Wizcrafts

Eric; When do you find time to do leatherwork?

Here are some things to check and if necessary, change... Remove the thread from the needle for now. First, make sure that the jamming hasn't retarded the hook. Remove the throat plate. Rotate the wheel towards you until the needle reaches bottom dead center The hook should be slightly behind the needle at this point Rotate the wheel slowly until the needle raises about 1/8 to 3/16 inch above BDC, then stop The hook should be in the center of the cut-out scarf in the needle, about 1/8 inch above the eye. If the hook is still behind the needle after it has ascended 3/16" and if by the time the hook meets the needle, the eye is above the pickup point, the hook has been retarded by the jammed thread. There is an adjustment accessible from a steel disk covered hole in the base of the machine, on the lower front of the right side of the body. I have done this adjustment, but don't have my similar machine at home to guide you any further tonight. It is also slightly possible that the needle bar has moved up from the shocks, placing the eye too high for the hook. Rotate the wheel until the needle and its securing screw are fully visible above the base of the machine Loosen the needle screw and lower the needle about 1/8 inch Tighten the needle screw to secure the lowered needle (don't lower the needle farther down than the screw!) Rotate the wheel and watch the position of the needle's eye in relation to the hook, as it ascends from BDC. If the lowered needle places the ascending needle's eye about 1/8 inch below the hook, that may be your problem. Thread the needle, hold the top thread up and rotate the wheel slowly, watching the formation of the loop as the hook approaches it. If the hook picks up the loop in forward and in reverse, at the stitch length setting you are accustomed to using, lock in this new position of the needle bar. To reposition your needle bar. Remove top thread Unscrew two large screws holding face plate to end of body. One is on top-right, other is on bottom left corner. Carefully pull off the face plate and set it down. Locate the needle bar and identify the two screws that lock it into position on the crank that moves it up and down. Rotate the wheel to lower the needle until the tip just reaches the top of the feed dog. Loosen the needle set screw and move the needle back to the top of the mounting hole in the needle bar and lock it in. The tip should now be about 1/8 inch above the feed dog. Using the proper screw driver or Allen key, carefully loosen the two set screws that secure the needle bar to the crank arm in the head Lower the needle bar slowly until the tip of the needle is just level with the feed dog. Ensure that you haven't rotated the needle bar while lowering it and reposition it if necessary so the needle's eye faces sideways, with the needle set screw facing front. Tighten the two set screws as much as possible to lock the bar into this position. While the face plate is off, get a precision oiler and place a drop of oil into each oil hole on the crank arms inside the head. Reinstall the face plate, making sure you hook the tension release lever over the tension release stud that sits 2 inches under the top tension disks. Thread the top as per instructions that came with the machine. Make sure that the needle is installed with the scarf over the eye is facing due right. Rotate the wheel counterclockwise and see if the hook forms a decent loop and it gets picked up by the hook. Replace the throat plate and resume sewing. To avoid jamming thread under the work, hold back both threads for a few stitches when you start sewing. If you can't hold both threads, at least hold the top thread steady, to keep it from getting drawn under the throat plate.

I do a double loop around the bottom disks, then back off the adjustment nut. I lowered the thread guide in front of the top tensioner to get more thread inside the middle of the butterflies. Oh those butterflies! Where is my spaghetti strainer?

Now you know why most experienced sewers do not recommend buying old iron sight unseen, or untested on one's own material, or sewn off by the seller. An inexpensive but damaged machine, especially one missing important parts, is going to cost much more than the buyer expected. If this machine had been sent to a dealer for these repairs, the cost would rival that of a brand new walking foot machine.

Yes. Contact Bob Kovar, owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, at 866-362-7397. If no happy happy, try Gregg, at Keystone Sewing, or Dan at Campbell-Randall.

Almost any triple feed walking foot machine can produce that result, using either #92 or 138 bonded thread. Common brands include Consew, Chandler, Juki, Brother, Singer 111 or 211 (very old, out of production), Cowboy, Cobra, Techsew, Econosew, Sailrite, et al. Most of these machines have a large bobbin and normally take system 135x16 needles. They are capable of sewing up to 3/8 inch of real leather, with #138 thread and under. Sometimes, you can use up to #207 thread, with a #24 or 25 needle. I can also sew this kind of work on my Cowboy CB4500, but it takes a lot of dinking with pressures and tensions to use such thin thread on it.

I'm pretty sure that the entire assembly is sold as a kit, as well as individual parts. That would include the throat plate and special presser feet, as well as the binder.

I believe that Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines sells those parts. The phone number is 866-362-7397

On the machines that have a reverse lever, I often feather the position of the reverse lever as I watch the position of the needle, as it descends. This works best on the big 441, Adler, or Pfaff machines, which have a single lever for both direction and stitch length. Once I find the correct position in reverse, I sew a couple of stitches backwards. On the non-reversing machines, I either lift the feet and pull the material towards me about two stitches, then stitch through them to lock the stitches, or when convenient, I do the Poor Man's Reverse, spinning the work 180 degrees. Note, that if you are using a single toe presser foot, turning the work 180 may cause it to fall off the material, interfering with the feed mechanism. If that is going to happen, I use the lift, pull back and stitch forward technique. This is how I learned to sew on an industrial machine (Singer 31-15 or 96k40?), in the 1960s, in my Dad's tailor shop.

For #277 thread, top and bottom. This is the standard configuration for this machine.

Nice repair Eric!

Down the road, if need be, you can change to a vari-speed servo motor. I have two Sew Pro 500GR and two Family Sew servo motors. The Family Sew have a wide range of top speeds that are easily changed via a rotary switch. The Sew Pro motors have a potentiometer on the back to limit the speed. Either will sew under 1 stitch per second all day long, then speed up to their maximum with your foot position on the gas pedal. The Family Sew can go over twice as fast as the Sew Pro, making it useful on leather, vinyl and garment sewing machines. I don't know how high your Hydro rates are in Sudbury, but your clutch motor consumes lots of watts (and generates heat) as long as it is turned on. A servo only consumes measurable power when it is at work. Is the ground still as hard as the moon up there?

A smaller pulley increases the torque/punching power, as it reduces the speed. I personally don't go below a 2" motor pulley because there is nothing left for the straight-aways when you need to get done NOW. That is a good reason to switch to a servo, unless you are good at feathering the clutch. I would not reduce the maximum speed below 600 RPM at the machine, because you will need it for sewing webbing, upholstery and garments. That machine, like my National, can sew with thin bonded thread, like #69, or #80 jeans thread. You just need to loosen the top and bottom tensioners. But, these walkers are not made for sewing very light or silky cloth (e.g. rayon shirts or linings). It's best to sew relatively firm material that won't get pushed down into the fairly wide slot in the feed dog. A straight stitch machine is better for thin and very soft material. I have an old Singer 31-15 for such work, threaded with #69 thread and under, or #60 jeans thread or under.

I own a similar machine, made in Japan under the brand name National. It has the same specs as your machine. Here are my own findings on the capabilities of this type of sewing machine. In stock configuration, the machine can only sew through 3/8 inch of leather or non-compressible webbing. Trying to sew thicker material causes the inside (alternating/vibrating) foot crank to make contact with either the presser bar or the back of the head itself. Do NOT try to sew 1/2 inch of leather! You will damage the machine! I was able to get it to tension up to #207 bonded nylon thread (tensioner tricks), but, It works much smoother with no larger than #138. The machine uses the standard system 135x16 or 17 walking foot needles. They can be had in sizes up to #25. But, the force required to punch through tough veg-tan leather with that large a needle makes it impractical to use. For continuous use at 3/8 inch one should reduce the ratio or alternation to its minimum. This reduces the noise, pounding and stress. Oil the machine in every red marked oil hole once every 8 to 10 hours of use. Once a month, open the front cover and place a drop of oil into each of the tiny oil holes on the cranks inside the head. Limit the top speed to about 10 stitches per second and the machine will live a lot longer. This may require a reduction in the size of the motor pulley to 2". Upholstery shops usually run them flat out at 2000 RPM, using a 4" or larger motor pulley. Check for slop in the needle bar, inside vibrating foot bar and presser foot bar. Make sure that the take up lever doesn't have a groove worn through the eye from high speed use, or Kevlar thread. Make sure that when you lift the foot with the knee lever, that the tension disks on top release their grip on the top thread. Make sure that the needle lines up dead center in the moving feed dog and that the dog raises about 1mm above the throat plate. Test the stitch length knob to see if it gets a full range of lengths without binding. Test the reverse lever to make sure it sews backwards on demand. The holes may not line up though.

A buddy of mine packed up an Adler patcher into a heavy box, then strapped it and the iron base onto a standard pallet and shipped it from the UPS depot in Flint Michigan to California for about $250. Our dealers routinely ship the large Cowboy and Cobra machines across the US and Canada for prices ranging from about $220 to $350, give or take. If the trucker has to navigate a side street and lower his lift gate, he charges another $50 to $100. Therefore, it is cheaper to ship from a terminal to a terminal, than residence to residence.

If I read your request properly, you have $300 to spend on a machine that can sew up to 1 inch of leather and are wondering if a Singer 15-91 can do this? Is this a joke? In case it's not, I'll answer you. A Singer 15-91 is lucky to sew even 1/4 inch of leather and that with #69 thread, maximum. They were made for domestic sewing of cloth. They have pod motors built into the body that are not powerful enough to feed and sew holsters. And, nobody I know of would sew one using #69 thread. In order to sew up to one inch of holster leather (veg or bridle), you need one of the following machines, listed by their capacity. Campbell High Lift (1 1/8") Luberto Classic (1 1/8") Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4, or Techsew 5100 (7/8") Adler 205-374 (3/4") Juki TSC 441 and other brand clones of it (3/4") Union Lockstitch (3/4") Campbell-Randall Lockstitch (3/4") Other ancient harness stitchers Since you have $300 to spend, you need to know what those machines typically sell for. about $8,000, plus or minus about $5,500 (not currently in production) about $2,500 to $3,000 $5995.00 about $5,500 between $1500 for private sales, auctions, used, not rebuilt, to $4500 rebuilt to specs. Randall Lockstitch machines sell for between $3,500 used, up to $7,000 rebuilt to specs Old harness machines in working condition, with needles (and awls), typically sell for anywhere from $1000 to $5,000 All of the above machines can easily sew with heavy bonded nylon or polyester thread, in size #346, which has about 66 pounds tensile strength per stitch, using a #26 or #27 needle. The needle and awl machines (numbers 1, 6, 7 and 8) can also use glazed linen thread run through a wax pot, up to 8 or more cords, with the proper needle and awl combination. You can now see that $300 will not get you a sewing machine that can sew 1 inch of leather, with any thread size. You will need about 10 times that much money to get to even 7/8 inches.

I use the front mounted tension disks to control the tension when I wind bobbins. Otherwise, they are used for free-hand sewing/darning, where the presser foot is out of the equation. Under normal sewingstances (I just coined a new word!) the presser foot mechanism can only lift so high before it lifts the tension off the top disks. If your thread is routed around the top disks and the foot lifts the preset amount, you will lose top tension during that stitch. By using the front tension disks instead, you will never lose top tension. With no tension release on the front disks, you must pull the thread through with your hand before removing the work. Otherwise, pop goes the needle...

If the machines are recent models and have not been rode hard and put up wet, any of those 3 will serve you well.

You're correct Darren! I meant Puritan, when I typed Pilgrim. Puritan makes machines. Pilgrim rebuilds machines, mostly for the shoe trade.

If you buy a modern/current walking foot machine, it will have either a rotary stitch length knob, with click detentes, or a a single lift/lower lever that controls both direction and stitch length. The Consew 206RB-5, Chandler 406RB and Juki DNU-1541 all have a rotary dial and a press down reverse lever, plus large bobbins. I have another system on the long body Singer 139 I recently bought. It has a 1" diameter knob protruding from inside the end of the hand-wheel. Turning the small knob clockwise shortens the stitches, while turning it anti-clockwise lengthens them.

I recommend the 16.5" arm 5100, rather than the shorter arm 4100, or bottom feed only 3650. It will handle #346 thread, top and bottom, using a #26 needle. Be sure you order #25, 26 and 27 leather point needles with the machine, along with the thread.

If you are using a #22 needle with #69 thread, it is 4 sizes too big for the thread. A #22 needle is meant for use with #138 thread. #69 thread should be sewn using a #16 or #18 needle. Leather should always be sewn with a leather point needle.

The CB227R or Techsew 2700 are similar machines, with similar capabilities. They use the standard type 135x16 leather point, or 135x17 round point needles, have compound feed, handle #138 thread and sew up to 3/8 inch of leather. They are usually sold with very easily controlled servo motors. I believe that these two machines are probably within your price range. You'll need a couple hundred more for shipping, needles, bobbins, thread and oil

It will probably have an old clutch motor installed. If that motor turns too fast, buy a smaller pulley and belt. Most upholstery shops consider time as money and run their sewing machines at 2000 or 2200 RPM. That is about 4 times too fast for leather sewing.

Definitely, the Consew 206RB is better for upholstery and leather work. The Adler would be a nice high speed garment maker's machine.