Wizcrafts

You should be using leather point needles. Increase the inside (if exists) and outside foot spring pressures until the lifting of leather is curtailed.

Jim, thanks for that explanation about altering stainless feet. I did a little sanding on my right toe foot and have ground down and polished a couple of my throat plates. It's good to know that this doesn't change the stainless properties. I intend to have some custom feet made to sew particular jobs and they will be cut from stainless steel also. I like the looks of chrome, but hate it when it starts to chip off. I was using the roller edge guide on my friend's Class 4 and the guide hit the right toe on an upstroke and chrome began flaking off of the roller. A stainless roller wouldn't have been damaged, or, could have just been buffed smooth.

I own a Cowboy CB4500 and am totally pleased with it. It sews just about anything I throw at it. I got mine with the full accessory pack and am glad I did. I was previously sewing for a friend, on his Cobra Class 4 and it is also a fine machine. These 441 clone machines are quite similar. The differences are in how the dealers set them up and adjust them and what you get with the machine. The Cowboy machines come with stainless steel feet and throat plates, allowing you to sew wet leather without discoloring it.

Back off your bobbin tension until it has a light but smooth pull. Back off the top disk tensions to get the knots right. Try using a #24 leather point needle.

I don't know. Why don't you call Bob Kovar and ask him? 866-362-7397.

Why don't you order your needles from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines? They have virtually every available system in stock. If not, they can usually get them.

A year ago, Art mentioned an SCR controlled servo motor that has full power at the slowest speeds, as well as at full speed. It is (made/marketed) by Sailrite. If you visit sailrite.com you will find a video demo of the MC-SCR motor in action.

I run all my top thread through the lube pot on top of my machine. I keep liquid silicon in it. The pot came with my machine (Cowboy CB4500) and the silicon lube came from Toledo Industrial. It doesn't mark the leather.

Black thread tends to be stiffer than white thread, affecting the position of the knots. Springy black thread tends to twist around posts, disks and thread guides, throwing off your tension settings. Smaller needles make smaller holes, increasing the tension needed to pull the knots up. You can rule your black thread in or out by replacing it with white thread of the same size, on top. If you find that white thread is better controlled, your alternatives are to use pre-lubricated black thread, and/or to run it through a lube pot filled with silicon or industrial sewing machine oil.

I suppose that the stirrup, or holster plates would let him get in close to the edge being sewn, but, the opposite side and its protruding 1/2 inch flange will be hitting the bobbin cover plate on the shuttle housing. This assumes sewing from the outside towards the gusset, rather than from inside the gusset. Flexibility of the purse will determine if the opposite side can be pushed out of the way enough to allow the sewn side to advance evenly.

I think what my associates are referring to is the Toledo Sew Slow, formerly called the Sew Pro 500GR, servo motor. It has a speed limiter knob on the back and a 2" pulley. The motor should bolt into the same three holes left from the clutch cargo motor. It has its own switch box, wires and cable cinches. I have two of them and love their wide slow to high speed range. What they also failed to mention, to somebody unfamiliar with who Bob Kovar is, is that he owns Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. The toll free number is 866-362-7397, during normal business hours, Eastern Time Zone. That's all I have to say about tha-at

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.