Wizcrafts

I would wait and buy one with reverse. The machine only has a 10.5" depth inside the body. If you are sewing a long Western holster, or a large strap with inside stitching designs, you'll need more room to turn it around to lock stitches. OTOH, if you only expect to sew along the edges, in one direction, reverse isn't required. In this case, sew over the starting stitched for a few stitches, then cut the thread and burn the ends into the holes.

Liberty; You are going to want to curtail your search to a triple feed walking foot machine, with a large bobbin, capable of sewing 3/8 inch with #138 thread, or even #207. This is the minimum requirement for the projects you have stated as in your plans. The Juki you are looking into is not that type of machine. A Juki 1541 or 1508 is.

I got one with my CB4500. Call Bob and order the flat, slotted throat plate. You need to unscrew the feeder to install that plate. Note the height of the raised dog in the standard plate and return it to that position when you reinstall it and the standard plate.

In such cases, I remove the feed dog and replace the standard plate with the narrow slotted plate. Since reverse depends on the feed dog, use the poor man's reverse when using a slotted plate and no feeder.

It converts to a double feed machine, using the needle and inner presser foot to move the material. Note, without the feed dog reverse stitching will probably not hit the same holes anymore. If a perfect backtack is required, spin the work 180 degrees.

It's a WhoFlungDung motor.

With either a stirrup or holster plate and no feed dog. Both are raised almost a half inch above the standard top of a throat plate. This allows dee rings and buckles to pass on one side or the other,as you sew.

Try using contact cement, or double sided leather tape, to hold the side pieces in alignment. Bend the wallet sharply as you come to the middle area. Better yet, install your stirrup throat plate, if you have one, and bend the wallet around it as you sew. This will give it natural stretch. If you didn't get the stirrup plate with your machine you can order it now.

My take on this is as follows: A tailor's machine is almost always a class 15 machine. My Dad had a Singer 31-15. The local tailor shop in Flint uses a Singer 31-15. I started with a 96K40, but now have a 31-15 for alterations, plus an actual class 15: a Singer 15-91. Most tailoring machines use the class 15 horizontal axis oscillating shuttle, bobbin and bobbin case system, as opposed to the class 66 home machine - drop-in caseless bobbin system. A 441 and Adler 205 is based loosely on the class 15 setup, just bigger all around. So, if a new sewer can learn on a mechanical Singer or equivalent class 15 machine, they will be closer to understanding how a 441 threads and operates than if they learn on a pushbutton, or touch pad class 66 machine (with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the the back of the cover ;-). All of the above is just my opinion. Some of you guys and gals may know tailors who use a drop-in bobbin machine with a vertical axis bobbin system. Back in the day, when I worked for an industrial sewing machine dealer, I was sent out to deliver some machines, which in one case involved demonstrating how to operate, adjust and maintain the machine to a first time sewer. I imagine that it would be possible to pay extra when buying a machine to have it delivered and demonstrated on your premises. Or, if a buyer could travel to the dealer's location, they could receive instructions before taking the machine home. There are YouTube videos demonstrating various leather sewing machines, including most 441 clones. That's a lot cheaper than paying extra for personal delivery or pickup. Check around your general area for other leather crafters who may own a 441 type machine. They may be willing to show you the ropes.

Doug; Locate and check any motor circuit fuses, including any in the switch box. Did you buy your motor from one of our dealers, no more than 365 days ago?

The Boss is entirely designed to be hand operated. If you intend to motorize that hand operated machine, be sure to replace the zinc gears with gears milled from good steel. Also, you may need to replace the bearings with better quality ones with grease fittings. The parts in the machine are not designed for continuous rotational use, or motor drive operation.

I believe that was has happened is that you purchased your machine from a drop shipper, who received it from China. This means you are not entitled to free support from the authorized UK distributor, whom you bypassed. You may need to contact the person from whom you purchased the machine to see what support they are able to offer to you. Otherwise, you are on your own and must deal with whomever is willing to sell you parts, or supply assistance on a paid basis.

I am going to answer the part of your question I made bold and italicized Sewing 101 sounds to me like a beginners class about how to operate a flat bed home sewing machine.This would include threading the top and loading the bobbin, controlling the material and foot speed controller pedal, choosing and changing needles, threading the needle, changing stitch styles, length and width, and adjusting tensions and pressures for different thicknesses of cloth. They usually do these classes on a type of machine that is sold in places like Joann Fabrics, or a Singer store, which might weigh about 15 pounds and be made of white plastic, and which contains rows of push buttons to change stitch types. The thread used in these machines is common cotton or polyester soft wound, with two or three thin strands twisted together, and is sewn using a needle size 11 to 14. The machine will typically have a capacity under the lowered foot of about 5/16 inch, maximum. The largest needle it will probably accept may be a #18 to #20. The thickest thread it can tension may be only #69 bonded nylon, if that. Finally, it will only have bottom feed. If you try to sew 3 layers of leather on such a machine you will destroy it. A 441 is a Juki cylinder arm machine with a sewing capacity of at least 3/4 inch of leather. It uses needles starting with size 19, going up to a #27 or larger. Their thread handling capacity ranges from #92 through #415. The motors are usually 3/4 horsepower servo motors, but sometimes they ship with clutch motors. All have speed reducers to triple the torque and reduce the top speed. A 441 clone is a copy of the Japanese Juki TSC 441, with improved specs. A 441 or clone has a walking foot triple feed system, where the needle, inside foot and feed dog all move in concert, while the outside foot lifts during needle's feed motion and lowers to secure the work between stitches. These machines are made of cast iron and steel and weigh over 125 pounds for just the head, not to mention the pedestal table, with its large motor, they are bolted onto. It is highly unlikely that the people teaching a sewing 101 class anywhere have ever seen or even heard of a 441 or clone. They may have no knowledge or experience running a triple feed walking foot machine. The machines they use cannot sew 34 ounces of leather, no way, no how. Nor can they sew 3/8 inch. They cannot use thick bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread, like the common size 277 used by most of us with a 441 clone, which calls for a #25 leather point needle. You are going to have to learn to sew with a 441 clone on your own, or attend a show where our dealers have their machines set up to demo, or travel to a dealer's store and receive some instructions there, on the machine you are purchasing. There are online videos on YouTube and some dealers supply a DVD that shows you how to thread, adjust, oil and change needles, bobbins and top thread, as well as how to adjust the top speed of the motor that shipped with it.

I have a 1942 White Rotary Imperial in mint condition. It uses up to #69 bonded nylon thread and has double-size bobbins. The needles are typical home machine needles, threaded front to back, and the motor drives the machine via a rubber pulley on the motor shaft, riding against the handwheel, turning it clockwise.

I entirely missed that point Cheryl. You are 1200% correct. The O.P. isn't interested in the model number, but wants us to name the machine. Okay, i'll byte ;-) The machine in the picture is Algernon Horatio Albatross III

It looks like a Model 12 or 13. I'd have to see the front to be sure. This will make a nice restoration project for the owner.

What you don't know is that these brushless servo motors are controlled by an LDR module, using an LED as the source and a 1/2 inch wide piece of thin steel pivoting on the inside of the actuator lever shaft to break the beam. The steel light brake moves between the LED and the LDR, which has an aperture of about 1/8 inch. It doesn't take much movement to block the LDR. The LDRs being used must have a wide range of tolerance, like 25% or worse, because some motors are easily controllable at slow speeds and others have a hair trigger, from off to full on. The inside movable baffle is set so that it is normally not blocking the LED from striking the LDR. In the case of the motor I tested a month ago, it didn't even take 50% blockage of the LDR opening to go to full speed. That means it went from 0 to 3600+ rpm within about 1/16 inch of motion inside the box, on a 2 inch long baffle. This translated to about 1/8 to 3/16 inch motion at the outside speed lever hole, which is about 4 inches from the main shaft. For these motors to be able to be controllable by anybody with less than perfectly steady feet, the LDR should allow the baffle to affect the resistance over the entire range of its aperture, not just the first half. Also, the aperture could benefit from being a slot, rather than round; say 3/16 to 1/4 inch wide by 1/8 inch high. A matching wider LED source would help, as would a graduated gray scale light baffle, made of high-impact plastic, rather than sheet metal. So, the slow speed controllability of your motor is dependent on the taper of the LDR module, as well as a couple of resistors, and how close they are to design specs. There are no trimpots visible on the circuit board that the LDR plugs into. It is all or nothing.

As far as I am aware, it is just a stop screw and guide for the pressure spring and has no adjustment value.

Doug; The presser foot pressure spring adjuster is on top of the spring shaft and the plate that eventually lifts the tension disk cup. There should be a round thumb adjuster on top that you can turn one way or the tudder

The screw at the bottom of the spring stops the spring from falling off the shaft and keeps it centered in the vertical slot in the lower section. It is both a stop screw and guide. If that screw is removed, the pressure spring will not exert any pressure on the presser foot. Adjust the wing nut height brackets for maximum foot lift as the machine sews. Do not waste time trying to adjust it with the foot lifted and locked in the up position. For the longest stitches, at any given thickness, lower the stitch regulator all the way down, with the foot lifted and locked in the up position. Since this is the highest vertical position the foot can achieve, setting the stitch length puck until it is just touching the fully raised foot ensures that you will get all the stitch length your machine's possibly worn parts can give. If, after you set the foot lift to maximum during stitching, and the stitch length regulator is all the way down (to a raised foot), the best you can get is less than 6 stitches per inch, into 8 ounces of leather, consider the feed mechanism to be shot. Also, there must be spring pressure on the foot to cause it to pull the leather back to form stitches. Too little foot pressure causes a failure to feed. A properly adjusted patcher, with a tight feed mechanism should give 5 stitches per inch into 8 ounces of leather. My machine has very tight clearances and gets 5 per inch into a quarter inch of leather. This does not apply to the original 29-3 or 29-4 models, or the early 29k models with a leaf springs. I am referring to the 29Ks that have a coil spring for the foot pressure. The old leaf spring models have a different method of lifting the foot during sewing. However, the stitch length adjuster is the same on all models.

You can adjust the raised position of the tension release plate via the nuts over and under the back side of the plate. These (5/8") nuts are on a threaded shaft that is behind the presser foot spring. With the lift lever and presser foot fully raised, loosen the top nut, then raise the one under the plate until the hollowed tension spring cup raises off the tension disk a smidgen. Then tighten the upper nut to secure this position. Once properly adjusted, when you lift the presser foot lever all the way, the tension should be removed from the upper tension disks, allowing the thread to move freely.

I recently removed the feed dog (Who let the Dogs Out?) from my CB4500 (a 441 clone). Initially, I used the flat, slotted throat plate, which works fine, except that reverse no longer matches forward when I throw the lever up to its stop. Along came an upholstery job, with some intricate turns and corners, so I changed to the curved stirrup plate. Seeing as how the top of the plate is alomost a half inch higher than the flat one, I increased the top tension disk pressure. After a few adjustments, I got the knots balanced in the leather seat cover and piping. Again, forward and reverse did not match. To compensate, I manually feathered the reverse position to make those few backtack stitches go into the previous holes When the sharp turns were sewn, I changed to the holster plate, which gives more surface under the presser foot. It is about the same height as the stirrup plate and the tensions set worked as before. A few days ago I decided to push my machine to its other limits: sewing with #92 thread into thin leather. The holster plate was still installed from the upholstery job. To my dismay, the top thread kept getting jammed in the shuttle race. After dinking with various settings, I gave up and removed that plate, reinstalling the flat slotted plate. The machine instantly began sewing properly! Apparently, the geometry of the raised plates alters the patch the top thread follows to the bobbin case. When the plate is high up, the thread forms a loop that gets caught between the shuttle and the shuttle race. Lowering the throat plate changed the geometry to allow the thread to be pulled around the bobbin case, as it normally is. These problems were not present when I was sewing with #138 thread. They only manifested themselves when I switched to #92 (and #69) thread. As for foot pressure, I always back it off to the minimum required to hold down the material (I don't just sew leather on this machine). Less pressure = less pounding and easier feeding, when the feed dogs are let out (who? who?). IHTH.

Doug; Based on your description of the stitch length, the feed mechanism may be worn out. This involves the parts the are mounted into the bottom of the head, including the rotating ring. The foot lift is adjustable. The maximum lift should be about 5/16 inch. If you have set the lifter to the high position, yet the foot cannot make it to 5/16 inch, back off the top tension disk nut. If it is too far down the lifter is obstructed. The hand lifter raises the foot and releases the tension disks. The same shaft is on the presser foot. Its maximum lift should be just under the position where spring tension is affected. If the top tension spring is screwed down too far, this action cannot happen properly. If you need parts, you can buy them from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, who stock all available replacement parts for patchers. If you need a parts manual, request one to be emailed to you, like I did.

Thanks Sylvia

Thanks Cheryl. I appreciate the kind words.