Wizcrafts

That was my bad. The Singer 111 uses a G bobbin, not L. For some reason I keep cornfusing those pesky little bobbins. Must be getting old.

You can sew through a vest with just about any sewing machine that's powerful enough to punch holes and pull up the bobbin thread. But, what about sewing patches over pockets? Whatcha gonna do? That takes a universal feed patcher.

Let me answer with a specific link to a suitable machine for sewing wallets and other items not exceeding 3/8 inch thickness. There are more souped up machines, like this machine's big brother, the Consew 206RB-5 - which has a safety clutch mechanism that protects the rotating "hook" from physical damage, or being thrown completely out of time from thread jams. Since even seasoned pros can accidentally jam the hook, I recommend buying a machine that has this extra protection built in. Later on, when your business picks up and people want you to make custom holsters, look into getting a holster and harness stitching machine.

Check the needle and the hook for burrs. Wrapping the thread around the sharp toothed foot is asking for broken thread!

Ads for machines for sale go in the Marketplace section. I am moving the topic. Photos should be posted along with the payment and shipping terms and options.

I recently learned that and should have clarified my statement. I repent in dust and ashes! I was thinking about the motors sold by some eBay and Amazon general purpose industrial sewing machine dealers who don't specialize in precision slow speed leather sewing machines. In fact, there is a recent topic about a new member who bought a Family Sew motor online that had a 70mm pulley and all the trouble he is going through trying to refit it with a smaller pulley.

Here is a needle\thread chart that explains the correlation between sizes.

Any common brand name triple feed walking foot machine will sew wallets. This is typically a flat bed machine like those seen in upholstery shops. They are built to properly handle bonded (nylon|polyester) thread sizes 69 through 138. Some ise the Singer standard L style bobbins like those used in the old Singer 111w series of the 1950s. Newer machines use a 1.5x "M" bobbin. Juki walking foot machines often have a 2x capacity "U" bobbin. Old Singer industrial sewing machines usually don't have a reverse lever. Most newer machines have a push down reverse, or a single stitch lever that controls both directions. Triple feed walking foot machines usually have smooth bottom feet to avoid marking veg-tan leather (there are all manner of accessory feet). Avoid dual, top and bottom feed walking foot machines as they have aggressive teeth on the feet to drag the material through the machine. They are intended for sewing chrome tan leather, awnings, tarps, drapes and vinyl. Read my sticky article about the type of sewing machine you need to sew leather. While the machine head is less important, the same can't be said for the motor. All upholstery shops use clutch motors for their speed and torque out of the gate. Most newbies to sewing leather projects want slow speed for ease of use and precision on short runs. While any skilled upholsterer can feather the clutch to slow down, it is not so easy for leather crafters who frequent this forum. So, we tend to buy servo motors and sometimes speed reducers to gain slow speed torque and ease of control. While there are a number of servo motors on the market, many of us, including me, use this Family Sew FS-550s, which is sold with a non-stock 2 inch pulley by Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines. Other industrial sewing machine dealers usually sell the motor with a 70mm pulley which runs faster and is harder to slow down without adding a reducer.

A patcher is also a perfect machine for repairing purse straps and tabs, as well as their zippers. For the small price the seller is asking, as long as it is in good sewing condition, it is a very good deal and will do work no other type of machine can do. I would try it before buying it.

The inside foot must make contact with the feed dog in order to have the feet alternate up and down. By any oddball chance, could your foot lift chain, or the hand lifter lever be holding the feet up too high? This is the "big bolt" I was referring to (I am not in my shop). It controls the vertical position of the inside foot.

I use patchers to sew embroidered patches onto bikers' vests and jackets. They are the only machines, aside from freehand embroidery machines, that can sew patches over pockets, or between the leather and the lining. I make about 25% of my leather shop income sewing patches. Once the word gets out that you can sew patches, motorcycle clubs and individual riders will come to you. I even sew patches on for an embroidery shop that makes patches but can't sew them on! If you are or want to be in the leather business, get a patcher.

Set the stitch lever to the zero forward/backward movement position. Rotate the hand wheel until the tip of the needle reaches the top of the feed dog. The tip of the needle and bottom of the inside foot should meet the top of the feed dog together. If the inside foot does not reach the feed dog with the needle, loosen the big bolt on the back of the left end of the head, which controls the position of the inside foot vs the needle. Lift or lower the inside foot to match the needle at the feed dog then tighten the big bolt on the back then tighten down the big bolt. If the outer foot is not all the way down now, remove the faceplate from the head. Loosen the presser foot bar screws and move it down so the outer feet are solidly touching the throat plate, with the inside foot and needle resting at the top of the feed dog.. Make sure the presser foot is facing straight forward, then tighten the screws on the presser bar. Rotate the wheel to lower the needle all the way to the bottom of its stroke. The inside foot should have pushed the outside foot up. You can change the amount of lift of the inside and outside feet by moving the crank coming out the middle back up or down in the curved slot on the shaft on the housing on the back. The big bolt I referred to earlier is on the left side of that housing where the curved slot is on the right, as seen from the front of the machine. These instructions should get the outside foot lifting as the inside foot moves below the throat plate, on the feed dog. This is how I balance feet of different heights when mounted.

Puritan chainstitch machines are used where the bottom thread is not visible and is covered/protected by a layer of leather, wood, cloth, or padding. You find this machine's stitching on rifle cases, briefcases, golf bags, boots and tall shoes (e.g., RedWing boots) and some luggage. Puritan machines are needle and awl machines with a jump foot. When these machines were first produced they used linen thread run through heated bees wax in a wax pot on top. Nowadays people use bonded thread in Puritan stitchers. Most Puritan stitchers can sew up to 3/4 inch of stacked/mixed material. Thicker stacks call for larger needles and awls and thicker thread.

I discovered that opening your "docx" file requires a newer version of Microsoft Word than I or many other members have. Furthermore, the compatibility pack download is no longer available. Unless a member has a new version of MS Office, the job description cannot be opened. It might be a good idea to create a version in an open source program that doesn't require paid subscriptions to open the file. Hint: PDF files can be opened in most browsers.

A 441 machine is a general description of a clone of a Juki TSC-441. In this case, the current Techsew 441 clones are the models 4100 and 5100. The OP may have forgotten the model number, or the machine is in a different location than his home at the time this was posted. My machines live in a shop that I am not in when I do my posting on this forum (too busy sewing).

Some clutch motors have a 3/4 inch shaft (~20mm). Most servo motors have something close to 13 or 14mm, which is way under the pulley bore on the clutch motor. You would need a custom bored sleeve to take up the slack.

Make sure you have sufficient foot pressure to fully hold down the leather as you sew. If it is too loose the leather can lift with the needle and cause problems like skipped stitches and bent needles. Take the cover off the end and handwheel slowly, watching the needle and hook for actual contact. The hook should just miss the scarf in the needle on the upstroke. If the needle touches the hook, the needle bar needs to be checked for looseness at the top and re-positioned, then tightened in place. There's a tapered pin holding the needle bar in place and set screw on top the locks down the lateral position of the needle bar pin. How often do you remove the faceplate and oil every crank and oil hole in the left end of the head? While you're doing that, check all set screws for tightness. Raise and lower the feet with the hand lifter to ensure that there is no binding or excess slack. If these simple things don't make any difference, contact Ron at Techsew. Make a video, with audio, to show what is happening.

Possibly done on a Consew 104 free hand embroidery machine (by skilled sewers). Otherwise, they use a heavy duty programmable commercial embroidery machine, like those made by Melco.

@PaperSpiders The three text links you posted are invalid links. Please try posting new links to your work or gallery photos.

I recently bought a 6" blade Landis hand cranked splitter from a walk in customer. The blade needed to be replaced and the screws and springs adjusted for best results. You can sometimes pick them up for $300 to $500, depending on the condition. Or, you can save the hassles and buy a new cranked or motorized splitter from Weaver Leather, Cobra, Cowboy, or Techsew. Hand pulled skivers and splitters are sold by all the usual suspects, like Weaver, Tandy, Springfield, eBay, Amazon, etc. The longevity depends on how good the steel is in the blade and how good you are at keeping the edge stropped, sharpened and polished.

Forget the position sensor unless you want to sew fast and stop fast. If you buy a servo motor like this one, which already has a very small pulley, you can feather the pedal to sew at about 1.5 stitches per second. It is easy to stop it on a dime from that speed. This type of motor has brushes and does have a power drop off when you turn the speed limiter pot or switch all the way down. Turning it just above the starting speed regains the lost torque. The knob on this motor limits the top speed. Some people add a speed reducer setup between the motor and machine. That allows for extremely slow sewing and magnifies the torque by the gear ratio of all four pulleys (motor to large reducer, small reducer pulley to machine). There are new v-belts required when changing from a clutch to a servo, plus when adding a reducer into the mix. I would try it direectly from the servo motor to the machine pulley. Just make sure that you buy a servo with a 50mm pulley. I use these motors on most of my machines.

What a time to be broke ;-(

I edited the actual source code and fixed the link. It's an HTML thang.

Here is the 7411RL-37 in action...

If the threads are too far gone, use the set screw on the bottom of the adjuster channel to set the stitch length and lock it down with the top set screw. If you need a different length, unscrew the top screw and set the new length, etc.