Wizcrafts

I think they stopped making the LU-563 machines between 5 to 10 years ago, but I'm not certain exactly when. An authorized Juki dealer should have that info (if they've been a Juki dealer longer than 5 - 10 years). Parts are available everywhere Industrial sewing machines are sold. Juki is made in Japan and is solidly built. A 9 year old LU-563 that has not been abused is worth whatever you pay for it. It is a workhorse. I would go look at it sew before buying it, and see if the stitch length lever floats up at higher speeds and if the reverse position places the needles into the same holes.

Is the class 30 long arm the one you told me sews up and down the arm?

Basting means setting long stitches that are only meant to temporarily hold a hem, overlayed pieces, or seams in place, until the assembly process is ready for them to be finished with normal stitching. Some projects get stapled, paper-clipped, or pinned together; during construction, trimming, darting and fitting. Basting on a machine replaces pins, paper clips and staples.

Babbs; I used to own a Juki LU-563 and found it quite adequate for sewing leather garments and denim jeans. It was a staple of the leather and denim garment and upholstery trades for a couple of decades, starting in the mid to late 1980s. New, the Juki LU-563 originally listed for about $2600, with a 1/2 hp clutch motor and table, but was frequently sold for about $2200 out the door. I worked for a sewing machine company in late 1988 and they were shipping these machines out as fast as we could assemble and test them. The LU-563 has been out of production for many years, so there are no new ones, hence no new price. The 563 has been replaced with a more modern design, known as the LU-1508 series. One of the best features of the LU-563 was that they used a huge bobbin, known as a U bobbin. It is about 25% larger than the M bobbins used in Consew 206RB and Seiko machines and their knockoffs. The reverse lever is large and easy to use. Being that the 563s are up to 30 years old now, you will have to check it out carefully to ensure that the machine is still fully functional and not worn out or shot. If the springs that balance the forward/reverse stitch length lever are weak, as mine were, the stitch length will vary with speed and direction. I actually watched my stitch length lever float upwards on its own, as I sewed fast. The 563 was good for about 3/8" of material, with #138 thread and a #22 or #23 needle.

My leather point needles are marked 135x16 NW

I'll be your Huckleberry... I have a Singer 29k172 darning patcher. The purpose of the darning system is to allow freehand repairs, without concerning oneself about the pressor foot pulling the material. A true darning patcher has a T-bar on top of the read of the head section. The T-bar can be twisted into or out of alignment with the needlebar, in three stages: not engaged, half engaged and fully engaged. Picture of T-bar darning attachment: When the T-bar is turned so that the needlebar hits it, the pressor foot is lifted off the material with the risen needle. The thread tension is not released, because the darning tensioner is not connected to the lifted foot thread release system. This allows you to freely move the work around, while maintaining constant thread tension. The pressor foot drops down long enough to keep the material from puckering as the needle lifts up, but then goes up higher, depending on whether you have set the T-bar to half or full lift. I am able to get consistent 1/2" stitches at full lift and 1/4" on half lift, with minimal assistance to the feeding. Were it not for the constant tension darning disks, the lifted pressor foot would disengage the top thread tension every time the needle raised. The darning system is very useful for basting cuffs and hems. If your patcher doesn't have the T-bar, you will still be able to bast, using the darning tensioners, but must do so more quickly, before the foot drops down on the material. You should be able to get longer stitches than the foot alone gives, but not as long as you would with the T-bar assisted lift.

You need to change to a twisted chisel point leather needle. The bottom is not right. Look for series 135x16 needles. Those are t angled, chisel point.

We have several members who are sewing machine dealers and stock all kinds of parts for most industrial sewing machines. Perhaps one of them will reply to your request.

Wow! How not to run a business! Glad you got it back in working condition.

If you send me a PM I will discuss them with you. Otherwise, I can say nothing more on this open forum.

If you are prepared to spend $1400 on a machine, you can get a Cowboy CB2500, bottom feed flat foot cylinder arm machine (same as Ferdoco 440R), with reverse, for a lot less than that. You could add the accessory foot and roller guide package and probably still be under $1400. They are sold by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Their phone number is 866-362-7397. Several of our members have this machine and love it. It is just one step down from the big harness stitchers and is capable of sewing about 1/2" of dense leather.

I looked up the Singer 331k16 and found that it is a roller foot machine. Unless yours has been converted, it has a large roller foot, with a single row feed dog. This machine is for light weight leather, like shoe uppers. It will probably be limited to sewing no more than approximately 3/16" of soft to medium temper leather, with a size 18 needle, using #69 bonded nylon thread. Perhaps it will handle #92 thread, if you can fit it with a #20 needle. Typically, machines for the shoe industry use #69 thread and a #18 needle, sewing together about 6 to 8 ounces of leather. I had a similar roller foot machine and it was good for lightweight work under 1/4", but not so good on belt leather. I sew guitar straps, using a walking foot machine and #138 bonded nylon thread. I wouldn't recommend using any thinner thread. I don't think your machine can use that size thread (in my opinion), which requires a #22 or 23 needle. I don't believe that this is the machine you want to sew dog collars on. Collars are put under tremendous stress as dogs try to break away and chase other animals. Number 69 thread only has an 11 pound breaking point, which is inadequate for this kind of usage. You are going to need a machine capable of sewing hard veg-tan belt or bridle leather, possibly double layered back to back, exceeding 1/4" thickness. Add the fold-overs for Dee rings and you are up to almost 3/8". I always used number 277, to 346 thread on dog collars, to match the strength required to withstand the tugging that big dogs can apply. These thread sizes require a needle of sizes 25 to 27. You have just crossed over beyond the common industrial upholstery grade machines into the world of harness stitchers. Congratulations and welcome to the Big Dog club! Save some more of the pennies, then start looking over the specs on the big cylinder arm machines. Heck, for collars and leashes you can even use a big flatbed machine, like an Adler 204-370 (or clone). One of our members recently had one for sale in the Eastern US. It sews 3/4" of leather, with a #25 needle, using #277 thread, as set up. See the Used Sewing Machines For Sale section of the LWF.

Based on your photos, I stand by my original recommendations. The Cowboy 227R is perfect for this kind of job. It can even sew the final seam shut, foam in, hanging down over the closely cutoff end of the arm. It has a large hook and M-size bobbin, which holds plenty of thread (#69 to #138) and has just over a half inch of clearance under the raised feet. And, it natively sews perfectly fine stitches with #69 or #92 thread, which the larger harness stitching machines might need to be modified to handle (for very thin needles, thread and soft material). How do you know that these machines are beyond your price range? Call Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, at 866-362-7397 and ask for the price on the Cowboy 227R. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Before I can recommend any machine I would need to see these pads laid out for sewing, with mating seams paper-clipped or taped together. If they are to be stuffed before the last stitches are done, it may call for a cylinder arm machine, allowing you to sew right up to the edge, with the bulky part handing down. There is no need to use anything larger than #92 bonded thread. If the pads are going to be exposed to UV rays, or water, outdoor polyester is recommended. Otherwise, use Linhanyl, or Weaver bonded nylon thread. The correct needle width for #92 thread is between #19 and #21. The smaller needle size makes a smaller hole and tighter stitch. Also, use leather point needles, which produce a slightly zig-zaggy stitch. You can get the stitches closer together with this kind of needle and top pattern. This looks like fairly light chap leather, probably about 3 to 4 ounces thickness. Am I correct in this guess? If so, any industrial sewing machine can sew them, but walking foot mechanism provides the strongest feed system. If it turns out that you need to finish these pads after stuffing them, a medium duty cylinder arm machine will be perfect. There are many available in this market. Names that come to mind are the old Singer 153 type (forward only), upon which the Consew, Cowboy, Techsew and other model number 227 machines are based (but they have reverse). I recently had a close up look at the Cowboy 227R and it got my attention as a serious mid-weight stitcher. It can easily sew 3/8" of leather, with #138 thread, although #92 will last a lot longer in the bobbins. It also has an interesting self-oiling system and sews really close to the left edge, with narrow compound walking feet. Other machines with cylinder arms, but just bottom feed and a flat pressor foot, will also do this kind of sewing quite well. They include the Adler 105-64 and its clones. These include the Cowboy CB2500R and Techsew GA5-1R; available from our member-dealers.

I was asked if I personally use or have an opinion about the titanium coated needles. I don't particularly go out of my way to buy them, unless that it all that is available in a certain size I need quickly. I sew at very slow speeds on thick leather and would not benefit much from the heat reduction treatment on these needles. Any jobs that would generate a lot of heat probably use thicker thread and needles than are not practical on my walking foot machine. Those are sewn on my 800 stitch per minute Union Lockstitch Machine, where needle heat is not an issue. I do not have a 441 or a 205 clone machine at this time, so I cannot answer questions about series 7x3 or 7x4 needles. If I should decide to buy some titanium coated series 190 needles, for my modified National walking foot machine, I will be glad to post my observations, should I have any.

It'll cut through soft leather like an Exacto knife. It will destroy a Sailrite or equivalent machine, buy cutting grooves in everything along the thread path. You might as well sew with round abrasive cord as Kevlar. Only the most beefed up walking foot machines can withstand Kevlar thread. If you use a good quality #92 bonded nylon, or bonded polyester thread, sewn at 7 or 8 stitches per inch, it will hold the work together just fine. Linhanyl thread is very good, and is sold by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (Sewmun) and most of our other member-dealers. If you can afford a new Sailrite, for maybe five hundred more you can probably get a full-blown industrial walking foot machine, with a powerful servo motor and 20"x48" table. These machines can easily use #138 bonded thread and are much beefier than any portable walking foot machine on the market. They come with standard or large bobbins, with the large holding about double the capacity. The Sailrite uses the smaller standard bobbins. It is not a production machine, but is designed for canvas and vinyl repairs or prototype work.

The most important thing that has yet to be discovered is if the machine is now working properly. If all of the previous problems are resolved and she gives you 5 stitches per inch on 4 to 5 oz leather, you should be happy. If you are also able to get that high price down, that will be a double blessing. OTOH, if the maximum stitch length is very short on thin leather, only half the battle has been won.

I doubt that most sewing machine dealers would care to stay on the phone with somebody who didn't buy the machine from them, to diagnose such a problem. They would all tell you to ship it to them. Then, you would have their diagnosis time, their parts and reassembly charges, plus shipping two ways. You'd end up paying the same or higher price than this incident.

It doesn't matter what we think. You took the machine to a professional mechanic and he is going to charge what he thinks you can afford to pay. Some mechanics charge less than others, to diagnose. Your guy charges auto repair shop rates. I would have set a stop work price when I took it in, as you implied when you asked to be called if it was going to cost over $100. He should have stopped doing anything when he reached that point and called you to ask if you wanted him to continue. To diagnose that problem required him to totally remove the needlebar and all that secures it. Allowing for an hour of basic investigation to get to that point, removing the affected parts should not have taken more than one hour tops. At that point he would know that the needlebar was bent and should have called you then. You would have owed for two hours diagnosis and could decide if you could afford to have him continue, based on the price to fix and reassemble it. Figure another hour, unless he had to hunt down the needlebar elsewhere, or disassemble another machine to get the part out. That may be why he is charging so much. Then add the cost of the replacement parts, which you haven't stated. I have to guess that he wants to get at least $50 to $75 for the needlebar. You could try to negotiate a lower price for the diagnosis, since he got the repair job afterward. He probably doesn't want to own the machine if you can't afford the repair bill, but you never know. But, 5 hours labor for this particular problem is overkill. I'd say it should have been done in 3 hours. That's how long it would take me to diagnose that problem and remove the needlebar. But, as I said before, he probably didn't just have a spare bar laying around and must have had to disassemble a parts machine to get it out. It's like going to a junk yard for parts. The price is higher if they remove the parts for you.

Dan; Just what number and designation is the pressor foot in those ULS demos? I may want one of those feet.

Bob Kovar (aka: Sewmun) sells all kinds of replacement parts for Singer patchers and most industrial sewing machines. Order replacements for those worn parts and be done with it.

Maybe that thread isn't nylon, but Kevlar thread!

Bob Kovar uses the handle "Sewmun" on this forum. You can contact him via the Forum email service and he will reply when he goes online. He and his Son, Bob Jr, own and operate Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, Ltd. They are busy with setting up, delivering and servicing sewing machines and do not spend a lot of time online. They are the main industrial sewing machine and parts suppliers for Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.