Wizcrafts

To swap out feed dogs on your Singer 211, open the left sliding cover a bit, then use a long flat bade screw driver to unscrew the throat plate screws. Remove the throat plate and the feed dog and its screws will be exposed. Use a narrow magnetized blade screw driver to remove the screws. Install the new feed dog, centering it as you tighten the two screws. When you go to replace the throat plate, turn the bobbin case if necessary to place the tab into its locking position under the plate. There is a short metal frame under the right side of the plate that lets the bobbin case rotate a degree or two as the top thread gets picked off the needle and goes around the bobbin case. The tab must move freely inside the little frame. Once this is set, install the countersunk screws to secure the throat plate. The bobbin case tab motion is controlled by an adjustable metal arm known as the opener. It is set to pull the bobbin case back then release it to let the top thread enter and exit without binding.

Gun belts with bullet loops sewn on using a zig zag pattern need the extra space inside the body. Sewing the lower part of some bags requires more space on the right. Sewing any large and wide items the have to be turned and sewn around all side do better when there is more space on the right, Gun pouches that open like a butterfly are best sewn on a long arm machine.Western holsters need the extra length to avoid folding them in the wrong place to turn them around when sewing in a lining. These are just some of the items I have sewn on my CB4500, with its 16 inch long arm. There are times when I wish I had been able to get the 5500 with its 25 inch arm. Would I take a 3500 as an additional machine? Yes. Would I buy one as my only heavy stitcher if I could choose a longer arm? NO!

Why bother to upgrade the motor if you intend to sell this serger? Sergers are usually run fast if the operator is comfortable with the machine. Clutch motors can easily be adjusted so they can be feathered to sew slowly around turns and corners. If the serge spacing is close, you can operate at high speed with a fair degree of accuracy. Now, if there is anything wrong with the clutch motor, replace it. Clutch motors usually cost less to buy, but more to ship, due to their weight. If you decide to keep the serger, and if the cost of electricity is an issue, switching to a servo motor will save money on the electric bill. It will be easier to feather at slow speed, but should still be able to drive the machine at high speed on the straightaways. Just don't order a servo with a tiny pulley or you will lose to top speed range.

Wait, WHAT? You're going to pass on a real patcher and a deli pastrami sammich? No soup for you!

First of all, get some #23 leather point needles if you are going to use #138 thread on the top and bobbin. A #21 needle hole is simply too small of a hole to pull #138 knots up in veg tan leather. Second, after installing a #23 needle, if the knots are still at the bottom, loosen the bobbin tension spring until it only exerts a slight back tension on the bobbin thread. Try reversing the direction the bobbin feeds the spring as one direction will be a smooth pull. If the top beehive spring can't be backed off with centered knots, buy a heavy duty tension spring. @CowboyBob has them in stock, or did.

That bobbin is twice the inside capacity of my Adler patcher large bobbin. it is about 5.5mm inside depth, 6mm outside depth and 2cm wide.

I buy supplies and leather belt strips from ZachWhite. Also, they make black leather balm I like to spread onto black dyed holsters, then buff.

Spend the money on the cases. You don't want parts flying off from vibration.

Okay, thanks Folker. Still, the shuttle sure looks like the one in my Adler 30-7. I think it will help if the O.P. can take the bobbin out and place it by a ruler so we can see the diameter and depth. Also, he could remove the needle and tell us what number is printed on the shank. It looks like a really large needle.

This model is from the turn of the 20th Century. It is probably similar to a Singer class 17 in capacity. This would mean it is best used with thread sizes up to #138, using needle sizes up to #23. That combination is okay for sewing 10 to 12 ounces (~ 4mm) thickness of leather. If that machine can actually clear and sew 12mm, you would need to use #277 thread to properly hold it together if it was under any stress. I doubt that it can handle anything even close to that size thread. Looking at the shuttle and bobbin, it looks like a large 29k72 patcher set. I have an Adler patcher that uses the large Singer shuttles. They have half the capacity of a standard G size bobbin that is used in the Singer 111 series walking foot machines. The timing has to be done under the head. There are two screws securing the hook to the gear that drives it. Maybe some of those screws came loose after a thread jam and retarded it out of time. I watched the lest video and the timing is late. The hook needs to be advanced so that it intersects the needle in the scarf area, 2mm above the top of the needle's eye. Also, you need to hold onto the top thread, or both threads, when you start trying to sew, or to bring up the bobbin thread.

It's probably not threaded correctly on top. I've seen machines where the owner forgot to feed the top thread through the take-up lever. They never pick up the bobbin thread with the take-up lever pulling the top thread back up. Also, I can't tell if the thread is actually going through the needle in the video!

I got all available accessories at the same time as my Cowboy CB4500, from @CowboyBob Bob Kovar, back in 2011. I added the inline feet twice when they became available. I bought specialty feet from @Cobra Steve. Then I got the narrow throat plate/feed dog sets from @RockyAussie and @Patrick1. As new accessories are offered for my machine I will probably buy them.

I want to let you guys know that I got a new category added to our Marketplace, for "Sewing Machine Accessories" for sale, or that you might want to buy. Hopefully, our members will start posting items they have or make that will be of use to owners of various types of leather sewing machines.

His handle here is @CowboyBob The toll free landline for his business is: 866-362-7397

@Quade, there is only System 135x16 or 135x17. There is no long or short variation. The description "long" might mean longer than tailoring needles, which they are.

About 12 years ago a friend of mine bought a Class 4 machine with the accessories package for his leather business. He put me to work sewing on it most of the time. I taught him to use it correctly and moved along to my own shop (which is now closed) in 2012. One of his issues was the wide throat plate cutout was catching the narrow tips of rifle slings and guitar straps as we made the turn at the tip (~7/8 inch wide strap). The leather was getting caught and pushed down, causing some bad stitching at the ends. He knew a guy with a metal working shop and commissioned him to make a set of a narrower 1/4 inch wide throat plate and narrowed down the feed dog to just fit in it. It solved the problem and it is his standard everyday set to this very day. My buddy wasn't sewing with thin thread or needles. He used #138 thread on top and bottom. Fast forward to 2023 and we have two members of Leatherworker.net who are custom building narrow feed dog and throat plate sets that most 441 type machine owners can afford. They bolt on and can be installed or removed in a couple of minutes.

I was looking into a sidewall stitcher a couple years ago. As I recall it was from an outfit calling themselves Robin. A friend almost bought one, but decided to get out of shoe making. Fascinating machine!

I've learned both from being told and experimenting that if the timing of the hook is retarded, the top thread will tend to be extra tight on the way around the shuttle and will snap. The only three solutions I've found are to either advance the hook, or loosen the thread tensions, or to increase the slack in the top thread via the check spring throw. The check spring adjustment is the easiest to make. If it works you're done. Next is backing off the top and bottom spring tensions. Sometimes that helps. The most difficult is advancing the hook and tightening down the screws without letting it move again. But, this is usually the best solution. The only problem I've found with an advanced hook is that I tend to get more skipped stitches in reverse. It really is a balancing act. Sometimes you need to combine timing and check spring travel to nail it 100%. Aren't heavy leather sewing machines fun? Are we having fun yet?

Much of the information I typed is contained in my blog article about dumbing down 441 clones. That's how I did it before getting the narrow plate/feed dog set. Plus, using the narrow flat slotted plate, in conjunction with minimizing the alternating lift, allowed me to sew a 1 inch thick holster.

I believe you have a standard Class 4 machine with a standard throat plate and feed dog. Did you get the drop down edge guide, or just the swing away guide on a T-bar? Did you get a throat plate with a long narrow slot? Did you get a left toe presser foot? If you have the standard throat plate and feed dog, left toe foot and swing-away edge guide, Install the left toe foot, then push the edge guide roller the distance you want from the needle. If the guide is getting hit by the feed dog, slide a piece of cardboard under it to raise it up enough to clear the feed dog at its highest position. If the leather is getting pushed into the hole in the feed dog, back off the pressure screw on top. Reduce both thread tensions to make it easier to pull up the knots, so you won't need as much foot pressure to hold the leather down. Move up one needle size if the leather still lifts with the ascending needle. If you got the drop down edge guide, drop it down, slide it into the distance you want from the needle, but slightly ahead of the needle, using the supplied wrench. Also, raise the roller above the height of the feed dog. Having the roller slightly ahead of the needle on close edges will keep the needle from pushing the leather away from the edge guide. If you have the flat slotted throat plate, you can remove the feed dog and standard plate and install it in their place. I did this before I got the narrow plate and feed dog from @RockyAussie. The slot is about 1/8 inch with and I haven't had any material get pushed down into it as I sewed. That includes denim jeans I was hemming for customers. With this flat plate you can get the edge guide right up next to the inside foot, giving you a distance under 1/8 inch from the edge. Note that your forward and reverse may not line up without the feed dog assisting. In this case, either feather the stitch lever, or just sew all the way around and over the starting stitches if the work allows for that.

Flat bed machines are best suited to combining items that are flat, not curved. Bags are curved when assembled. You can probably sew all of the pieces together upside down on a flat bed machine. But, the final stages of construction of the rounded top will be easier on a cylinder arm machine. Many cylinder arm machines have either a factory option or aftermarket option of a flat table top attachment that bolts onto the table or pedestal the head is mounted on. Such a setup gives you the best of both Worlds. You sew with the table attachment for the flat pieces, then remove the table and sew over and around the arm for the curves. This gives you a perfectly finished stitch appearance on the outside. If you sew the same outside band on a flatbed, it may have to be done from the inside. The bobbin side will not look anywhere near as nice as the top side stitches. If you can visit a sewing machine store and bring some soft bag leather, they can sew it and show you how different the back side will look from the front.

I'm glad you asked that! I wrote a blog article a few years ago about dumbing down a Cowboy or cobra 441 to allow it to sew thin or soft material..

I also would like to see more presser foot options available. One of our members is about to try using a roller foot instead of the single toe foot. We will see his results if/when he posts them. There is lots of room for aftermarket feet to go along with the feed dog/throat plates by @RockyAussie and @Patrick1. Aside from wishing for other options, here is how I deal the foot marking issues. First, reduce the presser foot pressure screw to the minimum force that keeps the leather from lifting with the ascending needle. It sometimes is easier for a 1 size larger needle to form the knots than the usual size. That translates into less foot pressure needed. This tip is from my own experience! Reduce the thread tensions on the top and bottom so it is easier to pull up the knots. Next, let the leather dry so it can offer resistance to the inner and outer feet trying to emboss it. Be prepared to run a modeling spoon, or bone slicker, or glass slicker over the stitch line after you're done sewing. Run the top thread through liquid silicon, or sewing machine oil to make it easier to bring up the knots.

It is this very problem that motivated two of our members to construct and offer up narrow throat plate/feed dog combinations. The first is by @RockyAussie. He made a feed dog about 1/4 inch wide with a throat plate slot just wide enough to clear it. I have that plate mounted on my Cowboy cb4500 and it allows me to sew softer and narrower items than the stock wide set. His set doesn't actually lower the range of thicknesses as much as it makes it less stressful to sew with thinner thread and needles. The other member is @Patrick1. He makes narrow feed dog/throat plate sets that have smaller needle slots inside. His feed dogs are optimized for different maximum needle diameters, from a #19 through a #23. In other words, he takes over the lower end where Rocky's leave off. Between those two offerings you can use your Class 4 with very narrow needles and thread, sewing very thin leather, webbing and vinyl. @Patrick1 is making a narrow presser foot set to deal with that very problem! Contact him. This is a tricky issue. Generally speaking, if the work being sewn is flat, or only has layers that overlap, without hardware or raised sides to get in the way, the feed dog and matching throat plate provide the most efficient feeding of the material/leather. Furthermore, when you raise the stitch lever to reverse, having the feed dog in play usually6 places the reverse stitches into the previous holes. On the other hand, throat plates without feed dogs tend to drag differently in forward and reverse and the reverse holes often don't line up at all (in my experience). This calls for manually adjusting the stitch lever position when you sew in reverse to lock in the stitches. The holster and stirrup plates are there for a reason. On many holsters there are shaped bodies or hardware that hang down on one side. The raised holster plate lets the drop shapes ride along the left edge unimpeded as you sew the flat seam allowance on the right edges. The stirrup plate is a curved and narrower version of the holster plate. It lets hardware ease by as you sew on a downward curve. Being narrower, this lets hardware move by on both sides. I am referring to copper rivets, conchos, studs, decorative spots, etc. Again, you get no assist with reverse and may have to manually move the stitch lever to match the holes.

Once you get it going you can go into the buffing wheel business. That's what that machine was made to sew.