Wizcrafts

Campbell-Randall has a bobbin cap for sale for the Singer 168. It should also fit your Consew 229. I searched for more but nothing much came up, aside from a Koban brand bobbin cap from Japan. It was sold by a dealer in the UK and would cost as much with shipping and taxes.

It would help if you gave more information about "Eli" The OP is in AU. Location/email/phone?

I just found some System 1000 needles in size 27 on Amazon. The seller listed the dimensions as a shank of 2.5mm and the length at 73mm.

You might want to contact Aaron Marin Harness in Ontario, Canada. They have some sizes of Pearson 6 and Landis 1 needles that may fit your machine. They could measure a needle and let you know if it's compatible by email.

WOW! That sounds like a System 1000 H, from the days of yore.

Please post a frontal photo showing the thread path, especially the top tension disks and the check spring disks. The screw position in the curved slot may need to be tweaked to give a little more slack top thread.

I used to own an LU-563 and sewed on a boss's 563 for two years. All I have to say about them is that I couldn't get the forward and reverse stitches to match. I was sewing vinyl, so mismatched reverse stitches wasn't a big deal. If you are contemplating buying a 563 I advise you to test it first. Misaligned reverse stitches can totally filigree leather. Personally, unless the 563 was in perfect condition and adjusted so the reverse stitches match the forward stitches, I would go for the newer DNU-1541. But, I strongly advise you to test it first with your own leather (use a leather point needle!). Make sure the reverse lines up with forward stitches and that the appearance on top and bottom is acceptable. Bear in mind that the pressure on the inside foot can increase or decrease the puckering on the bottom layer.

Yes. The only machines that don't cause puckering are jump foot harness stitchers that are few, far between, and cost through the nose. You might keep an eye open for an old Adler 105 jump foot machine. Singer did make a few jump foot machine decades ago. Considering the money you already have invested, ask the seller if they have smooth or checkered feet for it. A totally smooth outside foot doesn't help feed on top, so you'll be down to a bottom feed machine. Ask the dealer if they will give you credit towards a Juki DNU-1541, which is a compound feed machine for which there are all kinds of smooth feet.

They sold you a top/bottom dual feed machine when you needed a compound feed walking foot machine, with totally smooth feet. You can try to minimize the tooth marks and puckering by reducing the spring pressure screw or screws on top of the head. There will at least be one large screw over the outer foot that pushes against a heavy coil spring inside the head. There may also be an adjustable spring over the inside foot. That one should be backed off as much as possible to minimize the puckering. Pucker marks are a fact of life with walking foot machines. That is because the inside foot presses directly around the edge of the needle. The only way around this is either a bottom feed only or a jump foot machine (rare).

The entire line of 29k machines are shoe and boot patchers. They are also used to sew embroidered patches onto vests, especially over pockets. They are entirely top driven by the teeth on the single moving foot. That foot rotates 360 degrees to pull the work in any direction. For this model patcher, the thread is best limited to #69 (T70) bonded nylon. It uses System 29x3, 29x4, or 135x16, or 135x17 needles. The best needle size for #69 thread is #18/110. The small bobbin limits the amount of thread that can be held. You can use #92 bonded thread with a #19 or 20 needle, but it will go less distance than #69 thread. If you load a bobbin with #138 thread it will only sew one or two belts. Thickness-wise, a 29k33 will sew about 1/4 inch of soft to medium temper leather. It can clear a seam that's up to 5/16 inch, but probably not sew that thickness. The stitch length varies with the thickness. The maximum length on a pristine mechanism is 5 stitches per inch into about 6 ounces of shoe upper leather. This decreases to about 7 or 8 to the inch at 1/4 inch. If the feed motion mechanism is worn you may only get half that stitch length. I hope this helps.

I can't speak for Tandy, but I have sewn on a Cobra Class 4 and it is a fine machine. The Class 3 has a 9 inch arm and the Class 4 has a 16.5" arm. You would have to decide if you will ever need a longer arm before buying a 441 type machine. If you are in charge of all your designs, you may get away with a short arm. But, do you anticipate making drop loop gun belts with bullet loops? If so, go for the longer arm. I say this from much experience sewing bullet loops onto Western gun belts on my Cowboy CB4500. In fact, sometimes I wish I had bought a 25 inch arm model! FYI: The 441 clones pick up where the standard walking foot machines leave off. That is #138 through #415 thread with needle sizes 23 through 27. The crank shafts are at least twice the size of those used in medium duty walking foot machines. The springs are massive in comparison. They can both exert huge amounts of top thread tension and still hold down tough leather as the take-up lver pulls up the thread knots. This is more difficult on lesser machines and is where they are likely to fail.

Here are some YouTube videos about setting up a Fortuna ES-50 skiver. It applies to all similar models and brands. Here is a video about setting up a Fortuna skiver. (could not be embedded here) Part 2 of above video Part 3 showing the Fortuna skiver in use.

One of our advertisers sells the Consew 206RB-5, complete, for $1395 plus shipping. How does this compare to what you saw?

To be sure that the feet will fit I recommend contacting Techsew. They can tell you if a specific foot is required and probably have them at a competitive price. Also, they, like you are based in Canada.

There is another way I use to lock in the stitches when I can't sew over or do Poor Man's Reverse. Sew two or three stitches, raise the needle after the thread goes around the hook on the take-up cycle, lift the feet and pull the work back two/three stitches distance, then drop the feet and sew through those stitches again. You can even go back and forth over one stitch a couple times using this technique, but I recommend at least two stitches. Use the same technique at the end of the stitch line. Raise, pull back a few, then sew over to the end.

You're welcome Tom! I just bought a Singer 211G156, which is similar to yours but has reverse. Mine has a clutch motor which works like a charm. Its first job was sewing a flag patch onto a biker's padded denim riding vest. The next job is sewing a new 4 x 7 foot white heavy canvas face onto a customer's pup tent to replace the torn original. One suggestion I have for you is to buy different needles for canvas/cloth/webbing and leather. Leather sewing is best done with either a chisel/slicing point or a tri/diamond point needle while the rest is best done with round point (cloth) needles. Leather point needles tend to damage the fibers in cloth and vinyl materials. The needle "systems" are 135x16 for leather and 135x17 for cloth and vinyl. Sail cloth and Sunbrella should be sewn with round point needles. Suggestion 2: Buy bonded polyester thread for outdoor projects that will be exposed to UV, water and rough elements. Nylon thread will be damaged by the sun's rays and temperature swings. It will become brittle and break much sooner than polyester thread. I just got some 1 pound spools of bonded polyester thread from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines for use on canvas and leather jobs meant for outdoor use. This will especially include any motorcycle seat replacements.

I have a box reducer on my Singer 168 post machine. My Techsew 2700 has a 2:1 wheel reducer that came with it. My Cowboy CB4500 has a 3:1 wheel reducer. All of these have Family Sew motors.

If you have the needle plate and countersunk head screws, install it, catching the tab on the bobbin case inside the gap in the throat plate. If you don't have that plate, do not operate the machine under power until you buy a needle plate and the two mounting screws!

Since this topic is about clutch motors, I will chime in. I currently have 3 machines equipped with 1/3 or 1/2 horsepower clutch motors. Two go directly to the machine and one goes through a 2:1 reducer. I have adjusted the action on these motors for a smooth gradual engagement with a fair amount of slack before they engage. There is a trick to keeping the slack and that is to tighten up the spring that pulls the control arm upwards toward the motor. Sometimes that spring is left loose enough that the control arm drops from its own weight (and the attached foot pedal) almost to the point of engaging the clutch on its own. The adjustment is usually done with a wing nut on the right side of the control arm. You may have to secure the left side of the shaft the spring rides on if it rotates with the wing nut. If the clutch is too grabby it can be sanded down or have a little oil or grease smeared on one side, then wiped off. There are small pulleys available to slow down clutch motors. I have a 2" pulley on the way for my newest 1/2 HP, 1720 rpm E-Z Clutch motor that powers a Singer 211G156 that I just bought from a boat upholstery shop. With the existing 3.5" pulley I can easily feather it down about 2 stitches per second. With the 2" pulley I should be able to do 1 stitch per second, steady, when needed. Disclosure: I have been sewing with clutch motors since the early 1960s. My Father had a tailor shop and he taught me to sew on his Singer 31-15 when I was in my very early teens. When I got into leather work, in 1984, and began acquiring sewing machines, they all had clutch motors which I adjusted to suit my preferred foot action. I didn't even see a servo motor until 2010.

I have a Techsew 2700 (predecessor of the 2750) that I got used. It is a light duty cylinder arm machine that uses Singer G size bobbins and maxes out with #138 bonded thread. It can sew over a soft 3/8 inch seam, but doesn't like it. I leave it setup with #69 or #92 thread for sewing thin to medium work up to about 1/4 inch. I have a Cowboy CB4500 for knife sheathes and all gun holsters and rifle cases that uses #277 or #346 thread. Both of these cylinder arm machines have table attachments that I use when necessary, but not otherwise. I have a flatbed machine in my shop for sit down sewing of flat things, like vests, jackets, phone cases, guitar straps, etc. It uses thread sizes 69 through 138. While there are some heavy duty cylinder arm machines currently available that advertise they can sew 1/2 inch of leather, it will probably not be 1/2 inch stack of hard (wetted, shaped, glued, dried and dyed) veg-tan leather sewn with heavy (#277 or #346, top and bottom) thread that can withstand drawing and reholstering a handgun, possibly in a panic draw, or competition situation. However, if the sheathes and holsters you make don't exceed 3 layers of 8 ounce veg-tan, the aforementioned machine might do the job well enough to call it Macaroni.

My first servo motors were brush-less and started with a jerk at either 100 or 200 rpm. To this very day there are still a lot of brush-less servos that do the same as before. On the other hand, all of the brush servos I've had start spinning from zero and increase gradually to whatever maximum speed has been set on its knob (pot or switch).

I believe I bought an open inside foot from Leather Machine Company (Cobra). Check their website for presser feet and accessories. Otherwise, CowboyBob Kovar might be able to supply you with an inside foot that's sliced down the center.

Yes! Just back off the foot pressure screws to the minimum needed to hold down the leather as the needle and thread comes up. This will minimize the poke makes on the bottom that are caused by the inside foot pressing down hard around the needle and into the big slot in the feed dog on the bottom. If your machine has a separate spring adjuster over the inside foot, back it off as far as tolerable, leaving the outside foot to hold down the leather.

I have a friend who has an unwanted Singer 111w116 compound feed walking foot machine. It can only be used with System 135x16 or 135x17 needles up to a #20 and thread up to #92 bonded (but preferably #69). This machine would be perfect for sewing upholstery leather, wallets, canvas, denim and vinyl. Machines like this are fairly rare compared to the heavier duty 111w153 and 155.

My very first industrial sewing machine was a Singer 96k40 tailoring machine. I didn't know it was a tailoring machine. The dealer said it could sew leather. He lied. I bought it to sew a leather vest I was making from a Tandy Leather pattern pack. The machine simply stopped feeding anytime it met a new layer, like the fringes on the upper back. Even when I lifted the foot on top it skipped stitches, then broke the needle. The bottom feed only is unreliable and tends to just slip if the bottom layer is slick, like pasted flesh leather. Fast forward 35 years and there is a Singer 31-15 head on the floor in my shop. The table it came on is now housing a Singer walking foot machine. It easily climbs over seams and sews almost 5/16 inch of medium density leather with up to #138 bonded thread. Walking feet alternate up and down. Compound feed machines also have a moving inside presser foot that moves in sync with the needle and feed dog. This is triple feed and the layers stay aligned and feed reliably compared to bottom feed machines. Read my sticky article at the entry page of this forum about the type of machine you need to sew leather.