Wizcrafts

If you must use your Singer 211 to sew holsters, restrict it to #138 thread and either sew through the same holes twice, or add a parallel row of stitches about 1/8 or 3/16 inch away. Tie off/overlap/backtack at the bottom outside row.

It looks like a typical household/domestic sewing machine from the one picture you posted. Some close-ups would help get you more facts or conjecture. It seems to be a drop feed machine, with a Class 15 front end, meaning a horizontal hook that takes Class 15 bobbins. It will use standard domestic sewing machine needles, which are available in sizes up to #18 (110 metric). Unless the machine has been modified with heavy springs, it will only be able to handle up to #69 bonded nylon thread and may sew through no more than about 1/4 inch of soft or medium temper leather. I have no way of knowing the maximum stitch length, but these machines usually max out at between 5 or 6 to the inch. If you want to penetrate belt leather with this machine, you'll need to upgrade the motor and control pedal to a "150 watt" model that draws 1.5 amps max, at 110 volts. Most home style machines shipped with motors rated at 1 watt or less. A cogged belt is best, as long as the motor gear is also cogged. A Teflon or roller foot will be required to allow the leather to feed evenly. You'll need to crank down the foot pressure a lot to hold down the leather between stitches.

Wallet interiors, yes, using #69 bonded nylon thread and either a roller equipped foot or a Teflon foot. Holsters, absolutely not.

I guess somebody here will have to try it and let us know.

People not using an awl and needle (awl-fed) machine would have to use a larger than usual needle, to resist flexing as it penetrates 2 layers of leather sideways. Since the presser feet would be removed, you would have to hold down the leather between stitches with your hands and help feed it. In effect, you would be darning across corners, at a 45 degree angle. I think it's doable.

Anne; Look around the dealers in EU for a used Adler 205-370 or -374. If properly adjusted for clearance, they can sew up to 22mm of leather. Even not so-adjusted, most will sew 19mm. They have a very large cylindrical shaped bobbin that holds a lot of thread. The 205s use system 794 needles, which are available in a wide range of sizes, accommodating thread sizes from Tex 90 (Tkt 30) up to Tex 400 (Tkt 7). The machines must be setup for the largest size needle in advance, by the dealer, or by the purchaser. Or, you can purchase a brand new 441 clone, like a big Cobra or Cowboy or Techsew, from one of our well-respected member-dealers, at about the same price as a used Adler 205. These machines are already capable of sewing with the largest available needles, on down, with no further dinking with spacers. Most of them will sew 22mm out of the box. I looked into shipping costs last year and found that one can have a large, heavy machine shipped by Ocean Freighter for just under $500 USD, plus a crating fee (a special box is needed) and any cartage from the dealer to the dock. All together, these costs would add another $300 - $400, or so, to the freighter cost, depending on if the dealer can deliver the machine to the dock themselves. Your only additional fees would be warehousing upon arrival and any EU imposed taxes applicable to commercial equipment. Those taxes would apply to any machine you by and import in the EU region. Feel free to contact our dealers to see what kind of costs they would incur in getting a machine across the ocean to you. It would arrive adjusted, and sewn off, with the proper thread, needles, oil and extra bobbins. You would even get a motor set up for 220v.

I need to rig up something like that to sew some projects that are now hand sewn and very time consuming. I could have used a French Edge attachment on a rifle case end plug I rebuilt.

You can buy the threading rod and all the replacement parts you need from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines.

If you hand crank the wheel, you'll only have your left hand to guide the work and turn the presser foot. A third hand would be helpful to spin the wheel.

Our harness feet are too narrow and the force of the spring pushes them into the surface. Someone with a metal working shop might be able to cut a new outer presser foot that is wider on the left, to spread the pressure over a wider swath. I think that 1/4 inch width for the left toe, with a smoothed radius, might do the trick. Also, it would help to have steel behind the inside foot, as is the case with all normal walking foot sets. Another 3/16 to 1/4 inch of steel behind the inner foot would assist with holding down the leather.

Yeppers

I had to radius and polish the bottom edges of one presser foot set to reduce the visibility of the tracks on top. Another solution is to buy a very wide presser foot set and have the outer feet distribute the hold-down pressure across a wider foot print.

I get close to the appearance of a Union Lockstitch on my Cowboy CB4500, by removing the feed dog and using the narrow slotted plate. The narrower the slot, the smaller the exit wound on the bottom. Also, use only the minimum amount of foot spring pressure required to hold the leather down as the needle ascends. This helps reduce the bottom puckering. Finally, use the smallest needle that passes the thread you are using and still pulls the knots up, to minimize the bottom puncture size.

Spring return walking foot model. Maybe an early 31-20. I had a later model with that type of feed. It was very unreliable on slick belts and no good with thick thread. The stitch length varied depending on the grip the foot had on the top grain. When the feed dog drops below the surface the foot springs forward for the next stitch. It sometimes pushes the material forward with it. But, if the price is nice.....

One of the many presser foot sets I bought along the way has a split inside foot, where there is a saw cut from the front to the round needle hole. This allows you to see the stitch line. You can just buy another standard foot set and grind off the section in front of the hole. Leave just enough material in front to hold down the leather, then cut a slot in the front center as Ferg described. Then grind off the right toe and shorten the left toe. Round the fronts of the inside and outside feet. I also bought a set that is meant for use with edge folders. The inside foot is stubby and very wide. The outer foot is left toe only and shorter than standard.

When I got back into doing leather crafting in January of 2009, all I had was a handful of stamps and hand tools. I had sold off thousands of dollars worth of tools, supplies, cutting dies, patterns, dyes and waxes, a sewing machine and all of the thread I had on hand, back in 2004. My first job was a hand tooled guitar strap that needed a liner sewn onto the back. I had to rent the use of a friend's shop and sewing machines, plus purchase the leather and suede from him. After the strap was completed and delivered, I got hooked all over again. Being a broke musician, it took me another year to save enough money to buy a collection of hand tools and patterns from a private seller. A few months later I located a used walking foot machine, not far from home and bought it for all the cash I could wrangle up. That machine then went to work for me, sewing rifle slings at home for by buddy who let me use his stuff 6 months earlier that year. The machine was paid for in one month. Since then I have acquired a long arm Singer 29k172 patcher, a straight stitch Singer 31-15, a Union Lockstitch machine which I recently sold, a Cowboy CB4500 heavy stitcher, a 4 thread - 2 needle Pfaff serger and a handful of iron body Singer, Kenmore and White domestic sewing machines. I am looking to add a long body walking foot machine and a bell knife skiver to this collection. I have the patcher, my 2009 walking foot machine and the CB4500 at my shared leather shop and I need each one of them to do the jobs that come in the door. When I get a long body machine it is going in the shop, as will be the skiver. I could not possibly sew all of the things people want sewn with just one machine. I wish I could, but it just ain't so.

I do that when I absolutely must sew into the same holes to lock the stitches. I call it a "180, Poor Man's Reverse."

I haven't had that machine since 1995. I don't remember any of the details about how it was set up.

As for part two of the question, a standard walking foot machine setup will clear more than it can sew. The cranks inside the head need room to move as the feet alternate. The higher the lift of the feet, the more likely you are to hit something solid when you try to sew anything beyond 3/8 inch. This can be counteracted somewhat by moving the lift lever all the way down in the curved slot on the back of the machine. It may gain you 1/16" more sewing capacity. That would place the new limit at 7/16 inches. However, when you sew 7/16" of material, there is a danger that the needle bar thread guide will hit the inside left edge of the presser foot. To counteract this I changed to system 190 Pfaff needles, and reset the position of the needle bar up by about 3/16 of an inch. This is about the difference in length and position of the eyes between system 135x16 (& 17) and system 190 Pfaff needles. With the longer needles, which have the same shank diameter and hit the center of the hole in the feeder, I can sew almost 1/2 inch of material. But, the cranks on the back were hitting the body near the top cutout, when sewing 7/16".. A little time with a rat tail file opened up the clearance at the place that the crank was touching the back of the head and she now sews thick stuff without self-destructing. I find that even though I modded my machine in this fashion, it still is less than reliable at 7/16 inches. This really shows up when I install 1/2 inch piping feet and try to use it to sew that size of a welt. Unless I lower the lift ratio to minimum, it will hit the body or presser bar inside the head. That is why I got a Cowboy CB4500, which sews over 3/4 inches. Note: Even though my walking foot machine walks higher, it still doesn't do so well with #207 or thicker thread. Again, I have a 441 clone that does a great job with #138 and thicker, so why ruin my little bitty walker?

Hmmm. I had a similar problem with my National 300N walking foot machine. Not the thickness part, but the thread rising out of the disks part. Some thread, especially black nylon thread, is springy and tends to twist over itself, or the guides or disks. After suffering with this for a couple of years, on a happens today but not tomorrow basis, I too measures to stop it, once and for all. If you look closely at the tension disks on a Consew, Chandler, Juki, National, Seiko, or Singer walking foot machine, you'll notice that there is a thin steel post on the right side of the disks. It keeps them aligned in a notch on both disks. I simply pulled the top thread under the little post, then sharply up and around the center of the disks. This has eliminated the problem of the top thread twisting out of those disks. I had to compensate for the added tension of the sharp turn by backing off the spring a turn or two. Try it. Since threading top thread around that alignment pin is a bit of a hassle, when changing color or size, I now cut the thread near the thread stand, then tie a knot onto the new thread. I remove the thread from the needle, raise the feet with the knee lever to release the disks, then pull the new thread through, until about a foot is visible after the needle bar guide. Cut it off, thread the eye, and keep on keeping on!

If you are at your wit's end, ask Ronny at Techsew if you can ship the head to them for a rebuild and correct timing and feeding. Techsew and Raphael Sewing are one and the same company.

It was in the banner and his signature: Bob Kovar Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine Sales Ltd. 3631 Marine Rd Toledo,Ohio 43609 1-866-362-7397

That is a typical reason why Leo LaPorte and I refer to IE as Internet Exploder

Be sure you click inside the forum browser window before you hit the Enter key. It should work exactly as before. If you are using Internet Exploder, please try another browser, like Firefox or Google Chrome. They render things to standards and the Enter key still submits forms.

Leila; You need to ramp it up to at least 20 stitches per second to get the oil pump circulating the oil to all the extremities. This equates to about 1200 rpm at the wheel on the back of the machine. Actually, they pump oil better once you sew at 2200 rpm or faster, at the machine.