Wizcrafts

It appears that your problem is too much tension presented by the raised throat plate and pressor foot. Have you tried reducing the pressure on the foot? ?? ?????

Now that you have stretched the belt to loosen it, go to your nearby auto supplies store and get some v-belt no-slip spray. Mask off the surrounding areas and spray the inside of the pulleys and backside of the belt. Drop some sewing machine oil into the treadle assembly's moving parts. Drop some oil into the oil holes on the machine, especially the oil hole by the rear of the head. You may need to buy a bolt-on pulley, about 9" or 10" in diameter, to get better control of the treadle operation. Drill and tap three or four holes into the original pulley on the base and bolt the smaller pulley to it. Try to keep it centered for balance. Tractor supply stores carry these large spoked pulleys.

I think that you using a Ferdco 1010 would be like using a tank to take out a sniper. You are looking for a machine to sew ladies' purses, up to maybe 3/8" thickness, with #138 thread, tops. That machine is a very slow speed, heavy stitcher, designed to sew 5/8" with huge needles and heavy thread. Further, it is dual feed, with a feed dog underneath and a driven outer walking foot with teeth on it. This could leave marks in your leather, or metal hardware. It's also about $2000, plus shipping. If you really want a production machine to sew purses, up to only 3/8" thickness, I have a better recommendation for you. I've done some homework and found that a Cowboy 227-R might be the perfect machine for your job description. It has a 10+ inch cylinder arm, the preferred compound feed walking feet (triple feed, smooth bottoms of feet), a semi-self-oiling system (with manual oiling once a week), can stand up to production use (you mentioned 4 - 6 hours a day), easily sews with #138 thread and has optional accessories available (attachments, folders, edge guides, pressor feet). The design of the arm allows you to sew right up to the left edge of the outer pressor foot and a 10+ inch arm is plenty for purses and vests. Bobbins are installed inside the cylinder, right at the end and can be changed with work still in the machine. This particular machine comes with a heavy duty table and servo motor. The motor has a lot of power and is easily controllable from under one stitch per second to maybe 10 per second. You may need to sew fast on straightaways, to get the work done in a timely fashion. Most of the big stitchers, like the one you asked about, have a gear reducer pulley that slows the top speed way down. Those machines are not meant to be sewn fast, as it would burn the leather, melt the thread and turn the needles red hot, to do so. This CB-227-R machine is available already tested and ready to go, from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Their number is 866-362-7397. Bob Kovar is the owner and is great to deal with.

Aw hell; toss in that #20 needle, with #69 thread and see what happens. A bigger hole may help pull the knot up. For slippery material you may want to consider using a roller foot. That could be just the foot, with little rollers inside, or an entire roller attachment conversion kit. Start with just the pressor foot and see if that helps feed the slippery material better. If the top thread is pulling the material back towards you, there is too much top tension. Back off some. Loosen the bobbin some more to compensate.

This is just a thought, but, test a stitch without any material under the pressor foot, using the hand wheel. As the loop is picked off the eye of the needle (just as the needle begins its ascent), rotate a quarter, or half turn more and see if the top thread pulls easily around the bobbin case. If the top thread is being pinched by inadequate clearance inside the bobbin case/shuttle, the knots will form under the work, rather than in it.

John; If at all possible, could you take some close up photos showing your thread path, from the spool to the needle and a snap or two with the take-up lever and slack spring in various positions and the needle itself? Are you using the same size thread top and bottom? Is this a #18 needle/#69 thread setup? If you can't make any more headway on your own, consider sending in to Bob Kovar, owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It might be out of time on the top end and he will know that and get everything back into the proper sequence.

When the thread take-up lever is at the highest point, the knot is formed in the material.

Don't mess with the timing unless you are getting skipped stitches. As long as the top thread forms a loop and the pick-up grabs the loop, your timing is fine. Here are some things to check that could cause the locks to fall under the work. The top thread is lacking pressure. Check the thread path. The top thread is not going through the center area of the top tension disks. The top thread is not going through the slack (check) spring, after the tension disks, before the take-up lever. The position of the check spring and its assembly has shifted the wrong way. The check spring is too tight. The lift lever is engaged behind the machine, removing all tension from the disks. Something is causing exceptional drag on the bobbin thread. Make sure it really flows easily, but with some resistance. The needle is too small for the thread knots and density of the material. Move up a needle size and see what happens. The leather is too dense. Use thread lube, or lubricated thread, or a bigger needle.

This machine is threaded incorrectly. The top tensioner is supposed to be wrapped around clockwise, after the thread goes around the post on top, behind the tension disks. From there it feeds to a curly spring in front of the needlebar, then up to the take-up lever. The lower tension disks are called "darning tensioners" and are only used when the feed is lifted off the material and the work is moved by hand (darning). The thread would go directly to the darning disks, not through the upper tensioners. The upper tension disks have their pressure relieved when you lift the pressor foot lift lever. The front darning disks are never loosened by the machine. Unless you are darning, only use the top tensioner and reverse the direction of the thread. Go around the little post behind the disk, turn a sharp turn and feed it into the top tensioners clockwise. Do not go down to the darning disks. The needle is backwards. The scarf above the eye must face to the right. That is causing the skipped stitches.

In addition to threading the needle from left to right, make sure that the top thread is going around the little post behind the top tension disks, then around and inside them, clockwise, then out of the disks and through the little loop in front of the take-up and needlebar, then up and through the take-up lever, down the snout, past the little spring in the needlebar, and through the eye of the needle. The bobbin should feed the thread backwards to the slit in the bobbin case, making a sharp bend back through the slot, then be pulled totally under the little bobbin case spring, up through the hole, through the hole in the center post if yours is the large bobbin case, and up through the hole in the throat plate. There should be some modest tension on the bobbin, but not too much, especially for sewing light weight material. If there is an adjuster mechanism on the back of the take-up lever assembly, inside the trapeze, make sure you back it off all the way for thin materials. If it is engaged most or all the way in, the take-up lever will pull too much top thread up and may cause skipped stitches in thin material. It is only turned inwards to sew thick or very dense material. Make sure that your pressor foot has just enough spring pressure to keep from lifting as the needle lifts, but not so much that it squishes thin leather. Also, make sure that the foot goes all the way down, when the lift lever is lowered. The foot does all the work on a Patcher. Finally, check the spool of thread and make sure that the thread feed off the top of the spool. If you don't have an industrial thread stand, place the thread on the base of the machine and feed the thread up and around the thread peg near the rear of the machine, then on to the lube pot, through its hole and out to the upper tension disk. The little thread post post is for what are known as Patcher spools; about 1 ounce thread weight or #69 bonded nylon thread. Patcher spools are usually sold by shoe supply warehouses. Make sure that you use the best fit needle for your thread. For #69 thread, that would be a #16 or #18 needle. If your needle is too big the top thread won't for a loop for the bobbin case's pickup point to grab.

For ladies' designer handbags you may need a cylinder arm machine to sew the tight corners. However, if they are sewn inside out a flatbed machine will do fine. The zippers will be a bit tricky though, unless you have a cylinder arm machine. You will want a walking foot machine and several accessory pressor foot sets. These will include: left toe and right toe zipper feet; a piping/welting foot set for each size of welt you intend to sew between the seams; possible an edge binder set, a swing-away edge guide and aim-able lights. Get plenty of bobbins and extra bobbin cases. Buy thread in either 8 oz or 16 oz spools. Buy needles by the hundred, for the main sizes you will be using. Get several quarts of industrial sewing machine oil and load some into small bottles. Most leather sewing machines require frequent manual oiling. If you decide to buy a used machine, stick with only the top brand names and only buy one that is clean and can be tested before you take it. You will probably want a machine capable of sewing with #138 bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread, using a #21 or #22 leather point needle. You will want a machine with reverse that matches the forward holes perfectly. Many lesser builds do not match on reverse, without a lot of dinking with the positions of the pressor feet. If you buy a new machine, get one with a servo motor, not a clutch motor. Servos are much more controllable at slow speed than a clutch motor. Also, you won't need all the torque a clutch motor delivers, for purse leather. You should get a small pulley on the motor (2" to 21/4"), to give slower top speed with a bit more punching power.

The answer to your question about the best sewing machine for bags depends on your definition of "bags." If you could be more specific, possibly posting some photos of samples, we can better serve you. Also, do you intend to use the machine for regular daily production, or just occasionally? For regular production, a brand new machine is best. The Consew 206RB-5 meets that requirement to some degree, but a Juki 1508 is going to hold up better, for steady production work. Adler, Pfaff and Juki machines are used in production factories World-wide. Not so for Tacsew or other clone knockoff machines. Seiko makes Consew machines. They are usually considered a secondary-consumer line to the Seiko manufacturing quality machines. It really depends on how much use, at what average RPM, the machine will receive. Once we see the kind of bags you want to sew, a recommendation regarding flatbed vs cylinder arm can be offered. You may need to revise your price range if you intend to go into steady production.

Holly; call Bob Kovar about the Pfaff parts and accessories. His website is not up and running yet. He has everything you will need. Bob Kovar Toledo Ind.Sewing Mach.Sales Ltd 3631 Marine Rd Toledo,Oh. 43609 1-866-362-7397

It so happens that Bob Kovar, of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, sells a roller conversion set. Call him, at 866-362-7397 and ask for the 3 piece roller foot conversion for your particular Juki clone machine. Bob also sells needles, bobbins, cases, thread, parts, attachments and edge guides for most industrial sewing machines.

Measure the total belt length with a tape measure inside the pulley channels, then buy a 1/4" O.D. leather belt that is a bit longer (with a steel clamp). Cut off the excess from one end, punch a #0 or #1 hole about 1/4" in on each end and clamp them together with the enclosed steel clamp, with your pliers.

First of all, the machine you bought is designed to sew garments and drapery, not leather. It takes a #18 needle maximum, which indicates that the largest thread it can manage is #69. You can put the world's most sophisticated motor under the table and bore out the needlebar to hold a number 27 needle, but the mechanism in the take-up and bobbin systems will still only be able to sew with #69 thread. You have wasted whatever you paid for that machine if you intend to sew leather, other than garment leather, with it. Even then, you will need to convert the feed to a roller foot and matching feed dog and throat plate.

You just replied to a dealer who sells gear reduction servo motors! Call Bob Kovar, at 866-362-7397. I have one from him and love it! It has a 3:1 gear reduction and a 50mm (2") pulley. Be sure to order a shorter belt if you replace a clutch motor with the SewPro 500GR.

When you say that you have a table and base, are you referring to a Union Lockstitch table, or a standard industrial sewing machine table? If the latter, forget it. The table top will warp under the weight of the machine, unless you add a second table top and glue or bolt them together. If you want to see mine, come to Flint, Michigan.

The Singer patcher is good for up to 12-14 oz leather, using no larger than #138 thread. The shoe lasts are good for holding shoes as you work on them. You just barely got your $500 worth.

Tis time to pack up the head and ship it to an industrial sewing machine repair depot. Where are you located?

That Singer is in all likelihood a home sewing machine, with a drop feed and flat steel pressor foot. It probably does not have sufficient pull to feed and sew upholstery leather. You should be looking for an industrial walking foot machine if you intend to do any upholstery at all. Names to consider include Adler, Consew, Juki, Seiko, Pfaff, or a Singer 111w155. Several of our member-dealers sell these and other machines, like Artisan, Cowboy and Cobra. The difference is that the industrial walking foot machines have triple feed and a very big and powerful motor. This is what is needed to pull and feed heavy and thick material. A household machine is not designed to do that and will either bog down, skip stitches, vary the stitch length, drag apart multiple layers, or fail to sew a straight line. An industrial walking foot machine can sew with #138 bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread, which home machines cannot handle. Some can sew with even thicker thread, like #207, or 277+ (only big leather stitchers). Home machines are mostly limited to sewing with a maximum of #69 nylon thread, using a #110/18 needle.

That is a ridiculously low price for a working ULS machine. I am asking 2 1/2 times that amount for mine, with the motor and table. Here are some things you need to consider if you intent to buy a ULS head only. The head alone weighs about 350 pounds The motor used in most ULS machines is a continuous running 1/2 HP or 3/4 HP motor, not a clutch motor This motor has a double 1.5" pulley. One pulley drives the flywheel, which has a clutch is on the inside. The other pulley drives the special bobbin winder, made specifically for this machine. My motor is mounted on the top right rear of the table. Newer models have the motor under the table. One of the pulleys is for the flywheel; the other is for the bobbin winder assembly. The table made for the machine has a cutout under the entire body, for adjusting gears and shafts The machine bolts to the table from underneath, in the front The machine is clamped on the back by an angled bracket bolted into the table top. The table top will need to be about 3 inches thick to support this machine. You will need very strong steel k-legs to support this machine. You will either need the original pressor foot lifter and speed control pedals and rod/crank assemblies, or will need to buy new ones from Campbell-Bosworth, or will have to fabricate them from scratch. They are totally different than any other system used on industrial sewing machines. Assembled, the machine, motor and table weighs about 500 pounds. It will cost you several hundred dollars to have the head trucked to your location (on a pallet). You will probably need a forklift, or a few very strong men, with a very heavy duty steel dolly to unload it and move it into your establishment. These some facts to keep in mind about a Union Lockstitch machine head only. I personally wouldn't buy one without the correct table, legs and motor. You are going to spend hundreds of dollars on creating or modifying a table to support and activate it. If you don't receive the bobbin winder, pedals, rods and pivoting cranks, you will have to buy them somewhere.

Change the bobbin and/or bobbin case and see if that fixes the problem.Make sure you buy the M size case with the slot to the left, like the original. Sometimes, the anti-backlash springs cause trouble. Seek a bobbin case without the backlash spring and try it out.

If possible, can you have some closeup photos taken of the shuttle and its positioning bar, with the throat plate off? Take photos with the needle going down, then coming up, which is where the thread breakage occurs. Use a thin strip of leather or vinyl to give an accurate record of the problem as it develops. Other things to check: the needle for burrs and proper alignment. Also, make sure the needle is fully seated in its housing. Make sure that there is just a bit of play between the recess in the bobbin shuttle and the tang that secures and positions it. Too much sideways clearance might cause thread breakage problems. The actual forward/backward position can throw off the pickup point timing, or can allow the needle to hit the case, rather than pass it cleanly. Have you tried lowering the needle 1/16" and seeing if the problem changes? It is possible that the timing of the hook has been thrown off. It is possible that the inside foot is not coming down and lifting up at the precise moment in time needed for a full length stitch. This could possibly have something to do with your problem.

Yes, I knew that. Almost every triple feed walking foot machine ships with smooth bottom pressor feet. Feet with teeth are usually an add-on option. Almost all triple feed walking foot machines, except for the Adler 20(4|5)-374, have teeth on the feed dog. Jumping foot harness stitchers do not have a feed dog at all. Similarly, needle and awl machines do not have feed dogs. These machines are either needle or awl feed, while the pressor foot is lifted. All patcher machines have teeth on the bottom of the pressor foot. That is their sole means of transporting the leather. Portable walking foot machines, meant for sewing boat vinyl, usually have pressor feet with teeth, for more grip on slippery vinyl and plastic windscreens. My friend at Doug Monroe, M&M Leather, in Flint, Michigan, has a Rex walking foot machine for sale, with teeth on the pressor feet. It has tremendous grip on anything you place under the feet. God help you if that includes a finger!