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It is a heavier than usual cloth sewing machine. It uses the same class 15 bobbin and shuttle as the 31-15.

Thanks Falker. They are part of history.

The motor would be more powerful than the feed system, negating its effectiveness. Drop feed dogs for cloth are quite fine. To grip and pull leather through calls for a much more aggressive tooth feeder. I sincerely doubt you will find a heavy duty feed dog and throat plate for that Brother machine.

That Brother is just a domestic/household cloth sewing machine with bottom feed. It may sew a few ounces of leather, but with thin thread. For instance, it may be able to sew thin wallet interiors, or possible entire wallets, not exceeding 6 to 7 ounces combined thickness. You may be able to change the foot to a Teflon plastic foot that lets the leather glide under it easier than the steel foot.

Mister Frodo; You are asking about household/domestic sewing machines meant for cloth. Household (domestic) sewing machines are not meant to sew leather. Some can manage a few ounces, plus or minus. But, all of these machines are bottom feed only, via feed dogs and a fixed presser foot. The feed motion on the bottom has to fight against the downward force on top. Reducing the foot pressure leads to the leather lifting with the needle, causing skipped stitches and shredded thread. These machines may have little 0.5 to 1.5 amp motors (1/15 horsepower and under) on the back of the head and a speed control pedal on an AC cord that you set on the floor. Some may be inside a table that opens and closes, or sit in a hand held carrying case, or be mounted on a treadle base with a wooden top. Leather sewing machines are usually mounted on industrial tables - 20" x 48" - with steel legs, or pedestal stands, and have large, very powerful motors under the table (from 1/3 to 3/4 horsepower). Most leather sewing machines have compound/triple feed, where the feed dog, needle and an inside foot move in sync while the outside presser foot simply moves up and down to clear or hold the leather. These machines can handle thread sizes way bigger than household machines and can sometimes sew as much as 3/4 inch of real leather. The Singer 15 class below is NOT a leather sewing machine. The Cowboy IS a leather sewing machine.

You should be using a #22 or 23 needle with T135 thread. Are you? Also, make sure the top thread is feeding through the check spring, before the take-up lever.

That is a Singer Class 66. It is made for sewing soft cloth, up to about 1/8 inch thick. It can sew leather up to 6 or 7 ounces combined, but with no larger than #69 bonded thread, using a #18 leather point HAx1 needle. The machine is bottom feed only and doesn't produce very long stitches. But, it is great for hemming and darning shirts, pants and skirts. I have one at home, motorized, in a hide-away table. Cute to look at, but no use in a shop setting.

If it ever comes down to shipping the machine to a remote buyer, know in advance that the head must be removed from the stand and the heavy handwheel removed from the back of the machine. The machine and flywheel, plus the drawer with small parts, should be wooden boxed securely and strapped to the pallet. The treadle base should be strapped down on its side. It will be cheaper to take the palleted equipment to the shipper, or at least a commercial building with a loading dock, where it can be driven into the trailer by a loader. Some sellers also disassemble the treadle stand for better security during shipping. Roads are sometimes rough and pallets can crack. Because the costs of packing and shipping are a variable, it is best to simply state: Plus actual shipping costs. Otherwise, list it as pickup only from (location).

These machines can be listed for sale in our Marketplace section of the forum. The Adler sewing machine would go here and the splitter would go here. Get the model names and numbers from the tags on the machines. Identify them in the ads, include front view photos (the pic of the Adler is from the back) and state the asking prices and location, as well as who to contact.

Maybe it need more oil?

Upholstery class sewing machines are neither built for, nor are they capable of sewing serious holsters. Shift your sights up to the 441 class of harness/holster stitchers. This includes such brands as Cobra, Cowboy, Techsew and the progenitor: the Juki TSC-441. It also includes the deprecated, non-441, Adler 205-374 and its clones. The 205 was Adler's answer to the 441 challenge in the late 1980s. If you are unwilling to Chinese up, look at the super heavy duty, needle and awl, Campbell Lockstitch and Union Lockstitch machines that are rebuilt in Texas; land of the free and home of the brave.

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I sometimes thread my CB4500 bobbins clockwise for springy, or extra thick thread. It feeds through the tension channel easier that way.

I used to run a 15-91, before getting industrial machines. I found it was limited to 8 ounces, total, with no bigger than #69 bonded thread. The feed is bottom only. The pressure needed to hold down hard leather tends to drag the stitch length down. A Teflon foot helps it feed sticky materials. A word of warning. You will burn out the pod motor trying to sew above 1/8 inch of leather. A working or rebuilt replacement motor will cost over $100 on eBay. Keep a fire extinguisher close.

Put a few drops of oil in the shuttle race. Are you loading the bobbins so the thread feeds counterclockwise? That may reduce some of the bobbin slap. Did you know that you need to remove the faceplate occasionally and put a few drops of oil into each tiny oil hole in the moving parts inside the head?

You can find presser feet online or on the phone that have less (finer pitch) aggressive teeth (old Singer 29 feet will usually fit the Adler 30). The trade off is that you may have to manually help feed the leather, especially if you fill in the gaps with tool handle coating. This really depends on how slippery the bottom layer is. If it is slick enough, less foot pressure will be needed to hold down and move the leather. However, grabby leather needs the teeth to sink in to drag it as you sew. I would like to remind you that "patchers" were built for shoe and boot repairs and were marketed to shoe repair shops. I use mine for sewing/darning shoe uppers, fixing purse straps, sewing patches over pockets on vests and onto jacket sleeves and sewing tubular projects too small to go around my cylinder arm machines. Tooth marks in veg-tan can be smoothed out somewhat. Reducing the foot pressure to the minimum needed to hold down the leather and move it will leave less visible marks.

Number 19 needles are for T90 or v92 bonded thread. Your #138 thread is 50% bigger and needs a larger needle. As the thread diameter increases, the lockstitch knots become even larger and require a much bigger hole to be pulled up without extraordinary force. The denser the material, the bigger the needle hole needs to be for any given thread combination. That is why I mentioned that I prefer a #23 (160) needle when sewing with #138 thread, top and bottom, into leather. When sewing textiles a #22 needle is fine. But, leather is tougher inside and presents more resistance to the lockstitch knots as they try to move up with the take-up lever.

Now, all you have left to do is give prospective responders your contact information. If you list an email addy, please obfuscate it so harvesters don't add it to spam lists. Note, that you don't have access to our private message system unless you become a member of LWN. Also note that all posts and replies must await approval to be unhidden in the Help Wanted forum.

I have the same shuttle in my Singer 168 post machine. You thread the bobbin into the cap outside the machine, feeding counterclockwise. Pull the thread through the tension spring (set the tension), then hold both parts together with your right hand and drop the package into the shuttle driver post. It only fits one way. Once in place, snap the locking tab down.

Not the same mount as yours, but my 30-7 came mounted on what Adler called a Power Stand. It has a 1/2 hp clutch motor built in. If you get a treadle stand, there will be a lot of fabricating needed to solidly mount a motor to it. It is doable though.

Look out for a used Juki 4 thread, 2 needle MO series serger with a half horsepower motor. Or, contact Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (see ad banners at top) and ask what they have in stock. For sure, Keystone Sewing and Techsew will have some for sale. New 2 needle, 4 thread overlock machines, setup on tables with good motors, run from about $2000 and up. You'll want one with a wide throw to encompass all that material. The motor should be at least 1/2 horsepower.

In my case, I lowered the height of my feed dog slightly to clear the holster plate. Later, I had a friend mill out some material from the inside, just in case. Not having the feed dog increases drag on the leather, shortening the preset stitch length and usually making reverse not match forward holes anymore. I found that I could sort of compensate for this by backing off the top foot pressure screw. The lower the foot pressure, the easier it is to move the material. Leather is stickier than fabrics and also tends to grab the needle and thread knots on the way back up. You always need enough foot pressure to hold down the leather on the upstroke and nothing more.

Factory spec for the doggie is a maximum height of 1mm showing above the stock throat plate. I usually temper this down to just the teeth showing, not the base metal. Make a note of the height before you remove the dog. I had my holster plate modified by a machine shop to allow the feed dog to remain in place, clearing the interior metal, saving time and adjustments.

Teflon and roller feet are for straight stitch, bottom feed machines. Your Pfaff has compound feed walking feet. This means that the feed dog, needle and inside foot move in sync as the outside foot alternates up and down. If the inside or outside feet are impressing objectionable marks, back off the pressure screw on top. It controls a spring that exerts force on the feet. The pressure screw is on top of the left side of the head, toward the back. Keep backing off this screw until the marks go away. Be careful not to back it out so far that it pops out! Some pressure is required for the feet to alternate and to keep the leather from lifting with the ascending needle, which causes skipped stitches. I found a YouTube of your machine being described and demonstrated. Give it a view...

I found a source for System 16-63 (16x113) on eBay, here If they won't ship to Canada, contact Techsew in Montreal. They are an advertiser here and have parts and needles for all types and makes of industrial sewing machines. Just click on one of their banners that will appear in rotation with each page load, at the top of each page on LWN.