Wizcrafts

This sentence reminds me of when I decided I needed a sewing machine to sew a leather vest I was making from a Tandy Leather pattern and using their chrome tan leather the salesman recommended. He told me that he had a nice Singer Slant Needle machine for sale on consignment. I went to the back to look it over and decided to try it out. He threaded it up, put a small sample cut of similar leather under the foot, pressed the pedal and immediately broke the needle into a dozen pieces! The motor smelled bad too after that event. The smell of hot wires. Anywho, the Tandy guy told me that I needed an industrial sewing machine. This began my search for a leather sewing machine. I let me fingers do the walking and found an industrial sewing machine dealer not far from the Tandy store. I told him what I wanted to sew and he told me that he had the exact machine I needed to sew leather and it was only $200!. An hour later I had a Singer 96k40,with a 20x48 inch table, a clutch motor, light and thread stand in my station wagon. I could hardly wait to get it home, drag in downstairs to the basement, set it up and begin sewing leather! But, I was in for some serious fetchin' up. The dealer had supplied me with a spool of black #69 bonded nylon thread and a pack of ten #18 round point needles. I broke all ten needles trying to feed and sew the vest, which dragged to a halt at every change of layers. The stitches varied in length all over the place. The holes were ugly and the thread bunched up on the bottom. But, he said it was just the machine I needed to sew leather! It must be so! I called him back and he told me that I bought the wrong type of feed. I needed a walking foot machine! Huh? I asked what that was and he told me he had one for sale. I asked if I could bring back the 96k40 in trade and he said NO, all sales are final! As I learned a few weeks later, the Singer 96k40, although an industrial sewing machine, was NOT a leather sewing machine. It was a tailoring machine for cloth garments and light ones at that. The "walking foot" machine he sold me, for $400 for the head only (shared table and knee lever), was a Singer 31-19 with a spring foot mechanism. It was from the early 1910s, but it sewed my layered vest without breaking any needles or having uneven stitch lengths. It was an eye opener for me. As archaic as the spring foot was, it worked. A year later I found and bought a Singer 111w155, which had an actual triple or compound feed walking foot mechanism. I thought that machine could sew anything made of leather, including holsters. But, again, I had some fetchin' up coming...

I used to have a Pfaff walking foot machine (1980s). I believe it took System 134-35 needles. These are slightly shorter than the System 135x16 used in Singer 111 and clone walking foot machines. System 135x16 needles are about 1 3/4 inches from stem to stern.

Basically, yes. The forum is Leatherworker.net and our requirements for sewing machines often far exceeds the capabilities of any domestic (household), quilting, or embroidery machine. There are other forums where those machines are discussed in detail. Even the auto upholstery and general upholstery trades have sub-forums dedicated to discussing sewing machines geared for their trade. Shoe makers and repairers have forums where they discuss machines and tools specific to those trades. A lot of new members, as well as hand sewers want to machine sew fairly thin projects, like wallets, tote bags, watch straps, belts and some pouches. A little later they get known and somebody asks them if they can build a holster or sheath. That's when the sh_t hits the fan with their under powered, upholstery grade, or incorrect feed type industrial, or domestic sewing machine. This section of the LWN is where those folks come to ask and learn about the type of sewing machine they need to sew thick and/or dense leather with thick thread and big needles. Most, as it frequently turns out, end up needing to sew over 3/8 inch of veg-tan leather with thread sizes from #207 UP. Domestic machines usually max out with #69 thread and will be lucky to sew 3/16 inch of veg-tan leather. Upholstery grade machines usually are at their extreme high end sewing 3/8 inch with #138 thread. This may help explain why nobody has discussed the Juki quilting machines you asked about. They are outside our typical scope of use. But, they are cute to look at! Kinda like a Singer Featherweight is cute to look at.

The reason those models haven't been discussed here is because this forum is dedicated to leather sewing machines. Those are not leather sewing machines! What few domestic sewing machines that are discussed here are usually somewhat able to sew 4 to 6 ounces of leather, if only under duress. Most of those are very old, cast iron body Singer machines with steel internal components. Oftentimes, these ancient machines can be found in antiques stores for a couple hundred bucks. If somebody toasts a $100 or $200 sewing machine they probably won't have a mental breakdown. Not so with a $1000+ Juki that was meant for light weight quilting and cotton garment work. Beware machines offered as "industrial strength" or "industrial quality." A sewing machine is either industrial or domestic. The only portable sewing machine I consider semi-industrial is the Sailrite, with the upgraded Worker B motor and Monster II balance wheel. Even this can only sew 1/4 inch of veg-tan leather and should have the optional knurled feet added on instead of the standard feet with aggressive teeth.. There is a hand cranked leather stitcher made by Cowboy. It is the Cowboy Outlaw. It might possibly do what you are looking to do. It costs about the same as the upgraded Sailrite.

If you can post a picture of the hooks on your machine we can point you to a source for the sockets.

That is the CB-6900.

A qualified no. The wax will gum up the eye of the needle, causing the thread strands to separate and shred (and gum up everything the thread touches). However, you may be able to sew a short run, with an oversize needle, if you remove the wax that builds up in the eye of the needle and on the tensioners, guides and hook. If you haven't bought a machine yet, and prefer a machine that uses waxed linen thread, consider a Campbell Lockstitch machine. It uses a separate needle and awl, with the needle having an open barb instead of a closed eye. This type of machine rarely jams or gums up if properly maintained. Back to the 441 types, they normally use dry, or pre-lubricated bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread. You can buy these threads from the dealers who sell the 441 clones and advertise here.

No. It isn't strong enough to sew veg-tan; just soft temper chrome tan and synthetics. The feed is bottom only which means the presser foot will drag against the leather and fight the bottom feed dogs, which normally have fine teeth for transporting light cloth. The machine has an oil pump which sits in an oil bath and needs to spin fast to distribute the oil. The maximum thread size would be #92 (15 pounds test). If you decide you must buy this high speed garment sewing machine and want it to sew soft temper leather, you'll be smart to convert it into a roller foot machine.

I want to point out an observation I've made over my decades of sewing. Unless the bobbin and top tensions are very light (think thin cotton thread), the needle often gets pulled slightly to the left at pick-off time. So, if the hook in that machine is set so it barely makes contact with an unthreaded needle, it will probably not make contact with the threaded needle as it sews material and gets pulled to the left. This fails if the tensions are so low that the needle isn't deflected by the thread. This puts the hook and needle in peril. Further, thicker thread will tend to pull the needle more than thinner thread.. I prefer to adjust the check spring for a big enough thread loop so that the hook never needs to be in contact with the needle to pick it off. I purposely bend the deflector shield if necessary to prevent the hook from contacting the needle.

The O.P. has a Pfaff 545, not a CB4500. The inline and paddle feet don't apply to him. Instead, he can look for a single right toe presser foot and a narrow inside foot that will get very close to hardware and raised shapes on the left.

I have a Kingsley M-60 and use it to emboss gold leaf letters onto leather items. It takes a two line type holder natively, or a single holder with an adapter. There are still some parts floating around from machines parted out. Heating elements seem to be available too. Considering their age, I wouldn't leave one on all day. The best way to gold leaf leather is to pull down the handle hard a couple times before inserting the foil. That makes a submerged channel for the color. My most recent use was gold leaf names on a horse bridle. I also use it to gold leaf our shop name onto black belts. You can use them to brand veg-tan leather without any foil. Getting letter sets is iffy because you usually have to bid on them. Some are offered that are missing letters. Many are sold by sellers who don't specialize in heat presses. Kingsley type holders have an alignment ridge and are specifically made for Kingsley type. There is a one point difference in the stated font size, so 18pt Kingsley type is actually only 17pt. This means you cannot use other makers' type unless you also buy a custom modified type holder.

The seller is in Hong Kong. Buyer beware! Also, there may be a 25% duty imposed on the machine and shipping costs.

Yes, as long as there is nothing missing internally and it sews, that is a very good price. A couple years ago I paid $400 for just a 29k71 head. Then I got the base elsewhere for another hundred fifty.

It is a clone of the Juki LS-1341. Cowboy offers one just like it that has the designations CB6900 or CB1341, depending on which continent you are buying from. These machines are a slight step up from the older Juki LS-341 and Cowboy CB341. You can get the actual differences and price from our Cowboy USA dealer, Bob Kovar, owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Last time I spoke to him he had a CB-1341 (aka: 6900) in the warehouse.

Should you want to sell this, or any other leather work machine, place the ad in our MarketPlace, under the appropriate sub-section.

No matter the make or model of sewing machine, you are going to need one that takes accessory presser feet, because you will need a left toe only presser foot to get close enough to the edges to line up an edge guide as close as these bands require. Whew, what a long, compound sentence! Here's the deal with the Sailrite LS-1 (straight stitch only): it has a wide double toe outer foot. You would have to order their left toe foot to get close to the edges They sell this as a zipper foot and it has teeth. If you wanted a set with the serrated bottoms it would be a special order and might be expensive. These machines are dual top/bottom feed and need some grip on top. It might be possible to sew your watch bands using a roller foot machine with a very small roller wheel. The wheel is on the left normally. These machines can be had in flat bed, post bed and cylinder arm configurations. Typically, they are bottom feed only, with some even having a round feed dog that revolves instead of doing a 4 way motion. Old models from yesteryear had no reverse. You will want to avoid those because it will be nigh impossible to spin the work to lock the stitches when you are sewing 1/16th inch in from the edges. So, if you want to go this route, look for a roller foot machine that has reverse. If neither of these types of machine appeal to you, it's remotely possible to use a straight stitch machine with a zipper foot and bottom feed via a feed dog with aggressive teeth. These are aftermarket feeders that come with a matching throat plate. In fact, in the past I have purchased a three piece roller foot conversion kit for straight stitch machines that already had pretty aggressive feed dog teeth. The rollers are available in small, medium and large diameter and have serrations to grip the leather. You would have to ask the sellers about the actual diameters of the rollers they offer. Aside from the Sailrite, which is specifically targeted to people doing onboard boating repairs, these are all industrial sewing machines requiring a special work table with a heavy duty servo or clutch motor underneath. While most are 20 x 48 inches, some are available cut shorter, or for cylinder arm machines, as pedestal stands. I don't usually get involved in discussions about using domestic sewing machines when the discussion is about sewing leather.

Your needle is much too small for the thread you are using! For v138 thread on top and v92 in the bobbin, you should use a #22 needle. It should be a leather point, preferably an S or LR point. If you must have the tightest holes, try a #21 needle. Here is a needle and thread chart that may help you choose the best combinations.

Needle feed machines work best if the material is slippery on top. Otherwise, it will drag against the presser foot. The amount of drag depends on how much pressure is applied to the foot. That pressure varies with the thickness and density of the material being sewn as well as the sizes of the top and bottom thread and the needle. The lockstitch "knots" may be very tight inside the holes and can fight against the pressure spring and actually cause the leather to lift with the needle on the way up. This leads to skipped stitches. If you are buying this machine to sew veg-tan leather, you'll probably need to crank down the pressure screw to keep the leather from lifting with the ascending needle and thread. The more pressure you need to hold down the leather, the more drag the foot has against the top layer. The foot will fight against the feed.This is not a good situation. OTOH, if you are buying the machine to sew heavy cloth or synthetics, like buffing wheels, smooth Kydex, bioplastics, or webbing, it should be a good match.

It takes System DBx1 needles.

Read this topic from 2020 about setting up a Fortuna skiver.

These are clones of the Fortuna bottom feed bell knife skiver. Techsew has four bell knife skivers listed, including one with a vacuum hose port. What you need to know is that the drive is accomplished by an oblong shaped wheel that revolves under the round blade. There are soft rubber, hard stone and serrated metal wheels available. The soft wheel is strictly for garment or chap leather. The stone wheel is pretty standard and can push along cowhide garment leather (but probably not soft Plonge), up to medium temper veg-tan (up to maybe 12 ounces). The steel wheel is meant for hard belt, sole and saddle skirting leather. Some used skiving machines may have more than one roller and presser foot included from the previous owner. That will save you a lot of money over having to buy them later. Most parts for Fortuna clones are commonly available, especially the material rollers, presser feet and bell knives. Other parts that wear and need replacement are the movable disks that sharpen and hone the top of the cutting blade and an optional roller under the blade to remove burrs after sharpening the top. My machine lacks the bottom deburrer so I use a fine hand held sanding stick that came with the machine.

Sewers in factories may just sew and somebody else may change spools of thread. Just saying. I always change my own when I sew for others, but, I sometimes change thread for my replacements and oil the machines when they are done.

Yes, you are correct. It is only on machines where one shuttle turns clockwise and the other counterclockwise that different thread twists are advised. The Landis 12 series sole stitching machines all require right twist (waxed linen) thread. It's likely that other old shoe sewing machines have that right, or S twist requirement.

There is only one foot pressure screw on the 441 clones. It affects both feet If the pressure spring is too stiff after backing off the top screw, order a softer spring from any dealer who sells these machines. Our supporting dealers are Leather Machine Company (Cobra), Techsew (Your brand) and Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (Cowboy). All have banner ads in rotation on top of each page. Reloading the page loads a new set of 6 banners. The cost of a softer or harder pressure action spring is trivial.

The check spring setting affects the quality of the loop.