Wizcrafts

It is a straight stitch bottom feed machine. Watch this video about a Pfaff 134.

My post machine is a Singer 168G101. I bought it from Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. It has the same feed as a Singer 153w103

The machine in the photo you posted does not have a walking foot! It is a standard cloth sewing machine with a one piece presser foot on the presser bar. Then there is the needle bar. A walking foot has three bars coming down. There would be an inside foot that the needle passes through and an outside foot that holds down the material. These feet alternate up and down with the needle and feed dog action. Perhaps the seller doesn't know what a walking foot is, or sent you a photo of the wrong machine.

It's a straight stitch bottom feed machine with a horizontal hook. It may be based on the venerable Singer 31-15 tailoring machine. Get some tailors' chalk, pins, hem guides, pinking shears and with this machine you can go into the alterations business. Add a roller foot and it may sew light density and thin leather.

I would recommend bonded polyester thread because it isn't affected by UV rays and the elements. Use the largest size that allows you to hide the knots and long stitches so you don't perforate the webbing to the point of weakening it. Polyester thread has a slightly lower breaking strength, so use the same size on top and bottom. Use a round point needle so you don't cut the fibers. I've sewn 3" wide heavy webbing straps like you described on my Cowboy cb4500. I used the first zig-zag pattern shown in Trash Treasure's chart. I think I sewed the fold back between 8 and 10 inches. It's been a while now. The person who hired me to sew the straps uses them to lift corvette bodies off their chassis and probably other brands too. There haven't been any breakages or complaints and I've sewed a bunch.

I own a 1921 Singer 31-15 and aside from adjusting the tensions, nothing else really can be adjusted. The hook is pinned to the bottom shaft so the timing is fixed. The only thing that could go out is the needle bar height, from a needle hitting the throat plate impact.

This should help explain leather point needles: https://www.schmetz.com/en/industrial-needles/needle-compass/cutting-points/

I have owned a CB4500 since 2011. I normally use it to sew things that exceed 1/8 inch, using thread sizes 138, 207 and 277 (and sometimes #346).. But, after getting the narrow feed dog and throat plate from sew as thin as 4 ounces. I obtained some thin system 7x3 needles down to a number 19 so I can sew with #92 bonded thread. While I am able to use thin thread to sew soft and thin leather and denim pants cuffs, I have other machines that are friendlier with these projects. A CB4500 will serve as a great first machine as long as you either keep the thickness and thread sizes at 138 and up, OR, you add on the narrow feed dog and throat plate, then buy smaller System 7x3 needles. Note, 7x3 needles are round point, not leather point. Nobody I know has found leather points smaller than #23 in System 7x4 (aka: 794). When you sell enough stuff buy another couple machines for thinner work or patching.

The Adler 105 is a bottom feed only machine. The teeth will leave marks on the bottom that you will either have to try to smooth out, or explain away. Those teeth are required to grip the leather and pull it to space the stitches. The denser and thicker the stack of leather, the higher the foot pressure must be to keep the leather from lifting with the needle. The higher the foot pressure, the deeper the tooth marks on the bottom.

You can try emailing the photo to yourself. Some mail servers reduce the quality of attached images. Otherwise, try FastStone Photo Resizer..

A direct drive motor has a minimum of slack before it engages or disengages, vs a belt driven external motor. The head will be heavier due to the inclusion of the motor, This type of drive mates better to position sensors than a belt driven motor. The negative is the extra cost of a proprietary motor and the complication of replacing it if it fails. The entire head may need to be returned to an authorized service center. I have tried out the Adler 868 with a built in motor and it had a very positive feel and solid response to my foot position. It also cost many thousands of dollars. Am I right in guessing you are looking at the Adlers sold by Weaver Leather? Do you have a long line of credit, or are you a lottery winner?

LOL! We are referring to Bob Kovar Sr., owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. He is a long time contributing and supporting member of Leatherworker.net and goes as @CowboyBob.

Yes, I got them. Thank you very much! Yes he does. He installed one on my CB4500.

Brian; Try the hands free again with a tri point or diamond point needle.

FYI: I sometimes find the if I get irregular stitching, tightening both the top and bottom tension may help stabilize the position of the knots. This may require moving up one needle size, or not. Some leathers are tougher than others. I have had bridle leather that actually had portions of rawhide inside. It was so tough that it broke my roller knife blade! I'm not saying yours has rawhide, but it may have uneven densities in different places on the pieces you are sewing.

I can't see the bed of the machine because the power cord is on it. If there is just one push button is is not a 111w155, but a previous model, probably a 111w153. The one pushbutton is used to change the stitch length. The 111w155 has this button, plus a second one that re-engages a popped safety clutch after thread jams in the hook.

Once you settle on a price, you can place an ad for this machine in our Marketplace, under Machinery > Sewing > Used. Be sure to include the price, location and whether you will ship it or if it is for pickup only. This old Consew 226 is a clone of the Singer 111w156, which had a push down reverse lever. I see machines set up like this selling for $500 to $800 in my State. The speed reducer may add value to it for a leathercrafter who sews slowly, but not an upholsterer for whom time is money.

The Techsew 1460 is a compound feed walking foot machine with a large, M style bobbin, that sews up to 3/8 inch of medium density materials with up to #138 thread. It sells for $1395 plus shipping. There are quite a few similar machines with similar specs. Here are a few... Consew 206RB-5 Juki DNU-1541 Adler 67 and 167 series

Dual feed machines have teeth on the feet and feed dog to claw the work forward (and backward if they have reverse). Teeth leave permanent marks in leather and possibly in some synthetics, like pleather. Compound feed machines usually have teeth on the feed dog but not on the feet. This leaves some marks on the bottom but not much on top. As for positivity of feed, dual feed really locks it in. However, the layers can slip a little until the needle penetrates them. Also, compound feed machines have a swinging needle bar, like a pendulum on an old clock. The thicker the seam, the shorter the stitches compared to the thinner layers. It is called The Pendulum Effect. This doesn't happen on dual feed machines with a fixed position needle. So, the stitch length is more consistent on a dual feed machine. Those machines are best limited to sewing cloth and synthetics. Leather is best sewn with a compound feed machine, unless it is chrome tanned and doesn't retain tooth marks.

You can buy them direct from https://www.campbell-randall.com.

Back in 2010 my buddy Doug, for who I worked as a sideman/sewer, upgraded his sewing operation with a Cobra Class 4; a Chinese built Juki 441 clone. Aside from swapping out the digital servo motor for an analog model, and remembering to oil it, the machine has performed flawlessly ever since. He uses it almost every day to sew items he sells online. One year later, in 2011, I started sewing my own orders at home and bought a new Chinese built Cowboy CB4500. I also swapped out the digital motor for an analog (Family Sew) motor. It too has performed flawlessly ever since. It is now in my leather shop and is used on a daily basis to sew holsters, sheathes, gunbelts and even to hem chaps. I also have numerous industrial black body Singer sewing machines and a gray German Adler. In the past I've owned two Union Lockstitch machines, which I sold off because they were too finicky. My deduction is that there are quality machines built all over the World if you look in the right places.

This just about makes it imperative that you order the Monster II balance wheel to improve the punching power. This balance wheel weighs 7 pounds.

The Sailrite portables line are dual feed walking foot machines, where the feed dog and outside foot move the work, while the needle and inside foot just move up and down. In order to get a good grip the feeder and foot have teeth. In the case of the Leatherwork version, the feet and feeder are knurled instead of having sharp angled teeth. If one is sewing chrome tan leather this is no problem. In fact, their regular sharp teeth probably won't mark up chrome tanned leather. However, when sewing veg-tan leather any tooth pattern or tooth marks will remain visible unless you rub them out. All of the Sailrite portables are factory limited to a maximum thread size of T90; top and bottom. Despite this, some people on this forum have pushed their machines beyond that limit to sew 1/4 inch of leather with T135 bonded thread, top and bottom. This required moving the hook slightly farther away from the needle and using a #23 needle. This combination greatly increases the power needed to penetrate leather, especially veg-tan leather. So, these guys made speed reducers that multiplied the torque. Sewing veg-tan leather calls for adding the Monster II balance wheel to the machine. I believe they also had to find stronger presser foot springs to keep the leather from lifting with the threaded needle. The size of the lockstitch knots in size T135 (v138) thread are more than double that of T90. The top tension spring may also need to be replaced with a heavier spring to pull the knots up. With or without these modifications, the Sailrite portables are limited to sewing 1/4 inch, or ~6.25mm under the feet. Sewing anything thicker requires further modifications.

I bought a used cylinder arm machine from the original owner in late 2019. It had a push button digital servo motor that started with a jolt, running at a minimum speed of 100 or 200 rpm. I ordered a Family Sew 550s the next day. It starts at zero and gradually speeds up as I engage the foot pedal. I have enough pushbuttons on my phone. I don't need more on my motors.

The servo motor I linked to is analog, not digital. It has a simple knob to turn to limit the top speed. There is also a power switch in a separate box. The only other control is a direction slide switch on the back. It is normally shipped to the buyer rotating in the standard ccw direction for typical industrial sewing machines. All of mine have included extra brushes on coil springs in case the originals wear out from prolonged high speed use.