Wizcrafts

It may be a Consew 206RB-something

People buying ancient Singer 29-4 and other models from the early to mid 20th Century find that out when they buy aftermarket gears that don't work.

It has a beefed up feed dog and bigger hole in the throat plate (for a #23 needle), a 5mm longer needle bar stroke, higher foot lift (to clear thicker stacks of cloth), plus more clearance around the hook for larger thread. It is still meant to sew fast and only in cloth (like denim), or light vinyl. The servo motors use less electricity, produce less heat and are easier for beginners to start on. The machine can sew slowly for a while, but must be run fast to circulate the oil.

You can find the diameter of commonly used bonded thread in this needle and thread chart.

All you are going to find in shoe repair shops are standard patchers, like the Singer 29 and Adler 30 models. They still have a minimum of 1" width at the nose. That width is needed to hold the shuttle assembly that contains the tiny bobbin in small bobbin patch machines. The only way you are going to find a sewing machine with a narrower arm would be a chain stitch machine and those are mostly post machines. A post machine can't sew lengthwise along the sides of closed pouches. There is one exception: The Alligator by Puritan Industries, which sews up the arm with a chain stitch. Last time I saw a price for a new one it was about $13,000. I would be riveting them over a steel bar, as my esteemed colleague also stated. I make phone cases and rivet along the sides. Rivets come in a variety of sizes, colors and even textures.

Used leather sewing machines seem to sell for more money in Canada than in the USA. If you can use and afford the machine, and it sews as designed, and it comes with some bobbins and needles, it is a good deal. OTOH, if it needs parts or professional servicing, it's likely overpriced. Make sure it will serve your needs and doesn't need obsolete parts.

I use #69 bonded nylon on wallet interiors and #92 when attaching the thin leather back to the interior. My wallets are usually well under 8 ounces thick along the sides and bottom. If I make a wallet that is at or over 8 ounces, I may use #138 thread. Almost any industrial walking foot machine can handle these thread weights. I refer to them as upholstery class machines. Visit any upholstery shop and you may find they have an old walking foot machine for sale after replacing it with a newer one. They run them hard and put them up wet!

I had to approve your post to unhide it. Anybody responding will have to wait for their replies to be unhidden. If you truly want assistance, please join the forum. As a member you can post this in the Leather Sewing Machines forum and other members can help you without waiting for moderator approval. Troubleshooting problems like you have can be time consuming enough without the hassles of waiting for approval of posts.

When I have to sew jobs like that I spread out the leather to force it to fit over the arm of my small bobbin 29k71 patcher. If necessary, wet the pouch in warm water to soften the sides. The only alternative would be to prepunch the holes and hand sew it with an Awl for All, or a Speedy Stitcher.

That's not all that can happen if the clearance is zero. I actually broke one of these lifting blocks on my Singer 29k71. Had to get a replacement machined locally.

I bought a box of prewound small patcher bobbins a few years ago. They unwind unpredictably with hard tension and tend to bind up without warning. I strongly advise you to wind your own bobbins. You can buy a dozen small bobbins and load them in your spare time. Get a couple extra shuttles and load them with freshly wound bobbins with a modicum of spring tension.

That Juki is a high speed cloth garment sewing machine, not a leather sewing machine. This forum deals with leather sewing machines. That said, if you are going to be making and repairing garments, it is a good deal.

Our member, @silverback had some needles for a Junker and Ruh SD28 as of June of 2019.

I'd like to point out another factor about the Class 3 that isn't obvious. Because this is a 441 clone, it uses very long needles and lifts very high. Out of the box it can sew up to 7/8 inch. So, you say, I don't make holsters that thick. But, do you ever make holsters that need to be sewn elevated above the left end of a machine to clear it? Think holsters with belt tabs sewn on the back, close to the stitch line, or pre-shaped holsters that drop down below the stitch line surface. The 441 machines have optional holster throat plates that are almost 1/2 inch tall. If you install this plate to clear obstacles, there will still be at least 3/8 inch left for leather to be sewn. Not so on the Class 26. There is no raised holster plate for it and insufficient vertical space to allow for the feet to alternate if a raised plate was installed on it. All of the 441 clones sold by our supporting dealers (Cobra, Cowboy and Techsew) are set up to sew 7/8 inch. Other dealers selling other brands may or may not do so.

If you use the large pulley on the flywheel and a 50mm on the motor, you should have about 3:1 reduction. Add a 3:1 speed reducer and you should have about 9:1 overall reduction.

What you call a 43-5 is likely a 42-5, from the 1920s. I have one in my shop. It is a very heavy duty upholstery and chap sewing machine with an early walking foot system with a spring loaded presser foot and a static position needle and inside foot and a very aggressive feed dog. It is only capable of sewing up to 5/16 inch of material. It is able to handle very heavy thread, if you have needles in the appropriate sizes (the original system is now obsolete). It uses an odd size bobbin that is also obsolete. Hopefully, original bobbins and needles will accompany the machine. The 211w155 is a compound feed walking foot machine. Here are search results about this machine on Leatherworker.net.

You can also back off the bobbin tension to keep the knots centered. Only use the least tension that lays the thread tightly against the leather.

Adjust the lift from M to H on the wingnut adjustment tab (in your last photo). Make sure that the block with the big screw on the other end of its shaft is able to make contact with the lever that comes out of the rear of the head to push it up. It's possible that this block has loosened and slipped out of range.

I have a 29k71 that gets almost 5 to the inch. The feed motion bell crank has a little play in it,

Here is a manual for the Singer 29k58, 60 and 62 (.pdf). It will show the parts that control the lift and feed motion. The part that controls the lift height is on the back of the round head and has a thumbscrew adjuster. The moving block should have 3 lines for low, medium and high lift. If this part is missing, broken, or set too low, the foot can't lift. No lift, no feed. The maximum thickness that can be transported by the foot action is usually just at or under 5/16 inch.

All sewing machines whose needle bars pivot on top experience the pendulum effect of loss of stitch length at increased thicknesses. In the case of a top feed only machine you can reduce the foot pressure to the minimum needed to hold down the leather to get the best feed. Patchers use a feed motion bell crank that has a puck shape on the end that rides inside a ring to move the foot. This puck always wears out before the rest of the moving parts. As the puck wears, the stitch length decreases. It is easy to determine how much/badly your bell crank is worn by lifting the foot with the lift lever then push and pull the foot to test for slack. I usually do this with the stitch regulator all the way down against the top of the raised foot. If your crank has a 16th of an inch slack, the maximum stitch length would be around 8 to the inch. On a new machine it would get 5 to the inch at about 6 ounces thickness. A really tight fitting bell crank and ring might even continue getting 5 to the inch at 10 ounces.

This topic belongs to Pedalpower. Please start a new topic about your machine. Be prepared to upload photos.

No, it's a good, well built sewing machine when used for the purpose it was designed: sewing vinyl upholstery, Bimini covers, awnings, tents, tarps and sails. The Sailrite LS and LZ portables are top and bottom feed walking foot machines (with teeth on the feet) with a static position needle and inside foot. The design specs say they are limited to #92 thread. Some people push the limits (and maybe the warranty) by loading it with #138 thread. The Monster Wheel is needed to help the machine penetrate leather. The machine will struggle too much without it. Tandy Leather is having a sale on them right now (branded as the Craftool® Pro Stitch Master®).

I have a CB4500, in a room full of other sewing machines machines. I have developed a system for dumbing down a Cowboy CB4500 to sew with thin thread. Read it and decide if you want to go through the routine every time you need to sew a wallet, or hem pants. My solution was to buy a lighter duty cylinder arm machine that handles thread sizes 46 through 138 and can sew over a 3/8 inch seam, maximum.

Check the back of the head for a sliding block with a thumbscrew adjuster that rides along the front end of the long leaf pressure spring. That block gets pushed up my a lever as you operate the machine. If the block isn't at or near the spot where the spring is cut down from wide to narrow, it can't lift the foot.