Wizcrafts

Ray; Assuming you haven't changed the thread path, or neglected to go through the pre-tension hole block, the thread itself may be the problem. Try stuffing some soft foam in the thread stand feed loop, above the spool, and feed the thread through it. This should even out the twisting as it moves through the foam. It will also add a touch of back tension. If that doesn't fix the problem, try running it through the lube pot with silicon lube, or Lax Wax (from Campbell-Bosworth). If all else fails, replace the spool of thread. Or, loosen the top and bobbin tensions. Less tension on top means less chance the thread will pop out of the disks. Make sure the top thread loops around all of the holes in the pre-tension block or post.

Andrew; Things are moving along not too badly, considering where I live. I just built a holster for an 8" bbl Dan Wesson .45 LC revolver, with bullet loops sewn on the front, on my (your ex) ULS machine. The ULS has no trouble at all penetrating 4 layers of 8+ ounce veg-tan leather. I use #277 bonded nylon most of the time, but occasionally, #346 polyester. If you do buy a Campbell Randall, get some #346 bonded polyester thread with it and various sizes of needles and awls, plus lots of bobbins. If you opt to buy linen thread, I recommend 4 and 5 cord Barbour's Irish Linen, left twist, and a gallon of Lax Wax. The cheaper Hungarian linen thread is not as well smoothed and bonded and has lots of loose "hairs." It's too bad we live so far apart. If we were in the same area we could split the cost and use of a Randall! I understand that Dan sells them fully rebuilt for under a gazillion dollars!

The Union Lockstitch you traded to me does all that too. There are pressor feet and throat plates for round reins, raised work (holsters, stirrups, buckles, snaps), beaded line steppers and even a stitch in the ditch set. There is even a special foot used by Wilson to sew footballs. You should have held onto it! I agree though; it would be nice to own a Campbell Randall! Nothing sews holsters, straps or harness like a Randall. I had my chance when Sam Friedman offered to sell me one of his. If only ...

You're welcome! If all you plan to sew is leather seating, not 4 layer holsters or heavy straps, a flatbed walking foot machine with reverse is all you need. Try to find a Japanese built Consew 206RB-x (where "x" is the version number; 5 is current), or Juki, Mitsubishi, National, or Seiko compound feed walking foot machine (or maybe a West German built Adler or Pfaff). They have solid moving parts made of quality steel. The castings are very good, bearings are hefty, bobbins for some of these models are 50% larger M style, and the newest model's pressor feet lift almost 1/2". I don't know what the differences are in the Chinese built model that is now for sale. Couple that with a 1/2 horsepower clutch or servo motor, with a 2" pulley and you can sew everything from couch covers to motorcycle seats. You can always swap the pulley and v-belt to a bigger 3" set for more speed on cloth and vinyl upholstery jobs. Another good thing about commercial walking foot machines is the mind boggling amount of pressor feet and binding attachments available for them. Items sold on CraigsList can be great deals, or nightmares. One advantage of buying locally is that you can at least see and try out a machine before buying it. You don't get that opportunity when you purchase online. I found my JP built National 300N walking foot machine on CraigsList and couldn't be happier. It is almost the same as a Consew 206RB. All I changed was the motor and belt to a gear reduction servo motor, with a 2" pulley, from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It uses series 135x16/17 needles, available up to #25 and sews 3/8" of harness leather without bogging down.

The Singer Singer 112w115 is a twin needle straight stitch, flat foot, bottom feed machine. You'll have to remove the entire front end to replace the take-up lever. It sits behind the needle bar and pressor bar and in mounted onto a rod that pivots as the main drive cam rotates. The bobbins sit horizontally under cover plates on either side of the needle hole and feed dogs. The 111w155 is a walking foot machine, with a horizontal bobbin under a sliding cover plate, on the right side of the needle bar and feed dogs. It sews in forward only and has a push button that is held in while you rotate the flywheel, to change the stitch length. It is a good starter sewing machine for upholstery and garment leather, and can sew belts. It is capable of handling #138 bonded nylon thread. I would avoid the twin needle machine with the bad take-up lever, unless you really need to sew two rows at a time. You will incur a cost for the take-up lever replacement. That machine should not be used with #138 thread unless the tension is lowered on top and bottom. Then it can be used for upholstery. These are very very old machines.They are manual oilers and require oiling before or after each run. They will probably be equipped with old clutch motors, with large pulleys. As such, they will be unsuitable for sewing veg-tan leather. They will be able to sew chap, upholstery and garment leather. The 112 will have a harder time with garment leather and vinyl, because of its flat steel pressor foot.

Yes, you can sew a camera case like that on a Campbell Randall needle and awl machine. You cannot mechanically sew in reverse with them, but, if you are careful, you can spin the work around and sew back through previously stitched holes. The needles have a barb near the top. The top thread is looped into the barb, then pulled down and around the bobbin, to form a lockstitch. The barbed needles tend to rip out previous stitches, unless you carefully position the barb to just miss the other stitches. Tricky, but I do it all the time on my Union Lockstitch machine. Aside from the difference between types of needle, the main difference between the machine in your embedded video and a Campbell stitcher is the motor and drive system. The leather machines being built and sold today are using servo motors and often, speed reducers, to allow the precise control of the machine in the video. Furthermore, that motor has a needle position control, which allows you to use your heel to stop with the needle down. This is a no-brainer with those electronic positioners. A needle and awls machine uses a constantly running motor that drives a belt that goes around a huge flywheel, which free-wheels on the back of the main shaft. When you turn on the motor, the flywheel spins, but does not engage the machine's mechanism. Only when you press down on the big drive pedal, does a lever push the flywheel into a circular clutch pad on the back to the main shaft of the machine. If you lightly engage (feather) the clutch, you can sew at very slow speeds. If you go all the way down you will sew at the maximum speed set by the ratio between the motor pulley and the flywheel diameter. On a Campbell machine the maximum stitching speed is usually set to about 300 per minute (5/second). This can be slowed down even more, with an optional, 2-speed - speed reducer assembly, to a bit over 2 stitches per second (125/minute), at full throttle. I have sewn on a Randall and found it very easy to "feather" the clutch, for sewing one stitch at a time, without giving up the higher top speed, which some speed reducers force on you. There is a learning curve and you will go through a lot of thread and leather, but in the end you will be able to sew anything that fits under the pressor foot, including briefcases and some luggage. You limit is on the right side of the needle, where the body begins about 10.5 inches from the needle and awl. Campbell Randall stitchers and use either bonded Nylon, bonded polyester, or left twist linen thread - run through Lax Wax in a wax pot (one on top; one for bobbins). The awls must be larger than the needle being used. A smaller number needle is for smaller gauge thread. A number 2 needle is equivalent to a #180 standard needle and is used with #277 bonded, or 5 cord linen thread. I use a number 2.5 awl with a #2 needle. If you search on YouTube, you will find videos posted by the Campbell-Bosworth Company, showing their standard (for 3/4 inch sewing) and high lift (1 1/8") machines in action. Most people do just fine with the standard lift machines.

Use a fine point felt tip marker to mark the alignment as it sits, before you unscrew the screws hold the shuttle onto the shaft. Mating arrows usually do the trick. You may have to fine tune the timing afterward, but at least you'll be in the ballpark. It's a sewing machine, not a space shuttle. Either the pickup point passes the eye of the needle on the upstroke, or is too late or too early. The pickup point is usually set to cross the indent about 1/16" - 3/32" above the eye (depending on type of machine and needle size), as the needle begins its ascent. Not rocket science. A broken needle in the shuttle may eventually cause burrs to form on the moving parts. BAD.

Perhaps the broken end of the needle fell into the bobbin shuttle assembly. Open it up and poke around with a magnetic pickup tool. This happens more than you'd think.

You are a fine wood worker! The tables are beautiful, as are the floor runners. Restoring old iron gets into your blood. I have an old 1916 Singer 66-1 and a 1953 15-91. Both sew like they are brand new. They are best used for sewing cloth. They don't feed well with leather or Naugahyde. I did buy a "walking foot" even feed attachment for the 15-91 and that allowed it to feed vinyl. It doesn't take too much work to restore the action and set the timing. These machines are so simple to work on. Best to you in your new hobby! When you are ready to sew real leather, don't waste your time trying to force an old Singer to do something it wasn't designed for. Just get the right machine and be done with it.

I don't see any replies from Barra, so I am guessing you meant to thank me: Wizcrafts. Ask them if 135x8NW, or 134LR will fit your machine. They have narrow wedge points. I see them on AllBrands and are made by Organ Needles. I can get you a link if you can't get them elsewhere. I don't recommend re-timing the machine for the wrong needle! You are asking for trouble if you get it wrong. You don't absolutely have to use leather point needles to sew garment leather. It is recommended, but not set in stone. Just make sure that any needle you use is sharp and has no burrs on the point. Your machine does have reverse: poor man's reverse. Stop the machine with the needle down, lift the pressor foot with the knee lever, spin the work around 180 degrees, then sew back three stitches. Instant reverse!

You have bought a high speed, light duty, garment sewing machine, from the late 1940's, or early 1950's. System 1128 is the standard needle for Singer garment and tailoring machines. You will want to get #18 leather point to sew leather with #69 nylon thread. Otherwise, use the ball point for vinyl and cloth. The largest needle available in system 1128 is #21. That would be suitable for sewing with #92 thread. I don't know if a Singer 241 can handle #92 thread, top and bottom. It doesn't have much pressor foot lift and can only sew about 3/16" of soft material. Most needle sellers stock Organ, Groz Beckert or Schmetz brands. If you can find Singer needles, thay may be new old stock. Schmetz are highly regarded in the needle trade. If you are going to sew garment leather, or vinyl with that machine, convert it into a roller foot machine. Also, do yourself a big favor and change the motor pulley to a 2" size, with a correspondingly shorter 3L V-belt. And keep 1 1/2 pints of light weight Lily sewing machine oil in the oil pan! Note: Garment machines that use system 1128 needles have a shorter vertical stroke than walking foot machines. There is a considerable difference in length to the eye, and in width at the top. Hence, the lower pressor foot clearance on these machines. Don't try to sew dense veg-tan leather belts on that machine. The maximum stitch length is only 7 to the inch.

The Singer 191D is a textile sewing machine, with a self-oiling system (sits in an oil pan full of machine oil). It is designed for motor/pulley setups turning it at 4500 rpm maximum. The flat pressor foot can be lifted almost 13 mm, with the knee lever, but only 6 mm with the hand lift lever. The needle system (135x7) is geared for garment sewing thread and has the same specs as the 134R used in Pfaff garment machines. I passed on one of these machines at a drapery shop and they were only asking for $125.00. It would have been useless for sewing leather or drapes over 1/4" thick, with thread larger than #92. I'm sure the pressor foot can be tricked to lift higher, but runs the risk of hitting the bottom of the needle bar if raised too high. The bobbin is small and the tension parts are too weak for heavy nylon thread (T90/V92 maximum). Eight hundred is much too high for a Singer 191D. It is probably half a century by now. If you can negotiate the price down and do purchase this machine and intend to sew leather with it, you will need to make the following changes. Get the smallest motor pulley you can find, for the shaft diameter on the motor. A 2"/50mm motor pulley is a good speed reducer. Get a matching smaller 3L v-belt to maintain the same distance on the motor position adjuster screw. Get 1" shorter for each inch smaller pulley size. Alternately, buy a servo motor with built in gear reduction and a 2" pulley (and shorter belt), like the SewPro 500GR, sold by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It can replace a standard clutch motor. Purchase a 3 piece roller foot conversion kit and install it. This allows the machine to feed leather and vinyl without dragging the layers apart, or puckering the top layer. These machines do not feed sticky material properly unless converted to a roller foot system. Purchase leather point needles (134LR, or 135x8) appropriate for the thread size to be used (e.g. #110/18 needle for #69 thread. #125/20 needle for #92 thread). Purchase good quality bonded nylon thread; size 69 (recommended) or 92 (max), in pairs, for each color you want to use.

Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, in Toledo, Ohio, USA, has parts for Singer patchers. Their phone number is 866-362-7397

I didn't know that. This is discouraging. Are there any portable walking foot machines that have a decent casing and sturdy rods, cranks and bearings?

Donna; I haven't seen a Consew 206RP yet, but looking at photos of it, it looks like the same casing and design as the garbage Rex machine I bought. If you can go to the place where they are sold and see one in operation, then take it home in the back padded seat of your car, you'll probably make out okay. If you buy it and have it shipped by UPS, parts may be broken by the time it arrives, even though there aren't holes in the box. The shock of the packed box being dropped on the front or back is all it takes. I suspect that somebody here who owns or owned a Consew 206RP will chime in. By contrast, Sailrite builds a sturdy portable walking foot machine. The Power Plus or Monster Wheel gives it a positive drive pin, plus multiplies the torque tremendously. The eBay portables are only driven by friction from the knob on the back of the wheel. The one I got wouldn't even turn the mechanism when it arrived. The wheel just spun while the rest of the parts stayed motionless. If you intend to use a portable walking foot machine to make money on the road, buy a Sailrite. The cheaper machines aren't built to take the shock of being moved around a lot.

A Sailrite portable walking foot machine, with a Power Plus wheel, will do the work you intend to sew. Avoid the portable walking foot machines sold on eBay. They are worse then junk. They are pathetic. I bought one and had to send it back because it got jammed durning shipping and couldn't be un-jammed without completely tearing it down and rebuilding it. I lost money shipping it back. The castings are horrible, the shafts bend, the mating surfaces are not smooth. Pure garbage (Rex, Alphasew, etc).

That is not the correct email address for Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It is sewmun AT aol DOT com

I started sewing on industrial machines that had clutch motors and can feather the clutch to get very slow speeds. It is a technique that does require a steady leg and foot. Some can, some can't. But, one thing you can't change is the amount of electricity those 1/2 horsepower motors suck up, even when they are idling. A typical 1/2 hp 1725 rpm clutch motor draws between 300 and 400 watts per hour, without a load. They generate a lot of heat, which is blown around the room by the veins in the internal fan. Begin sewing and the wattage can increase to 500 or more watts per hour. A servo motor only draws power when you are actively sewing. The SewPro motor I bought from Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines has built-in gear reduction and a 2" pulley. It draws only 300 watts maximum, under full load, and I can't feel any heat coming out of it. I find this to be a cost saving (in kw hours) and heat reducing improvement from the original 1/2 hp clutch motor that was on the walking foot machine when I bought it. I agree that almost anybody can be taught to feather a clutch, but some older crafters have involuntary muscle spasm or leg control problems, or reduced reflexes, and cannot control a clutch motor at all. A servo motor is a job-enabler for them. They can set the maximum speed to a setting they can live with, then use the entire pedal range to achieve slower speeds, that are easy to control.

I found this information about these machines: Consew 277: 2300 Stitches Per Minute Presser Foot Lift by Hand: 5/16" Presser Foot Lift by Foot: 1/2" Needle Bar Stroke:1-5/16" Narrow cylinder arm - 46mm diameter (Models 277R-2 & 277RFS-2) Horizontal axis rotary hook Compound feed, walking foot mechanism assures even feeding of several piles or of slippery materials Centra-Lube® semi-automatic lubrication system Simple wing nut adjustment permits raising and lowering of the center foot to allow for sewing different thicknesses of material Simple adjustment permits the raising and lower of the center foot which allows for sewing of different thickness of material For sewing light to heavy-weight fabrics, leather, vinyl, upholstery, synthetics, canvas and various laminated and coated materials. Especially designed for products with narrow openings. Designed for stitching tubular and curved work. Suitable for sewing such products as caps, cushions, boots, shoes, auto, boat and furniture upholstery, tarpaulins, covers, sails, tents, awnings, umbrellas, tops, bags, luggage, handbags, travelware, accessories, sports and camping equipment, wearing apparel, orthopedic appliances, slippers, etc. Consew 287: Clearance Under Foot: 11/32" Needle Bar Stroke:1-5/16" Bed Size:2 9/16" x 10 9/16" Safety Clutch Walking Foot CentraLube Semi Automatic Lubrication System Vertical Axis Rotary Hook Compound feed, walking foot mechanism assures even feeding of several piles or of slippery materials Stitches per minute - 3000* Reverse feed - Model 287R-1/ 287RFS Simple wing nut adjustment permits raising and lowering of the center foot to allow for sewing different thicknesses of material Safety clutch prevents the hook from being damaged Simple adjustment permits the raising and lower of the center foot which allows for sewing of different thickness of material For sewing light to heavy-weight fabric leather, vinyl, upholstery, synthetics, canvas and various laminated and coated materials Designed for stitching tubular and curved work

You're very welcome. The 153 is perfect for the light weight projects you listed, but probably not for double saddle skirting. Saddle Skirting is usually 13 to 15 ounces thick and sole bends are 16 ounces. That machine will not sew any leather exceeding 20 ounces combined, if it will even go that thick. You are going to be limited to using #138 thread, which is too weak for projects that are subject to forces trying to rip them apart. Number 138 bonded nylon only has a tensile strength of 22 pounds pull. Without sounding like an ad agent, it is beginning to sound like the flat or roller foot Cowboy 2500 may be your best bet. I'm embedding the spec sheet for it, below. Bob Kovar, owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines is the distributor (866-362-7397). I do believe you can get this machine, with both regular and roller feet, and a swing down roller edge guide and reverse, for about a grand, plus shipping. It sews from a few ounces up to almost a half inch of leather, cloth, bioplastic, etc. It has bottom feed only, but is extremely heavy duty and can sew with very heavy thread, and has huge bobbins. It comes with a gear reduction servo motor that can be foot controlled down to a stitch every 2 seconds, or up to maybe 6 stitches per second, at toe down. I call this machine a sleeper machine, because many people ignore it in favor of the more expensive walking foot machines. It does a great job on flat top layer projects, up to almost 1/2" thickness. If your work doesn't have to walk over different layers or big seams, this machine will do everything you have listed. This includes sewing two layers of 15 ounce saddle skirting together, with #346 bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread (or even #415 I think).

The machine in the picture is a Singer 153w, not a 155. It is capable of sewing just under 3/8" of medium temper leather, with a #22 needle and #138 thread (top and bottom). While the machine is able to use up to a #25 needle (series 135x16), it won't sew with much thicker thread than #207 on top and #138 in the bobbin. The larger the needle, the harder it will be to penetrate the leather. The thicker the thread, the harder to pull it well up into the leather. That said, $300 is a fair price, with a clutch motor and table. Needles and bobbins are readily available, as are replacement parts, which you are probably going to need. While these machines are old and limited in their handling capacities, they are great for sewing things that have curves, or raised tops. I had one of the 153 Singers that I used to sew saddlebags (upside down), hats, vest and jacket arm holes and cuffs on chaps, pants, shirts and jackets. Do not expect that machine to sew sole leather at all. It will be damaged trying. The same goes for tack and harnesses, except for soft, stuffed bridle leather (2 layers 10 oz max). This is not a saddlery machine in the biggest stretch of the imagination. These are not a good machine for dense leather, or over ~5/16" thickness (they can be customized to sew almost 3/8"). The bobbins are standard industrial size, which are about the same as a home class 15 bobbin. They go a long way with #69 nylon thread, but only half that far with #138. You probably will want to use #138 thread, top and bottom, on any leather project of 1/4" or thicker. You cannot efficiently use any thicker thread in the bobbin. Spools of bonded nylon thread sell between $16 and $20 a pound, from our dealers. I often use #138 Linhanyl thread in my National walking foot machine, which I buy from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, where I also get needles, bobbins and extra bobbin cases (to preload for big jobs).

The Tippman Boss is okay for small projects, as it is hand operated. You will grow tired of it if you get into any kind of long strap production. Furthermore, the throat depth is only about 6". There are going to be some leather projects that you cannot turn around in that amount of space. Finally, a Tippman Boss sells for $1495.00. That amount of money can buy you a brand new Cowboy 2500 cylinder arm machine, with reverse, equipped with a gear reduction servo motor attached to a power stand. It can sew about 1/2" of belt or bridle leather, with # 346 thread. It has a very large cylindrical bobbin. Or, for between $1800 to $2500, you can get a brand new, fully equipped, Cowboy, or Cobra compound feed walking foot harness stitcher, in arm lengths ranging from 9" to 16.5". These machines can plow through 3/4" of harness leather, with up to #415 bonded nylon thread. They can also sew as light a 1/8" thick chaps, with #138 thread. They have huge bobbins and long needles. If you want to sew a wide variety of leather projects, including chaps, saddlebags, holsters and tack, you should get a compound feed walking or jumping foot machine. I would recommend that you call the dealers I mentioned and tell them what you intend to sew and your projected budget. They will recommend a machine to fit those requirements, at the best price they can offer. Our dealers warranty their machines and stand behind every one, 100%. If you need assistance after a purchase, they are there to help you and make things right. If a part fails, they'll send a replacement, or repair it themselves. You can call them for technical advice on operational details that might have you stumped. You will probably not find such a machine on eBay, or Craigslist, or at your local upholstery shop. Nor will you get the great follow-up service our dealers offer you. They don't just advertise here, they are also members and frequent this very forum.

Pfaff 145 sewing machines are now approaching a half century old. You should try it out and see how much wobble there is in the needle bar. They are small bobbin walking foot machines, suitable for use with up to #138 nylon or polyester thread. They are reported to be capable of sewing up to 20 ounces of light temper leather. They are really designed for upholstery work. The motor is most likely set up with a very large pulley, which will make it hard to control when sewing small projects. Expect to replace the pulley and belt with smaller ones. If you have never used an industrial sewing machine, you'll probably want to buy a servo motor to replace the clutch motor. Do not sew dense veg-tan belts and holsters on a Pfaff 145, unless it is in like new condition (unlikely). You may be successful with the first few items, but it will probably begin to go out of time and cause you problems as you continue to abuse it. I would keep on looking if I wanted to sew tack and holsters. Don't bother looking in upholstery shops. Their machines are not designed or setup for heavy leather and the thick thread required to do those jobs. They use flatbed machines exclusively, whereas holster, tack and saddlebag sewers use cylinder arm machines. We have dealers here who sell real leather sewing machines and accessories. Contact Bob Kovar (Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines - 866-362-7397), in the East, or "Cobra" Steve, of Cobra Sewing Machines, in the West (866-962-9880).

Be sure to let Bob Kovar know what voltage and cycles per second your power source is operating at. I don't know what the range of variance is in the servo motors, but clutch motors allow you to use 50 cycle power, if that is what you have, and just run a bit slower as a result.

I need a 1 1/4" oblong slot, arch punch, any brand, in good condition. Also, a 7/8" slot punch would prove useful for a certain job. PM me if you have a spare punch you can sell.