Wizcrafts

This reminds me of something Lisa Sorrell said in her video about her curved needle machine. Lisa makes bespoke Cowboy boots for a living and showed herself sewing on the soles on a 12 series machine. She plays "Last Letter Home" by the Gibson Brothers in the background because it makes the machine happier. She also pointed out a scar/dimple on her throat where the needle broke one time and embedded its tip in her throat. She warned against pushing the boot or shoe which can throw the alignment off between the awl and the needle. The sole use of the curved needle machine is to sew soles onto boots and shoes. No pun intended!

@NolyGil; Ese dispositivo se llama "guía de borde". In English: That device is called an "edge guide."

Shipping rates have exploded in the last 3 years. The farther the box travels, the higher the cost. Also, it costs extra to have it lowered off a lift gate truck than a semi trailer (onto a dock). I would call the dealers listed in ads on top of our pages and as for the best rate to your address and gate option.

Some are and some aren't. Several years ago I invested in a spare hook assembly for my 441 class machine. It was a slightly higher end aftermarket brand name hook. It only picked up the thread reliably moving forward and dropped most stitches in reverse. Try as I may, I could never get it timed properly in forward and reverse, and it has been sitting in my spare parts drawer ever since. I don't know or care why it didn't work. I'd recommend buying any spare parts directly from the company whose name is on the machine. In your case, that's Leather Machine Company. Even then, you may have to tweak the timing to compensate for manufacturing differences.

A short Google search found an answer on the Sailrite website. They sell Coat and Clark 3 ply Upholstery thread and make it plain that it is Tex 70. This is one of the lighter bonded nylon threads used in leather work. It calls for a #18/110 needle. Tex 70 is also known as #69 bonded thread. It has a breaking strength of 10 to 11 pounds depending on the brand and its age. Older thread tends to snap sooner than fresh thread. It is generally used to sew wallet interiors together, or light weight upholstery seams that aren't under a lot of stress.

@DieselTech Your statement, which I bolded, is incorrect! The inside "alternating/vibrating" foot, which has a hole for the needle to pass through, MUST hit the feed dog! When it makes contact, it causes the outside "presser" foot to lift up. As the presser foot is lifting, the alternating inside foot, needle and feed dog all move in sync to transport your material. This is due to the manner in which those two feet are interconnected by crankshafts and transfer cranks. When one goes down, the other goes up. That said, you can change the amount of lift and when it begins to happen. However, assuming that your machine was already setup when you got it, this shouldn't be dinked with unless you changed the settings yourself. I know from personal experience that Cobra, Cowboy and Techsew 441 clones are shipped from the dealers already adjusted and ready to go to work, if you bought them directly from those dealers. If you bought your machine from a middleman, they would be responsible for making any adjustments that were needed to have the machine ready to sew. So, if you purchased your Cobra directly from Leather Machine Company, you are entitled to free assistance from them. Otherwise, you can contact whomever resold it to you to ask what changes they made to the machine's setup.

The presser foot/feet should not contact the feed dog at all. it/they must make firm contact with the throat plate whenever the inside foot is up, during the sewing cycle. The only time the outer foot should lift is when the inside foot goes all the way down and begins to move the work. It the presser foot is not touching the throat plate, and the feed dog isn't keeping it lifted, you have to loosen the (two) screw(s) that hold the presser bar in place and lower the bar until it touches the throat plate. Make sure it faces true forward (not tilted), then lock it back down.

@DieselTech I have the aftermarket set from @RockyAussieinstalled in my Cowboy CB4500. I set the feed dog so it just rises above the level of the throat plate; enough to assist the feed. I use this set with any needle size from #20 through #25. I'm not a fan of setting the feed dog so high that it pushes the leather up noticeable. That said, I have set my feed dog so it rises just level with the top of the throat plate. There is no bottom assist using this configuration. But, it has its place. It prevents the work from getting pushed down into the large cutout for the dog.

Install that guide into the top of the head. If you run into a coily/twisty spool of thread, run the thread through the top hole, then wrap it counterclockwise halfway around the post and feed it out of the bottom hole.This will counteract the coiling effect.

I wrote a blog article a few years ago that can save you tons of money. You just need to dumb down your Cobra Class 4. This doesn't require any new hardware; just some careful adjustments and the use of the narrow slotted throat plate you probably got with your Cobra Class 4, and some thin system 7x3, or 7x4 needles from @CowboyBob. There are two members of LWN who make narrow feed dog/throat plate sets and even narrow presser foot sets. Here is the narrow set that was first made by our member, @RockyAussie - in Australia. Here are some narrow throat plate/feed dog sets that are made in the USA: https://heprecision.com/ - by our member: @Patrick1. Thank me later!

You can buy a plastic lube pot that has a magnetic base, and a hole with a set screw to mount it to a top post on your machine. Load it with liquid silicon, or sewing machine oil and adjust the flow for the best results. Since you're using the minimum needle size for #138 thread, consider finding needles with a larger than standard eye, and/or titanium coating. Look into Schmetz and Groz-Beckert needles. You didn't say what you are sewing, so I can only suggest that if it isn't very dense, try Schmetz "Serv-7" needles, if they are available to fit your machine. Otherwise, try Groz-Beckert "Gebeder" needles. Update #1: What you should look for are known as "topstitch" needles, but with some shape of a leather cutting point. Topstitch needles have a larger eye that allows thicker thread to pass through it with less drag than a standard geometry needle. Update #2: Schmetz makes a needle type they call "GO" which has a much larger eye profile to clear larger topstitch threads. It is a step up from the Serv 7 system.

I may have that roller for my embosser. I won't be back in the shop until Thursday though. I bought the roller online and you can also. The maker lives in Bulgaria.

The tab on the bobbin case must go into the detente under the throat plate. When you secure the tab, you'll notice that it has lateral clearance. This is for the top thread. There is a missing case "latch opener" lever that is supposed to screw onto the moving block shown in your photo. Its job is to pull back the case and its tab to make it easier for the top thread to flow around the bobbin case. Without the latch opener in place, the top thread gets pinched after being picked off of the needle and has a hard time forming stitches.

@AngryDick Are you aware of the various surcharges, fees, and tariffs that you will be liable for in addition to the actual price of the machine and shipping? If you go ahead and have one drop shipped to you, after paying all the various fees, possibly including a power gate delivery fee, do you have the skill to uncrate, de-grease, deburr, assemble, time, and mount the machine onto a pedestal table that contains a servo motor (with a switch box) and speed reducer (which requires two type 3L v-belts of different lengths)? I asked one of our dealers how much time they invested in a 441 clone that was in a crate from a well known industrial sewing machine manufacturer in China. He told me it is approximately 6 hours of professional work in their well equipped shop. If you get into a bind, or parts are damaged or missing, who ya gonna call? Do you speak Chinese?

I'd probably add a couple cans of compressed air, a #2 rubber mallet, a couple 4 ounce precision oilers with brass tubes, Walmart 18 packs of cheap white wash rags to clean oil drippings, a jar of Goo-B-Gone, wool daubers, a bunch of large flat metal theaders with the diamond shaped wires on the end, some felt pieces to replace any that are missing, and some rubber machine corner mounts to replace those that are missing on tables, plus thin nails to secure the corner mounts.

That's what I do on most of my machines that lack reverse. I call it Poor Man's Reverse.

@Northmount - I sent him a private message with instructions that will help me pinpoint the location of the potential scammer.

You need to increase your budget. $1400 is about the bottom price for a new stitcher capable of sewing 12 ounces of veg-tan. Here is an example of a $1400 leather stitcher that comes with a servo motor and table. You may find some deals on used walking foot machines in your local Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist. I see decent walking foot machines selling from $800 to $1200 all the time. They are basically upholstery sewing machines, with triple feed. Many can sew up to 3/8 inch of soft to medium temper materials, and about 1/4 inch of hard temper belt leather. These machines would max out with #138 bonded thread, which has 22 pounds breaking strength.

Does anybody here know about any available equivalents of Puritan needles and awls (and needle brackets) for our new member's Puritan cylinder arm machine?

@Uwe, can you help this new member?

The arm on my Adler 30 is about 17 or 18 inches long. It's narrow at the left side and wider as it gets closer to the main body. You have to sew halfway, then pull it out, turn the work around, and sew the other half.

I buy my servo motors from here. Some go direct to the machine if the pulley is large enough (4"+). Others feed a speed reducer which powers the machine with lower top speed and higher torque. The motors on that page are analog and have a knob to set the top speed. They lose torque at the slowest settings. So, I usually set the knob to the slowest setting that still has good punching power. It's easy to feather the speed with the floor pedal.

How do you plan to, or are you currently sewing them? Your sewing method will point towards the best type of sewing machine for this job. I have sewn a few cue stick cases and other round pouches and dice cups in the last 10 years, or so, In all those jobs i used a long arm, large bobbin boot patcher to sew up the arm. I used #138 bonded nylon thread on the top and bottom, with a #23 leather point needle. The early cylindrical jobs were sewn on a Singer 29k172 patcher. The later ones were done on an Adler 30-7, which replaced the Singer in 2018.

I know you tried to sign up and failed. So, if you want to contact a person looking to hire a leathercrafter, you can post your email address, but obscure it to hide it from harvester bots. Here's an example: joe dot james at somemail dot com. This doesn't work against humans, just bots. Try signing up again, but disable any script blockers. Also, make sure you check any checkboxes to agree to our terms.

That is the G style bobbin that we rate at 1x capacity: the gold standard. I have 5 walking foot machines that use that same size bobbin. That is convenient, especially for prewound bobbins.