Wizcrafts

The purse "should" be sewn from the outside surfaces. The problem here is that the end of the arm is bigger than the gusset and the bottom flange will be pushing it as it moves along the machine. If you can wrangle the purse to pull the bottom side away, as you sew, and keep the flange pressed against the roller guide, things should go good. The stirrup plate adds more complexity to this problem. Ditto for the holster plate. What I have done is I ground off some material on the left side of my standard plates, allowing me to get shaped closer to the needle. This means there is less support for wide projects. But, that is when you can install the table attachment.

Different animal altogether. You will need to create a method of sewing your gussets with the machine you have. This may involve creating custom feet and throat plates. I needed an inline presser foot to sew along narrow flanges. I found a set. PM me for info, or make your own. Th former outer foot trails the inside foot, directly behind it. Any machine shop can make this foot.

I believe that Artisan may have marketed a French edge tool. But .....

We have a section of the LW forums called Market Place, containing a sub-directory for selling used sewing equipment. Why not offer it for sale for the highest offer over say $1200 (whatever)? Keep in mind that new 9 inch arm machines usually cost about $2,000, plus or minus. Run your ad for a month and sell it to the highest bidder, if they are still interested.

I think you are going to have to sew on the insides of the gusset, bending the other side away from the needlebar and face plate as you sew. Consider my suggestions about making a narrow presser foot set. You may need a third hand from a helper to bend the other side and push in on the bottom side and you guide the flange under the needle. If your work involved much wider gussets (4+ inches), you could sew along the outside surfaces. There simply isn't enough room with a 2" gusset (the end of the arm/shuttle is over 3.5" in diameter).

Here are some tips that might help you sew gussets. Use a double toe foot set. If the right was going to fall off, the left stays on. A 1/2 inch space should work fine. Get an extra outer foot and grind down the outsides of the toes to about 1/16" or less width. This lets you get closer to the inside of the shaped gusset. Get another right toe foot and grind it thin of the side. Get another inside foot and grind it down on the left side. This lets you sew very close to the left side of shaped cases and gussets. Align the feet so they almost touch on the right side of the inside foot. This reduces the track width required to keep them on the work. Use a roller edge guide and press the work tightly against it as you encounter these sharp turns. Use a 227 type machine to sew gussets, with #207 thread in the bobbin and on top (#24 needle). The bobbins won't hold much 207 thread, but you should be able to sew a couple of purse gussets per bobbin load. Use a narrow zipper foot set to get as close to the inside as possible. Ferg bought one just to sew gussets.

If you're ever in mid-Michigan, you're welcome to visit my leather shop, where my CB4500 lives. I'll be happy to show you how I adjust and operate my machine and how the optional attachments work. Take all the photos or video footage you want.

Are you referring to "Lax Wax?" This is made by Campbell-Bosworth, for use in their Union Lockstitch and Campbell-Randall needle and awl stitchers, or in shoe sole stitchers. I use it in my Union Lockstitch sometimes, when I use glazed linen thread. It hardens after sitting in the wax pot, so either use it regularly, or clean out the post before it congeals, when you are done using linen thread. Stick with Barbour's Irish Linen Thread, also sold by Campbell-Bosworth/Randall. Ii you do run liquid wax in a closed eye machine, do a thorough cleaning between uses. This includes opening up the hook, bobbin case and shuttle race, as well as all guides and tensioners.

I'll be headed to my shop in a while and will punch some 1" circles and see what it takes to get even stitches. I'll post results tonight.

You can learn more about patcher specifications on this web page.

Nope. That's the machine you need. They are made in two widths at the nose. The smaller one inch nose holds a tiny bobbin that is only good for small projects. The wider nose holds a bigger bobbin that can sew a couple of belts. This assumes you are using #69 thread. For extra strength use #92 thread. Don't try to sew with anything larger or the machine will develop problems quickly. Note, old patchers are often worn out in the feed mechanism under the head. If you can move the lifted presser foot 1/16 inch or more (fwd/bckwd), it is shot and the stitch length will be very short. I have seen patchers that barely sew 10 to the inch, due to completely worn out feed cams. Last, the maximum thickness that most Singer patches can sew in about 1/4 inch. The later models may eek out almost 5/16 inch, if everything is really tight. Stitch length diminishes above 1/8 inch, from the max of 5/inch.

Every shoe repair shop I have ever been in has one or more Singer patchers. They are used to repair torn shoe and boot uppers, as well as for sewing patches onto leather vests and vinyl jackets. Thus, many independent motorcycle shops that sell patches may also have a patcher on hand. Bob Kovar, of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has racks full of Singer patchers of every model. He always has a few set up and ready to go. Call him at 866-362-7397 during business hours, M-F and until about noon on Sat - EST.

Thanks for finding and linking to that thread. It saves me reposting the same photos. I'll look see if I took a shot of the mounting bracket position on the back of the head.

Thanks Tom. That skiver looks identical to the United Shoe Machinery Puma skiver I had. It used a 5/16" diameter round leather belt to couple the main shaft pulley to the stone drive pulley. The leather was cut to size and used a steel C clip to joint the ends. These leather belts are sold by the foot by almost all industrial sewing machi9ne dealers. Ask the dealer for a heavy duty steel clamp. Wrap the belt around the pulleys and mark where to cut it off. Punch small holes in the ends, about 5 mm in and clamp them together. Bend the ends of the clamp into the leather belting.

I think I have photos of the drop down guide in up and down positions. They are on my home computer, but I'm at the shop on my laptop now.

Wiz's 441 tips Always hold back the top and bottom threads, equally taut, for the first couple of stitches. This prevents thread from jamming in the shuttle, or under the leather. There is a presser foot pressure spring in the head, with a threaded adjuster on top of the head. If the leather lifts as the needle lifts, apply more spring pressure to keep the leather from lifting. This condition causes skipped stitches. Learn how to control the motor speed with your preferred foot. You can reduce the top speed of the motor by applying certain up/down button sequences. You should have received a pamphlet explaining this. If the machine shipped with #277 thread, learn to sew with that thread, using a #25 leather point needle. This thread is really too large for thin leather, like 8 ounces, but it is okay to learn on. Start with some strips and add layers every few inches. This will teach you how the feet walk over new layers and back down. It also shows you how the stitch length diminishes as you increase the thickness being sewn. The top thread tension is always tighter than the bobbin tension. Play with the top tension disk spring setting to see how changes impact the position of the knots. The bobbin case has a tension spring adjuster also, but, it is normally locked in place with a tiny set screw. Find and loosen that set screw a bit, then change the tension of the bobbin thread and see how this changes the position of knots and ease of feeding the material. A tight bobbin makes it harder to advance the leather. Loosen it too much and the knots will rise to the top, instead of inside the layers. The pedestal table height can be raised or lowered by loosening two heavy bolts in the slots of the column. If the starting height isn't where you like it, get someone to help you to lift the head off the table, then raise or lower it to a better height and lock it in. The belts need to be pretty tight if you intend to sew thick or dense leather. The first adjustment is on the motor itself, via two 15 mm nuts, above and below a movable arm on the front of the motor. This should be okay from the factory, but could change with use. Learn the affect that loosening and tightening the motor adjuster has on the operation of the machine. Ditto for the speed reducer, which is adjusted up and down by a single large bolt in a slot in the column it rides in. I usually leave the overall belt tension just a tad backed off, then spray the belts with belt no-slip out of a can from an auto parts store. This allows me to handwheel critical stitches and takes the load off all of the bearings in that part of the drive chain. The motor and speed reducer mounts are also movable laterally. Sometimes they are not mounted dead center of the pulleys and this causes unnecessary vibration from the belts moving sideways. Find and test the lateral adjustment of your motor and speed reducer, in relation to the motor pulley, speed pulleys and machine hand wheel pulley. BTW: The flywheel pulley faces out to the right, not toward the machine. It can be repositioned sideways on its shaft by loosening two bolts. It should line up with the small pulley on the speed reducer. If aligning these two causes the motor pulley to go out of alignment, move the motor by loosening three nuts on the bottom of the carriage bolts going through the table top and motor mounts. You may need to clamp the tops of the bolts with a vise grip to loosen and tighten the nuts for the motor. The machine arrived threaded. Memorize how it was threaded. Make sure that the top thread does not twist over itself and cause knots or binds on any posts or thread guides. Sudden knots on top of the leather are usually caused by top thread wrapping around something it should pass through, not wrap around. I hope these tips help you get started.

Basically, yes. However, a thin needle moving thick leather can bend or be held back slightly by the load. The mechanism would have to be very tight to avoid any change in stitch length over a large change in thickness.

Never heard of that brand. Please take some good close up photos of the affected pulleys and whatever is left of the original belts. We will try to Grok out a solution for you.

The pendulum effect is not just the needle bending. It also involves physics. There is more travel at the bottom than towards the top of a swinging pendulum. Thus, the needle swings longer at any stitch length setting at the flat throat plate level than 1/2 inch above it. A 12 ounce holster perimeter will have longer stitches than a 32 ounce side rib, unless you change the stitch lever setting. All common sewing machines use the pendulum needle bar system. However, there are a few non-standard machines available that have true square drive for the needle bar. These machines push and pull the needle bar along a straight horizontal line. My Union Lockstitch is such a machine. The Luberto Classic, based on the Number 9 machine is another. All of the Randall stitchers have square drive. I suppose the Landis 3 does also, but can't say for sure.

The shorter stitches happen due to the pendulum effect of the needle bar pivoting from the top. Only a square drive (e.g. Union Lockstitch, Campbell-Randall, or Luberto Classic) machine maintains semi-constant stitch length over wide changes in thickness. Even my Union Lockstitch has a slight variance in thick leather, if I am using a size 2.5 or smaller needle. The dang needle flexes under heavy loads, even though the parts moving it are on a square path.

Cut your losses and take the head to Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines for repairs and timing adjustments. Their address and phones are: 3631 Marine Rd, Toledo, OH 43609. Phone: 419-380-8540 in Toledo, or Toll Free at 866-362-7397

Make sure the new needle is the same type/system as the old one and that it is all the way up in the needlebar housing. Make sure there isn't any portion of the old needle stuck at the top of the mounting hole. This would lower the eye, throwing out the timing. In contrast, the impact may have moved your needlebar up, throwing out the timing the other direction.

Tighten down the pressure spring on top of the presser foot to obtain more positive drive. If you received a blanket feed dog (with teeth), try using it with the slick leather. Use the double toe harness foot for more distributed top pressure. Back off the top and bottom tensions (to match), to reduce thread drag. Check the position of the inside and outside feet as the stitch completes, the feeder lowers and the needle ascends. If there is too much free play the leather may be pulled back toward you before the outside foot secures it in place. This is user adjustable with the middle size Metric Allen wrench supplied by the dealer. The large crank on the back that feeds into the faceplate controls the vertical position of the inside foot. (See photo) (

Three causes come to mind: The top thread is caught in a guide, post, or stud along the path to the needle. The needle is way too large for the thread combination and is making too big of a hole. The bobbin thread has slipped out from the output guide in the bobbin case and has little or no tension.

Poor loop formation can be caused by early timing, coupled with a relocated needlebar to compensate. The hook passes the eye at a good height, but the shuttle driver may not be in the best position relative to the needle. To explain this mumbo-jumbo, with the throat plate off and the needle threaded, rotate the wheel until the hook is centered above the eye of the needle. Observe the bottom of the eye of the needle and bottom of the loop that is formed/forming. If the bottom of the eye is not in contact with the shuttle driver, the loop is suspended in thin air. There should be a tapered cut in the top of the shuttle driver, on the left side. This is a thread guide that pushes up on the thread coming out of the eye. Your goal is to reposition the height of the needle so that the bottom of the eye is on the way up, about 1/8 inch, as the point passes by the cutout over the eye and the bottom of the looping thread is just making contact with the cutout are in the shuttle driver. Once you find this happy place, tighten the needle bar and shuttle driver as much as possible. The next thing to adjust is the check spring. Too much travel, or too much spring tension causes the loop to dissolve as it is forming. That spring should move far enough to keep the top thread from forming loose loops on top, but not so far as to ruin the loop at the eye, as the hook meets it.