Wizcrafts

I have the Techsew 2700, its lighter duty predecessor, and I like it just fine and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Go buy that machine! If in doubt, go try one out. Raphael Sewing has been a major industrial sewing machine dealer in Canada for many decades.

I tend to sew at between 5 and 6 stitches per inch. You won't filigree the leather at that spacing. However, with thinner thread and needles you can sew closer stitches, like 7 or 8 to the inch. A lot of this has to do with the shape of the needle. A slicing point, like the Schmetz S style slices inline and makes the stitches look shorter. It can weaken the seam if too close together. OTOH, a tri or diamond point produces a smaller hole that pokes rather than slices. You get a more topstitch appearance and can sew closer together before weakening the leather. Experiment!

The inner foot need to go all the way up to the stop. This should yield equal lift and pressure on both feet. If your machine has a separate adjuster for a spring on the inside foot, use it to get the right pressure.

Bravo! Now, check for excess movement in the presser foot mechanism. any free motion forward and backward translates into lost stitch length. That requires brazing up or replacing the feed motion cam that rides inside the ring on the bottom of the revolving bushing in the head.

The inside foot bar should have a narrow bottom area that the inside foot slides up onto. The foot should go all the way up until it hits the wide area and be locked in position with the set screw. If the feet were cast properly, the lift of each foot should match as they alternate up and down. Ideally, the inside foot should make contact with the feed dog at the moment the tip of the needle reaches that spot. If things are not matching up and you aren't getting the same amount of alternating lift from these feet, consult the manual for adjusting the motion timing of the inside foot. Or, buy another set of feet and see if they work better. If so, send the first set back.

I would be interested. I've been thinking about getting my own embosser for a while but the prices have held me back.

This machine should handle your 4/5 ounce seams with ease.

LOL. No they most certainly won't! You need System 7x3, 7x4 or 794 for that machine. The needles are 60mm long! System 135x16 are for common upholstery grade walking foot machines. I didn't know you are running a Class 4. This topic is about a Techsew 4800 and belongs to @Arturomex. You need to start your own topic.

I've been getting them off eBay (Organ brand System 135x16 titanium needles).

Some people are confusing the total foot lift/clearance under the manually raised feet with sewing capacity. Walking foot machines have alternating feet that have to move up and down to walk, This motion requires at least 1/8 inch over the material to walk. If you stuff 1/2 inch of material under the feet, just because you can, the feet will not alternate unless the material is compressible down to 3/8 inch. If they don't alternate, the feed will be erratic with varying stitch lengths and may even stall. Skipped stitches can be expected when you exceed the safe sewing capacity of any machine, including bottom feed straight stitch and zig-zag machines.

I use double sided 3M Leather Tape, sold by Wawak, to hold seams together for sewing. It comes in 60 yard rolls, in 4 widths: 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" and 1". Leather Tape is on sale this month. Get you some! Thank me later. While the tape is perfect and economical for edges, it gets expensive if you use it on large inside areas. It calls for Titanium coated needles to sew through Leather Tape and still may need some Goof Off on the needle, now and then. However, I haven't had any problems under the throat plates and have used this tape since at least 2010.

If that Eagle brand motor works like my Family Sew motor, the speed settings around the dial are the maximum motor speed, not the minimum. these motors start at zero and increase linearly as you depress the pedal. there is no ramping up to speed. There may or may not be enough turnover power at the slowest setting until one gives it about half pedal. But, mine all have a 50mm pulley and can keep a machine spinning a stitch or two per second. I am satisfied with my Family Sew motors. Regarding servos feeding reducers, that's the cat's meow. My Cowboy CB4500 is geared down 9:1 from the motor to the reducer to the hand wheel. I can sew at a minimum speed of watching grass grow.

Clean the hook and shuttle after sewing through Aquilim or other tacky glue. Use a dauber or cotton swab dipped in Goof Off to rub all of the moving parts that come in contact with the top thread under the throat plate. Use it on the needle when you stop to turn corners or start a new seam. I run into a similar problem sewing through 3M Leather Tape from Wawak and stick on Velcro. Wiping down the needle with Goof Off keeps it from getting fouled by the adhesive and closing the eye. If the problem gets out of control, try running your top thread through Goof Off, or liquid silicon in the lube pot if the machine has one. Magnetic lube pots are available for purchase on the Interwebs and from your favorite dealer.

Thanks Eric and Welcome Back Cotter!

Contact the dealer you bought it from and ask if you can do a motor exchange, or get the missing parts. Dealers often stock factory replacement parts for motors they sell. Those parts may be difficult for you to find as an end user.

My Family Sew FL-550s with a 50mm pulley meets that description. However, a lot depends on the diameter of the machine pulley. I use this motor on several machines and it has the most low speed torque on machines with larger top pulleys. The others need a speed reducer. I would say that if your machine has at least a 4" pulley you will be good to go with just this motor and its 50mm pulley. In the event this exact motor isn't available where you are at, try to find a Consew equivalent and buy a 50mm pulley that fits its shaft (I think it is close to 5/8 inch, or a metric equivalent). Just make sure the motor has brushes and a knob to control the speed.

Can this machine be fitted with a side feed folder? They work great on inside curves.

I don't know the metric size, but in the USA the standard walking foot and straight stitch table is 20" x 48" x whatever height is set on the legs. The average height is between 28 and 29 inches. Top mounted thread stands, bobbin winders and flex lamps may interfere with sliding it into a car. Be prepared to unscrew these things and box them. Also, there will be a drawer for bobbins, needles and accessories that needs to be removed and boxed.

Apparently, there are no #18 needles left in System 7x3. The smallest currently available is #19. This lets you sew with #92/T90 thread on your 441 clone harness stitcher. I detailed the process of "dumbing down a Cowboy CB4500, Cobra Class 4, or similar harness stitcher" on my leatherworks blog. This process lets you sew thin material with thin thread and needles that would otherwise not be possible on a big harness stitcher. I don't recommend this if you already have a standard walking foot machine unless your other machine is a flatbed and you must use a cylinder arm and it is a harness stitcher.

Fire Retardant Sewing Thread Guide

I would want to have as wide a set of feet as is available. Fire suits are heavy. If you get a CB3200, order both the harness and blanket feet and feed dogs. Order System 7x3 round point needles for cloth and webbing and System 794 for leather. Bonded nylon thread is the most common for normal use objects. Bonded polyester thread is recommended for outdoor use items. It is UV resistant. The CB3200 and its larger brothers have super beefy take-up levers and crank shafts. These heavy parts can withstand the stress of passing Nomex and Kevlar thread through the tensioners and guides. Learn about the breaking strength of various sizes of Nomex. It is much lower than a similar diameter in bonded nylon. This could be an issue along a seam that gets stressed. You might have to use T135 Nomex to secure a seam that would only need T90 bonded thread. Nomex is basically 50% to 60% as strong as bonded nylon of the same Tex size. Here is a good page of details comparing Nomex to other types of thread. PS: It's Wiz, not Whiz ;-)

Assuming you have or will get written permission to sew firefighter turnout gear, the fully capable CB3200 may have to be run with undersize needles and thread. The nominal needle size range is from 23 through 26, covering bonded nylon thread sizes 138 through 346 (Tex 135 through Tex 350). Nomex is rated in Tex sizes, like T60, T70, T90, T135, etc. All of those sizes require smaller needle diameters than those sold for leathercraft sewing. I have purchased round point System 7x3 needles from Bob Kovar in very small diameters, in needle sizes #18, #19, #20 and #22. You will probably need a couple packs of each because the long thin needles are easily deflected and broken. Make sure you buy round point 7x3 and not 794 leather points. The Schmetz "S" point needles that usually ship with Cowboy machines will slice the fire retardant material inline with the stitch line, weakening it. You want perfectly round holes, at the same spacing as the originals. It will be important to match the thread and needle sizes for the tightest fit. So, you won't want to poke a large hole with a #23 needle while sewing with T90 Nomex. That calls for either a #19 or #20 needle. If you end up using T135 thread, a #22 needle may provide the best tightest fit. In leather you would have to use a #23 needle because of the extra resistance the hide has. Don't even contemplate sewing fire retardant gear with bonded nylon or bonded polyester! It melts way to soon! Finally, you may get better feeding if you change the feed dog and presser feet to the so called blanket foot set. These items have teeth that grip hard and the feed dog has an almost round needle hole instead of a long slot. If you didn't get this set with the machine, your Cowboy dealer probably stocks them.

If your machine has a lube pot on top, buy a quart of silicon lube and fill the pot. Run the top thread through the lube pot on the way to the top tension disks. If you don't have the lube pot, contact Bob Kovar to get one, with the required threaded bolt.

The Sailrite binder is a swing away style that does straightaways and outside curves best, When you sew inside curves the binder gets pushed backwards to let the binding flow better than a fixed binder would allow. This binder does not necessarily require special feet, although a wide, short inside foot and a left toe only outside foot will improve its functioning. The second binder, which is a complete set, is an inside binder that favors inside curves and requires the special feet and throat plate. If you were contemplating purchasing that set, look elsewhere. That website is insecure http only. Any website that processes financial transactions, and/or processes logins and passwords, must be https. This requires a special SSL Certificate, which that company has failed to procure. They even have a notice in the shopping cart that they are unable to perform direct online transactions. The Sailrite website is fully secured with https.

I own a CB4500 and one of my best friends owns a Cobra Class 4. I sew on it every now and then and it is just like sewing on my Cowboy. They use the same needles and bobbins and have the same tensioners and pressure screws. Both will produce top quality results within their intended design parameters. I do own a Techsew machine, but it is a smaller, lighter duty machine. It works as it should and gets plenty of use. All three brands offer certain modifications, additions, or accessory packages. The only question mark for me is what type of motor does your machine ship with? In the good old days, sewing machines usually had clutch motors that one had to learn to feather in - until it was off to the races. Nowadays, these machines have electronically controlled servo motors. There are basically two types of servo motor in common use over here (vs over there!). 1: brushless with multi-function pushbuttons and LCD readouts to control the speed and direction (big learning curve); 2: with replaceable brushes and a simple rotary knob that limits the top speed and a slide switch for direction. The three brands you asked about are all advertisers here. They keep the lights on for us. I can tell you that anybody I know who has had a problem and asked for help from the dealer they bought the machine from got all the assistance they needed to get things back on track. In fact, some folks buy these machines second hand and the dealers will still assist the new buyer even though they legally don't have to. Until last year there was a Cowboy dealer in Arlington, Texas. that's not too far from Louisiana. Unfortunately, he closed his business. Your nearest Cowboy dealer is in Toledo, Ohio. Cobra is headquartered in Ontario, California, with an authorized dealer in Springfield, Mo. Techsew is based in Montreal, Canada, but has a US shipping agent. You will have to factor in shipping charges no matter whom you buy the machine from. This could change the total cost, especially if you have it shipped to a location lacking a truck loading dock. All shippers charge extra for a lift gate delivery truck.