Wizcrafts

Most horse bridles measure about 3/8" to 1/2" at the folds over the squares and rings. 3/8 inch is the maximum sewing thickness for a Consew 206RB-5. Also, bridles, being thick and under a lot of stress, are usually sewn with bonded thread sizes 277 or 346, or 4 or 5 cord linen, run through a wax pot. These thread sizes are beyond the range handled by the Consew or Singer 99 you mentioned. Gun holsters can be sewn with #207 thread, minimum, for two layer pancake holsters. These usually max out at 1/4 inch to 5/16 inch, which is within the realm of the 206RB. You will have to use a #25 leather point needle to sew with #207 thread. Holsters with a filler welt are beyond the range of those machines and also require #277 or larger thread, which the Consew can't handle. I went through a dozen industrial sewing machines before I learned these free lessons. Save your money and the aggravation sure to come as you try to sew beyond a machine's capabilities. Prepare to spend between $1800 to $2500 for a machine that is capable of sewing heavy leather with thick thread.

PRICELESS!

Thank you for flipping the stitch length jpg right side up. Now I can read the columns without hanging from the ceiling.

Bob; You posted the scan upside down!

Polyester thread is often softer than the equivalent nylon thread. It may require altering the tensions along the top thread path. Also, the timing of the needle may be advanced or retarded, causing the softer thread's loop to be cut rather than picked up.

You'll need a quart of oil and a small precision oiler, lots of bobbins, an extra bobbin case and various leatherpoint needles. If you are getting the SewPro 500GR motor and will not need a speed reducer. It has 3:1 reduction built into the motor. There is a knob on the back of the motor housing that sets the limit on the top speed. You get lower speeds by easing on the speed pedal. There are myriads of presser feet available for this machine, but it normally comes with a double toe presser foot set. I would advise getting a set of left toe smooth bottom zipper feet, so you can sew close to the left edge and an adjustable edge guide. As you get used to the machine you can figure out what other feet will suit your work and ask for them.

If you can afford to buy a new machine, from one of our dealers, do so. When you encounter problems just pick up the phone and call the dealer. If you need help you will get it. If you need accessories they will have them. Many dealers give package deals on the initial purchase. You can load up on bobbins, needles, different presser feet and a binder in the size you require. Finally, if something really goes wrong, you can send the head back for servicing, or receive replacement parts and instructions for installing them yourself. One-stop shopping beats chasing parts down on the interwebs. Finally, the new machines are very well built.

Parts are very hard to find in good condition. Bob Kovar, owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, has some parts for these ancient beasts, as does Gregg, at Keystone Sewing. Needles may be the hardest parts to replace.

Steven; I find that using a single wrap around the bottom tension disk (not really a tension disk per say) allows the thread to feed much easier than a double wrap. I set the required tensions between the bobbin spring and first tension disk set. When I release the work with the foot lifter, I can pull the threads out very easily. Double wrapping the bottom disk makes it harder to pull the thread out. Furthermore, if you go through two holes in the top post, it is harder to pull the thread out. Black thread is springier than white thread and needs more TLC in the feed path.

If you don't care about reverse, a Singer 153w102 (or 103, or 104) walking foot machine should be good enough for your humble requirements. There is a discussion about this model on our forum, in this post. Expect to pay about $500 to $600, for a complete Singer 153, with clutch motor and table, thread stand, bobbin winder and flex-lamp. You may even find one that has been converted to use a servo motor, like the SewPro 500GR, with a knob on the back to limit its top speed. Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has them for sale (866-362-7397). As a reference, a brand new medium duty cylinder arm machine, similar to the Singer 153, but with reverse and a modern mechanism, sells for about $1600.

I had a Singer 132k6 for a short time, in the late 1980s. I appeared to be the end all machine when I bought it. It was not. The feed system was a large feed dog set, a fixed position needle and inside foot and a spring loaded moving outer foot. I found the spring foot unreliable for sewing slick leather (waxed, polished, glossy), as the spring foot would give up too soon and snap forward before the leather had moved all the way back (as per the feed dogs). The stitch length varied from very short to very long. Aside from the feed issues, the maximum thickness it could sew was 1/2 inch. It was able to use #346 thread, going through a #26 needle. The maximum stitch length was 1/2 inch. In my opinion, a Singer 132k6 is best suited to sewing buffing wheels, car wash drying cloths, sails, tarps, parachutes, webbing straps and tow ropes, and items of this nature.

Here is another adjustment that really matters. The distance of the blade to the presser foot matters a lot. When skiving thin leather the blade must be much closer to the foot than when skiving veg-tan or sole leather. If the blade is moved too close to the foot, the leather may get forced under the blade, or completely cut off. If it is too far away, there will be a lump of full thickness before the skiving begins. So, for 4 ounce chap or shoe upper leather, keep the blade within about 1/16" of the business end of the foot. When skiving thick, dense leathers, move it way accordingly, to avoid bogging down the feed, or motor. You need as much a 1/4" distance to skive soles properly. The foot can be angled to cause a lap skive to occur. Here's how... Set the foot's angle screw upwards, so that the rear portion of the foot is level with the top of the blade, but the front is raised the thickness of the leather being skived. Set the depth guide backwards to the place where the foot is about level with the blade. Run a test strip. Adjust the foot height up or down to control the feathering and the depth guide for the length of the lap skive. Using this method you can create a perfect lap skive to blend two layers together, or to install new soles onto shoes. Finally, learn to use the grinding stone and polishing wheel to keep the blade razor sharp, without any nicks on the top or bottom. A badly sharpened blade causes bad cuts.

Those numbers specify a needle system, not the diameter of the working shaft or eye. Therefore, no thread range is to be gleaned from these numbers. However, if one has needles in any or all of these systems, a # 16 (metric 100) or #18 (metric 110) needle accommodates #69 thread. A #22 or #23 needle fits #138 thread.

Like Art described, I use poor man's reverse sometimes: a 180 degree turn.

For the hell of it, last night I sewed all the way around a leg cuff remnant from a pair of black jeans I shortened a while ago. I did this on my CB4500, with a #23 needle and Weaver #138 thread. The stitches were perfect on both sides and the Cowboy had no trouble walking over the big seams on the sides of the cuff. I had already set the machine up to sew with #138 thread for a run of wholesale guitar straps. I had to back off the top tension and only go through one hole in the top post, then increase the bobbin tension a bit to pull the knots well inside the leather. So, yes, the 441 clone machines can be used for lighter work, with smaller needles and thread and some tweaking of the thread path. There is still the humongous feed dog and throat plate slot to deal with, but I am going to have a narrow set milled at a machine shop.

Just go through one hole in the top post. And fix that thread cup on the stand. They should both be horizontal with spools in place. I wrap my thread around the three holes in the guide above the tension disks. You seem to have daisy wired it in and out. If the lift mechanism fails to release the tension disks, unscrew the nut until it barely applies pressure. Does the lifter now separate the disks? Yes > you had too much top and bottom tension. Loosen the bobbin spring so you can keep the top spring backed off some. No > loosen the set screw on the right side of the body for the top tension assembly. Push the tensioner assembly inward and tighten the set screw. If reseating the tensioner fails to cause the disks to separate, the problem may be a worn, or misaligned push rod actuator. Remove the tensioner assembly completely and see if the thin rod in the center protrudes at least 1/16" beyond the back. If not, see if the retainer plate can be forced inward in the middle area. You must have some rod protruding out the back in order to have the disks separate. If the rod stitcks out enough but fails to separate the disks, follow the path backwards to the lift lever. See if any parts or bent out of shape or loose. You can replace any worn or bent parts, or the tensioner assembly, to restore normal operation of the lifter and tension release functions. The parts are definitely under one thousand dollars.

How about using bicycle sprockets and a chain to drive the machine from the small motor?

Congrats! Now all you have to do is find some needles for it. Try Henry Veenhoven, at the number I posted earlier in this thread.

Guitar cases are sewn on a Puritan chain stitch machine...period. They use waxed linen thread that lasts a century. Puritans are available in different height posts, to accommodate anything from a briefcase or rifle case to a golf bag.

Once you install the heavy thread tensioner beehive spring you will have to back it almost all the way off to sew with thinner thread, or into thin work. The coils are almost twice the diameter and strength of an upholstery spring. If the beehive extends all the way to the end of the threaded shaft, it will need to be replaced with the stock spring for lighter thread. If you also replace the top pressure spring with a heavy coil spring, it also may need to be backed almost all the way off. The heavier pressure spring would only be needed if the leather lifts with the needle, even after you crank the adjuster all the way down. The heavy coils exert about double the force of standard springs. Clone brands The best currently supported clone brands of the Juki and Adler machines are Cowboy, Cobra and Techsew. There are other dealers selling similar machines, under various names. It is all up to the dealers to make the Chinese machines work properly, before shipping them to buyers. Clones off the ship are like a box of chocolates: ya don't know what yer gonna ge-et. The dealers who advertise on this forum are accountable for the new sewing machines they sell. They will not leave a buyer stuck with a problem without trying their utmost to help fix it. After sale support is one thing you can count on if you buy from one of our member dealers. I cannot speak for eBay sellers. If you buy a used machine privately, you alone are responsible for getting it fixed. Try to buy more machine than you need right now. If you expect to sew 3/8 inch regularly, buy one that sews thicker (over 1/2"), out of the box. If you will be happy to compromise and use #207 thread, buy a machine that can handle #346 thread; it will loaf along with #207. While a lesser machine will get you sewing today, you'll probably outgrow it tomorrow (as a leather crafter). Then, you'll have to try to sell it for the best price you can get to buy the machine you really should have bought on day one.

I left out one category of machine that may be of interest to you. It is the Cowboy CB2500, also known as the GA5-1 type machine. It sews 7/16 inch all day, with #346 thread. The bobbins are almost as large as the super heavy "441" clones, and the needles are a little shorter. The feed is bottom only and the teeth will leave marks that must be dealt with. Typically, these machines go for about $1400 to $1500, depending on what accessories ship with them.

These machines both use system 135x16 (leather) and 135x17 (cloth) needles. While the 255 has higher lift than the older 206 models, it can't sew any thicker than 3/8 inch. The stroke of the needle determines this factor. System 135x needles are available in sizes up to #200 (Singer #25). This needle can pass #207 thread, but the machine itself may or may not tension it properly. It would need to be equipped with heavy duty tension and pressure springs to sew with #207 thread. The bobbin loads will not sew for long with such thick thread. If you want to use a flat bed walking foot machine to sew thick leather, with heavy thread, look at the Juki LU-1508NH and its clones. This machine uses a longer needle system, allowing it to sew up to 7/16 inch, with #207 thread top and bottom. The bobbins are even larger than the large M bobbins used in upholstery machines, like the Consew 206 and 255 types. The back of the head is cut out higher to allow for higher lifting of the feet. There are Chinese equivalents to the Juki 1508 which sell for about 60% of the price. Finally, there are super heavy duty leather sewing machines, based on the Juki TSC 441 type, both flat bed and cylinder arm, which sew over 3/4 inch, with up to #415 thread, using up to a #28 needle. These machines have cylindrical bobbins that hold a lot of thread, and extremely heavy springs and take-up parts. With massive bearings and gears, these real leather stitchers can last a lifetime, as long as you oil them regularly.

The main differences between cloth and leather sewing machines are the feed system, take-up mechanism, tensioners, pressure spring(s), bobbin size, stitch length, oiling system and size of the gears and bearings. There are self oiling high speed machines that run out of oil at critical points when operated with slow speed servo motors.These machines have an oil pump that is designed to be spun at a certain RPM and above. Slow speed motors used in leather work don't create enough oil pressure to feed oil to all of the extremities. Garment quality industrial machines have thin take-up levers and connecting rods, keeping the weight down in the head for higher speed operation. They also have vertical axis bobbins, which support higher speeds.

There are several machine dealers who still have Linhanyl thread on hand. However, when a size and color is sold out it cannot be replaced.

Henry Veenhoven, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the only known source of parts for these ancient machines, in North America. Last known number is: 416-231-1870. I understand that finding new curved needles for these sole stitchers is like finding needles in haystacks. The only thing that you can sew with that machine, assuming it works and has a needle in it, are the soles of shoes, or the perimeter of a knife sheath, or other case, at least a quarter inch thick. It may even be a Junker and Ruh machine.