Wizcrafts

My post machine doesn't have reverse. I can easily spin the work around to lock in the stitches, or sew all the way around and over them, or lift the feet, pull back and sew over a couple stitches.

That is good advice in most cases, but not this one. Ours is an international forum. The O.P. lives in Germany and probably has no local Cowboy or Cobra dealer. He may be able to find a Hightex dealer though and they are the parent company of Cowboy brand.

You will be buying directly from a manufacturer in China. This makes you the dealer for the purpose of repairs. Pray the machine works properly and doesn't break down and need parts.

This situation is resolved by using a drop-down box style reducer. It replaces the motor under the table, maintaining the original belt angle. The motor bolts to the bottom of the box.

I use this combination: FESM-550S w/ reducer. I have multiple sewing machines and some have under the table drop down box reducers while others have wheel reducers that mount under and to the right of the v-belt slot. If the machine is a flat bed, a box reducer may be best because it mounts in place of the motor. The output pulley is on the same angle as the motor used to be. This allows you to tilt back the head for maintenance. It also maintains the position of the belt so it can be used with a stand alone bobbin winder. By-the-slot wheel reducers are a little trickier to install and change the geometry of the belt feeding the machine. This will interfere with an external bobbin winder and make it difficult to tilt the head back for repairs and oiling the underneath shafts. However, if tilting the head isn't anticipated, the wheel reducers work just fine. I use them on a couple of cylinder arm machines. External bobbin winders can be re positioned to contact the belt. Two of my walking foot machines go direct from the motor to the machine. The FESM motors from my supplier have a 45mm pulley and give decent reduction. However, the Family Sew motors have less torque at slower speed dial settings. So, I don't set them at the slowest number, but move up one or two clicks and feather the foot pedal as needed. One is mounted on an 18" arm Consew 206RB-18 and it works well enough to sew 3/4 inch box patterns on cloth pull straps sewn onto blackout window blinds. If you need high torque without a speed reducer, nothing beats a 1/2 or 3/4 horsepower clutch motor. You can back out the clutch adjuster for more free play and feather the clutch. This requires a steady foot and has a learning curve. But, this is how it was done before servo motors were commonplace. Two of my machines still have clutch motors and work just fine.

Nobody I know uses an EPS on a Cobra Class 4, or Cowboy CB4500. They already have 9:1 speed reduction and are easy to control unless you have RLS.

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Examine the top tension disks for burrs. Also, make sure they separate enough to let the thread pass freely when you lift the feet all the way up. You may have overtightened the top tension to compensate for the stiffer black thread. If this is the case, back off the top and bottom tensions to center the knots. Change the needle! It may have a burr that is finding the thread. Watch your check spring action as you sew. It should keep the top thread taut until the needle passes into or through the material, then stop moving down.

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The seller has stated for local pick up only. No shipping. The sale is COD.

This section of LWN is for people needing assistance with making things. There is a better place to place your WTB ad. It is here: https://leatherworker.net/forum/forum/84-used/ in our Marketplace, under sewing equipment > Used. In order to post there, or anywhere other than Help Wanted, you need to become a member of the forum. There is no charge to join. I would strongly recommend including your location in your public profile. That way you may get people in your own state to reply who may have one of these machines for sale locally. Best of all, you can then use our private message or email system to contact and reply to other members. Know that if you choose to stay here as a guest, all posts you or any responder makes must await a moderator to approve it before it becomes visible. This can take a while as there are only two roaming moderators and I work two jobs. Let us know if you join so one of us can move your post to the Marketplace for you.

Yes. You have a choice of reducers from 2:1 to 3:1. Some attach to the bottom of the table, on the right edge of the belt slot. Others are box shaped and attach where the motor was attached. The motor is then screwed onto the bottom of the reducer box. You can see pictures of both styles here.

According to Bob Kovar, the cb1341 uses an M size bobbin that is like 70% more capacity than the G bobbin in the 227 machines.The machine has stronger tension and pressure springs and can handle #207 thread. This is beyond my 227 that barely makes it with #138. I keep it threaded with #92 instead. Hopefully, people who have a cb1341 will chime in. It is still a new entry to the US Cowboy line and was originally called the cb6900 by the manufacturer.

If you are after a Juki LS-1341, but don't want to spend Juki money, ask Bob about the Cowboy CB1341. He has them, but they aren't on his website yet.The machine is a Juki 1341 clone with leather oriented mods.

Yes, the cb341 will sew up to 3/8 inch with #138 thread. But, that is not strong enough to hold a 3/8 inch holster together if there is a tug of war getting the gun out. To securely sew holsters you will need a machine capable of tensioning #277 thread. That is double the size and strength of #138 and calls for a #25 needle. For this I recommend a cb3200 which can actually sew 1/2 inch with #346 thread. If you go this route you will need a second machine for thinner work. It could be a flat bed or cylinder arm, or even a patcher. There is one other cylinder arm machine I know about that is sort of in the gap between the 341 and 3200 in capabilities. That is the cb1341. There is nothing online about it at this time, but the primary Cowboy dealer told me it can sew with #207 thread, up to 3/8 inch or more. You will have to call the dealer about this, or contact him via his website's contact form. The info is at www.tolindsewmach.com It appears that the Cobra Model 26 and Techsew 4800 have similar specs.

Please contact the company bought it from. They will have the shipping details. We don't know what happened to it. If you bought it from Leather Machine Company, contact them by phone, email, or the website contact form. You should probably have your order date and order number handy.

You are correct. That is not how it works. You actually need several parts to properly use this attachment. They are as follows. Right angle folder (you have that) on a sliding mounting plate that lets you position it up to the feed dog. A special feed dog and throat plate set that clears the nose of the folder. A short, wide inside foot A left toe only outside presser foot. A revolving platter for the large spools of bias tape.

You can buy #69 (aka: T70) bonded nylon or bonded polyester thread all over the place. Load some bobbins with it then thread it along the top. I don't know what needle "system" it uses, but the needle's "size" should be 18/110 for #69 bonded thread. Here is a thread and needle chart/specs sheet to help you match thread and needle sizes (diameters).

FYI, back around 1990 I was hired to sew reflective safety vests for a one man company in Toronto. I was tasked with obtaining all of the equipment and supplies. This included getting a custom right angle binder attachment made for his brand new Juki LU-563. That attachment cost him $428 in 1990. Everything was purchased through General Industrial Sewing Machines.

No, I don't know that company. My last sewing experience in Toronto was about 25 years ago.

Contact Techsew in Montreal and ask about getting a custom attachment made. Otherwise, get in touch with General Industrial Sewing Machines in Toronto. They can either make one or put you in touch with a guru.

I'm not sure, but around 1995 I think I bought 1.25 inch wide edge bias tape from Cansew for use on road workers' safety vests. It was top quality tape. The double fold binder had to be custom made for the work at hand. It was a right angle swing away binder. The binder worked flawlessly in conjunction with a left toe presser foot and a shortened wider inside foot. The feet worked fine on the standard sewn areas and the binder could be swung in and out as required. The parts and tape weren't cheap, but produced professional results. I also purchased a revolving bias tape tray that clamped onto the edge of the table. Taking the load off the tape improves the feeding through the attachment.

The Singer 31 class is the industrial version of the Singer 15 class drop feed machines. They are tailoring machines for cloth. In order to sew leather, or sticky vinyl, you will need to install a roller foot. A Teflon foot will work too. But, it only takes one forgetful moment where you drop the lifted foot onto the unprotected feed dog to end the usefulness of the Teflon. Ask me how I know...

Can you take and post a good sharp picture showing how the top thread is threaded along the top, all the way to the take-up arm? It could be as simple as a missed position along the thread path (like the eye in the take-up lever over the needle bar). With an end mounted balance wheel, you spin it counterclockwise to sew. Some patchers, like my long arm Adler, have a front mounted wheel and those need to turn clockwise. Are you turning yours ccw? The needle could be set too far to the left. The clamp that holds the needle also has a screw above the needle screw. Loosen the top screw and you can push the needle clamp to the right to get closer to the hook. Tighten down the screw when you have it moved to the right. If it still doesn't pick up the bobbin thread, make sure the thread is not just feeding through the tiny hole in the shuttle, by the tiny tension spring, but also through the hole in the center post that the bobbin revolves around. If that doesn't get it sewing, make sure the needle is set so that the long rib faces due left and the cutout over the eye faces right. Also, make sure the needle is all the way up and is either a "System" 29x3, 29x4, 135x16, or 135x17. The "size" (diameter/number) of the needle should be big enough to easily thread the top thread through the eye without a threading wire. For #69 bonded thread, I use a #18 needle. For #92 thread use a #19 needle and for #138 thread use a #22 or 23 needle. If the needle is in right and the system and size are correct and the end mounted wheel is turning counterclockwise and it still won't sew, the hook timing might need to be adjusted. Or, the little paddle shaped check spring inside the needle bar, above the needle mounting block might be bent or broken off. Things are about the get complicated.

Awesome! I'm glad it was a simple fix. Things would have gotten much worse if you hadn't found the loose feeder screws. She sews like a brand new old one! Use the serial number to look up the date of manufacture on Ismacs.