Wizcrafts

The Keats and Bexon shoe repair machines were built in Staffordshire, UK, from 1894 through 1926. The only hope of finding any manual or instructions is to find somebody who owns one and has a manual they will photocopy, or mail to you. The stitchers haven't been produced in many decades. You might try contacting the people who maintain and sell Landis 12 series sole stitchers to see if they are aware of any intentional or unintentional similarities.

This post is a duplicate of an ongoing topic started by the same member. The author should post any further questions in the previous topic he started.

Always hold back the starting threads for about three stitches on these machines. This helps set the tensions and prevent the top thread from jamming in the shuttle. Consult this needle and thread chart to use the right combination for a given thread size. Larger threads need bigger needles. The shuttle needs to have sideways clearance for larger thread to pass freely and the hook must not hit the needle. You may be able to tweak the check spring so that thicker thread can be properly tensioned as the machines cycles. You may have exceeded the machine's thread handling capacity.

I second that! Good parts maker.

I'd get a hold of @CowboyBob - Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. He may know about the bobbin and case for your machine.

Here is a video of a Keats and Bexon stitcher sewing shoe soles. It looks just like a Landis 12 series machine. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=357374289648482

Hey Glenn, that's a Cobra Class 4. The Cowboy equivalent is a model CB4500. That's what I have.

Welcome aboard, Jose! I mentioned masking because we sometimes get trolls from Eastern Europe and Africa, and India/Pakistan who are spammers or scammers. Some of them try to mask their actual geo-location, but I track them down anyway. Many years ago, I had a Juki LU-563 walking foot machine that was used to sew orange honeycomb vinyl safety vests for road workers. We cut the vinyl out with a motorized saw blade fabric cutter, but the edges were sharp. So, the boss decided we needed to cover the edges with bias tape. I tried the cheap folders that were readily available from sewing machine dealers, but they couldn't navigate the inside curves of armholes. So, I went and talked to the dealer where I got the machine and he sent me to a guy who custom made folders. The guy had me bring the cutout vest parts and the bias tape. He made us a right angle folder that laid the tape into the material perfectly, whether on inside or outside curves or straightaways. The advantage of using the Juki was that it didn't lose stitch length. I sewed at 4 to the inch on some parts and 5 to the inch on others. I just turned the dial. I never experienced any problems with the path of the platter holding the tape roll to the folder. Fortunately, we didn't need a cylinder arm machine for those workers' vests. Another advantage of the walking foot machine was that I just swung the folder out of the way to sew on reflective tape and official patches. Again, it maintained the desired stitch length. You can't beat a compound feed walking foot machine when sewing difficult or slippery materials.

According to his ip address, he is posting from Palermo, Buenos Aires F.D., Argentina. Of course, he could be using a VPN to mask his true location.

The blind stitch machine uses curved needle and may or may not be able to sew through a blanket. The one I had was portable and only good for light weight pants and skirts.

It is what we call a "darning machine."

It should always be possible to tighten the bobbin spring to exert sufficient tension on the bobbin thread to keep the knots centered inside the leather. Make sure that you feed the bobbin against the direction of the slot in its case and snap it under the tension spring. Then tighten down the bobbin tension screw until there is a reasonable pull required to get the thread out. Make sure that the top thread isn't getting caught under or around something it shouldn't. That includes the spool it is wound on.

If you're referring to a band knife splitter, I made my own skivings box out of suede and hung it under the opening in the table on 4 hooks. I put grommets on the holes to prevent wear. I pull it off the hooks to empty it. It's been working fine for about 5 or 6 years. I believe my skiver is a model 10.

Not according to your ip address. You are in Florida, using Hotwire ISP services..

These machines were made to fix shoe and boot uppers. That doesn't require thick thread. Most people use #69 (T70) bonded thread in their patchers. I do too. They can sew quite a long run with #69 thread in the bobbin. You can sew even farther if you move down to #46 (T45) thread.

For adhering canvas to vinyl, or vinyl to vinyl, I recommend HH-66 vinyl adhesive. It is a contact cement (applied to both pieces) that won't melt your vinyl like some other brands that contain aggressive (and dangerous) solvents, like toluene. You might want to buy an 8 ounce can first to test it out. If you buy another brand, make sure it says it is safe for use on vinyl on the label.

The only Singer patchers that are newer than the 29k71 are the Japanese built 29U171, 29U172, and 29U173. Anything else that is a newer patcher will either be a Chinese clone, or an Adler 30 series, or a Claes. At least the Adler 30 class uses the same bobbins and shuttles as the Singer 29 series. You sub-class 71 uses a small bobbin.

Make sure that your needle is the correct system. This is any of these: 29x3, 29x4, 135x16, or 135x17. Then, insert the needle all the way up inside the needle clamp and align it so that the ribbed side faces due left and the scarfed side faces due right. Lower the needle and inspect the paddle shaped spring above the clamp. It must exert good pressure on the thread coming down the hole in the needle bar. If that spring is twisted, broken, or weak, the loop will dissolve before the hook can pick it off the needle. See if there is a lot of slop in the shuttle gears. If there is, you will need to time it advanced to compensate for the wasted movement of the drive gears.

Your needle is too small for #207 thread! A #22/140 needle is minimum size for #138 thread. You'll need to move up to a #23 or 24 needle. If the hook hits a larger needle, you will have to move the right side of the split post away from the needle and feed dog. To do this, loosen two huge bolts under the machine that secure the right side of the post and nudge the right side of the split post to the right, leaving the feed dog side in place. Set it so the hook just misses the needle, then lock down the bolts. This changes the timing. It also makes it more likely it will skip stitches with a #18 needle and #69 thread. Be aware that moving the posts apart might allow the tab on the bobbin case to slip out of its detente under the needle plate, and spin freely. This would be a bad thing if it happens.

The Juki LU-1508-NH is rated to use #207 thread, top and bottom and has a U size bobbin and double top tensioners. It can sew up to 10mm long stitches and has true rectangular feed on the bottom. It can actually sew up to 1.2 inch of material. The feet lift up to 5/8" to allow thick seams to pass under them. To allow for higher lift and thicker sewing, this machine is equipped with System 190 extra long needles. The inside work space (harp) is 5" x 10 inches. Is this enough space to roll the material up if you are sewing inside? This might be important if you sew on labels, Velcro or webbing. If 5x10 isn't sufficient, you'll need to look into long arm, high harp, tarp and sail sewing machines. They have up to 3 feet of work space to the right of the needle. My long arm has 20 inches.

I have a Singer long arm machine that was upgraded to a U bobbin system over a decade ago. When it works right, it is great! But, it jams either the top or bobbin thread at the slightest provocation. This could be from starting or stopping suddenly, or turning a corner too fast. If I don't hold back the top thread just right when I start, it jams in the hook (and, I know what I'm doing). The other day, while I was in the midst of sewing a gently curved rocker patch onto the back of a vest, the thread jammed the machine to a halt. I had to cut the thread stubs off over and under the vest. I discovered that the bobbin thread had actually wrapped itself up and under the spring loaded bobbin securing clamp and around the bobbin post! It looped right around that sucker! My G size bobbin Singer machines don't normally have these problems. This isn't to say that every Singer or clone machine that gets modded to a U bobbin will have troubles like mine. In fact, I suspect mine is an isolated problem. That said, the risk of introducing new problems is real.

Maybe the presser foot bar is binding when it is in the lifted position. If so, loosen any set screws that might be holding in bearings on the top and bottom of the presser bar. If that drops the foot, find the best position and tighten the screws to keep them in a good spot. It would help to pull out the presser bar and clean off any residue or dings with emory cloth.

I have a similar machine in my leather and sewing shop. The machine pulley is a fixed size. You probably want to replace the motor pulley with a 2 inch pulley. You need to measure the diameter of the shaft, then eBay it. Or, order from one of our supporting dealers, like @CowboyBob. I think that clutch motors have a 3/4 inch shaft, while most servo motors are 15mm diameter. Once you know the diameter, order the small pulley and also get a new v-belt that is that much shorter. The old belt will be too long and the motor may not have enough adjustment to compensate. V-belts have their length stamped somewhere on the outside. A typical -belt for a 4 inch motor to 4 inch machine pulley like your setup might be 44 inches. But, it could be less. The new belt would be 2 inches shorter if you get a 2 inch motor pulley.

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The feed dog is way out of position.