Wizcrafts

I looked into that Pfaff 1221 and found it to be a common household sewing machine. It is for sewing cloth, not large pieces of leather. It will take #69 bonded nylon thread and should use a #16 or #18 needle with that size thread. The feed is drop feed, with feed dogs. It has a static pressor foot and needlebar. While you "can" get it to sew leather, it will not feed it properly. If you use it to sew 1/4" thick veg-tan belts, you may convert it into a toaster. The stitch length will vary with the resistance of the material, against the feed dogs and pressor foot. If you convert it to a roller foot you may get 5 or 6 to the inch. , as described by a mechanic who rebuilds them. It appears that they are easily broken.

That motor is not a ServPro, but a SewPro 500GR. It is sold by Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (866-362-7397). The motor bolts onto the underside of the table, usually into the three holes from the original clutch motor. If your motor has three carriage bolts, in a long triangle; two on the left and one on the right, centered, this motor will drop in. If the holes are too far to the left, you will have to drill new ones, or buy a new table top; pre-drilled, cut-out and slotted. Since your external clutch has a 4.5" pulley and a SewPro 500GR has a 2" pulley, you will need a new v-belt, about 3 or 4 inches shorter (this motor sits closer to the table, losing one inch to start with). To answer your question about the motor's capability, yes, the SewPro motor will have more than enough power to plow through 3/8" of any leather. I have this motor driving my National N300 walking foot machine and it plows through 7/16" of leather, without bogging down or dropping out. That is with a #22 or 23 leather point needle.

The motor Kayak was calling the "ServPro" is actually named the "SewPro" 500GR. Our member dealer Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines sells tham at a good price, with a 2" pulley for leather sewing. I have this motor and won't sew without it. Some of the bigger, harder to turn machines have a speed reducer system installed between the motor and machine, under the table. This slows down the maximum speed to a much more leather friendly range of a few stitches per second. Without the 3:1 reducer the SewPro 500GR has 1500 rpm at full speed. If you want to keep your motor, measure the diameter of the output shaft. If it is 3/4 inch, that is the standard industrial sewing motor pulley diameter. Any sewing machine dealer can sell you a smaller 3/8" or 7/16" v-belt and pulley in 3/4 inch ID. Most leather sewing steups have a 2 or 2.25" motor pulley. Installing a smaller pulley necessitates buying a shorter v-belt to compensate for the difference in length from the original. That allows you to set the motor-to-machine belt tension in the mid range of the position adjuster bolt, on the bottom of the motor.

Random; Save your money and do what Art recommended. If you buy that machine in the picture and it gives you trouble (and it will), nobody is going to help you out of the jackpot, because nobody here has probably seen or worked on that machine. The description is in such horrible Chinglish I can barely understand the details,, as printed on the machine's web page. Can you imagine calling the company for help if it goes out of time, or jams up? Harrow. This Yum Yum sewing machines company. How I can herping you prease?

Kevin; Buy some industrial sewing machine oil, called Lily Oil. It is sold in quarts and gallons. Get a small precision oil bottle and keep it filled with Lily Oil. Replace the 10w30 with the lighter Lily oil. Make sure those wicks feed oil holes in bearings, which they should lead to. There is probably a master oil pad that the wicks plug into. Replace it with some absorbent material if it has hardened. Check all mashing gears to ensure that there is no foreign matter caught in the teeth. Also, make sure there is a tiny amount of clearance in all mating moving parts. Eventually, you should be able to spin the hand wheel easily, with the belt off. Use some emery cloth on the external clutch, to remove rust or high spots. That should make the action smoother as you feather the clutch. Good luck with your new toy! Post pictures, or upload a movie of it working to YouTube.

Like Luke said, get the 16.5" arm model, which for Cowboy is a model CB4500 or for Cobra, a Class 4. The first time you get an order for a full size Western style drop-holster, you will appreciate the longer arm! Right now, I use a Union Lockstitch Machine for my holsters, gun belts and weight lifting belts. It has 12 inches of clearance from the needle/awl to the body and sometimes, it just isn't enough for a flat turn. My next machine will have 16.5" of clearance. If not, it would be a waste of my money.

The photos don't show the pressor foot/feet, so it's hard to tell if it is a walking or snapping foot machine, or straight needle. The first photo, of the right side, shows what looks like an ancient external clutch, for the motor, but I could be mistaken. Aside from those things, it looks like it is in relatively decent external condition. You'd need to inspect it in person and maybe take some decent photos of the head area, where the feet, throat cover/feed dogs and needlebar are located, as well as the back or left side shot of the head. If you see in in person and test it and it runs smoothly, make an offer and see what it can do for you. I agree that the prices for the Juki's are too high. They sell for half that amount in the USA. You could buy a decent condition Juki LU-563 from one of our dealers and have it shipped to you, with a motor and table, for a lot less than those local machines. You could even buy a brand new Consew 206RB-5 for less, shipped!

Unfortunately, it is true. The take-up lever system, the shuttle and feed system, not to mention the various gears and bushings, are simply not beefy enough to hold up for long, under the pressure of sewing thick, or hard leather, with or without thick thread and a large needle. Add the #138 thread and a #22 or #23 needle and the pounding inflicted when penetrating 16 ounces of veg-tan leather will wear out the machine in very little time.

Welcome to our Forums, SewVic! You have bought yourself a very high speed garment sewing machine, with a self oiling system. This machine is best used with thin, soft material, under 1/4 inch total thickness. It is designed for use with thin sewing thread, not exceeding #69 bonded nylon. The needle system is correspondingly thiinner than walking foot machine needles. You will be lucky to get it to sew leather with a #20 needle, and #69 thread. Still, you might be able to cheat and up the thread and needle size a bit (to #138, with a #22 needle max). I definitely know where you can get a super servo motor that will improve your sew-ability. It is called the SewPro 500 GR and it is sold by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Many of our members use this motor on our walking foot machines, myself included. When purchased for leather sewing it comes with a 50 mm (2") pulley. It has built-in 3:1 gear reduction and a speed limiter knob on the back. Your current motor is probably equipped with a 4 inch pulley, for the high speeds required in cloth garment work. Since the 500GR sits closer to the table than a standard clutch motor, you will need to subtract an inch more than otherwise, when buying a new, much shorter v-belt. For every inch of difference in pulley diameter, you need an inch shorter belt. Thus, if the original pulley is 4" and the new one is 2", on the SewPro motor, order a 3" shorter v-belt with it. This assumes that the original belt is set in about the middle of the motor tensioner bolt. If the existing belt is sitting near the bottom of the bolt, subtract another inch for the new belt. With the SewPro 500GR installed you will be able to sew under 1 stitch per 3 seconds. It is capable of extremely slow sewing operation and doesn't drop out with a shudder, like some of the cheaper servo motors do. With this motor and a heavier top tension coil spring (and possibly a heavier pressor foot spring and heavy duty feed dog conversion as well), you will be able to penetrate 1/4" thick veg-tan or bridle leather, using a #22 needle and #138 top thread. Considering what you paid for it, you have little to lose when you destroy the machine sewing leather bridles. Hopefully, you can sew enough of them to get your money back. Then, buy a walking foot machine that is made to sew heavy leather.

You "can" sew all types of leather with a 441 clone machine. But, some jobs are more suitable for these big mechanism machines than others. I have been able to sew everything from coat sleeves and zippers, into leather coats and jackets, to gun holsters, on a 441 clone. Last week, at work, a friend of the business came in with a big chiunk of Naugahyde that needed sewing. I installed the table attachments onto the owner's Cobra, changed to a #20 needle and #138 thread, held onto the Naugahyde to guide it, and sewed the pieces together. The thickness of two layers of Naugahyde is about 1/16". I had to reduce the bobbin tension a lot, then reduce the top tension as well. Also, I backed off the pressor foot pressure. If you are willing to dink around and change needles and tensions, you can sew from 4 ounces to 22 ounces of material on a new 441 clone, or, 20 ounces on an actual Juki 441. With that established, the only two questions remaining are what length of arm do you want and how much can you spend? If the idea of dinking with the machine to sew different thicknesses and thread sizes doesn't appeal to you, you have to decide which end of the sewing spectrum is more important to you: thin leather with thin thread, or thick leather with heavy thread. Try to decide what the maximum thickness of leather will be and the largest thread size you intend to use. If the numbers come in at or under 3/8" thickness and #138 thread, a 227 type machine will suffice. This machine, selling for about $1500, sews up to 3/8", with #138 thread and has a triple feed walking foot mechanism. It uses a very common system 135x needle, available from sizes #10 or 12, up to #25. Most crafters use a #22 or #23 needle with #138 thread, in such machines. If you prefer a flatbed machine, look no farther than a Consew 206RB-5 - which is about $1300, or so. This machine can be fitted with either system 135 or 190 (longer) needles. It has a large, M style bobbin and a reverse lever. It is an excellent machine for upholstery, leather garments, vinyl, denim, medium temper leather and sails/boat covers. Accessories are boundless for such machines.

Of the two machines, only the hand operated Boss will sew over 3/8" with heavy thread. This will work out okay for short sewing projects. If you get into sewing a long run, your right arm will wear out fairly quickly. Keep a kid handy to pull the lever! Have you considered getting a motorized heavy stitcher? A nine inch arm model can sew over 3/4" of leather, with up to #415 bonded nylon thread. These 9" cylinder arm machines sell for under $2000, shipped.

The problem is caused by either too much bobbin tension, or too little top tension. The bobbin thread should have a modicum of tension, so the thread can be pulled out smoothly, with some back pressure. Then, balance the top tension, via the top tension knob, over the coil spring. Follow the top thread path, from the top of the spool, to any post holes on top of the machine, to the top tension disks, out the disk, to the thread check spring assembly, then to the take-up lever, and on down through the guides to the left side of the needle. The thread must feed from left to right on most industrial sewing machines. The recess in the eye of the needle faces right.

I recommend the w155, or if you can find one, a w156, with a reverse lever. Just make sure whatever you buy has triple feed. Modern walking foot machines usually come with a M bobbin, which holds 50% more thread then a standard industrial bobbin (similar to 15-91 bobbin). This is useful when you thread up with #138 thread. The old Singer 111s mostly have a standard bobbin. Maybe #92 thread will work for your blanket repairs. It goes a lot farther than #138, in the bobbin. Then, you can go down to a #19 or #20 needle.

I own a Singer 15-91 and I am here to tell you that it can barely sew through 8 ounces of leather, or 3/16" of denim. The pod motor that is mounted into the machine is gear driven, but lackluster in punching power. The feed dogs are very small. The machine is best suited to sewing thin cotton garments. I can't imagine a Singer 15-91 sewing any kind of blanket, much less a horse blanket! The second machine you mentioned, on a treadle, has no model number, but from the serial number it must be from the early 1900's. If it works at all, it will most likely be a home sewing machine, designed to feed and sew garments. What you are looking at are collectors' machines. They are not up to snuff for sewing today's heavy weight materials, or leather, or blankets. That said, if you are prepared to throw away a couple hundred bucks on an antique sewing machine, save your money and buy a used Singer 111w155 walking foot machine, for sewing your horse blankets. They can be found for about $250 to $300, with a motor and table. If the dirt jams it up, tear it apart and clean it, or use compressed air to clean it out. If the clutch on the bobbin drive disengages, clear the thread or blanket strands out of the bobbin and shuttle, then push the reset button down, rotate the hand wheel until the clutch re-engages, and continue sewing. Eventually, it will break down beyond repair. When that happens, buy another old clunker, for blankets. You really need a walking foot machine for horse blankets. I mean triple feed, where the feed dog, inside foot and needle all move together. Note: The Singer 111w155 does not have reverse. If you want a walking foot machine with reverse, look for a (used; out of manufacture) Juki LU-563, or a newer style walking foot machine, like a Consew 206RB-5 - with a 1/2 horsepower motor, with a 2" pulley, and a 20" x 48" industrial - k-legs table. Plop in a #23 needle, thread it with #138 bonded nylon thread, and she'll sew through 3/8" of anything you put under the foot. Change to a longer series 190 needle, raise the needlebar to place the eye in the same position as the original series 135x needles, and she'll sew just over 7/16" of blanket.

Eldorado; There are new machines based upon the Singer 153 type, but they are a bit more money than you stated as your range. However, they are exactly what you are looking for. For instance, you could get a brand new Cowboy CB227-R, with reverse, mounted on a pedestal stand, with a servo motor, speed reducer, thread stand, winder, extra stuff, et all, for about $1495, plus shipping. Techsew sells a similar machine for a similar price. Either of these machines can sew 3/8" of leather, down to a couple ounces, with thread sizes up to #138. They are triple feed walking foot machines. They are a perfect replacement for a worn out Singer 153, with the same arm length.

You have a sole stitcher. You can now replace the soles on shoes and boots. I do believe it will sew a half inch of hard sole leather. Be sure to buy some needles and awls, if there weren't any with the machine. Also, buy a few pounds of 5 and 6 cord right-twist Irish Linen thread and some Lax or Sellari's stitching wax. If you don't have one, look for a 3 in 1, or 5 in 1 sole cutter/splitter, hand cranked, with sharp blades. You can buy good sole leather (or precut soles) from shoe repair suppliers. Look for Prime soles or bends. Stay away from saddle leather for shoe soles. You'll also need a boot jack stand with different size boot inserts.

The bobbin should feed in the opposite direction as the shuttle is rotating. This will make it harder for it to unwind at high speed, or after sudden stops. So, if your bobbin drive rotates clockwise, insert the bobbin counter-clockwise; against the rotation. Vertical hook machines have snap in bobbin cases, as opposed to drop-in bobbins, as is found on most horizontal hook machines. The vertical bobbin/bobbin case machines offer two styles of bobbin case: plain and anti-backlash. The anti-backlash cases have a thin star or ring shaped spring inside them; plain do not. This spring is there to keep the bobbin from free-spinning at a different speed than the shuttle, which can cause it to unload gobs of thread, which can lead to jamming the shuttle, or wrapping bobbin thread around other windings, halting the feed totally. This anti-backlash feature is useful for people who load their bobbins in the same feed direction as the shuttle is rotating. But, anti-backlash cases remove some often needed in/out clearance around the bobbin case, where the top thread goes around it and picks up the bobbin thread. If the anti-backlash spring pushes the bobbin in too hard and far - it will increase the minimum bobbin tension, no matter how much you back off the bobbin case spring. Furthermore, it can hold onto the top thread as it gets picked off the needle and feeds around the bobbin case, rather than letting it flow around freely. There needs to be some clearance on both sides of the bobbin case, in a vertical hook machine, for the top thread to go around both sides of it. Therefore, rather than using anti-backlash bobbin cases, I prefer to insert the bobbins to feed in the opposite direction as the shuttle rotates. Same no-unwinding result, without losing clearance for thicker thread to go around the case. Note: any lockstitch machine, no matter what type of bobbin system it uses, must have some clearance around the bobbin (and case if exists), sufficient for the top thread to pass between the bobbin (case) and the shuttle that is sits in. In vertical hook machines, the movement is inside and outside the snap-in case and the bobbin inside it. In horizontal drop-in bobbin machines, it is over and under the bobbin itself.

James; If the small spool is on a peg and is feeding directly inline, then it might be causing the stitch position problems. See if you can set it on the thread stand, or on the top of the table, then feed the thread up to the top of the machine, then onward. The spider spring is an anti-backlash spring, used in high speed sewing to prevent the bobbin from floating in the case and unwinding its thread. If you insert the bobbin against the direction of rotation, it won't usually need the backlash spring. If you have a AB spring, try sewing with, then without it. Also, try using a different bobbin. I have had some bobbins that got a little bent, or have a metal gouge near the outside. These bobbins tend to cause intermittent tension problems. I throw them out as I discover their anomalies. I try to keep a couple dozen bobbins on hand.

The variance in knot position could be caused by the way the thread is feeding off the spool. It should feed straight up, without getting caught under other windings. Then, the thread should go through a post on top of the machine, then around the three hole post just before the top tension disks, and onward around the check spring, etc. The bobbin should be inserted so that the thread makes a sharp turn back through the slit leading to the tension spring on the case. There should be a modicum of bobbin tension, which you balance via the top tension disks. Also, the wrong needle size can impact the knot position. Try one size smaller needle and increase the top tension to compensate.

Here are some Google search results for Industrial Sewing Machines Buffalo, NY

Robin; When I lived in Toronto there were at least two industrial sewing machine shops on King or Queen Street, who serviced Adler, Singer, Juki, etc industrial sewing machines. Here is one who specialized in Adler machines: Central Industrial Sewing Machine Co Ltd Phone : (416)504-2500 Address : 491 Queen St W, Toronto GTA, ON M5V2B4

I was wondering if they were used to sew parachutes? No reason why not!

The big body, long arm machines are meant for use in sail, tent, sign and canvas shops. They are also used in the car wash industry. Most of the jobs they sew involve the same bobbin thread, in veeeeeeeeery long runs. The large bobbins enable the people using the machines to complete at least one full item, before they change bobbins. They'll use #26 needles, so one can thread them with up to #277 thread. The machines are about 3 feet long. They are very impressive and heavy!

PRICELESS!

Wrong! As quoted in the details on this web page: "Extra large bobbins have four times the thread capacity of the Singer 111W, 112W, Class Machines."