Wizcrafts

Typically, when one mentions a needle feed sewing machine, they are referring to one that has feed dogs moving in sync with the needle and a completely flat presser foot. These machines are built for the garment construction trade. They are especially useful when sewing stretchy material, like elastic waist bands on underwear, or stretch pants. None of the needle feed machines in the garment class are capable of sewing with #138 thread. They probably can handle #92 thread, with a #19 needle. Juki makes some nice needle feed machines, as do its clones. If you want to change your flatbed walking foot machine for a cylinder arm machine with similar specs, look here. There are some needle feed, jump foot machines made for harness makers. I have one: a Union Lockstitch Machine. Some Ferdinand Bull machines are jump foot-needle feed, as are the Luberto Classics and Number 9 machines. Plus, all Campbell-Randall stitchers are jump foot, but with awl feed.

I had an Adler 204-374 for a while and got my bobbins, needles, thread and oil from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Their toll free number is 866-362-7397.

Have you ever tried a post machine with a double roller feed?

Well then, you could consider a Juki LS-1340 or 1341. I suspect that you can find a bolt-on table attachment, or make one yourself. I would definitely recommend a needle positioning motor system. Order the entire machine and motor/table already setup. You are looking at big money for any of these top-of-the-line Juki machines. I suggest you contact a Juki dealer who will accept your leather samples and sew them on various Juki machines, labeling each with the model code. Have the sewn samples returned and compare the stitch quality and other details, like marks on the bottom or top. You may find one that is better than the rest. I know we have member dealers who are authorized Juki dealers. Hello out there! Where are you? Bob? Greg? Ronnie?

Your machine uses a Juki 441 bobbin, which is the same as the Adler 205.

If the O.P. was to buy a 441 clone, he would need to use #18 or 19 needles and have the machine setup for thin leather and thin thread. It is doable, as I have learned, but not ideal. A CB227R is a better match for billfolds, with its smaller needles, narrower feed dog & throat slot and dozens of available presser feet types. Get a table attachment for it and have the best of both worlds, in a walking foot, triple feed machine.

My dad used a Singer 31-15 in his tailor shop, for 40+ years. My first industrial sewing machine was a 96k40, which I bought when it was 40 years old and sold 20 years later. Despite equipping it with a roller foot setup, it still only liked #69 thread and no more than a bit over quarter inch of soft leather, or cloth. I understand that boot makers use these machines to sew designs onto the uppers, before stitching them together. They are sewing about 5 or 6 ounces of soft leather at tiny stitch lengths..

Are you doing tailoring? Why do you like the 31-15 so much? It is a tailors' machine.

Whether or not the DNU-1181 will be good for wallets depends on the feet and the leather used on the back. It looks like this machine has teeth on the feet. You must take that into consideration when sewing fine leather goods. I would stay away from that machine and stick with a triple feed machine, without teeth on the feet. You will need a left toe set to sew close to the edges. No teeth! Triple feed! Not double feed. I would choose the 1508NH because it walks higher and uses bigger thread. But, the 1541 is a good machine for much less money. Both have rectangular drive feed dogs. Flat bed for wallets The only area where a cylinder arm machine would be better is sewing on the back, where is is bigger than the interior and has a hump near the center.

The CB3500 uses the same bobbins as the Cobra, Techsew, Artisan, Ferdco 441 clones, as well as the Adler 205, Juki 441. The CB3500, CB4500 and CB5500 use the same big bobbin. Why do you ask?

I'm sure that your 206K is a nice machine and very well built. But, it is not made for industrial use. Singer made specific machines that could stand up to day in day out sewing. This is not one of them.

There were tow different machines used in that video. One is a big bobbin LU-563, which is out of production. It has been replaced with the DNU-1541, or the LU-1508. The other machine was a cylinder arm machine. I don't know what model or make it was. But, there are equivalents available from our dealer-members. Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines is a Juki dealer. I think that Keystone Sewing is also. Steve, at Cobra has similar machines for sale. Finally, Techsew, a division of Raphael Sewing, sells Juki and many other brands, including Techsew. Whatever machine, or machines you buy, you will want a servo motor with slow speed settings that are controllable. Older Juki machines all came with a high speed clutch motor. You must either change the motor pulley to a tiny 2" or smaller, or add a speed reducer, or swap out for a servo motor, with a speed dial. The wallets in this video were sewn with either #69 or 92 bonded nylon thread. Any industrial machine can handle those threads. You'll want to use a minimum needle size for whichever thread you settle on. That would be a #16 for #69 thread, or a #18 for #92 thread. Use a leather point, or triangle point needle. You will need a swing away roller edge guide. Our dealers can setup a machine with the roller guide. If you choose to buy from our people, they will assist you with problems that may arise. I can't speak for outside dealers. If you decide to buy a used machine, make sure it has been gone over and any worn, or slack parts replaced. Buy a few quarts of oil with the machine and oil it often.

The 206K is a home sewing machine. It is neither designed for, nor fully capable of sewing anything more than a couple layers of garment leather, or thin chap. The mechanism is limited to using no larger than #69 bonded thread. It is primarily used with standard cotton thread and normally sews cloth. As for a roller foot, this machine uses a low shank standard presser foot. You can buy plastic feet equipped with long rollers in front and back of the needle slot. This will reduce the clearance under the foot to just over 1/8 inch, before the needlebar hits the top of the foot. Finally, a 3.5" machine pulley is small, when speaking about sewing leather. Most leather sewing machines have pulleys starting at 4" and going up from there. If you motorize this little old home sewing machine and try to sew belts, you will destroy it.

No. A walking foot, or spring loaded jump foot requires a special mechanism, attached to the back of the body, driven by cams and cranks inside. However, if your machine has a flat foot, you can convert it into a roller foot machine, which works well on wallets and leather garments..

I hold the two threads behind the work, equally tight, sometimes twisted together. Then I stitch forward a stitch of two, then back the same number, then forward to the end. At the end I backtack 3 stitches and cut off the threads. Sometimes I will start sewing in reverse for 2 or 3 stitches, then proceed in forward. Either way, I only hold onto the loose threads for a couple stitches. I only need them to stabilize the position of the knot. Two or three stitches in any direction accomplishes that.

Forget the Juki LU-1508 if all you can spend is $1000. They go for about $3,000 new and there aren't many used ones under $1500. Even a decent clone of the 1508 will set you back a couple G's.

Rich; If your maximum thickness does not exceed 20 ounces, which is 5/16 inch, with #92 thread, any walking foot machine will serve the purpose. Call Bob Kovar, at 866-362-7397, during normal business hours, Eastern Time. He has a warehouse and showroom full of new and used walking foot, roller foot, etc industrial sewing machines. He can match a machine to your purpose and budget and ship it to you on a pallet. You will need to stock up on needles with the new machine, as they will be probably be bigger than those used by the 31-15.

Negatory Red Rider. A large hook-shuttle usually has more clearance around the bobbin case, allowing you to use thicker thread.

The Singer 31-15 is a straight stitch industrial machine. While is is capable of sewing soft leather admirably, it balks when trying to feed 1/4 inch of belt leather. Furthermore, it does not tension anything bigger than #69 or possibly #92 bonded thread. It is and always will be a garment and tailoring machine. The next step up in a walking foot machine. These come in flat bed and cylinder arm configurations. Some have the standard bobbin you use in the 31-15 (15 class bobbin), while others have a large hook and M style big bobbin. These hold 50% more thread than a standard bobbin. Most upholstery grade walking foot machines are not setup to sew any leather other than upholstery grade, chrome tanned, soft to medium temper. But, they respond well to tweaking. Most are equipped with high speed motors with large pulleys. They sew much too fast for veg-tan leather work. The tension springs are usually light duty, which works fine with the #69 thread commonly used in upholstery. Then, there are sewing machines that ARE setup to sew medium to hard temper leather, in capacities ranging from 3/8" up to 7/8" - including hard stuff. These machines are specifically made or modified to sew at a slow, controllable speed, with big needles, using heavier thread than upholstery machines can handle. They have very large bobbins and beefed up take-up and tensioning parts. Ask if you want more specific recommendations. State your budget.

You have to consider that your local dealer may be buying his machines in small quantities and is not getting the price break that Cobra Steve and Cowboy Bob are getting. But, they have to put out tens of thousands of dollars for each order of machines and then wait for them to be built and delivered from China. Then, after uncrating them, they spend an average of 6 hours per machine, setting them up, adjusting the timing, tightening the screws and fixing cosmetic anomalies, or adding their own special feet and cover plates. The thing about these big machines is that they are built like tanks. Once they are properly setup by a competent dealer.mechanic, they are good to go for years. Yes, you will knock the timing out and will call for assistance. These dealers will take your call and walk you through all minor repairs, even sending small replacement parts when needed. It's called value added services. All 441 clones are not built to the same standards. The Chinese factories make three qualities of sewing machine. The top quality is reserved for actual commercial brand name companies for whom they build sewing machines distributed through official networks. Next is the custom branded machines, sold by Cobra Steve and Cowboy Bob, and Techsew Ronnie. These dealer-importers specify how they want the machines built, the color scheme and what level of materials they want used in it. This reduces the likelihood that a machine will arrive non-functional, or requiring extensive repairs to get it sewing. Finally, there is a third class of machine that is built to lower quality control and parts standards. I think of those machines as the eBay class. The sellers would have to spend at least 8 hours bringing these machines up to snuff. Drop ship dealers don't even do that. They have the machine dropped off at your location from a warehouse, untested and unadjusted. I can't tell you where your linked-to machine falls, category-wise. I don't know much about the Weaver branded machines personally. You'd have to ask them.

Andrew; A standard hook uses a bobbin that is about the same size as a Singer 15 class machine: 3/4" by just under 3/8". You can see those bobbins at any local sewing supplies store, including Joann Fabrics. They hold a pretty fair amount of thin thread, such as is used in sewing garments. A large hook holds a bobbin that is 1 inch in diameter by 11/32" high. It holds about 50% more thread. This extra capacity allows garment manufacturers to sew more between bobbin loads. It also allows upholsters and leather crafters to use #138 thread and not run out after a couple belts are sewn. Juki is a horse of another color. Some of their big bobbin machines have a double capacity hook and special bobbins that hold about twice the amount of a standard one.

Juki made, and still makes the original TSC-441 machine. It was the Japanese answer to the German Adler 205-370. Through the ensuing years the Chinese have cloned every popular Japanese and German sewing machine. The 441 is no exception. There are more 441 clones than Carter has liver pills. But they are not all the same! We have several dealer-members on this forum, who distribute their own branded versions of the Juki 441, but made in China. The best known and respected brands are Cowboy and Cobra. The dealers who import these machines go over them with a fine tooth comb. They correct any problems, adjust the timing, often change out parts for locally made parts, then sew them off with thick thread, into thick leather. The average price of a bare-bones 441 clone, with a 16.5 inch cylinder arm, from Cowboy or Cobra, is about $2100 - $2200, minus popular accessories. Typically, users buy a package, with extras, worth about $2500, plus shipping. This is $1000 less than you are expecting to pay, if the machine you inquired about has a 16.5 inch arm. The 25 inch arm models sell for about $3000 to $3500. Note: Adler clones cost more than 441 clones. Perhaps your dealer is selling an Adler clone, not a Juki. Or, maybe that price is for a used Juki 441.

If you need a used industrial sewing machine, why not call our various member dealers and see if they can help you out, at a price you can afford? Several have used machines.

When it comes to buying sewing machines from shady eBay resellers, a fool and his money soon will part. I wonder how much it costs to ship a sewing machine back to China, or Korea, for warranty service?

According to one chart I just read, 3 cord Barbour's linen thread is the equivalent diameter of bonded #207. It needs to be waxed for best hold and lifespan.