Wizcrafts

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.

I do believe that if you sew belt leather on a new Sailrite and you bend or break parts, the warranty may be voided. They will sell you replacement parts though.

Maybe the R stands for Reverse. This Singer 111 machines lacked reverse, except for one sub-class (156).

It appears to be a Frobana or Gritzner manually cranked shoe sole stitcher. They sew along the outer perimeter, in one direction, using heavy waxed linen thread. The machine uses a very large curved needle to pierce the holes and form the lock-stitches.

I have a drop down edge guide, similar to those used on Adler machines. It was custom fitted to my CB4500. It is fully adjustable for x, y and z axis'.

Not necessarily so... They are horses of a different color. The ULS is especially good for sewing fast runs along edges. None of the current 441 set-ups are able to match the speed of a ULS, flat out. Just like an Indian Chief!

Gregg; The Union Lockstitch machines are like the Indian Motorcycle of harness stitchers. Fast, temperamental, powerful, built in the USA and totally awesome! I found it relatively painless to eek out a little more working clearance from my old gal. A 6" grinder, a strip of Emory cloth and a buffing wheel, working on the right side of the presser foot and some bending of the thread check arm (still needs work) got me just over 7/8 inch. I suspect that if I put in some more time on it, I can get it to sew and feed a full inch of anything I put under the foot. That includes plywood lined with leather. I'm toying with the idea of shooting a few short videos on my Canon digital camera, showing how to thread, time, change stitch length and perform basic adjustments and maintenance on a Union Lockstitch.

Well, out of curiosity I ground down the right toe on my Union Lockstitch machine, to a height af about 1/8 inch. I also extended the straight edge on the right side of the presser foot body. This gave more room for the thread holder arm to move at extended heights. I also had to reshape that arm to not only clear the right side and top of the foot, but also the looper/thread guide. After all that dinking around the machine still only wants to sew 7/8 inch. The lift on the presser foot can be varied somewhat, with lower lift making it more likely to sew thicker leather. But, the stitch length is reduced when the foot lifts later and comes down sooner. I try to keep the lift at about 1/8 inch, at all thicknesses. I can compensate for the shortened stitches by lowering the stitch length regulator bar. Geometry came into play at 7/8 inch and the thread wanted to miss the pickup arm's slot, due to the severe change of angle the thread has (to the left) at such altitudes. The solution is to make a new pickup arm with special shaping that will grab the thread at great thicknesses, yet clear the right side of the presser foot body and also clear the bottom of the looper/guide tube. My advice after all this fussing around is to buy a Campbell High Lift to sew 1 inch or above. The machine is already designed to do so and won't need to be modified.

I suspect that Campbell-Randall Company could give you a better answer about modifying a Union Lockstitch for higher lift. They may even offer to modify one and sell it to you. But, for only a few thousand more you can buy a Campbell High Lift. It would cost me about $200 for extra parts to experiment with this on my own machine. I can't afford that right now.

Why don't you pick up a Union Lockstitch and see if you can get it to sew 1 inch? My ULS is for sale! The needle and awl will probably be long enough, or almost there. The biggest problems are the top and right side of the foot, the looper (which has to revolves around the barb in the needle) and the thread guide and the thread slack arm (I forgot to mention that part). My guess it that once you have modded a ULS to sew 1 inch, it will no longer sew 1/4 inch as well as it did before. You may also have to replace the top pressure spring with a motorcycle grade coil spring, to exert enough pressure to hold down 1 inch of leather. Further, the take-up arm may need to be altered to allow it to pull the knots up into such thick leather. There will be no wiggle room allowed in the feed mechanism. You will need to tighten all moving parts affecting the needle bar and stitch length arms. The position of the shuttle ring gear will be critical to eliminate slack. The heat generated on the awl will be stupendous. It may stick inside the leather unless you spray it with silicon as you stitch. It will be an interesting project Catskin. Let me know how it works for you. For anybody following this topic and wondering if there already is a machine capable of sewing an inch out of the box, there is. The Campbell High Lift sews 1 1/8 inch.

I had to switch to a modified presser foot to sew over 3/4 inch. In order to sew 7/8 inch I would have to perform Voodoo on the looper and thread guide, and grind away more steel on the right side and top of the foot. Since I am happy with being able to easily sew 3/4 inch, this is not anything I look forward to doing.