Wizcrafts

It's probably not threaded correctly on top. I've seen machines where the owner forgot to feed the top thread through the take-up lever. They never pick up the bobbin thread with the take-up lever pulling the top thread back up. Also, I can't tell if the thread is actually going through the needle in the video!

I got all available accessories at the same time as my Cowboy CB4500, from @CowboyBob Bob Kovar, back in 2011. I added the inline feet twice when they became available. I bought specialty feet from @Cobra Steve. Then I got the narrow throat plate/feed dog sets from @RockyAussie and @Patrick1. As new accessories are offered for my machine I will probably buy them.

I want to let you guys know that I got a new category added to our Marketplace, for "Sewing Machine Accessories" for sale, or that you might want to buy. Hopefully, our members will start posting items they have or make that will be of use to owners of various types of leather sewing machines.

His handle here is @CowboyBob The toll free landline for his business is: 866-362-7397

@Quade, there is only System 135x16 or 135x17. There is no long or short variation. The description "long" might mean longer than tailoring needles, which they are.

About 12 years ago a friend of mine bought a Class 4 machine with the accessories package for his leather business. He put me to work sewing on it most of the time. I taught him to use it correctly and moved along to my own shop (which is now closed) in 2012. One of his issues was the wide throat plate cutout was catching the narrow tips of rifle slings and guitar straps as we made the turn at the tip (~7/8 inch wide strap). The leather was getting caught and pushed down, causing some bad stitching at the ends. He knew a guy with a metal working shop and commissioned him to make a set of a narrower 1/4 inch wide throat plate and narrowed down the feed dog to just fit in it. It solved the problem and it is his standard everyday set to this very day. My buddy wasn't sewing with thin thread or needles. He used #138 thread on top and bottom. Fast forward to 2023 and we have two members of Leatherworker.net who are custom building narrow feed dog and throat plate sets that most 441 type machine owners can afford. They bolt on and can be installed or removed in a couple of minutes.

I was looking into a sidewall stitcher a couple years ago. As I recall it was from an outfit calling themselves Robin. A friend almost bought one, but decided to get out of shoe making. Fascinating machine!

I've learned both from being told and experimenting that if the timing of the hook is retarded, the top thread will tend to be extra tight on the way around the shuttle and will snap. The only three solutions I've found are to either advance the hook, or loosen the thread tensions, or to increase the slack in the top thread via the check spring throw. The check spring adjustment is the easiest to make. If it works you're done. Next is backing off the top and bottom spring tensions. Sometimes that helps. The most difficult is advancing the hook and tightening down the screws without letting it move again. But, this is usually the best solution. The only problem I've found with an advanced hook is that I tend to get more skipped stitches in reverse. It really is a balancing act. Sometimes you need to combine timing and check spring travel to nail it 100%. Aren't heavy leather sewing machines fun? Are we having fun yet?

Much of the information I typed is contained in my blog article about dumbing down 441 clones. That's how I did it before getting the narrow plate/feed dog set. Plus, using the narrow flat slotted plate, in conjunction with minimizing the alternating lift, allowed me to sew a 1 inch thick holster.

I believe you have a standard Class 4 machine with a standard throat plate and feed dog. Did you get the drop down edge guide, or just the swing away guide on a T-bar? Did you get a throat plate with a long narrow slot? Did you get a left toe presser foot? If you have the standard throat plate and feed dog, left toe foot and swing-away edge guide, Install the left toe foot, then push the edge guide roller the distance you want from the needle. If the guide is getting hit by the feed dog, slide a piece of cardboard under it to raise it up enough to clear the feed dog at its highest position. If the leather is getting pushed into the hole in the feed dog, back off the pressure screw on top. Reduce both thread tensions to make it easier to pull up the knots, so you won't need as much foot pressure to hold the leather down. Move up one needle size if the leather still lifts with the ascending needle. If you got the drop down edge guide, drop it down, slide it into the distance you want from the needle, but slightly ahead of the needle, using the supplied wrench. Also, raise the roller above the height of the feed dog. Having the roller slightly ahead of the needle on close edges will keep the needle from pushing the leather away from the edge guide. If you have the flat slotted throat plate, you can remove the feed dog and standard plate and install it in their place. I did this before I got the narrow plate and feed dog from @RockyAussie. The slot is about 1/8 inch with and I haven't had any material get pushed down into it as I sewed. That includes denim jeans I was hemming for customers. With this flat plate you can get the edge guide right up next to the inside foot, giving you a distance under 1/8 inch from the edge. Note that your forward and reverse may not line up without the feed dog assisting. In this case, either feather the stitch lever, or just sew all the way around and over the starting stitches if the work allows for that.

Flat bed machines are best suited to combining items that are flat, not curved. Bags are curved when assembled. You can probably sew all of the pieces together upside down on a flat bed machine. But, the final stages of construction of the rounded top will be easier on a cylinder arm machine. Many cylinder arm machines have either a factory option or aftermarket option of a flat table top attachment that bolts onto the table or pedestal the head is mounted on. Such a setup gives you the best of both Worlds. You sew with the table attachment for the flat pieces, then remove the table and sew over and around the arm for the curves. This gives you a perfectly finished stitch appearance on the outside. If you sew the same outside band on a flatbed, it may have to be done from the inside. The bobbin side will not look anywhere near as nice as the top side stitches. If you can visit a sewing machine store and bring some soft bag leather, they can sew it and show you how different the back side will look from the front.

I'm glad you asked that! I wrote a blog article a few years ago about dumbing down a Cowboy or cobra 441 to allow it to sew thin or soft material..

I also would like to see more presser foot options available. One of our members is about to try using a roller foot instead of the single toe foot. We will see his results if/when he posts them. There is lots of room for aftermarket feet to go along with the feed dog/throat plates by @RockyAussie and @Patrick1. Aside from wishing for other options, here is how I deal the foot marking issues. First, reduce the presser foot pressure screw to the minimum force that keeps the leather from lifting with the ascending needle. It sometimes is easier for a 1 size larger needle to form the knots than the usual size. That translates into less foot pressure needed. This tip is from my own experience! Reduce the thread tensions on the top and bottom so it is easier to pull up the knots. Next, let the leather dry so it can offer resistance to the inner and outer feet trying to emboss it. Be prepared to run a modeling spoon, or bone slicker, or glass slicker over the stitch line after you're done sewing. Run the top thread through liquid silicon, or sewing machine oil to make it easier to bring up the knots.

It is this very problem that motivated two of our members to construct and offer up narrow throat plate/feed dog combinations. The first is by @RockyAussie. He made a feed dog about 1/4 inch wide with a throat plate slot just wide enough to clear it. I have that plate mounted on my Cowboy cb4500 and it allows me to sew softer and narrower items than the stock wide set. His set doesn't actually lower the range of thicknesses as much as it makes it less stressful to sew with thinner thread and needles. The other member is @Patrick1. He makes narrow feed dog/throat plate sets that have smaller needle slots inside. His feed dogs are optimized for different maximum needle diameters, from a #19 through a #23. In other words, he takes over the lower end where Rocky's leave off. Between those two offerings you can use your Class 4 with very narrow needles and thread, sewing very thin leather, webbing and vinyl. @Patrick1 is making a narrow presser foot set to deal with that very problem! Contact him. This is a tricky issue. Generally speaking, if the work being sewn is flat, or only has layers that overlap, without hardware or raised sides to get in the way, the feed dog and matching throat plate provide the most efficient feeding of the material/leather. Furthermore, when you raise the stitch lever to reverse, having the feed dog in play usually6 places the reverse stitches into the previous holes. On the other hand, throat plates without feed dogs tend to drag differently in forward and reverse and the reverse holes often don't line up at all (in my experience). This calls for manually adjusting the stitch lever position when you sew in reverse to lock in the stitches. The holster and stirrup plates are there for a reason. On many holsters there are shaped bodies or hardware that hang down on one side. The raised holster plate lets the drop shapes ride along the left edge unimpeded as you sew the flat seam allowance on the right edges. The stirrup plate is a curved and narrower version of the holster plate. It lets hardware ease by as you sew on a downward curve. Being narrower, this lets hardware move by on both sides. I am referring to copper rivets, conchos, studs, decorative spots, etc. Again, you get no assist with reverse and may have to manually move the stitch lever to match the holes.

Once you get it going you can go into the buffing wheel business. That's what that machine was made to sew.

Let us know how it works out.

I have the narrow feed dog and throat plate sets from both @RockyAussie and @Patrick1 for my Cowboy CB4500. I usually leave the Aussie set on for everyday use. I install Patrick's narrow set once in a while when I need to sew with thin thread and needles on a project that simply can't be done on any of my other 9 machines. There are times when this is the case. No one machine does it all as well as multiple machines geared for various jobs and thread/needle combinations. But, if I could only have one walking foot machine, period, it would be my Cowboy 4500, with the narrow feeder sets. I am amazed by the precision of Patrick's narrow set.

I performed the gradient transparency trick on a digital servo motor in 2012. It worked fine for about a year, then began stuttering at slow speeds. I eventually replaced the motor with an analog servo and have had no problems in all these years.

At this point I would recommend that you remove the motor, control box and all wires. Then buy a modern 110 volt servo motor and switch box, plus a new led work light that plugs into the back socket on the motor.

Thanks NM. They do help. As I suspected, the sliding block needs to move all the way to the left to be activated. It is currently sitting all the way to the right. If after moving it to the left it still doesn't lift high enough, A piece of rubber or vinyl tubing could be slid over the lifting lever that pushes up on the block. Once good contact has been achieved, the block can be positioned for the best lift. I usually set mine so it clears the top layer by at least 1/16 inch.

Your photos are too dark to make out the actual position of the sliding block. It looks to me like it is all the way to the right, which is the zero lift position. I recommend moving it as far to the left as it will go (towards the back end where the balance wheel is). The torsion spring it moves along is narrow at the adjustment end, then abruptly widens along the back. Slide the block until it stops at the wider point along the spring and tighten it down. If there is still too little lift, either the sliding block bottom point is badly worn, or the shaft underneath that pushes up against it is installed incorrectly, or is totally worn down. That shaft pivots on the front side of the head.

I do not recommend buying the cb4500 strictly for sewing webbing, unless it is going to be your only compound feed machine and you intend to sew dense leather goods too. The machine comes with a 3:1 reducer. The motor pulley is 2 inches and the machine pulley is 6 inches. It has 9:1 total reduction. The 3600 rpm motor will max out at 6.67 stitches per second, which is 1/2 of the machine's rated top speed. If you remove the reducer, or even get one with 2:1 reduction, the machine will shake a lot at top speed. 441 machines are not made to be run at high speed. Most of us who use them are sewing thick stacks of dense leather at a few stitches per second. The narrow throat plate and feed dog from @RockyAussie works great when I have to sew thin or soft material or leather and use small needles and thread. The standard feed dog hole and throat plate slot are much too large and soft stuff gets pushed down inside them. Again, the cb4500 and all clones of the Juki TSC-441 are heavy leather stitchers for halters, harness, holsters, gun belts, and thick pouches and cases. They aren't spec'd for sewing under 6 ounces (3/32") thickness of firm leather. But, by all means buy one if you plan to sew any of these leather items! Just be prepared to deal with the very slow top speed. I'd still go with the cb1541s if it was me, for sewing webbing, vinyl, banners or Sunbrella.

I think that the 1541s is a perfect machine for dog collars and leashes. The safety clutch will save the machine from losing its timing when you accidentally jam the top thread in the shuttle. Our advertisers include industrial sewing machine dealers who sell Juki as well as their own clones of the 1541. They would setup the machine with the motor you want and set the hook distance properly for the needle and thread you will use the most. In the case of collars and leads, I think you'll want to use #138 bonded polyester thread (in colors to match the webbing) and a #22 or #23 round point titanium coated needle. You can get thread, extra bobbins, needles, oil, seam rippers, a swing-away edge guide or edge guide presser foot and thread snips at the same time and have everything there from the get go. If you have an option to buy a speed reducer, think carefully. It permanently slows down the top speed by whatever factor the reducer is configured for. Once you get your confidence up, and have a reliable edge guide, you may not want to sit there chugging along at a top speed of 6 to 10 stitches per second. A servo motor with a small 2 inch pulley feeding a fairly large machine pulley will already have at least 2:1 reduction. That Juki might have 2.5:1 to 3:1 reduction because of its larger diameter machine pulley. If the motor maxes out at 3600 rpm, that means your top speed might only be 1200 rpm direct. This would translate into 20 stitches per second flat out. Add a 2:1 reducer and you'll max out at about 10 per second. A 3:1 reducer would max out at about 6 stitches per second and you'll be watching grass grow while sewing leashes! The above advice is tailored to your statement that you want to sew webbing. If you decide to sew leather collars and leads, having a top speed under 10 per second will probably be all you'll want.

While too much thread tension can be a factor, another cause could be the tip of the hook catching between the windings of the thread and splitting them open. There are only a few ways this could happen. There is a burr on the tip of the hook. The hook is hitting the needle instead of just passing through the scarf without contacting it. The hook is too far from the needle causing it to fray the loop. The thread is poorly bonded and has twisted loose as the needle moves up from BDC. The thread is overly bonded and comes off the spool like a coil spring. This can cause the loop to turn away from the hook. The thread is right twist instead of left twist. The check spring travel is too short, which causes too much slack in the top thread. The check spring tension is too light, with the same outcome. The timing is late, causing the hook to barely pick off the loop, which gets tighter with each stitch. The timing is early, causing the hook to arrive before a quality loop has formed. Loop gets split as hook barely catches it. The foot pressure is too low, allowing the leather to lift with the needle. This can also cause skipped stitches.

Most upholstery class compound feed walking foot machines can sew through at least 5/16 inch of leather. Some can sew 3/8 of an inch. On the face of it, you'd think any walking foot machine will do everything I just mentioned, and then some. I hate to tell you but it isn't necessarily so! Poking a thin needle through a stack of leather is one thing. Doing so with large enough size of thread to secure that stack is another thing. Wallet interiors can be sewn with #69 (aka: T70) bonded thread, using a #18 needle. It has about 10.7 pounds breaking strength if its good quality and not old and dried out. Wallet backs can be sewn to interiors with #92 (T90) bonded thread, using a #19 or #20 needle. It has about 15 pounds breaking strength. Bags vary in thickness. Assuming you want to make one that is about 8 ounces thick at the seams, you would use #138 bonded thread and a #23 needle. It has 22 pounds strength. Most walking foot machines can handle these three sizes of thread. They usually max out at #138, top and bottom, with a #23 needle. Holsters are a whole nuther story. They have to hold a heavy firearm and not fall apart under the stress of holstering the weapon or moving around while carrying it. They need stronger thread than most walking foot machines can handle. I wouldn't recommend using anything under #207 (T210) bonded thread on a holster or sheath, using a #24 needle. The thicker the stack, the heavier the thread required to hold it together. I routinely use #277 thread (#25 needle) on 3/8 inch thick holsters and #346 (#26 needle) at 1/2 inch. These thread/needle combinations are outside the capability of most walking foot machines. You need a harness and holster class machine to sew these things properly. This usually translates into a 441 class machine, based on the Juki TSC-441 design. Thus, your journey begins!