Wizcrafts

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.

Needle feed works best on cloth, which that Adler is designed to sew. However, if you buy a roller or Teflon replacement foot (if you can find one for that machine), it will also feed light leather. You are pretty much limited to #69 thread, with a #18/110 leather point needle. It might be able to sew with #92. Without a roller foot your machine may not allow you to sew leather properly. Adler feet and parts are pricy and available from certain dealers who sell or repair Adler machines. The Singer 153w103 will feed leather, up to 5/16". It will handle up to #138 thread. Bobbins are standard industrial size and are cheap. The 153 uses standard parts available everywhere sewing machine parts are sold. It uses series 135x16 leather point needles, which are available in all sizes, up to #25 (not for that machine!). You can use a #22 leather point point needle and Weaver lubricated thread and it will do everything you described. You didn't mention if the machines are mounted on tables, with 110 volt single phase clutch motors. You will need a motor and table. For leather, you need at least a 1/3 HP 1725 RPM motor. It will probably have too large of a pulley when you buy it, but smaller pulleys are available on eBay and from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. If you find you can't control the clutch motor, you can buy a servo motor with built in gear reduction and a 2" pulley, from Toledo Ind Sew Mach. Neither machine can sew harnesses or holsters (other than pancake style), because of their smallish thread size capacities, small bobbins, short-ish needles and light pressure and thread tension springs. Serious leather stitchers use a very long needle that allows a long stroke, for sewing over 1/2" of material. They are built to handle heavy thread and penetrate dense, thick leather, at very slow speeds.

Your Pfaff 463 is a high speed garment sewing machine. The feed dogs are too small to pull real leather through, unless they are raise all the way up. The top pressure spring is insufficient for holding down veg-tan leather. It is capable of sewing garment or upholstery grade leather if you do the following things. Thread it with #69 bonded nylon thread, maximum. Change the pressor foot to either a nylon, or roller foot. You may also be able to purchase a 3 piece roller foot conversion system. Raise the feed dog up higher, to about 1/16" above the throat plate feed slots. Change the motor speed to a much slower RPM, like around 300 stitches per minute (5 per second). Set the stitch length to 5 to the inch. Increase the pressor foot pressure to maximum, after installing a roller equipped pressor foot. Make sure there is plenty of oil in the machine and in the oil pan. Install a #18 or #20 (metric 110 or 120) leather point needle, of the correct needle system for that Pfaff machine. Even with all of these changes, the most you will be able to sew is about 1/8" to 3/16" of soft leather, with #69 thread.

The same thing has happened to me, with black bonded nylon, which was not properly bonded. They are bad batches. I usually relegate those spools to bobbin use only, or give them away. If you bought them from a reputable dealer, ask about an exchange. BTW, this can happen to any thread manufacturer. I bought several spools of Linhanyl thread and one of the black spools isn't solidly bonded. It is good enuf for use in the bobbin, but not on top. Another spool bought at the same time is just fine. I wonder now if it may have something to do with the black dye?

I have bought parts from him, with no problems at all. He produces Youtube videos showing his various sewing machines in action, as well as how to change a straight stitch machine into a roller foot machine. One of our members has had a Juki set-up with a roller foot and timed by Atlas Levy, for a reasonable charge. Atlas Levy is a power seller on eBay. While I wouldn't consider that company a source for leather stitchers at all, I would consider them for garment, carpet, upholstery, sergers and other production machines for the general Needle Trade.

Be sure to check back on this forum, if and when you decide you need a true leather sewing machine. We will help you pick the best machine for the jobs awaiting it. Folks. As Tom noted, just because a machine can sew with #277 thread does not mean it can do so efficiently, or repeatedly. Furthermore, the pounding a machine takes when penetrating thick or dense leather will cause early wear and problems for upholstery grade machines. Those machines were designed with parts suitable for sewing heavy cloth, or Naugahyde, with #69 up to #138 nylon thread. Most piped jobs never exceed 4 layers of material, which is about 1/8" thickness. Those materials offer little resistance to the needle and thread and are very easy to feed (on a walking foot machine). They are geared up, for speed, because speed translates into money in that business. A man with a walking foot machine, sewing a 20 foot nylon boat cover, does not want to putt putt along at 300 SPM. On the other hand, a leather crafter sewing a holster must sew very slowly (300 - 450 SPM max), to avoid burning the leather and melting the thread. I've seen needles turn red hot while sewing fast (before I knew better) and smoke coming off of the leather.

You are going to wear out your machine by sewing with #277 thread. At least step down to #207 on top and #138 in the bobbin. Make sure you use leather point needles. Note, that the larger the needle size, the harder it is to penetrate the leather and pull the bottom thread up into the lockstitch. Use the smallest motor pulley you can buy. You'll also need to get a shorter belt to keep the motor adjustment within its available thread range. I changed from a 3" pulley to a 2" pulley and had to go down 1" in belt length. It did improve punching power and slow speed operability. Better yet, buy a gear reduction 300 Watt, SewPro 500GR servo motor from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (and a 2" shorter belt). You will have all kinds of punching power at very slow and controllable speeds. It uses no electricity until you press on the foot pedal and sew. My Opinion Follows There are specially designed leather stitchers available from member dealers on this forum. These machines will handle #346 thread, top and bottom, and even #415 for some models. They use a much larger needle system than the Singer 111 and its clones, like Tacsew. All shafts, gears and bearings are much thicker. The take-up levers, rods and tensioners are beefed up and the bobbins hold a huge amount of thick thread and use an oscillating shuttle system with lots of clearance, that allows you to sew with very heavy thread.

There is a lot of "stuff" that has to be done to get a heavy duty leather stitcher into optimal sewing condition, for the thick, dense leather they are meant to sew. Steve Tayrien is one of the few on this forum who have the background, knowledge and will power to do so on each machine they sell. That is a commodity that is appreciated by everybody who invests a large sum of money in one of his awesome sewing machines. Take notice of the dealers who respond directly to posts made on this forum, to people seeking assistance with problems operating or adjusting a Cobra, Cowboy, or Campbell-Randall stitcher (and other brands). Some companies are silent when a customer posts for help with one of their machines. I think about the poor guys who bought Tacsew machines and got no help from importers or dealers. Yes, the machines were less expensive than a Cowboy or Cobra, but, where was the help and parts when they cried out? SILENT Price should not be the final determination when choosing a true leather sewing machine. A brand new machine, that is fully warranted and supported by a real person, is much more worth the money than a used, possibly abused upholstery, or garment machine that has to be kit-bashed in order to sew even 1/4" of holster leather together. Those industrial machines strain to sew with #207 thread on top only. A top of the line Cobra or Cowboy machine will handle up to #415 thread, as do the unbelievably awesome Campbell-Randall needle and awl stitchers. And, they last a lifetime. Just my 2 cents worth

Why don't you take the head back to Atlas Levy and ask to watch the repair man as he resets the timing? That way, you won't have to keep paying them every time you knock out the timing.

I can't find any such pulley online, even at TS. If you get a chance, would you post the part number and brand (if any) and a phone number for the farm supply store where you bought the hubless weld-on pulley? PS: I went to the Mills Fleet Farm website, searched for pulleys, and nothing like that appeared in the results.

I'm not going to try to type out a list of machines such as you requested. I will attempt to give you a basic understanding of the type of sewing machine you will need top sew gun leather. First of all, holsters and gun belts are often thicker than 1/4". A holster with a side filler and sight track can easily exceed 1/2". I have made them up to 3/4" with double leather fillers. To securely sew this much hard leather will require a tough machine that is geared way down, takes large needles and manages the heaviest bonded threads. The problem: your budget is $3000 maximum. Solution: buy either a Cobra or Cowboy 441 clone, with a 9 to 16" cylinder arm. Both are top of the line heavy duty stitchers. They come with servo motors and speed reducers. The Cowboy has a gear reduction servo motor with a 2" output pulley. It is awesome for the 300 watts it consumes. Cowboy machines also come with stainless steel pressor feet and throat cover plates, to avoid tarnishing wet leather. The Cobra has a special pressor foot designed by John Bianchi; a world renowned holster maker. It is exactly what a holster or harness maker needs. Cobra nad Cowboy machines are priced similarly and are well under your maximum budget. Cobra is located in Highland California (866-962-9880) and Cowboy in Toledo Ohio (866-362-7397). Other machines that will do the work include used cylinder arm machines, like the Adler 205-370 ($$$), Juki 441, Artisan, Ferdinand Bull. Used machines sometimes have worn out parts and excessive clearances. and may develop mysterious problems. The timing may be slightly out and will only reveal itself on your most important projects. Used machines often need replacement parts much sooner than new machines will. All of these stitchers have a slight learning curve. You must thread them a certain way. The tensions must be balanced for a perfect stitch top/bottom. The foot tensions need to be adjusted just enough to hold the leather down, without digging a trench along side the stitch line. Liquid lube may be needed on top of the machine, to prevent the thread from burning up on contact with dense leather. You must hold the ends of the thread back before the first stitch, or the machine may eat them. Thou mustn't sew thine own fingers while holding the leather. It will take a few days to master all this stuff (on a new machine). Now is a good time to buy a new leather stitcher. Prices are at an all time low and have bottomed out. They can only go up from here.

DPx17 is ball point, not leather point, which would be 135x16. A number 24 needle is fine for #207 thread, but a #23 leather point (135x16) will probably work as well, but with less stress on the machine. One quarter inch of veg-tan is not too much for a typical walking foot machine. Mine sews over 3/8". Make sure that the top thread loops around and goes through all of the holes in the top thread feed block, located just to the right side of the upper tension disks. The thread should feed out of the bottom of the guide block holes. Then, pull it all the way into the disks from the left and out on the right. Next, thread it around the bottom of the check spring assembly and under the check spring. The thread should be under a bit of tension from the moving check spring when you pull up on it and should not pop out of the upper tension disks. From the check spring, feed the thread up to the eye in the take-up lever, feed it through from right to left, then down, through all the guides, to the needle bar. Feed the thread through the last guide on the needle bar, then thread it through the needle's eye, from left to right. The needle must be aligned with the eye facing left to right. The indent above the eye should be on the right and the slot on the needle's shaft faces the left side. Next, take the bobbin out of its shuttle. tighten the thread on the bobbin, then insert it so it feeds against the rotation of the machine. This means that the bobbin goes in with the thread feeding over the top of the bobbin, to the slot in the case, then backwards in the slot, till it can be pulled out of the hole under the bobbin tension spring. Make sure the thread goes under the bobbin spring and is under some pressure, and not free flowing. You'll need to balance the top pressure to pull the bobbin thread up into the leather. Pull out about 6 inches of bobbin thread and snap the bobbin firmly into the shuttle. Now, it's time to pay attention to the pressure on the inside and outside pressor feet. Some walking foot machines have a separate screw above each pressor foot bar. As was mentioned earlier, tighten down the inside foot pressure screw as far down as it will go. It is important to have enough pressure on the inside foot to prevent the material from lifting as the needle begins its ascent. Insufficient inside foot pressure results in skipped stitches and torn threads. Set the outside foot pressure so that the leather does not move by itself until it lifts as the needle, inner foot and feed dog pull it back. There are other things that can go out of alignment on walking foot machines, but they are too complicated to list here.This includes the timing of the bobbin pickup point and the timing and lift of the alternating feet.

Sure thing! A static pressor foot just presses down on the material. This is necessary for two reasons. Top pressure keeps the material from moving until you are stitching, and then only in the direction the feed moves it. Top pressure keeps the material flat as the needle begins its ascent. If the material (including leather) lifts with the needle, the stitch will skip. This also tends to fray the thread. There is a big thumbscrew on top of sewing machines, directly over the pressor foot (outer foot on walking foot machines). Turning it down increases the top pressure and visa-versa. Use it to set enough top pressure to prevent the material from lifting with the needle. No more, no less. Too much top pressure will cause the top layer to want to go out of alignment with the lower layers (unless they are tacked or glued together). Sometimes, you will need to sew sticky material, like Naugahyde, or garment or chap leather. Normally, backing off the top pressure solves the feed problems, but if not, a roller foot will. A roller foot, in the context of the machine you ordered, is a large wheel on a ball bearing spindle, that replaces the original pressor foot. It has a positioning screw that lets you move it sideways with respect to the needle (keep it close to the needle, but not touching it). As the feed dog moves the bottom layer, the roller rolls with the top layer, keeping the whole shebang in alignment. You can apply the necessary amount of top pressure to prevent lifting, without compromising feeding. That's all I've got to say about tha-at!

No, it is a bottom feed dog driven machine. The needle only moves up and down and the foot it static. There is an optional roller foot available, to assist in feeding slippery top layers. Most work will feed just fine with the standard foot. I still advise you to mail Bob a glued together sample of the leather you want to sew and have him sew it on the 2500 machine, with the needle and thread you hope to use. Then you can see the results before you buy a machine. The main thing the CB 2500 has going for it is the very heavy duty moving parts. You aren't going to hurt the machine, unless you take a sledge hammer to it. It will not break because you are sewing dense leather with #277 or 346 nylon thread. On the other hand, try that with a Singer 153 and you may well destroy it. Whatever your ultimate decision, I hope you get the best machine you can afford, for the work you are going to use it for. Don't neglect extra needles, in different sizes (for different thread sizes), extra bobbins (for different colors and sizes of thread), and some 1 pound spools of thread, in the sizes and colors you prefer. Sewing with a clutch motor is difficult for beginners. Sewing with a geared down servo motor is much easier. Good luck GunNut!

That is ingenious! Nice job of blending it in with black paint. What are you getting, 1 or 2 stitches per second maximum, with about 1500 pound feet of torque?

Art; A long, long time ago, I used to lived in Toronto, Canada. I was playing music on the road back then and doing leathercraft as a serious hobby. One week I got a gig in a hotel in Barrie, Ontario. As it happened, Barrie was the location of the headquarters of Tandy Leather of Canada. I took a tour of their factory area one boring day and saw a huge sewing machine, named Union Lockstitch by Randall. The manager told me it was for sale, cause the only guy who knew how to operate it had retired. The next week it was sitting in my basement, in Toronto. Unfortunately, they had no manual to go with it. When I got it home I couldn't figure out how to thread it. I asked around some leather crafters and the local Tandy shop and was referred to contact Freedman Harness. Sam Freedman (may he rest in peace) answered the phone and invited me to his shop. When I got there he had already photo-copied his own owners manual for his ancient ULS machine. He also sold me a huge lot of spare parts (long gone now) and showed me what linen thread looked like. The next day he called me into the shop and sat me down behind a Randall stitcher and handed me a 1 inch thick by 1 inch wide stack of English Bridle Leather and asked me to sew it 1/8" from the edge in a straight line. The work had a groove line, but the machine had no edge guide. It was set to sew 10 to the inch and had a stepping foot that patted down the stitches in the holes. This was a test of my ability to operate a Randall needle and awl machine on precision work. I passed the test on the Randall. It was threaded with 4 cord Barbour's Irish linen thread, running through a pot of Super Ciroxilan (?) clear liquid wax. Sam told me where he bought this thread in Toronto and I shopped there a bunch of times, but it's been so long ago I don't remember the name of the wholesaler. If there are any Canadian members of this forum living in Toronto, maybe they can dig a little and learn who it is/was that sold Barbour's Linen Thread. They stocked it in white, natural, black, brown and yellow-gold. They had 3, 4, 5 and 6 cord in stock at most times, in left twist (for harness stitchers), and 6, 7, and 8 in right twist (for sole stitchers). They mostly supplied shoe repair shops and Freedman Harness, then me. Maybe David Freedman still uses this thread. He might tell you where he buys it (in yellow or any other colors). Tell him the Wiz said hi!

The CB 2500 will make all the holsters you want. It natively sews up to 7/16", but I think it can be adjusted for a half inch. It has no problem sewing #277 or #346 thread, has a large bobbin, lots of top foot pressure and a servo motor plus speed reducer. If most of your work is one top layer, this is a good machine for you. If you have to jump up and down layers, a walking or jumping foot is better. It sounds like your holsters are one top layer, so check it out. Oh, and it's brand new. You should mail a sample of your leather to Bob, glued together, and have him sew it off for you, with either #277 or #346 thread. Send something that represents your actual work. You can see samples of the other machine's sewing at the same time, as a comparison. It won't handle anything over #207 thread though.

I have sewn reins that are 1 inch thick, on a Campbell-Randall high-lift stitcher, with 4 cord liquid-waxed linen thread, at 10 stitches to the inch. It used a #1.5 needle and #2 awl. The customer preferred the close stitches and the thread was yellow-gold in color. I have made gun holsters that exceeded 3/4 inch, on my Union Lockstitch machine.

I use #277 or #346 thread at 5 stitches per inch, for gun leather and weight belts. I might sew some projects with #277 at 6 spi, but then revert to 5 when done. It looks better with thick thread and is less likely to perforate the leather. For non-mission critical, outside stitch lines you could make the stitches closer, down to 8 to the inch, with #277, or 4 or 5 cord Lax-waxed linen thread (on N&A machines). I just wouldn't go that close where the stress area is.

That's because there is no website for the US operation yet! It is in the works though... In the meantime, here is a scan of my own brochure on the CB 2500.