Wizcrafts

Make sure that the motor has slow speeds below 200 rpm. I saw one of those brand in a video and it dropped out at about 200.

I have the same model 29K172 and wouldn't sell it for under $1200, on the cast iron base.

Have you set the speed limiter knob below maximum? If so, how far down is it now set? Is this a brand new machine? If so, it is not yet broken in. Keep oiling it in every oil hole, including inside the faceplate, where the crank shafts live (they have tiny oil holes).

It looks the same, but, I'm not at my shop. Also, the pulley on that motor is waaaaay too big for a leather machine! My FS motors have a 2 inch pulley.

I have two Family Sew motors I bought from Bob Kovar and neither has the brake engaged. Perhaps they have an adjustment screw inside the case. One could locate and turn that screw until the brake was off by default. I already see the question coming, so here is my answer in advance. I use my right hand on the flywheel to stop the machine from running on when I take my foot off the pedal. This works fine for me at the speeds I typically sew at. If I have cranked up the speed to git-er done, I slow down as I approach the end of the stitch line, then halt the machine by hand brake. I suspect that some brake-fitted servo motors have more range of adjustment available than others. Those could be set up to allow more foot movement before the motor begins to turn over. This would allow more motion to disengage the brake. That is how I setup my clutch motors.

I have this motor powering a huge, 20 inch bed walking foot machine and find no need for a speed reducer. The motor is equipped with a 2 inch pulley and is already able to punch through whatever I have placed under the feet. Of course, a reducer wouldn't hurt anything aside from one's top speed. The motor runs at about 3600 RPM, tops. A 2" motor pulley feeding a 4" flywheel pulley makes the machine's top speed about 1800 RPM, or stitches per minute. This maxes out a 30 stitches per second. With a 6:1 reducer system, the new top speed would become 600 stitches per minute, or 10 per second. This is okay for the kind of leather sewing crafters do, where slower is better, but not for upholsterers, where time is money.

Yes! Just turn the speed dial to the lowest, or second lowest range and you can sew one stitch every season.

I'm now using Family Sew 3/4 hp servo motors. They have speed limiter rotary switches on the front, which are very easy to access. Curiously, the rotary switches on my motors are wired backwards to US and Canadian sop. They go faster counterclockwise, rather than the opposite! These motors have much more torque at very slow speeds than my 2 SewPro 500GRs. Plus, they have a much higher top speed than the SewPro. I put one on my Singer 31-15 and, depending on the rotary switch setting and my foot position, I can sew from about 1 stitch every few seconds up to 25 per second. I happen to buy these motors from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. I am guessing that many other sewing machine shops sell them as well, possibly under different brand names. I paid about $110, plus about $15 UPS shipping. The other one was installed on a machine I had custom built. That is a 20" long bed, Singer type 139 walking foot machine. I usually run it at the slowest setting, or the first step up from there. Since I use it mostly for patches, this is all the speed I need. But, a twist of the knob can send the poor machine into overdrive, like used be on my 1956 Olds Rocket.

I own a 15-91, which I'm trying to sell from my shop. It simply cannot properly sew with anything thicker than #69 bonded nylon. Also, it lacks the penetrating power to punch holes through more than 3/16 inches of veg-tan belt leather, without me hand-wheeling it to get it started (and keep it sewing slowly). It then becomes a challenge to keep the leather from lifting with the needle.

Melco makes hat hoops for their commercial embroidery machines. If you search classified ads for your state, you may turn one up for sale, used, in the $5,000 range (well under half price). Older models with 6 needles can be found at that price.

I own a Singer 15-91. The first thing I had to do after lubing it was to rebuild the potted motor and replace the wires. This became a messy and expensive operation. Then, the foot speed control lost its slow speed range and had to be replaced with a new one. This doubled the cost of the machine before it ever sewed a stitch for me. Your $100 investment could easily double if these items need replacing. Besides, decent running models that have already been rebuilt sell for $200 and up.

Go to your nearest Joann Fabrics and take a look in the Viking sewing machines section. You will find exactly the machine you described, under either the Singer or Viking brand name. The least expensive ones (around $800) require a computer to be connected to the machine to do embroidery. The installed manufacturer's software and downloads from compatible pattern makers loads in to computer, then drives the machine. Without the computer, they only do the usual multitude of fancy or straight stitches. Note, I don't recommend using any of the newer plastic body machines for sewing leather, unless it is very thin (no more than 1/16 inch), and using normal domestic sewing thread, not bonded nylon. These machines are fragile!

I use liquid silicon lube, which is sold in quarts or gallons, from industrial sewing machine dealerships.

Try using a Schmetz #23 leather point needle. Also, run the thread through a lube pot, or buy some pre-lubed thread. This makes it easier to fight the friction and heat. Crank down the pressure spring or springs on the feet. If the leather lifts with the needle it causes skipped stitches and frayed thread. Try using a double toed foot. Reduce the bobbin tension, then balance the top tension.

These are fickle machines. The angle you sharpen on must be correct and go from the tip of the blade, upward about 3/8 inch. This usually means you start with the blade some distance from the foot, so the tip barely gets sharpened. Then, begin moving the blade towards the foot and backing off the sharpening wheel, to create a long taper. Finally, use your deburring sticks on the inside of the spinning blade to get rid of inside burrs. That's how I sharpen the blade on my Fortuna. The rest is a balancing act between the height of the drive wheel, the presser foot and distance the edge of the blade is to the right of the foot. Moving it farther away makes it easier to feed.

That lower roller disk setup is to add a little more controlled top tension, or not. I usually run mine fairly loose, unless I'm sewing something very thick. Then, I'll twist on some spring tension on the bottom disk. You have to double wrap the thread around it for the tension to matter. Get the bobbin tension right, then the top disks, then fine tune with the lower disks, if needed. Also, if the check spring is way too strong, it affects the top tension.

Here is a close up shot of my shuttle, showing the bobbin thread coming out from under the bobbin case tension spring. The thread must feed through the diagonal slot in the case, until it passes under the center of the spring. The spring tension screw is visible on the upper right edge of the spring. If it is too tight to turn, locate the small set lock screw to one side, in a hole and loosen it. Adjust the tension downward for more pressure, until you have to exert a smooth, but definite pressure to pull the thread out of the case.

We have a failure to communicate. The spring that sets the tension is on the outside of the bobbin case. You can see a photo of it on this web page - for the Adler 205-370 compatible model HAD-204 Large barrel shuttle hook. The spring you photographed is a beehive internal spring used to help eject bobbins from the case. Did you get an owner's manual or any documentation with your machine?

Okay, I found some details about the machine. It is a clone of an Adler 205. The bobbin case is much like the one in my Cowboy CB4500. It opens on a hinge pin to insert or expel the bobbin. There should be a long slot on a diagonal, running from the edge of the case to a leaf-like spring. One end of the spring is simply screwed down to the end of the case. The other end has an adjustment screw going through an elongated hole in that end of the spring. On my machine, a set screw locks down the adjuster screw. You may need to use a flashlight to locate a locking screw, loosen it, then tighten the action of the main bobbin case tension spring. It should have a moderate amount of tension, requiring a smooth, but steady pressure to pull the thread out of the case. Most of us insert the bobbin against the direction of the slot, so the thread has to make a sharp turn into the slot. This is done to appease the Hobbits.

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with that model. But, every bobbin case should have a smallish, mostly flat spring at the end of a slot, where the thread feeds through on its way out of the case. You must feed the bobbin thread under that spring to have any tension on the bobbin thread. If you haven't done this, or, if the spring is missing, you won't be able to control the position of the knots.

That machine is a shoe sole skiver. It was not meant to skive craft leather.

If none of the above work, check the bobbin thread to make sure it is feeding under the tension spring on the bobbin case. Tighten the bobbin tension if necessary to lower the knots..

It looks like a tacker machine. No use in leatherwork.

I suspect that the Cobra patcher should be able to use the same size thread as the Cowboy CB29 machines, shown here. It handles up to #138 thread.

Machines that feed up the arm are called "transverse feed" machines. Some are very old designs, others are brand new. All are more expensive than similar across the arm machines. Contact our dealers and see if any of them have a transverse feed machine in working condition, for sale. If you can find a good working Singer or Adler patcher, or a good clone, buy it. The Adler 30-7 and 30-70 sew thicker material than the Singer 29s. But, a new Claes patcher outsews them all!