Wizcrafts

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.

I have been buying my servo motors from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines since 2011. In that time they have carried three major brands as previous models went of of production or became untrustworthy. Their current motor is the Consew CSM 550-1 It comes with a 2" pulley unless you request a larger pulley. Smaller pulleys slow down the machine and increase the low end torque. I have found that these motors can often use your existing motor mounting bolts and pedal rods. There are slots to move the motor sideways to line up the new belt. Chances are that your old belt won't be a perfect fit. You can figure this out by trying to read the size marking on the old belt. It might be marked in inches or millimeters. Let's say the old belt is a type 3L at 44 inches and the old motor pulley is 4 inches diameter. If the servo motor happens to fit under the old bolts and has a 2 inch pulley, chances are the new belt will need to be 42 inches, plus or minus an inch.. As a reference, I ordered a new Consew 206RB-18 for a friend's school security window blinds business, pre-equipped with a servo motor identical to the Consew CSM, with a 50mm pulley. I sewed on the machine for a year as a side job. I could start it going at 1 stitch per second with a little foot finesse. There was enough oomph to keep it moving at slow speeds when tacking on 1 inch wide sew-on Velcro. When I needed to sew long end straightaways, I floored it and blasted through ballistic nylon (and sometimes Velcro) at about 25 stitches per second. Good motors! Great machines!!

These tilt back machine stops are available for a few bucks on Ebay.

Tap on top of the presser foot bar that is sticking out of the top of the head. Use a rawhide mallet so you don't damage the top of the bar. Then twist the pressure screw clockwise to increase the foot pressure to overcome any friction or out-of-reoundness. If the foot continues getting hung up, open the left cover (faceplate) so you can look into the heart of the beast. With the foot lever lifted, watch as you lower the lever and try to sus out where the mechanism is binding the presser bar.

That might actually be the problem. I tried adjusting the roller to back plate for tighter clearance on my 4500 and learned that too little caused the foot to bind when lifted. I found a happy clearance and never touched it again. That was years ago. If the presser bar is out of round in the top third it can bind after lifting.

The O.P. is in Sweden

@Hairic- This is why there is a field for your location in your profile. When you ask for help on the forum it helps get more relevant answers if people know your location. Now, you will need to convert fredk's prices from Euros into US Dollars.

Try reinstalling the stock feet. Does that fix it? If so, the replacement/aftermarket feet may be the wrong height.

Do you want an inline S point, or some slanted chisel point? Schmetz makes the S point in system 134-35. I have a pack I use once in a while on my Singer walking foot machines. My machines are timed so that I can use these slightly shorter needles and not skip stitches, but only on one direction machines. If your machine has reverse you might want to lower the needle bar 1/2 mm or so to put the eye at the same position as the system 135x16 needles. Machines with reverse are more finicky when it comes to timing in both directions.

I searched for a while and this is the best source I can come up with at this time. https://sew-europe.com/schmetz.htm The list Schmetz and Gross Beckert on the home page. I hope this helps.

I usually use a #23 needle with #138 thread, top and bottom. Link please!

I know that this topic has reached its intended outcome. But, I want to share my primary source of YKK zippers and zipper parts and tools, as well as the double sided tape I use to secure them for sewing. Wawak.com stocks a huge amount of zippers in tooth widths up to #10 (chaps size), in various lengths and colors. They have top and bottom stops, pullers and tools. Here is the Zippers landing page. The double sided tape get from Wawak is called HyperStik and is listed on this page. This is really aggressive tape. If your needle sews through the tape it will tend to gum up. To counter this I only use titanium or Gebeder needles when sewing through the tape. Plus, I keep a jar of Goof Off nearby and dip a dauber into it, then wipe the needle down every so often as I sew through the tape. If the machine has a lube pot, I pour in silicon lube and run the thread through it. Both of my patchers have stock lube pots and it's trivial to pour in a bit of silicon lube.