Wizcrafts

A Pfaff 463 is a bottom feed, straight needle machine and is probably not suitable for upholstery or leather work. Upholsterers use a walking foot machine to ensure even feeding of the layers. A straight stitch, static needle machine, with bottom feed only will allow the layers to go out of alignment, unless you change the pressor foot to a roller foot. Most sewing machine dealers can sell you a flat bottom foot with long rollers inside the front and back, for about $15 (+shipping). Or, you may be able to convert the machine into a roller foot machine by purchasing a special wheel foot, single feed dog and single feed slot throat cover plate, if there is a set made for the Pfaff 463. Roller conversion sets typically sell for about $40 (+ shipping). If the machine is breaking thread and you know nothing about setting up an industrial machine, prepare to spend a bit of time and possibly money getting it into good working condition. You are usually further ahead to try to find an upholstery shop that is selling an older machine, already setup properly and with a walking foot mechanism.

@jbone850 The fellow who is quoted in the above reply sells the Cowboy brand stitchers. If you were willing to drive to Michigan to pickup a 97-10 monster machine, why not drive a little further down the road to Toledo, Ohio? You can actually try out his machines and learn to adjust and control them, from the supplier himself. You will get a lot more machine for the money you were about to throw away.

For the price range the seller is requesting you could purchase a brand new Cobra, or Cowboy, or Artisan, or Juki, or Techsew heavy stitcher, with a walking foot compound feed mechanism. You would get a perfectly tuned and tested machine, with a warranty and customer support, not to mention easy to replace parts and plenty of add-ons and accessories. Compare this to buying an old, out of manufacture for decades machine that is in a storage locker, for God knows how long, no factory support and hard to find (if at all) replacement parts. To me it is a no-brainer to buy a new machine.

Perhaps this will save you the stress of working your way up to a true walking foot leather sewing machine. It took me a few years of buying the wrong machines, then dinking with them to try to get them to sew thick belting, before I found a real walking foot machine capable of sewing 3/8" together. Note my reply in the topic about 132k6 machines. I had one and got rid of it after dinking with it for three months. Just because a machine is big does not mean it will sew a pretty, perfectly spaced stitch, with heavy nylon thread, through multiple layers of smooth top grain veg-tan leather. You really should go to see the Cobra machines in action and see if you can buy one on layaway. You are close to their shop and they have exactly the machines you are searching for. Otherwise, I fear you will waste a lot of time and money working your way up to a proper leather sewing machine.

I had a 132k6 for a while and it was not a true walking foot machine at all. It had a spring loaded outer pressor foot that followed the material as the feed dog pulled it backward, then lifted at the end of the stitch and snapped forward (violently). The needle was vertical motion only, as was the inner pressor foot (not compound feed). All of the actual feeding was done by the bottom feed dogs. I found that the top foot slipped all over the surface of polished leather belts and straps, causing the stitch length to vary all over the place. It was good at sewing webbing and rough top grain leather and latigo, up to 1/2 inch. The teeth are fairly high and did leave deep marks in the backside of smooth pasted leather straps. Finally, I was able to sew with #346 thread, but it was not a pretty stitch and the knots were all over the place. Just my experience. Your mileage may vary.

I see a lot of members asking if this or that sewing machine is a walking foot machine. That question is usually asked by people new to industrial sewing machines, who have never owned a walking foot machine before. To help clarify the confusion about what a walking foot looks like I have posted some close up photos of my own National 306N walking foot machine. You can see that there are two pressor feet on this machine. One is an outer foot, the other is an inner foot. The inner foot has a hole through which the needle protrudes as it goes down, then back up. The inner foot and needle both move together, in time with the single feed dog, which protrudes through a slot in the throat cover plate. While the needle and inner foot are down and moving the work, the outside foot is lifted off the material, allowing it to feed effortlessly. Even multiple layers are fed without losing alignment, because the needle has penetrated all of the layers and pulls them back together, assisted by the inside foot. Once the needle has reached its full stitch length it begins to withdraw from the material. As the needle begins its ascent the outer foot lowers onto the work, securing it, then the inner foot lifts up and moves forward with the needle, to prepare for the next stitch. This action is referred to as alternating pressor feet, or walking feet. This type of walking foot mechanism is known as a "compound feed" or "triple feed system." This is because three pieces are involved in moving the material: the needle, the inside foot and the feed dog. In contrast, a standard sewing machine has but one pressor foot, which remains stationary on top of the material. It always exerts pressure on the work. All of the motion is caused by the feed dog under the work. This can cause multiple layers to be dragged out of alignment, unless the top pressure is reduced to the bare minimum necessary to prevent the material from lifting as the needle withdraws. Should the material lift with the needle there will be skipped stitches.

The Juki DDL-5550 is a high speed, self oiled garment sewing machine, with a straight needle and a fixed pressor foot. It is absolutely NOT a leather sewing machine. They are usually equipped with a higher than standard speed motor and a large pulley, to get the most speed for factory use. Don't even think about using such a machine with veg-tan leather. It is also not equipped to use heavy thread. See my post showing close-up photos of a walking foot mechanism.

Bar tacker machines are perfect for sewing on 3/4" and 1" wide Velcro strips. Lift the foot, position the Velcro under the needle, lower the foot, hit the pedal and in one second it is sewn on with a tight zigzag across the strip. Do that at the center and ends and she's good to go in half a minute.

You will get all the help you need with your new Cobra, here, and/or from Steve Tayrien.

Singer 111W155, Juki LU-562 and LU-563, older Consew 206 models, National 306N, plus various industrial models from Adler, Artisan, Chandler, Pfaff, Seiko and Mitsubishi all are available in walking foot series and will sew 1/4" and have been around for at least 15 years or longer. Generally speaking, the older the machine, the more likely it needs parts and adjustments to sew properly and efficiently. Most of these machines are manually oiled, leaving it up to the operators to maintain them properly. An old machine stored in an outdoor locker or garage will develop rust and lose its oil, making it likely to seize up if run without first lubricating all moving parts and applying anti-seize to rusted parts. That said, try to find a seller who is still using the machine they are offering to you. Go and watch it sew. Listen for sounds of clunking or grinding. Spin the flywheel to see if it rotates freely, without binding part way through its cycle. Test the motor and clutch. Many old machines are sold with a shot clutch, or one that is sadly out of adjustment. Test the knee lever to ensure that it raises and lowers the pressor foot without binding. Look at the pressor foot bar and needle bar and make sure they travel in a perfectly straight line, without sideways motion. Make sure those bars are not binding as they move. Look at the thread hole in the takeup lever and see if it has worn almost through from tight thread. Remove the bobbin cover plate and make sure the bobbin case, or shuttle is not chipped or rusted and that it turns or oscillates freely. Watch the top thread as it is picked up by the shuttle point and pulled around the bobbin. It should not get hung up as it feeds around the bobbin and housing. Inspect the feed dogs for wear and chipped teeth. Make sure the thread tension parts are not rusted and allow the thread to be pulled smoothly, but with sufficient tension to make a stitch. You should be able to adjust the top tension from virtually zero, to very tight. Many old machines have worn thread tension parts. Also, make sure that the thread tension disks release tension when you raise the pressor feet with the knee lever. or the hand lifter lever. If the machine meets all of these tests it may well be worth a couple of hundred bucks. If not, it may cost you as much as you paid for it in replacement parts. Motors alone go for over a hundred dollars, for 1/2 hp clutch motors, and more for servo motors. If you buy a machine that was setup to sew drapes, or cloth garments, it may have a 1/4 hp 1725 rpm motor, which will prove too weak for heavy leather 1/4" thick. If the clutch is shot you won't be able to feather it for slow sewing.

Ask the seller to look at the machine to get the name and model. The brand name will be on a sticker on the front of the top body of the machine. The model number will usually be on a tag near the bottom of the base, on the right front. There is a world of difference between a Singer 111W155 and a Juki 562 or 563. The Singer 111 was one of the first walking foot machines in wide circulation. It goes back a generation and can be found in upholstery shops and clothing shops around the world. These are triple feed machines, with standard industrial bobbins. They use industrial 135x16 and 135x17 needles. They only sew forward and did not ship with a reverse lever. To secure the stitching one raises the pressor feet with the needle down, using the knee lever, then flips the work 180 degrees and sews back 3 stitches. Stitch length is changed by holding in a button and rotating the flywheel forward or backward. The Juki LU-56x is a step beyond the Singer 111, in that it does have a reverse lever on the front. You just hold down the lever to back tack. They use the same 135x needles as the 111's. The LU-562 uses the same bobbin as the 111, but the LU-563 uses a larger M size bobbin. The Jukis have a failsafe clutch that disengages if the thread gets jammed up in the bobbin case. After you free the bobbin thread you can press a button, rotate the wheel and the bobbin drive will pop back into gear. Both the Singer 111W and Juki Lu came with pedal activated 110 or 220 volt, 1/3 or 1/2 hp, 1725 rpm clutch motors under the tables, and either a foot pedal or knee lever to raise the pressor feet. The pressor feet lift to about 7/16", allowing you to sew up to 3/8" thick material. The thread handling components are optimized for sizes #69 through #138, on the top and in the bobbin, but some of these machines can use #207 on the top thread, with #138 in the bobbin. Needles are available in sizes from around #16 up to #25. Either brand will sew chaps and leather garments and jackets. They can also sew belts and straps up to almost 3/8" thick, depending on which pressor feet are installed and the way the machine was setup. They will definitely sew 5/16" thickness. The pressor feet are sold in sets of inner and outer feet. There are many types of feet available for these machine, for very low prices. One note: These are OLD machines now and probably came from an Upholstery shop. That means that they probably have a large 3 to 3.5" motor pulley and will run like a bat out of hell when you engage the clutch. A lot of people have a hard time trying to control clutch motor machines. You may need to purchase a servo motor afterward, in order to be able to reliably control the sewing speed.

Are you using a thread stand to feed the thread off the top of the spool? There should be zero tension along the thread path until it wraps around the tensioner discs. There, you should only wrap it around in a semi circle, then out to the spring regulator, then up to the take-up lever, then down through the guides, to the needle, which should be large enough to bring the knot up into the center of the work. Make sure that the thread is not wrapping around itself after going through the upper guides before or after the tensioner discs. Also, look at the spring regulator and make sure it isn't wrapped around the shaft, rather than going through the disc-like mechanism where the spring moves with the thread, to take up slack.

Please see the article I wrote a few days ago - on this very forum, about this very subject.

To answer your question about thread, thread size 138 (22 pounds pull) is suitable for pancake holsters or other projects that are only two layers, not exceeding 18 ounces. It is too heavy for thin stuff, like vests, but is ok for coats and motorcycle jackets, chaps, etc. I use it on guitar straps, rifle slings and other items not more than 5/16" think. Once the work reached 3/8 inch you need to move up to #207 or 277 thread. For half inch, #277 or #346. #69 thread is a little heavier than home sewing thread and has an 11 pound pull strength. Most home machines can sew with #69, but not #138. #69 is good for leather garments, mocs, Naugahyde, drapes, jeans, etc. It is inadequate for holsters. Your Tippmann can sew with up to #346 nylon (I believe), and up to 3/4" thick. If your holsters have an 8-9 oz filler, that makes three layers, which exceeds the capacity of the patchers, so, stick with the Tippmann for your holsters, and thicker thread. BTW: Thread numbers doubling also means that the diameter doubles. So, using #69, the size of heavy fishline, as baseline, 69 =1x; 138 = 2x, 207 = 3x, 277 = 4x and 346 = 5x. When I sew with #138 thread I typically use a #22 or 23 leather point needle. Choose your needle size by threading a foot of thread through the eye, then hold it at an up/down diagonal angle. If the needle is right it will shimmy along downward. If it just drops, the needle may be too big and if it drags, too small. Keep in mind that the hole made by your needle must not only be big enough to carry the top thread, but to also form the knot inside the material.

Rueben; The price is great for three Singer Patchers, especially the long arm model. However, there is something you need to know about their thread handling capacity. The machine was built like a tank, but is not designed to use anything larger than #138 (T135) bonded nylon, or 3 cord linen thread. You might be able to force it to use up to #207 on top, but not in the bobbin. If these machines all have the small bobbin (about the width of a dime x 3/16") you will have a hard time doing two belts or guitar straps with #138 in the bobbin. If the long arm patcher has a big bobbin, you're more able to complete large projects with one bobbin load. The large bobbin handles about 50% more thread, up to #138. The pressor foot lift is greater on the long arm patcher, maxing out at 5/16" capacity under the foot and teeth. The short arm models won't usually feed the much leather, maxing out just over 1/4". The stitch length varies with the thickness of the material, more so on the short arm machines. The long arm patcher can produce up to 5 spi, if the feed mechanism is still tight. The short arm patchers don't usually do better than 6 spi. Singer Patchers use system 29x3 or 29x4 needles, which are available in sizes up to #23. A long arm Singer, with a #23 needle will sew through 5/16" of leather using #138 thread, top and bottom. You may be able to trick out the long arm machine to let higher and sew #207 thread, but you will wear it out quickly. Patchers all feed from the top, via teeth under the pressor foot. Thick leather usually requires much more top spring pressure to avoid lifting, which causes skipped stitches. This extra pressure makes it harder to feed the work as you stitch. This usually reduces the stitch length and leave deep tooth marks along the stitch path, on either side of the needle. If you are looking to sew lots of holsters, with welts, I recommend a cylinder arm harness stitcher, such as those made by Cobra, Cowboy, or Adler. Bob Tovar, a member here and owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines, sells used patchers and stocks parts and accessories for them. I buy my needles, bobbins, threading rods, thread and replacement parts from him, for my Singer 29K172 long arm - big bobbin patcher.

Did you ask him if he has any trade-ins or rebuilt machines?

I have a Singer model 66-1 that will sew about 3/16" under the pressor foot. I suppose it may be able to feed leather, but the stitch length is tiny; around 8 to the inch maximum. It can only deal with #69 thread max. If the one you are looking at is from the 1940's or newer, it will be more capable than my 1916 model 1. Note, that the Singer Class 66 is strictly a home machine. It was not designed to sew real leather, such as leathercrafters use. Save your money and buy an industrial walking foot machine. You will end up with one anyway, so you may as well save yourself the grief of going through a half dozen machines on your way to a walking foot machine. Get one from a dealer, with a servo motor installed. It will give you very good control at all speeds, especially slow speeds. Also, most modern leather sewing machines can now sew 3/8" of leather. Old ones have a hard time past 5/16".

Now that we have gotten that machine out of the way, might I suggest that a Consew 206RB, or similar, will fit your requirements? If you can even consider a new machine, Cobra Steve, located in California, sells a model 18 flatbed walking foot machine that will sew an honest 3/8" of real leather. It is a triple feed machine, and built tough. They come with servo motors that are easy to control at slow or high speeds.

As far as I have seen the Consew 220 is a single flat foot, straight stitch garment machine. It is an old model, lacking reverse. It may sew 1/4" of soft leather, like chap or vest leather, if you install a roller foot, or teflon foot. It is most likely limited to using #69 thread maximum. You would probably have to change the motor pulley to a 2" diameter to be able to sew on leather. A Consew 220 sells for about $200 to $250 nowadays.

I should have explained in my reply that a needle and awl machine is the best type to use for any leather project that thick. These machines have a top mounted awl that stabs a hole through the leather, advances the stitch the preset length, as the pressor foot lifts, then raises out of the leather after the pressor foot lowers. As the awl raises up the needle also comes up from the bottom side, through the hole made by the awl. A looper feeds the top thread around a barb in the top of the raised needle, which then goes back down, where the thread is pulled off the barb of the needle and around the bobbin case, forming the lockstitch. This type of machine is the most reliable for heavy leather stitching and is the choice of many commercial holster makers. There are probably some needle only machines that can fit an inch under the pressor foot, but I don't think the needle will survive more than a couple of stitches in one inch of veg-tan leather, unless you wet it first to soften it up and run the thread through a silicon lube pot, or use the pre-lubed and messy Weaver bonded nylon thread. The friction generated by an inch of leather can deflect the needle causing it to break, or heat up and cause the thread to melt, or it can seize in the leather and get pulled right out of the needle bar. The larger the needle and thread, the more likely one of those things will occur. Somebody who has a machine that can effectively sew an inch of veg-tan may reply with their details and advice. The brand new Cobra Class 25-4 has a 1" maximum pressor foot lift and can sew up to 7/8" of leather, very slowly.

A Campbell-Randall needle and awl machine with the high lift option will sew up to 1 1/8" of leather, perfectly. Here is the details page for the Campbell stitchers

Scott; Thompson minis are decent little portable walking foot machines, but are designed to sew vinyl and plastic boat windows, not leather. The pressor feet have teeth on the bottom, as well as a drop feed feed dog. These machines will sew about 5/16" of material. The bobbins look like standard industrial bobbins and I think they use the 135x needle system. There are two drawbacks to using this type of stitcher, unmodified. 1: the teeth on the pressor feet will leave a trail in top grain leather and 2: the flywheel is small and not very heavy. You will need to hand wheel to start stitching on belts, or to maintain a slow stitch rate. Some members of this forum use mini-walking foot machines made by Sailrite, Thompson, Morse, and various Chinese brands. They modify them by grinding the teeth off the bottom of the pressor feet, giving more sewing thickness capacity, and by adding a "Monster Wheel" and belt sold by the Sailrite company. Another upgrade would be to install a new Sailrite 1.5 amp 8000 rpm motor and heavy duty control pedal. If you buy the Thompson machine and find that it lacks punching power, the Monster wheel and bigger belt will cost you around $125 plus shipping. Other pressor feet are available and go for around $25 a set, or less. I think the new motors go for about fifty bucks, or less. Visit www.sailrite.com for more info about parts for mini walkers. Even with the Monster Wheel and 1.5 amp motor, a mini walking foot machine is no match for a real industrial walking foot machine, or even a needle feed machine. These are usually equipped with large clutch or servo motors rated at 1/2 hp and larger. Let us know if you get the machine and how it works for your leather projects.

I frequently see posts on the Leather Sewing Machines forum from people wanting to sew leather, but not understanding what type of machine to buy. While a lot of you are looking to sew some serious heavy leather projects many are just looking to sew chaps and vests and some wallets. You folks are wasting a lot of money working your way up to an industrial walking foot machine! Some try to get by with old Singer machines, like the ones seen on eBay that are shown sewing leather. You buy one only to find out that it can only sew about 3/16" of soft leather, using #69 nylon thread and the stitch length is all over the place due to drag from the pressor foot. What you need is called a walking foot machine. These are full size, 70+ pound industrial sewing machines, mounted on 20" x 48" x 1.75" tables on steel legs, with a large 1/2 hp clutch or servo motor mounted to the underside of the table. A V belt connects the small pulley on the motor to a large pulley on a flywheel, on the back of the machine head. The speed is controlled by a large foot plate that pivots on a steel bar running along the front of the k-legs assembly. There is also a knee lever under the table, or second foot pedal on the floor bar, to raise the pressor foot without using your hands to do so. There are two pressor feet on a walking foot machine; a forward/backward moving narrow inner foot with a hole for the needle to go through, and a larger up/down motion outer foot that secures the material or releases it. There is usually a lower feed dog with one row of teeth, that raise and lower as it moves through slots in a throat cover plate. As the bottom feed dog moves backward the needle and inner pressor foot are timed to move with it by the same amount. While the inner foot, needle and feed dog are moving the material, the outside pressor foot is lifted off the material. Because the feed dog, needle and inner foot all move the material simultaneously, from top to bottom, the stitch length does not vary, because the layers don't drag against the top foot. Also, because of this compound feed system, multiple layers stay aligned on a walking foot machine. In comparison, on a standard straight stitch machine all of the feeding is done by the feed dog teeth dragging the material from the bottom, while the single flat pressor foot maintains top pressure to prevent the material from lifting as the needle and thread come out of the material. If one loosens the pressor foot tension too much, to allow sticky material to feed without dragging, the material may lift as the needle begins to lift up, causing skipped stitches. The material must stay all the way down as the needle exits it, in order to form the loop that gets pulled around the bobbin case by the pickup point. Often, when sewing leather, you must apply so much top pressure, to avoid skipped stitches, that the drag of the pressor foot cause the stitches to vary in length, or causing the top layer to go out of alignment with the bottom layer of material. Another question that is frequently asked here is: "can such and such a machine sew over 1/4" (whatever) of leather?" If the machine in question is a straight stitch - bottom feed machine and it is not specifically designed to sew thick leather, the answer is usually "No." But, if it is a modern walking foot machine, the answer becomes "Yes, up to about 3/8". We have a For Sale section of our leatherworker.net forums, where individual members and dealers alike can offer new or used sewing machines for sale. Take a look in that section to see if anybody has a decent walking foot machine for sale anywhere near you. Also, contact the dealers who frequent this forum and ask what they have in stock that will do the best job for the projects you are wanting to sew. If you buy a machine from one of our member dealers you will get treated right. They will go over the machine to make sure it is in proper working condition and will set you up with a manual, needles, bobbins and thread. They will even assist you with problems that may arise as you are learning your way around the machine. One of the best options for a beginner to an industrial sewing machine is to get one equipped with a servo drive motor, rather than a clutch motor. Servo motors are infinitely easier to control at slow speed than clutch motors. Considering that you are probably going to end up with a walking foot machine, why not start with one and save all the hassles awaiting you as you fight with straight stitch machines meant to sew clothing, drapes, or upholstery? If you want to sew really heavy leather projects, like saddles, harnesses, holsters and such, look for a super heavy duty - long cylinder arm harness stitcher instead. These also show up in the for sale section from time to time as the owners upgrade to the latest and greatest machine of the year. There are usually banner ads at the top of the forums from dealers selling new harness stitchers, with most capable of sewing up to 3/4" of real leather, with #346 bonded nylon or polyester thread, using a #27 needle that is almost 2.5 inches long. Below, are a couple of pictures of my National walking foot machine. It is capable of sewing just over 3/8" of belt leather, with up to #207 nylon thread, using a # 24 needle. It is equipped with a left toe only pressor foot set, in these photos. I have about 10 different pressor foot sets for this machine, to do various types of jobs. Parts costs are very reasonable on these types of machines.

Jimbob; Contact Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. He can advise you about rebuilding and timing the machines and has all the parts you will need.

Jeff; The Singer 29-4 models are going on a hundred years old now and the parts that drive the stitch length wear out over time. Here is a list of things you can check out to see what is causing the short stitches. Lift the pressor foot lever to the raised position and lower the stitch regulator all the way down, then tighten it in back Lift the pressor foot lever and see if you can wiggle the foot forward and backward more than 1/16 inch either way Feel the bottom of the pressor foot to see if the teeth are still viable Tighten the pressure spring along the back of the machine to exert more downward pressure Loosen the pressure spring in case it was too tight Check the throat plate cover for burs or gouges that might grab the leather as you try to advance it Make sure the bobbin case tension allows the thread to flow freely, but with some tension. If too tight the stitches may be pulled short from the bobbin thread. Check the top tension to make sure it isn't so tight that it drags the work forward against the foot action. Any of those things can affect the stitch length, especially if the top tension spring is too loose, or the teeth are worn off the bottom of the foot. Too much thread tension can shorten the stitches by fighting against the foot action. But, the most common problem with hundred year old patchers is a worn out stitch regulator puck inside the rotating pressor foot assembly, where it is attached to the bottom of the head. When the needle moves up the mechanism lowers the butterfly housing, causing a puck to pivot inside the housing. It is the amount of downward pivoting that determines the maximum stitch length. If you have lowered the regulator and set it firmly on the back of the two rails that are part of the foot assembly and the tensions are all decent, but the stitches are very short, the puck is probably worn out inside the butterfly housing. You may be able to get replacement parts from Bob Kovar, at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Otherwise, disassemble the head of the patcher and unscrew the foot mechanism. Send the moving ring and the housing it revolves in to a machinist to have some bronze weld added to it and shaped to minimize slack without binding. I did this on two old patchers I owned and restored the full stitch length to them.