Wizcrafts

I was going to suggest buying a spare foot. If your grinding idea doesn't pan out, you're only out the spare foot. I customized a spare foot on my buddy's Adler 30-70 patcher, to make the left toe very narrow (just enough to hold down the leather as the needle ascends). I also tapered it inward on the front and bottom, to reduce accidentally gouging stuff on the left of the foot. We use this foot to sew very close to formed cases, or jacket snaps, or tough zipper replacement jobs.

Absolutely not! It needs the teeth to pull the material through. The only time ground down teeth would be useful to me would be if I was using the patcher to sew soft or thin veg-tan wallets together, or to attach a Ranger belt strap. With the teeth gone, one would have to greatly reduce the foot pressure, or risk losing feed-ability. I have a triple feed, high lift, walking foot machine and a Union Lockstitch jumping foot needle feed machine. I use those for belts, holsters and heavy straps. Neither of those machines will mark the leather. I use my patcher for circular items and for patch sewing and repairing rips, handles and zippers in garments and hand bags. I also use it to sew seed bead projects to leather belts. I depend on the teeth being present and accounted for. Your use may be different and may work fine sans teeth on the foot.

There is a world of difference between the chainstitches made on a Puritan and those made on industrial garment sewing machines. The garment machines run cotton or polycore thread direct from the spools to the tensioners, to the needles. Pull the wrong way and the entire chain can unravel. Professionals who use Puritan machines run 3 to 6 cord, left twist, Barbour's Irish linen thread through a liquid wax in the closed-top wax pot. After a while, the wax hardens in the sewn material inside the chain stitches. Once the wax hardens, the stitches cannot be pulled apart in a chain, unless one exerts tremendous pressure, or cuts them with a sharp Hyde knife. I know, because I have had to work on items sewn on Puritan machines, and only a sharp knife got those stitches apart. Some were over 50 years old! If anybody has a Puritan that they just plain don't want, send it to me! I'll be your Huckleberry!

No. I mean that it is best to spin the hand wheel a half turn, or so, to help the motor overcome the weight of the machine's mechanism. Once it is in motion, it's easier to control the speed. I can slow way down and keep the machine in motion, thanks to the heavy flywheel (hand wheel). Operating with the wheel disengaged causes jack rabbit starts and stops and lots of clanging and banging of the moving parts. Once the motor takes control, I can use both hands to guide, or guide and pull the leather. Also, there is no feed dog area on a patcher. The rotating pressor foot does all of the feeding of the material, via aggressive teeth on the bottom of the foot.

I have a Japanese made National 300N walking foot machine. It is based on the Consew 206 and Chandler 406 machines. It originally had a 1/2 horsepower clutch motor, which worked fine. But, I got very busy sewing large quantities of guitar straps and rifle slings, both of which had sharp turns to deal with. Additionally, the slings had 2 additional layers where the lined tail joins the body and back liner. I had no real problem feathering the clutch, a few times here and there. But sewing dozens of slings and straps and having to slow right down to 1 stitch per second with a clutch motor was straining my leg. I learned about the SewPro 500 GR motor here. I spoke to Bob Kovar (866-362-7397) about it and described how I sew. He told me that it was the right motor for my work; and, he was right. The 500GR has built in 3:1 gear reduction and a 2" (50mm) pulley. Its full speed at the shaft is 1500 RPM. My machine has a 4" pulley, so, it is running at 50% of the motor speed. This gives me a maximum speed of 750 RPM, on the machine, which is a little more than 12 stitches per second. Because of the built in gear reduction, this motor doesn't bog down at slow speed. I routinely sew at 1 stitch every other second, around tips of belts and straps. On straight a-ways, it's flat out, 750 per minute, with smoke arisin!. Note, as I have said often, if you buy this motor to replace a standard clutch or servo motor, buy a shorter belt with it. It sits closer to the underside of the table, by 1 belt inch. Add that to any reduced size you need for any difference in the pulley sizes from the original motor.

On my setup, the hand wheel is active in the drive circuit. It rotates with the pulley, but at a slower rate of rotation. I tried operating it with the handwheel disconnected, by pulling the bobbin winder pin. The motor made the machine take off like a bat out of hell! Stopping it wasn't on a dime either! It seems to need the weight of the hand wheel to provide smoothness and controllability to this system. This lets me apply just enough hand control to get going, after which the motor does just fine. The motor is able to begin sewing without help from the hand wheel.

The Puritan machines (and Protos I guess) are used in the golf bag, luggage and rifle bag industries. The sewing I have seen uses waxed linen thread. It will not normally unravel and breaks only with great effort, or a Hyde knife.

Thanks for reminding me about this. Here's your pictures of the 29K172, equipped with an AlphaSew 1.5 amp motor and transistor controller, running the big pulley with a 23" x 1/4" inch cogged belt. It penetrates 1/4 inch of black strap leather with a little effort, and 1/8" like butter. Unlike the leather drive belt, this belt does not slip at all. Amazingly, now that I am able to use both hands on the leather, this setup sews 5 stitches per inch into 1/4" of belt leather, at maximum foot lift and bottom-most stitch regulator settings (where you can still use the lift lever). The presser foot activator has almost no appreciable free play. The triple folded piece of 8 oz belt leather secures the motor against the back of the head, preventing it from being pulled up under strain. My preferred mounting place was completely along the back of the base. But, I can't find a cogged belt 27.5 inches long to mount it there.

I sew all of my heavy leather jobs on a Union Lockstitch machine. There is only one type of machine that is more awesome and that is a Campbell-Randall High Lift or Cyclone.

This sounds to me like the top thread is not going directly into the middle of the top tension disks. This causes the bobbin tension to become excessive, in a relative sense. Or, you might need to move up to a larger needle.

A "V" type thread is the same any bonded thread. Each manufacturer is allowed to call their thread by whatever type they want, unless they are selling to the US Government. Then, the nylon thread must meet government Mil Spec VT-295. This may be why some thread companies prefix bonded nylon thread with the letter V. Your decisions regarding thread should be based on its intended use, the pounds of pull that must be endured, the atmospheric conditions it will be submitted to, the nature of the bonding (dry or lubricated), the thread handling capabilities of the machines, and the put up (size of spool/weight/yardage/meters) you need. What follows are my own opinions. These may not be in agreement with other people's opinions. People sewing leather garments, or upholstery, commonly sew with #69 to #92 thread and leather point needles just large enough to pass the thread. They sew at high to very high speeds (1500 to 2000 SPM) Boot makers use #69 and #138 for construction, as well as #33 and #46 (with tiny needles) for the design stitching. They sew at medium to slow speeds for control. Soles are sewn on curved needle sole stitcher, using 7 cord or larger, right twist, linen thread, run through a heated or liquid, hardening stitching wax. If one stich wears out, the hardened wax holds the remain nearby stitches in place. The needles are huge. Belts are typically sewn with #69 (dress), to #138 (work belts), to #277 (police, gunfighter, or weight lifters' belts). Ditto for animal leads and collars. These are usually sewn at medium-high speed (to get 'er done). I like about 10 to 12 stitches per second when sewing straight runs on belts and straps (rifle, guitar), up to about 1/4" total thickness. Holsters meant for show, not for go, can be sewn with #138 or 207 thread. Slow speed is needed to control the short stitch runs and fast turns in shaped pancake holsters. Duty pancake holsters should have larger thread (at least high quality #207!), top and bottom (see next paragraphs). Serious holsters, used in competition, Western, or street Police work should have no lighter than #277 thread, top and bottom, but often use #346 bonded nylon, or 5 or 6 cord, left twist, Barbour's Irish Linen thread, run through liquid wax in a wax pot (sewn on a needle and awl harness stitcher). These are sewn slowly, because of the friction caused by a very large needle, loaded with very heavy thread, penetrating 1/2 to 3/4 inch of veg-tan leather or dense Kydex. The weakest link in any project is the smallest diameter/tensile strength thread. Sewing with #277 on top and #207 on the bottom makes the stitch as strong as the #207 bottom thread. In the event of a life or death struggle for a weapon, you don't want to have it on your conscience that you saved a few dollars on bobbin thread, that cost an officer his life, when the thinner bottom stitches gave out in a struggle and he was shot with his own gun. Heavy thread is cheaper than a Police funeral. Any thick leather, or Kydex holster should be sewn with the thickest thread your machine can handle. PPC Competition shooters run, roll around on the ground and draw and shoot. Western shooters draw as fast and hard as possible, in outdoor conditions (steel bullet deflectors at the muzzle end are a nice idea for fast draw holsters). Don't skimp on the size of the thread you use in serious holsters and matching gun belts. Collars, harnesses and leads for big dogs and horses should be sewn with very thick thread (#277 or #346), with turn-back stitches in another inside row, at the buckle and D-Ring areas. Ditto for horse bridles. Some collar makers like to use a skip-a-dee technique instead of turn backs, at Dee-Rings. I also prefer this and my Union Lockstitch machine has a skip-a-dee lever, which feeds more thread for this purpose. Try to always buy your thread from a known manufacturer, or a company who stands behind the quality, batch to batch, of the thread they sell. When buying thread, it is advisable to purchase two spools at a time, of each color you intend to use. One should feed the machine, the other the bobbin winder. End my opinions on thread.

Nah, it's okay Gregg. I should have splained myself up front. Just trying to save the OP some money in the long run. I had one of those 111's and fought with it too much (stitch/spin/stitch/spin/tie off/adjust length/readjust length/oops, bobbin is empty). After I got an LU-563 and fixed the floating stitch length problem (by replacing the machine with a Union Lockstitch), I never looked back!

I was thinking about offering them $249. Do you think they'll take the offer?

I don't like speed reducers on walking foot machines. Here's why: With a speed reducer, the top speed of whatever motor and pulley you have is reduced by a factor of 3:1. A motor with a 2" pulley, feeding a machine with a 4" pulley already has 2:1 reduction. Thus, a 1725 RPM motor will sping the machine no faster than ~862 RPM /SPM A person with a steady foot can easily feather the clutch down to less than 2 stitches per second, or 120 RPM. Then, they can speed up, to over 800 on straight-aways. Insert a 3:1 speed reducer into that equation and the top speed drops from 862, to 267 SPM, or 4.45 per second. This is okay for hard leather and short. detailed stitching, but not very good when the work is against an edge guide and is being sewn around the perimeter of a 4 or 5 foot long. or longer strap. I like to get stuff done the same day, so, 10 stitches per second, or 600 per minute, is my preferred speed on straight-aways. My solution was to purchase a servo motor that has built-in 3:1 reduction, for triple the power, which has a top speed of 1500 RPM at the pulley. I use a 50 MM/2" pulley at the motor and the machine pulley is 4 inches. This motor gives me awesome slow speed control, under 1 stitch every 3 or 4 seconds, up to 750 SPM, or 12 stitches per second. This rtange allows for highly detailed stitching and controlled turns at belt tips, with fast, get er done speed on the straight-aways. Needless to say, my needles smoke at these speeds. This helps melt the bonding on the thread, which then solidifies in moments, permanently locking each stitch. The motor I am referring to is made on Mars, by a terrestrial company calling themselves SewPro. The motor is a SewPro 500GR. It is available from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (866-362-7397). With one of these motors, you can sew like a Pro! Gotta love those Martian engineers! Now, where did I put my can of MGD?

I thought I should make up for my previous snafu on another topic!

My buddy has a Cobra Class 4 and he has had me alter leather garments and install new zippers on it. Using #69 bonded nylon thread, I changed the needle to a #19 (I'd prefer an 18) LR point, then loosened the upper tension until the knob almost spun freely - and sewed two layers of 2 ounce lambskin or thin garment cowhide. The bobbin thread was already very loose because the case spring was tensioned for thicker thread. Having a light pull on the bobbin is important when you sew thin garments. Any appreciable drag will cause the stitches to pucker the soft leather on the bottom. This same setup was also used to sew a cloth bag at the seams. The biggest issue is the length of the needles. At over 2.75 inches they are easy to deflect and bend or break, if they hit any thick seams - not dead on. This happens mostly when I install zippers and have to walk over a couple layers that are folded together along the front sides. I try to slow to less than 1 stitch per second as I sew these very short raised layers, then let her rip on the level areas. I almost forgot to mention that if the top pressure adjuster is down any appreciable distance, you might need to back it off until it almost pops out. This is when sewing thin or soft temper leather or webbing or cloth.

Here is what a slotted plate looks like: With this plate you can sew very narrow work and get an edge guide right up against the side of the material. If you have a standard feed dog in place, your edge guide will usually have to be outside the right edge of the dog. The slot in the standard throat plate is about 3/8" wide and an inch long. This leaves a lot of room for the tips of straps to fall into the front edge of the slot, unless the leather is very stiff. The feed dog, whether smooth of with teeth, helps transport the leather and is responsible for adjusting the reverse stitch length, to a degree. When I sew without a feed dog, the reverse stitches don't always hit the same holes as forward sewing. Also, the stitch length is reduced at all settings of the lever, without a feed dog. I find that unless the leather is medium or soft temper, I need to move the stitch lever down a bit to maintain the same stitch length as with the feed dog. A left toe presser foot is standard for sewing belts and straps around the perimeter. It allows you to move the edge guide in on the right, to maintain a straight edge at a fixed distance in. The feed dog itself may be the limiting factor for the edge guide, due to the inordinate width of the standard set. My friend bought a Cobra and had a machine shop make a narrower feed dog and throat plate for him. This allows him to sew with an edge guide uo close enough to have less than 1/8 inch stitchline from the edge. The standard dog and plate would move that out to almost 1/4". The workaround is to place a narrow washer under the edge guide, to raise the bottom of the roller above the plane of the feed dog. About the plates that allow you to sew right up to the left side of the machine: you will have to choose between a holster plate, a stirrup plate, or a ground down slotted flat plate. There is something you need to know, in advance, before you choose 3rd party presser feet. The so-called Harness Feet are all cutout in the mid-back, behind the toe or toes. A right toe foot will sit about 1/4" away from the center of the needle, on the right side. There is zero steel inline with the needle. Ditto for the left and double toe feet. There are a couple of workable solutions to this problem. One is to have a custom foot cut from a suitable block of steel, with steel behind the toes, all the way across. The other solution would be to purchase a standard outer presser foot for an Adler 205 or Juki 441 and grind off unwanted material on the sides. Bob Kovar did just that with some presser foot he had laying around and I have a photo of it. I call this a Pseudopod. It is a true inline presser foot set. As for a standard 441 clone presser foot, here is what you will probably find in the carton, from China: These feet both have teeth on the bottom, as does the standard feed dog. As for the lube pot: it is only important if you feel it is helpful to run your dry thread through either silicon or oil. It will make it easier to penetrate the leather and pull up the knots. I hope this helps somewhat.

My typo: it should read system 1738. These are the standard needle system used in most, but not all, straight stitch industrial sewing machines. They have a thinner mounting shank than walking foot needles and are shorter. Further, they aren't usually available in sizes over #21 or 22, since the machine that use them don't usually sew with #138 thread. System 1738 needles are known and sold as types: 16x231, 16x257, 16x95, 287wh, 1738, DBx257, SY2254 and SY2270. Since the machines designed to use these needles are not normally intended to sew over 1/4 inch of material, the needles are made short, to reduce breakage from minor deflections. Garment machines typically use these needles in very small sizes: 9 through 12. People sewing leather in these machines tend to use either #46 or #69 bonded nylon thread, using needle sizes 14 through 18. The old Singer cast iron industrial machines are built to last for over a hundred years. Some moving parts wear out with use, or if allowed to rust, but rarely from age alone. A Singer 96K anything, if properly timed and tensioned and not operated outside its nominal operating parameters, should last until the Kingdom Comes. That is, if it's regularly oiled, if worn out parts are replaced and important screws are kept tightened. My 96K40 was at least 40 years old when I bought it in 1985. It was my first sewing machine. I kept it in use until 2005. It was still sewing perfectly when it was sold. I had converted it into a roller foot machine to make some leather vests and repair hems and zippers on some leather pants and light weight jackets. Over the years I accumulated 28 different presser feet and a handful of edge guides. It had a Singer 1/2 HP green clutch motor. Both motor and machine were is excellent working condition, when I sold it at age 60+, for $200. It was a coincidence that my series 1738 needles worked in an old Singer 29-4 patcher, where the proper type 29x needles would not pick up the loop reliably.

I'd like to see Greggs shop also. I kinda go nuts in industrial sewing machine stores. Something about machines that go tapokita, tapokita fascinate me.

It is a descendent of a Consew 206 Japanese walking foot design, using a left side mounted M style large bobbin. The Singer 111 is so ancient now, but was the father of walking foot machines as we know them. They had top loading small bobbins. The Juki LU-562 was an improvement on the Singer 111, with reverse. The LU-563 added the Juki large bobbins, which are wider than the M bobbins my machine uses. My bobbin rack is a piece of cutting board, about 5/16" thick, with holes drilled and long construction nails pressed up from the bottom. I cut it away on the thread stand edge, so it can wrap around the right rear of the table. This is better than having loaded bobbins laying around or in a drawer.

They are good machines that take large size needles and use heavy thread. The sewing capacity is not quite what one would expect from such a heavy duty machine. Then, there are the aggressive feed dog teeth to be concerned with. This class of machine is fine for work where the underside is not visible and which does not exceed 7/16 inch thickness. Some GA5 models have reverse and others don't. If this one lacks reverse, you will have to either turn the work around 180 degrees, to backtack, or else bring the final stitch under the leather and tie a knot on the bottom, then trim the excess threads. The GA5 type machines use a needle system that begins with a #140 (22) and goes up to a #250 (~30). Most folks use #277 or 346 thread with these machines, requiring needle sizes 25 through 27. You would be smart to ask to see the machine in action. Bring some leather that you want to sew on it and see what kind of job it does. Be sure to observe the bottom to see how badly the teeth mark your preferred leather. Also, ask the seller to sew with heavy thread, such as you might be using. Watch for the leather lifting and smacking back down, as the needle rises. This leads to skipped stitches and a mess under the leather, as the teeth bite into it. The only solution is more top spring pressure, leading to even deeper tooth marks on the bottom. Price-wise, you are getting a pretty good deal. A brand new machine like that sells here for about $1000 - without reverse, to $1300+ with reverse, with a speed reduce and easy to control servo motor, plus shipping (~$230 to ~$250).

Doug; I wasn't referring to you with my comment about my neck being chopped off. The points that I made in my previous explanation were meant for you. This will allow you to compare features of very old versus newer machinery. If you choose the best machine, for reasonable money, it will serve you better than a super price deal on an ancient machine that lacks most of the features considered standard nowadays. The portable walking foot machine is not meant for sewing leather. The feet have teeth on them. The body clearance is 7" on most of those machines, although some models have up to 9 inches inside the body. By contrast, my modern walking foot machine has 10.5" clearance, from the needle to the bottom of the body. It was capable of sewing 3/8" of leather until I modified it. Now, it sews just under 1/2 inch. The large M style bobbins hold about 50% more thread than a Singer 111 bobbin. The stitch length can be varied while you are sewing and there are click detentes to lock the knob into position. The reverse lever is large and very easy to press down. There is no reason to spin the work around to back tack. The only other option on a non-reversing machine is to leave long threads at the end and tie them together, on the bottom. If you are in production, that is not a reasonable option, when machines with reverse are so plentiful. Here is a photo of my walking foot machine. Note the round stitch length knob and the huge reverse lever below it.

Okay. I stuck my neck out and you guys enjoyed chopping it off. Here then is my explanation for why I said what I did about Singer 111 sewing machines. !: They have a standard size industrial bobbin, which doesn't sew very far with #138 or larger thread 2: They lack reverse levers, except for but one sub-class 156 model. 3: the stitch length change mechanism is hidden inside the body, requiring a combination of a button push and hand-wheel rotation to affect a change. It requires learned skill to make repeatable changes, none of which happen quickly. Most modern walking foot machines have large bobbins. Most also have an easy to use reverse lever, for back tacking to lock stitches. I believe that most people sewing vests and chaps would prefer to press a lever down to back tack three stitches, into the same holes, than spin a large piece of leather 180 degrees to do that. Finally, I prefer to be able to turn a simple dial, with spring detentes, to make predictable and instant stitch length changes. I express my own opinions, which are like assholes: everybody's got one of them also.

That's like asking "Do I want a Vespa scooter or a Volkswagen Beetle?" I'd have to answer "neither." I tried a portable walking foot machine and it arrived with the main shaft jammed and it would not rotate long enough to form a stitch. I previously (late 1980's) had a Singer 111 and would not pay actual cash money for another one. What I would recommend is a fairly recent model Consew 206RB-something, or a Chandler 406RB, or a Juki LU-563, or an LU-1508. I have a National 300N, which is made in Japan and sews to 7/16 inch, using system 190 needles. I bought it off my local Craigslist, then purchased a SewPro 500GR servo motor to replace the clutch motor. All of the aforementioned machines have very large bobbins and very strong take-up parts and can easily handle #138 thread, or even #207.

My first industrial sewing machine was a Singer 96K40 straight stitch machine. Over the years I added all kinds of presser feet, including a full roller foot conversion. With that foot system in place I was able to sew leather vests and chaps. However, the machine could only tolerate #69 thread, maximum. The thickest seams I had to sew over were about 10 ounces (5/32"). I think you will be able to sew two 5 ounce, light temper pieces together, with a system 1138, #18 leather point needle and #69 bonded nylon thread. As for the feed dogs marking the leather, a roller foot conversion kit should reduce that to a minimum. The kit has a single row feed dog, about 1/8" wide+. Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines sells these conversion kits for straight stitch machines like yours. They also have movable edge guides that screw into the throat plate, inline with the needle. Note: the machine has a fairly weak top pressure spring, for garment use. It will have a hard time holding down 10 ounces of veg-tan leather.