin at over 5000 RPM most of the time it operates. That would be about 90 stitches per second; just a tad too fast for intricate leather sewing!

It is a high speed garment maker's and tailoring machine. Forget about sewing most leather with this machine.

I often edge stitch bridle leather belts to reduce stretch. This works better on larger sizes that exert more pressure on the belt. I use #207/207 thread into 8-9 ounces, or #277 top/207 bottom on 10-12 ounce belts. Anything thicker, or double leather belts, I use 277 top and bottom.

I have published and others have contributed to a long topic regarding the type of sewing machine you need to sew leather. Newbies to machine sewing of leather will get a lot of fetchin' up reading this before buying an old iron machine on eBay, or your local Craigslist, or Sally Ann store (with some exceptions). The so-called "industrial strength" (often misspelled) machines are domestic machines designed to sew shirts and pants. Every one is a bottom feed, flat foot machine. They do not sew thick leather (anything over 1/4"), with many maxing out at only 3/16 inch. None of them keep multiple layers aligned, because the drive is entirely on the bottom, with the steel foot holding down the top, to keep it from lifting with the needle, which would cause skipped stitches. Most can not tension thread heavier than #69 bonded (T70), or #80 polyester jeans thread. To even sew with these relatively thin threads requires the largest needle commonly available for that class of machine (#18 or a "topstitch needle"). I read a post eralier in this topic where a member asked about a White sewing machine. If it has the same rubber friction wheel drive as the old metal body Kenmore, it barely powers through denim. The slightest resistance from the material causes the motor to slip against the handwheel and rubs a channel into the little rubber wheel on the motor. You'd end up hand-wheeling through leather, as the motor is useless. All domestic sewing machines have teensie weensie motors on the back or inside the body. The ones that shipped with the machines of the early 20th Century were usually rated at no more than a half amp at 110 volts AC. That's about 55 watts of power.This was sufficient to power through cotton shirts. Later around the middle of the Century, motors became available rated at up to 1 amp. Now, one can buy replacement motors rated at up to 1.5 amps, or 150 watts. That is it for the domestic motors on the back of the machine. Machines with built in motors, or pod motors, cannot be upgraded. While the 1 and 1.5 amp motors will power a machine through denim and canvas and leather vests, they bog down when you try to sew belts or pancake holsters. Their torque is somewhere around 1/10th horsepower. In contrast, an industrial walking foot sewing machine, mounted onto a k-legs table and steel frame, is usually powered by a clutch or servo motor rated at about 500 to 600 watts. They often draw 5 amps under load and are rated at about 1/2 to 3/4 horse power. They are 4 to 5 times more powerful than the strongest domestic sewing machine motor. Walking foot machines have triple feed from a coordinated motion of bottom feed dogs-needle and inside foot. An outside presser foot lifts to allow the feed motion, then lowers to hold the material securely between stitches and the needle ascends and the knots are formed. A typical true industrial walking foot machine can sew 3/8 inch of veg-tan, bridle, or latigo leather. They power through chrome tan like butter. These are upholstery class machines. Many have 50% larger M style bobbins. Juki machines are available with even larger, double capacity LU style bobbins. An average upholstery class machine can sew with #138 thread, top and bottom; double what any domestic machine can think of handling. Specially setup machines in this class can handle #207 thread. Then, if one becomes serious about sewing leather, one will learn about the 441 class machines that sew over 3/4 inch, with 44 pound test #277 thread and heavier (346, 415).

Whenever possible, hold both threads. When only the top is available, hold it without pulling on it. Your thread clumping on the bottom in reverse is a mystery. Does the bottom look perfectly placed in forward sewing? What needle size and thread sizes are you using? How dense is the leather? What stitch length are you using? Check these things for top thread showing on the bottom: Top tension is too loose. Check thread to ensure it has not jumped of out the tension disks. If ok, increase top tension. Bottom tension too tight. Make sure the bobbin turns freely when loaded in the case and pulled firmly through the tension spring. If you feel an obstruction once per revolution, pull out the bobbin and cut off any starting thread stubs. Try less bobbin spring tension. Stitches are too close together for the size of thread. Use at least 6 per inch spacing, or longer, with #277 bonded nylon thread. Increase stitch length settings. Wait until the needle is just about to exit the leather before throwing it into reverse. Make sure there is between 1/4 and 1/2 turn clearance on the two spring loaded screws holding the shuttle race housing to the body. Move up one size needle. Make sure the needle is set with the eye facing sideways. If there is any lateral tilt at all, make sure it favors the direction of the oncoming hook. Thread might be too stiff. Try a different color to see if this is true. Not all thread is created equal and black is the worst offender. ;-)

The Cobra center foot has the tab on the bottom. Earlier Cowboy feet also had them, but don't any more.

My first Union Lockstitch Machine had some presser feet with concave extensions, ending in points, like a semi round. The purpose was to create rounded stitches with well defined hole ends. Another foot had a short blade in the front, which cut a channel as I sewed. This buried the thread below the surface. Both types of feet were only useful on straight line sewing. As soon as I turned a corner, the rounder or blade cut outside the stitch line. If you have a center foot for a 441 type machine, use it on straight stitch lines. Get and modify another center foot without the tab on the bottom for multi-directional sewing. Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has smooth bottom center feet for their Cowboy 441 clone machines. I am certain that Cobra Steve or Techsew Ronnie will send a similar foot to their customers. I just saw some awesome looking custom made presser feet at Nick-O-Sew, for standard walking foot machines. They are called leather sewing feet and closely resemble the harness feet supplied on Cowboy and Cobra 441 stitchers. They work with any machine that uses "Singer 111" presser feet.

I always grind off that protrusion on the bottom of the center foot. Then I use Emory cloth on the edges, then buff to a high polish.

Using pre-lubricated thread on top makes it easier to pull up the knots, reducing the required foot pressure a bit. If you don't have this thread, but do have a lube pot, pour in some liquid silicon thread lube and run the thread through it. You may even be able to move down one size needle, further reducing the needed pressure. Experiment. On some jobs I will reduce both tensions. This definitely makes it easier to pull the needle up without lifting the leather. You would have to find the best minimum tensions to balance the knots, without leaving loose stitches on top or bottom. If you reduce the tensions on top and bottom and find that there is still too much upper tension with the top disk nut backed entirely off, change the thread path to straight through the top post instead of wrapping around it. You may also need to reduce the check spring tension to the minimum needed to return to the lower resting position. If you can't reduce the foot pressure with the adjuster almost off (because the spring is taller than the channel it rides in), remove the threaded pressure adjuster and coil spring and cut off a couple of coils. This will give you more turns in the almost zero range. Black bonded thread is usually double-dyed and is springier than most other colors. It automatically exerts more tension than other colors. White and beige thread is usually softer and easier to balance. If your 3500 shipped with the blanket foot set (with teeth), you can get the teeth filled in with rubber, dipping compound, or epoxy and use them instead of the harness feet. The wider footprints spread out the top pressure, reducing foot tracks in the leather, while holding down the leather between stitches. Just a thought. Finally, you can use a modeling spoon, teaspoon, or a rounded and beveled end of a bone folder to rub out foot tracks. I always keep a couple different nose shapes of bone folders.

Yes, reduce the pressure spring as much as possible, without allowing the material to lift with the needle. If there are still foot marks, order a pair of paddle shaped feet from Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (866-362-7397). I bought a right and left toe set from him. The right toe paddle foot is especially useful for sewing narrow flanges on holsters and cases, where the standard right foot would fall off the edge. If you back off the top pressure spring until it almost pops out of the head, it may be too strong. Bob also has lighter and heavier pressure springs. I have standard and heavy and plan to order a lighter spring.

Thanks Bob for your input. Note; on my CB4500, with the Family Sew motor, with its 2" pulley, feeding a 3:1 speed reducer, up to the machine pulley, for a total reduction of 9:1, there is no need to modify the pot or switch in the slightest. I already can sew at the speed of grass growing. Setting the switch to the slowest speed and pressing the pedal to the metal yields a steady top speed of one stitch per second. Even if I move the top speed position well up there, the slow speeds are still easy to attain.