Wizcrafts

Eleven years ago I bought a used/rebuilt long arm Singer walking foot machine. It is used on a weekly basis to sew patches onto the backs of biker's vests and jackets. The extra clearance lets us keep the back flat and just fold up the fronts as we twist and turn. The same work on our standard length walking foot machines is tedious. There just isn't enough clearance for large or bulky items to be rolled up out of the way.

You might need piping to tighten up the seams and hide the thread and holes.

I might also be interested in some thinner shims. I occasionally use my 4500 to sew with thin thread and needles when that is the most useful machine for the job. The shims could go hand in hand with your narrow feeder and throat plate.

I know this is counterintuitive, but there are times when a round point needle produces a cleaner corner appearance than a typical leather point. You could do an experiment in scrap leather using a 135x17 needle. I would also try a Diamond or Triangle point needle. The appearance is close to a round point, but produces a three or four sided hole. The thread will visibly sit on top using either of these needle types, as opposed to an S point which looks submerged.

Some people have success when they push soft plastic tubing over the feet. Carb tubing might fit, but might have too much wall thickness. You will lose some usable sewing thickness if you slip or heat shrink tubing onto the toes.. If this doesn't work, consider getting a different sewing machine for those projects. I recommend a compound feed walking foot machine in either cylinder arm, or flat bed, or post bed configuration. These can be equipped with completely smooth feet.

You can read or download a user's manual here. If you are able to learn to "feather the clutch," you can keep the clutch motor. Otherwise, buy a servo motor with a dial speed limiter like this one. No! This is a tailoring machine, with bottom feed only and a flat foot, meant to sew cloth. Some members use them to sew light weight chap leather or other projects using soft leather. It isn't designed to use heavy thread and you'll have to help the foot over changes in layers. I use and recommend a walking foot machine for sewing vinyl and canvas, as well as denim and upholstery leather. The belt may be loose due to the motor being purposely adjusted to let it slip. Try tightening the belt by lowering the motor position via the threaded rod on the front. If you have a nearby hardware store, ask them if the stock "Type 3L" v-belts. Bring in the old belt as a reference for a same size replacement. You can find replacement parts, needles, bobbins, thread, oil and different presser feet and bolt-on guides and accessories from most industrial sewing machine dealers, or on Ebay.

@medion One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the needle system you are using. Are you using System 190 or 135x16/17? Whichever you were using, have you tried changing the needle bar height and using the other system? I sometimes raise the needle bar on one of my specially modified machines to use system 190 needles and notice some oddities vs system 135x. I attribute some oddities to the longer needles flexing. One more thought that flashed across my mind is the alignment of the needle's eye. Have you tried altering the rotational alignment slightly? Perhaps the angle that the thread passes through the eye affects the tension on corners as you rotate the work clockwise. I wonder if a slight clockwise rotation of the needle would help?

The problem could be caused by twisty thread (top and/or bobbin), or a change in the density of the leather as you round the corner, or the glue/tape you baste them with, or the needle point shape, or the foot pressure, or by the setting of the check spring. Obviously, the tension has changed after turning that corner. Try reversing the direction of the bobbin and adjust the tension to balance the knots. Run a little higher overall tension to make it easier to position the knots. Try to watch the leather as you round the corner to see if it lifts with the needle. More foot pressure would subdue that problem. Try a different needle with a different point. A diamond, or triangle point may help. Use titanium coated needles and keep a dauber and Goof Off handy if you sew through leather tape or heavy cement.

That might be a 29k58, not a d58. This is a shoe and boot patcher (uppers only). I use my patchers to actually sew patches onto biker's vests. They are also good for repairing shoe straps, purse and bag strap tabs and replacing zippers in purses. The foot does all the work and rotates 360 degrees. There is no bottom feed and the foot leaves tooth marks on veg-tan leather. The bobbins are tiny and hold no more than about 9.5 yards of #69 bonded thread. The maximum thickness it can sew and move is just over 1/4 inch. The longest stitch length is 5/inch at about 6-7 ounces, if it is in pristine mechanical condition. Most patchers coming out of shoe repair shops are well worn and may only get 8 or 10 to the inch. The most frequently used needle size is #18 (Metric 110). The needle "system" is either 29x3, 29x4, 135x16, or 135x17. Because the bobbins are so small, there's no sense loading them with anything bigger than #92 bonded thread. This calls for a #19 (Metric 120) needle.

There are a couple of machines that can handle up to 36 ounces. The primary ones I think of are the Cowboy cb3500 and cb4500, the Cobra Class 3 and Class 4 and the Techsew 5100. There is also the option of a manually operated stitcher like the Cowboy Outlaw.

The Cowboy Outlaw will do what you ask for and is within your budget. It has a deeper throat than the Boss. But, if business picks up, your arm may get tired after a while. ;-)

This is an Adler model 18 patcher. It is likely from the late 1800s or early 1900s. There is a previous discussion about this model, here.

As for sewing caps, hats and bags, I use a post bed machine for those jobs. Mine has a 7 inch post and walking feet. It handles thread sizes up to #138 and uses a G size bobbin.

This is the feed motion crank I am referring to: https://www.ebay.com/itm/162537988829

@02indian Have you read this topic yet?

Regarding things sewn with various sizes of thread, this belt was stitched on my Cowboy CB4500 using #207 bonded nylon thread, top and bottom, with a #24 needle. The total thickness was about 12 ounces. This thickness allowed me to completely bury the knots. Had it been 16 ounces thick, I would have used #277 thread with a #25 needle.

Here is a needle and thread size chart. The various "sizes" of thread are shown with their US and Metric diameters and the corresponding proper needle sizes to use with each.

The reverse lever on this machine gets pushed down, not up. It is totally separate from the stitch length adjuster. Here is an adjusters' manual. It's the best I can find. CONSEW+289RB+INSTRUCTION+MANUAL.pdf

That is NOT an industrial sewing machine! It is strictly for household cloth sewing. However, it will probably handle small pieces of thin chrome tan leather, up to about 4 ounces. You might need to change to a Teflon foot though. Parts may or may not exist anymore. In the future, ignore any sewing machine described as Industrial Strength. It is an advertising come-on and is false. A sewing machine is either industrial or domestic. Finally, all replies in the Help Wanted section need a moderator's approval before they are unhidden. You will get better assistance in the Sewing Leather forums.

Decades ago I was the sewer for a one man industrialist. We needed to edge bind honeycomb material road worker vests, having inside curves at the armholes, and, after trying commercially available units, I ended up having a custom right angle binder made. My deduction is that 1, you need a right angle binder to sew inside curves and 2, it may need to be built for the job at hand.

Brian; I see you have a lot of bobbin tension in that video. I typically run with much less bobbin tension, allowing me to reduce the top tension and still balance the knots. This results in less fighting of the feed, especially on softer types of leather, like oiled or Carnauba'd belts and straps, or chaps. Lighter tension makes sense when using your narrow feed set to sew items we normally couldn't do on a CB4500 or equivalent.

It could be that the top thread is twisty and is causing the twisty balls to form randomly. I have lots of twisty thread spools and counteract the twist by feeding the thread through a top post that has two holes, thusly: feed through the top hole inline. Pull the thread around the front on the left. Feed the thread through the bottom hole from right to left. This creates a counterclockwise (CCW) bias that counteracts the clockwise twist that exists in most bonded thread spools. Try this if your top post allows it. BTW: you said you use 135x15 needles. Did you mean 135x17? Those are the standard needle for sewing vinyl and cloth on walking foot machines like yours.

Needle and awl machines are not for beginners unless the seller will instruct you before you take the machine. I speak from experience. The American SN isn't a good choice for general leather work. You'd be better off with a Campbell-Randall, or Landis 3 or 16. These machines typically sell for about 2.5 to 3k as is, or 5k rebuilt. Again, I would not buy one unless the seller gave me the basic how to-s and included necessary tools and accessories. Machines like these have been out of production since the middle of the 20th Century.

The Cobra brand of sewing machines is owned and sold by Leather Machine Company, in California. Have you thought about contacting them for a parts manual?

You need to hold the top thread back at the start or it will get pulled and wrapped around the shuttle and/or bobbin case race and jam the hook. If possible, hold both threads back equally. But, at least keep the top thread under hand tension until you sew 2 or 3 stitches. If it is inconvenient to hold the thread back, at least capture it under the outside presser foot and make sure the take-up lever is either at the top, or just moving down before you start to sew. This gives you a fighting chance. Ask that sewing machine store if they deal with industrial sewing machines. There is a world of difference between industrial and domestic (household) sewing machines. People versed in domestics may or may not Grok the intricacies of operating or even threading an industrial machine.