Wizcrafts

Ryan; Ferdco is out of business and all assets were sold to the Hoffman Brothers, in Rosemont, Il.

There could be beerz at the other end!

Seth; Where do you live? If it is within driving distance of Flint, Michigan, I'll come to you and try to set the machine up properly.

Where's the fun in that, when you can sew it on a machine unlike any other machine? Did I mention that the machine makes a sound like "tapokita tapokita?"

There is but one 360 degree foot patcher that can sew 20 ounces, plus. Actually, it can sew 32 ounces! Still, it only uses up to #138 bonded thread. That machine is made by Claes. Do a Google search for a Claes Patcher. There is a dealer in North America. They are a very good bargain at just $6,000.

Yeah, diamond or triangle shaped needles do tend to do that when backtacking, or even forward tacking over previous stitches. Do try sewing on the side of the previous stitches, if you can. In the meantime, order S point needles as soon as possible.

It sounds like you need a flat bed walking foot machine, like this one. If that is not gentle enough, maybe a needle feed straight stitch machine will do the trick. Otherwise, any straight stitch machine equipped with a roller foot.

Your best bet is to hire a machinist to cut feet for you, out of stainless steel, using samples taken from a walking foot machine. The differences are in the outer foot mounting area, the height of the feet and to reposition of the inside foot so it clears the needlebar.

Not to my knowledge. Both would be useful accessories.

I prefer using a #19 or 20 needle with my #92 thread. It makes for less shredding and pulls the knots up more easily.

You're welcome. Did you order a flat bed attachment with it?

The opposite is true. If the bottom looks good, but the top has the knots showing and the thread hasn't even been pulled into the leather, there is way too much top tension, or way too little bottom tension. First, check the path of the top thread to see if it is binding somewhere between the spool and the needle. Then check the bobbin basket or case to see if the thread has slipped out from under the bobbin case/basket tension spring. That'll do it every time. It's pert near impossible to balance with zero bobbin tension.

Wog Tucker! Welcome back Darren.

They are both good machines for your startup in sewing. Contact both dealers and see what it will cost to get their machine to you, on a pallet, threaded and ready to sew. I almost bought a CB227R, but went for the bigger CB4500 instead. If I had more room in my shop I might go for one of them. As is, I have squeezed in three sewing machines and one skiving machine and don't know where another unit could possibly fit!

The 3200 is a 441 clone, using system 794 (leather) and 7x3 (cloth/webbing/vinyl) needles. In my experience, these needles don't come in leather point under size 23, which is best suited for use with #138 bonded thread. The knots formed when the tensions are perfectly balanced would be well centered in approximately 7 to 8 ounces of leather (1/8 inch). In anything thinner, the knots would be visible either on top or on the bottom. If you need to use that type of machine with thinner work, you'll need thinner thread and thinner regular point needles. It will take a lot of dinking around to re-balance the top and bottom tensions for say #69 bonded nylon, sewn with a #18 non-leather point needle. The needle is 2 3/4 inches long, very thin, and subject to easy deflection by the layers. Deflection means bent or broken needles and/or many skipped stitches. This is before I tell you about the very large, 3/8" wide feed dog, with a really big oblong hole in it (for up to #27 needles), which moves in a very long and wide slot. This machine is best suited for sewing very firm leather or webbing projects, at least 6 to 8 ounces thick, with thread sizes 138 and UP. In contrast, the 227 type machines have a 1/4 inch wide feed dog that has a fairly small hole, allowing for no more than a #25 needle, if even that. If you need to sew very thin parts, like 3 to 4 ounces, you're better off with a lesser machine, like the "227R" type. It takes the ultra-common system 135x16 leather point and 135x17 round point needles and can sew up to, but not exceeding 3/8 inch, with up to #138 thread. Some folks have tweaked these machines to sew with #207, but usually, only on top, with #138 in the bobbin. They can sew as easily with #69 thread, using a #16 or #18 needle, with even less pressure needed to hold down the work (the thicker and harder the leather or webbing, the more pressure it takes to hold it down between stitches. If the leather lifts with the ascending needle, it skips those stitches.). So you see, there are machines that are best for sewing with thinner needles and thread into thinner projects, and others that are best used with heavier needles and thread and thicker jobs only. There are very few machines that reliably sew from a couple ounces up to 1/2 inch, or more, with thread sizes 69 through 346. If you have to choose just one machine to start with, and most of your work will be under 3/8 inches, go for a 227 type (medium duty, cylinder arm) machine, with a reverse lever. When the time comes to sew holsters and sheathes, weight belts and harnesses, buy a bigger stitcher that goes over 3/4 inches, with the heaviest thread sizes.

Eventually, the tinkers among us will start using their sewing machines to earn their living. I sew almost every work day, on one or more of the 3 industrial sewing machines in my shop. I have no time anymore to dink with a finicky machine while a customer is waiting for a job to be finished. Downtime on machines for me and others sewing for a living equals money lost and nerves stretched to the breaking point.

As you have discovered, once the tip of that type of hook and shuttle assembly is worn down, like yours is, it can never get close enough to the needle to be 100% effective. You can dink with it until you're blue in the face, or try brazing on some steel, but why bother? Get a brand new complete shuttle assembly and be done with it. Then you can use the machine to sew, rather than it being a boat anchor. If you're anything me, once you get past fixing that old worn out machine, you'll only buy newer or rebuilt ones in the future.

Replace the hook!

A Family Sew FS-550, equipped with a 2 inch pulley, needs no help from a speed reducer on a simple walking foot or straight stitch flat bed machine. I have one powering my 20 inch bed Singer 139 walking foot machine and it has all the power it can possibly use, even at the slowest speed setting. The same setup can speed up 10 x faster with the twist of the speed limited knob.

It sounds like your shuttle driver gear is out of sync with the needle bar. There are only two places that can adjust this relationship on a patcher. One is the eccentric screw connecting a rod inside the body to the rack gears. It is accessed through a big hole on the lower front of the main body. Turning the large flat slotted screw moves the shuttle. The second place is underneath, where the rack gears turn the shuttle gear. You may need to change the position of the shuttle gear, or maybe even the passive rack gear.

You'll also need the screw that secures the outer foot to the presser foot bar and evidently, the left cover plate (where the big oil hole is).

Compound feed walking foot machine, with a cylinder arm at least 10.5" long, with reverse, capable of sewing 3/8 inch seams. Most machines in this category can handle thread up to #138 bonded nylon, or as thin as #46 bonded or #50 cotton. A good thread for your application might be Tex 80 jeans thread. I would recommend using a size 19 needle with this thread.

Once you sew on a powered 441 clone, you won't even think about using a manual stitcher (except for on-location shows lacking power). Also, you only need to encounter one project that requires you to turn 90 or more degrees, where the side you turn into exceeds 5 inches, to appreciate a longer arm machine. I can't even imagine having less than 12 inches of arm for the work I do.

If you simply change the motor pulley, you save money, but lose your top speed. If you swap out the motor for a servo motor with good slow speed control, you lose nothing on the top end, but gain the slow speeds you are missing with the clutch. Or, learn to feather your clutch for slow speeds.

You're using the wrong needle for sewing leather. Type 135x17 is for cloth, webbing and vinyl. You need type 135x16, preferably with an "S" oblong chisel point to sew leather properly. As for needle sizes, I recommend a #18 needle with #69 thread and a #20 with #92 thread. You can move both down one size (16 and 19) for a tighter stitch, but may need to increase the top tension to keep the knots buried.