Wizcrafts

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.

I enjoy our chats also. But, today isn't a good day for me to argue. I just lost one very good friend this afternoon and another is in critical condition in a hospital with colon cancer.

DC, you can use whatever machines you want, within their capacities and limitations. I have 11 sewing machines, between home and industrial. I don't try to sew leather with my 1916 Singer 66-1 and conversely, I don't try to sew shirts and stuffed animals with my Cowboy CB4500. Different machines have different mechanisms, strengths and weaknesses. You are willing and able to push your classic household machines to their ultimate limits, confident that if something breaks, you can fix it. Most of the folks who are doing leather sewing on this forum and asking about leather sewing machines, are first time machine sewers. They often have no background in repairing or adjusting sewing machines. When they do invest in a leather stitcher, most want one that will exceed their current requirements, rather than barely meet them. They don't want to have to fight with a feed system, or cut back to a smaller size of thread, because their machine isn't capable of handling the type of leather, thickness, or thread size they prefer to use. That is what drove me to seek and obtain bigger and better sewing machines, after beginning with a Singer 96k40 straight stitch, no-reverse tailoring machine. Please don't take my comments about old iron personally. I admire what you are doing with these machines. If you are able to sew your guitar straps on a model 28 hand-crank unit, that's great! I just prefer to use a servo motor equipped walking foot machine, with #138 or #207 thread, when I sew guitar straps and rifle slings. My smallest needle is a #23 when sewing these jobs. My big needle on a household machine is a #18, with #69 thread. Where there is a difference, viva la difference!

I should have clarified what I meant by "old Singer iron." I was referring to old household style machines, line my 15-91 and model 66-1

You could have just dipped liquid, hardening tool coating into the teeth to fill the gaps. I use Tool Magic, available from craft stores. When it wears off I redip the parts.

That's a nice machine DC. Maybe someday you'll join the big dogs and get a heavy leather stitcher. They are like night and day, compared to old small iron. I know, I have both kinds of machines. It's nice to have beautiful old machines to look at and see how thick they will sew. But, they are unlike the 441 clones, or a Union Lockstitch machine. With old Singer iron, one maxes out at about 5/16 inch and #69 thread. With a 441 clone, one maxes out at 7/8 inch and #415 thread. Yet, just tonight I was able to rethread my Cowboy CB4500 with #92 thread and sew some seed-beaded bracelets together. It was tricky, but it did the job. I have other machines better suited to this kind of gentle work, buy I like pushing my machines both ways. In fact, I sometimes sew beaded work on my 1916 Class 66.

My solution, back when, was to purchase a Union Lockstitch machine. Lacking any feed dog, having a jump foot and needle feed, it did the trick for giving a finished result on both sides, with the thickest thread available at the time (#554). I'm now on my second ULS, which I am trying to sell to raise money to fix my car for an extended trip to Lompock and Azzuza. My Cowboy CB4500 (a 441 clone) has taken over the job of heavy sewing, with #277 or #346 thread, so I don't need that harness machine anymore.

I have promoted these machines in the past, for middle weight sewing, to people lacking the funds to buy a 441 clone, or better machine. When I got into leatherwork and sewing, in the mid-1980s, the Juki 441 hadn't been released yet. The Adler 205 had just arrived, but very few companies could afford the steep price tag. So, I made do with machines, like the Singer 45K, with a roller on top and feed dog on the bottom. After sewing items together, I used a modeling spoon, or slicker, or Cobbler's hammer to smooth out the tooth and pucker marks. I don't recall hearing any customers complain about tooth marks or needle puckers on the back. Some users of the CB2500 and GA5-1 will lay the sewn piece on a clean steel bar, place another clean steel bar on top, then pound with a mallet until the marks are subdued. If you are sewing harness or bridle leather it is much easier to rub out marks and puckers. For those who are able to purchase a 441 clone, like the ones that Techsew Ronnie, Cowboy Bob and Cobra Steve sell, these are better machines for sewing 1/2 inch, or more. They have greater capacity for thicker materials and heavier pressure springs. Having two feet splits the load across a wider path, as the needle ascends. The inside foot is directly over the stitch line and needle and exerts pressure where is really needs to be. Bottom feeders may have a split toe foot, or single toe, but there is always a gap between the toe and the needle. That gap is where the failure to hold down the work can occur. On the other hand (she wore a glove!), if you mainly sew things ranging from 3/8 inch up to 7/16 inch, a GA5-1R, or CB2500 may serve you well. If your straps are lined with suede, nobody will notice the tracks on the bottom. There may be a noticeable path on top, depending on how much you crank down the presser foot spring. Finally, these middle weight bottom feeders are not geared towards light weight sewing. The needles are not normally stocked in smaller sizes required to sew with light thread. Who wants to use a #23 needle to sew with #69 thread? Nobody! The holes will be ginormous! But, if your work is mostly with #138 through #346 thread, and is usually between 3/8 to 7/16 inch, these machines may be right for you. You can probably raise the foot to sew 1/2 inch, but the pressure spring may not be able to hold down the leather as the needle ascends. I know some forum members have bought GA5-1R machines from Ronnie and CB2500s from Bob. Maybe some of them will read this and talk about their opinions of those machines, and the work they are doing with them.

Definitely contact Nick-O Sewing since they are in your State. Otherwise, Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines services all makes and models, including Singer industrial sewing machines. Their number is 866-362-7397

Yes, assuming it does sew properly, without any binding or grinding. Try it before you buy it. These are very old machines. If they have extra needles, bobbin cases and thread, so much the better. However, this is going to be a very old machine, possibly with an equally old clutch motor. If the clutch grabs, or never fully releases, it will need to be rebuilt or replaced. That will reduce the value of the machine by about $100. Wink wink, nudge nudge, sai no more!

Here is a photo of the flywheel on my Union Lockstitch Machine. This 60+ pound, two part clutch/flywheel flywheel really smooths out its operation. Here is a photo of my Cowboy CB4500, showing how huge its 30+ pound flywheel is. Both of these machines have incredible punching power at very slow speeds. Their smooth slow speed operating capabilities are due in large part to these humongous flywheels, as well as the incredibly big take-up parts, shafts and bearings. Everything on them is super-sized, so that they can use very heavy thread, very large needles and very thick leather.

Try to ascertain if the pump works as the machine spins. If so, tilt the head back on its hinges and pour a liter of oil into the oil pan. Try to sew at at least 1500 rpm to maintain good pump pressure to distribute the oil to all extremities of the wicks and tubes. These machines may stop pumping needed oil at slower speeds (like 1000 rpm or less). Self oiling, pump equipped machines do not operate properly at slower leather work speeds.

You're welcome! The cutout tapered area on the shuttle driver points the loop up on the right side of the needle, just before the hook arrives. One can advance or retard the arrival of the shuttle driver and hook to fine tune the timing, as per your sewing requirements and techniques. If the machine was sold setup for a #27 needle to clear the hook, but you are using a #20 needle with #92 thread, you may need to change the timing to get enough loop for the hook to catch as it passes by with more lateral clearance than is optimum..

Please take a look at this thread and needle size chart on the Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines website.