Wizcrafts

I have a 1921 Singer 31-15. Here are my findings and suggestions for you. This is a tailors' machine meant for cotton thread and broadcloth. The shuttle is not adjustable. It is pinned to the driving shaft. If yours is also pinned, the hook timing is what it is. Because the hook timing is fixed, the only adjustment is the height of the needle bar. It should be timed so that the hook picks off the thread after the needle ascends about 3/32" from BDC and at about 1/16" above the eye. The needle system is 16x257, aka: DBx1, or 1738, or 16x231. The needle hole in the throat plate may limit the maximum needle size. Mine clears a #19 needle. The maximum thread size I can use is #69, top and bottom. The tension spring is very light duty; just enough to tension #69 bonded thread. It can sew no more than about 1/4 inch with the presser foot at its maximum sewing height. It sews pigskin wallet interiors okay, but not the backs. It is great for hemming trousers with standard 50 weight cotton or polycore thread and a #12 to 14 round point needle! If you go the Teflon foot route, buy a dozen at a time. I kept forgetting to not drop the plastic foot down on the feed dog after pulling out the work and the teeth gouge up the foot, ruining it. If you must sew leather with this machine, invest in a 3 piece roller foot conversion kit. You may be limited to a 3/4 inch roller because the low hanging head section will not allow you to raise the presser bar high enough to use a 1 inch roller foot. Even a 3/4 inch roller foot may not fully lock in the up position. This means while you can pull it open on the left, it won't stay open. This isn't a big deal though. I never worried about clamping it up to remove the work, or clear a big seam it couldn't negotiate. Roller foot conversions include the flip up foot, an inline feed dog and a matching slotted throat plate. The feed dogs are available in different tooth pitches, from light to heavy duty.

The reason walking foot machines aren't normally used with soft materials is because the inside foot pushes directly over a hole or slot in the feed dog. This also causes the foot tracks around the needle holes. The inside foot is hooked up so when it presses down the outside foot raises. I have had a bit of success by removing the spring or backing off the adjuster over the inside foot on soft materials. However, this is a make-do solution. There are better feed systems: Roller Foot and Needle Feed. A roller foot machine is for leather, like garment leather and has a roller on the left of the needle. The needle hole is in the throat plate and doesn't move. A needle feed machine can work with leather or cloth. Needle feed machines have a flat fixed presser foot that's always down (until you lift it), while the feed dog and needle move the work. There is no inside foot to squish the material or pucker it. If loosening or removing the spring over the inside foot doesn't help, then you may need to consider one of the above types of machine. Note, that a tailoring machine can often be retrofitted with a roller presser foot. It requires raising the presser bar as high as it will go. There are 3 piece kits that replace the foot, feed dog and throat plate. A roller foot machine has a single row feed dog. They are available in different courseness of teeth, from light to heavy duty grip.

Then you've reached the point of no further gain. Have you played with the presser foot pressures? Is there a coil spring on the inside alternating foot bar inside the head? If so, remove it or adjust it out of action. This will make the machine behave more like a needle feed machine and the inside foot won't push down as hard. If you are able to remove or nullify the inside foot pressure spring, the outside foot pressure screw will control both feet.

The chart that shows a #20 or 21 needle for use with #138 thread would only work if the bobbin thread is a size smaller. Thus, you could have #138 on top with #92 in the bobbin. The bobbin tension would need to be increased to keep the knots from showing on top.

The 111 series were made to sew upholstery. You are probably running your thread tensions too high. Back off the top and bottom until you get decent stitches without puckering or looseness. The check spring can fine tune the lay once the other issues are worked out.

First, try flipping the bobbin around, reversing the bobbin thread's direction. I usually feed my bobbin thread against the direction of the slit under the spring. This ensures that the thread goes and stays under the tension spring. But, if the thread is difficult, feeding it inline might help.

The lowered position of the presser foot lift block (which gets lifted by both the hand and foot lifter) has an effect on the total lift. I set mine as low as possible to get the maximum available lift. Then, there is that block that goes up and down inside the split bar portion of the presser bar. It may be hitting the top of the head too soon. Loosen its set screw and let it move down just enough to let the feet have a full range of alternating motion.

I does look like an early version of the CB3200. The digital motor goes back to before the Family Sew motors were being shipped with the machines. You might want to check the price of a brand new one first. ;-)

There are light, standard and heavy duty tension springs available in the aftermarket and in OEM builds. It somebody installed a heavy duty coil beehive spring, it will behave like you described. Why don't you buy a standard tension spring and see if that improves the range of adjustment?

I have a Cowboy CB4500 and a Techsew 2700. Both have table attachments that have 4 long threaded rods with nuts and washers for the top and finger nuts for the underside. The rods go through matching holes in the tables the machines are mounted on. It takes a couple minutes at the most. The nuts on top are used to position the table to the machine. The bottom plastic handle nuts tighten it to the pedestal table.

There is a time limit of just an hour or two for editing a post. However, moderators can edit any time. There are programs that manipulate photos and can save them at greatly reduced file sizes, with minimal loss of detail. I sometimes use FastStone Photo Resizer for quick reduction. I have other expensive programs that can do magic when needed, but Photo Resizer does it good enough for our purposes..

Yes and yes. It is an excellent machine for sewing leather up to 3/8 inch, with thread sizes up to #138 top and bottom, or #207 top and 138 in the bobbin. It is just a step down from the top of the line LU-1508N and NH.

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In a way you are both right and wrong. Juki themselves market the TSC-441 as a machine to sew buffing wheels and other thick materials, as well as horse blankets and saddles. The standard presser and alternating foot set have teeth on the bottom to grip cloth. All you have to do to convert it into a leather sewer is to buy a set of smooth harness maker's feet and a smooth feed dog, which are standard equipment on 441 clones in the US, Canada and Australia. My CB4500 came with the so-called "blanket" feet in the drawer in case I need to patch a horse blanket, or sew denim garments.

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Tell me more about the width and hole size of the narrow feed dog and needle plate. I have a cb4500.

I wrote the blog article about dumbing down a Cowboy, Cobra, or similar harness stitcher on my R&W Custom Leatherworks website. It explains what is involved in getting a heavy duty leather stitcher to sew thinner work than what it was built to handle. It takes no more than 20 minutes to learn this and make the changes as needed. Afterward, the changes are reversed when one needs to sew thick leather.

I never heard of that brand. It is probably a Chines or Japanese machine that was rebadged. It looks to be run hard and put up wet. That said, I see it has a roller foot. The top tension spring looks to be light duty, meaning thin thread capacity. I'd say it is suitable for sewing soft leather hats and bags, or for hemming pants. My guess is it can handle up to #69 bonded thread using a #18 needle. If there is a phone number on the name tag, contact that company with the model number to see if they know anything about it. Otherwise, you have nothing to go by. You will need to buy a table that is cutout for that bed and has a suitable oil pan and knee or foot lift pedal that fits to the machine head. You'll also need a motor, switchbox and v-belt to go to the machine's balance wheel. If the machine still has its mounting pivot clamps on the back (doubtful), the table will need matching clamp pivot mounts. If those are missing you will need to figure out what type it takes and buy them. These things could run you a few hundred dollars.

That model is a straight stitch, bottom feed only, light duty sewing machine meant for sewing cloth garments with cotton or polycore thread. It was built sometime during the 1970s or early 1980s. There is no manual available from the manufacturer as it was custom built by Mitsubishi Japan for Cutline USA. If anybody has anything for this brand and model it would be CutSew. Good luck!

I believe that the Cowboy CB3200 is a good machine that meets your requirements. You will have to find a dealer who services Sweden. I will post about this if I get that information.

In my first reply, under the double asterisks, I mentioned different needle points. The Type 794 Schmetz S point is an inline oval that produces straight stitch lines. But, the narrow end points cause the holes to appear shorter than they actually are. If you get some 7x4 tri or dia point needles you will still have a straight line, but the stitches will appear longer. There will be more meat between the holes too. Bob sells these needles. FYI: I didn't mention it but regular 7x3 round point needles also produce a straight stitch line and give the maximum distance between the stitches and strength. However, they squeak and may grab inside the leather because they puncture it like a bullet, or round awl, versus slicing like the leather points do.

I use #24 needle for #207 thread on both sides.

I don't mix thread sizes unless the top thread is larger for appearance only. But that's my choice. I always pick the strongest size thread for the project. If I am sewing something a quarter inch thick. or less, #207 top and bottom will probably hold it together. But, if I sew a welted holster that's a half inch or more, I use #277 or #346 thread, top and bottom. I have needles up to #27 to poke the holes required to pull up the knots with thick thread.* * The thicker the thread, the larger the lockstitch knots are. If a particular needle size (diameter) is just sufficient when you use a size smaller bobbin thread, move up one needle size for the same size thread on top and in the bobbin. You can tell if this is necessary because it will be hard to hide the knots on the bottom. You can either over-tension the top thread, under-tension the bobbin thread, or just use a larger needle.** ** Using a larger needle with heavy thread may make the stitches look too close together with an S point needle. The options are to use a diamond or tri-point needle, or slightly angle the S point needle, or to increase the stitch length to compensate. This is just a matter of appearance as long as the stitches have some leather between them; at least as much as the filled hole sizes, if not more. I have sewn thick holsters, with #346 thread, at 6 stitches per inch and they look and hold fine. But, 8 to the inch is not a very good idea! There is a danger the stress could cause the holes to merge and weaken the stitch line.

Here are online manuals: Shoe Systems Plus McKay 77 YouTube McKay instructional video DN 86 Lockstitch Mckay (parts and a link to a manual)

Here is the English translation of the French comments. hello i have exactly the same for 6 years now. I do not have the exact date but it dates from the 50s and it is a semi industrial which has been limited in production and therefore a rare machine. It is really robust and very pleasant to sew, it has a double drive. On the other hand, rare model so rare pieces… they are all at least 50euros. I like it a lot, this machine I find it difficult to part with it, it has a slightly military style that I like a lot. here I hope to have helped you a little.