Matt S

That's a steal.

You'll need the appropriate "straight" parts for your particular machine, for which you'll be best to consult the parts manuals, and a half hour to an hour per machine depending on your familiarity with industrial sewing machines. On the Seiko LCW-8 (very similar to your Singer 153) it in involves both new feet, a new needle plate, feed dog, bobbin cover and feed lifiting cam plus some re-timing. I would expect the Pfaff 335s to be quite similar, but no need for a feed lifting cam (since it doesn't have one). That assumes that the 153 has a synchronous binding attachment in place, which isn't clear to see from the photo.

Could be an Adler 67 or 167. Guessing by the size of the bobbins, probably a 167 (67 has 111-style G-type bobbins). If the "missing bar" you are referring to is a flat thing with a big screw, that's an auxiliary presser spring. Not all models were fitted with them. I've got an Adler 67 that was fitted with one but it broke before I got hold of the machine and I've never had a problem without it on leather. FWIW Adlers are excellent value -- really well built, excellent quality machines, but fugly so not really fashionable on the amateur market like black-body Singers are.

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but I hear and read the term being used mostly by Boomers rather than Millenials. There's far fewer wood-turners and whittlers in their 20s compared with those in their 60s, at least where I live. You'll be telling us that eating avocados on toast and buying £3 coffees is why we Millenials can't afford houses next. I've heard good things previously but never got around to trying it myself. I use autosol on my Tormek, and on my leather strop before I got that because I can get it locally, it works well and it has other uses. I've also successfully used valve grinding compound and other buffing soaps (green and grey), though these do get a bit claggy. Not sure if it's because they're formulated/expected to be used on a fast wheel with lots of friction or because I've been sold old stock but they certainly work.

Is it definitely leather? From what little I can see from that little picture it looks like some sort of plastic moulding, in which cases the "wobbles" are milled into the mould.

@Mayfish that special instruction is for the DSC-246V/7 which I believe is a subclass of the 246 configured as a synchronous binder. In this case the normal arm top-cover is replaced with one that can lift up and swing 90 degrees towards the operator, amongst other modifications. Unless your W246 is so configured, ignore it. I used to have a W246, but sold it some time ago. I think that that diagram covers the oil points quite well. It might be worth your while removing the top covers and checking that the reservoirs and their wicks are in fact feeding oil to the appropriate points -- mine weren't when I bought my machine, though like yours mine came to me second-hand. The previous owner did not treat the machine well.

I don't know if either of them still haunt these boards, but @Les No6 and @Singermania would probably be your best bet.

Ditto for the UK. A Chinese clone 441 or 205 is about £2-3K+ 20% tax from a dealer.

In a word, yes. It's often the case that changing any quality of the leather or thread will affect how your machine sews. Variations in leather thickness and hardness are the largest variable factors, as they affect how the machine forms a stitch. One thing that often catches me out is glue -- how much, how dry and what type affect where the loop/knot ends up. First thing to adjust, for me at least, is always the top tension. Solves about 90% of problems. Then the foot pressure, then needle size. Bobbin tension as a last resort. That assumes I've got my other ducks in a row and I know I'm working within that machine's capabilities.

I've found that not all 111 style feet are made equal, but if you buy from actual SM dealers/suppliers (rather than any old randomer) they're usually quite adequate. Biggest issue I've encountered is that some inner feet don't fit on the shaft properly. However within any particular foot type (flat smooth, flat serrated, piping etc.) the inner foot is fairly universal so if I find, as I once did, that the otherwise identical inner feet in a piping set of half a dozen different sizes don't all fit... I simply threw away the ones that don't fit. I like Kungpeng. Decent prices, decent selection and quite good quality. Just wish there were an express shipping option! Proper local SM dealers tend to be more reliable in terms of quality, and are of course much faster, so may be worth the extra cost. Being a style rather than a standard, sometimes particular combinations of feet don't quite get along with each other. That's where the grinder comes into play...

Well I never recommended it mind. However the price + shipping to the UK comes to about £1700, which is about half the pre-tax price I'd have for a CB3200 locally. I'd still be liable for import duty and tax on top of that price though. Plus any costs incurred getting it set up. All pretty academic really, I'm not in the market for a Chinese sewing machine and I'd rather go through a good local dealer if I were. I wonder how many different factories make CB3200s? They're not exactly common machines, being quite niche, and they're not straight clones either (I understand they're a mix of Juki 441 and Adler 205). Perhaps there's just not many being made.

Strange, for me a search for "CB3200" on Aliexpress brings up a half dozen different CB3200, a few 441 clones and some related parts. Machines labelled as Baterpak and Cowboy. Random example: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/32640308447.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.6882407a2GV4gj&algo_pvid=6b1761cd-0231-4e97-8f22-39b11fbb8c80&algo_expid=6b1761cd-0231-4e97-8f22-39b11fbb8c80-1&btsid=eaf6f467-ff50-4446-9935-a0224b02e1a5&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_10,searchweb201603_52

Further to Wiz's usual wisdom, almost any Singer 45K variant or clone will be suitable, subject to their inherent design limitations. The main exceptions would be the subclasses designed for darning, often not fitted with (or even for) a feeding mechanism. I don't know about your side of the pond but 45Ks are pretty common over here. Adler 4/5 (good quality Singer 45K clones) and their later 104/105 range should have no issue with a half inch. I see the 104/105 (and their far more recent 204/205 series, only recently discontinued) as "product improved" Singer 45Ks, with desirable modern features such as reverse and compound feed. Again pretty commonly available over here. However as Wiz points out, older machine models that can realistically sew a half inch of leather are fairly few and far between. Over here the old BUSM "Pearson" No6 harness stitcher is not uncommon and is specced to do 3/4". (I've persuaded mine to do 1"... once...) Most Singer 7s should be able to do a half inch of leather too, though like the 45K, 132K and 133K they were mostly drop feed only. Oh and the Singer 97 too. Remember though that old machines come with a whole host of disadvantages over a similar capacity current production model. I say that as someone who really enjoys tinkering with vintage machines but is gradually replacing them with modern or recently discontinued models. Old machines are cheap for good reasons.

CB3200 is a Chinese machine, apparently a hybrid of the Juki 441 and Adler 205. I've found them under that name on Aliexpress.

It's quite common for phase converters to run with a voltage drop per phase. 10% per phase is considered acceptable. I've never run this machine off "real" 3-phase but I imagine that the vibration I get, though not huge, is a little more than it would be on a "real" 3ph supply. It's worth the saving over having a 3-phase supply installed! The thermal overload breaker dedicated to the knife motor is the one that's tripping and I'm considering adjusting. The problem is that the manufacturer's manual is a little vague on this subject. Yes I've reconfigured the motor wiring boxes for the two largest motors (knife and feed) from delta to star, so I could tap the centre point of the star out to the phase converter. The machine's been running fine for 9 months, this is the only real electrical issue I've encountered. There are no separate wiring diagrams for 220v and 440v operation -- all four motors in this machine are 3ph, plus a transformer for the switchgear and ancilliaries with a multi-tap primary. This was originally run off one of the phases but I gave it its own dedicated supply. Thanks Brian. I realise that your machines are slightly different from mine but it could be that I have mine setup with tighter belts that you -- so that when hitting a wide, hard piece that would stall my motor or cause its breaker to trip would simply cause your belts to slip. I'll get the wiring diagram scanned. This, I'm sure you realise, is a German-manufactured machine from the 60s or 70s, intended for running directly from a 3ph supply in an industrial environment. There are no motor starters installed -- all four motors are controlled by multi-pole contactors as part of the original switchgear. I only have single phase available in my workshop and the current consumption is well within the capabilities of a standard 13A plug so I built a simple static converter. The converter contains the starter -- a simple arrangement with a large capacitor and a time delay relay. IIRC the TD relay switches from delta (start) to star (run) too. In use I press the "go" button on the splitter and then apply power to the phase converter. It's not the neatest solution but required fewer changes to the machine and works well. The motor associated with the breaker that keeps tripping turns the band-knife. I suspect that the wider, harder splits are putting a little more strain on the motor than usual and as you say the breaker needs adjusting. However I wondered if anyone else who runs a splitter has encountered a similar situation before I risked the life of a good motor! I'll be honest with you, until I converted/adapted this machine early this year I knew SFA about 3 phase. However having read a decent book on the subject and many articles I realised that the fact this machine requires 4 different motors to run simultaneously means that the largest of the motors will act as a RPC for the rest. Or, to paraphrase, the more motors are run simultaneously from the same converter the smoother the phases.

My Fortuna UA has an annoying habit of tripping the breaker for the knife motor when splitting full-width pieces. The blade is plenty sharp -- it makes a beautiful split for an inch -- but then it pops the breaker and everything stops. The leather doesn't appear to be hanging up on anything (I've split a lot of leather with this machine), just certain leathers at full width tend to stop the machine in its tracks. I've tried reducing and increasing the spring tension on the feed rollers. No difference. The drive motor is in "slow" mode, and on the low gear. The breaker trip current is adjustable. It's correctly set at what the manual suggests for 440v operation. I'm running the machine from a self-built static converter, using the knife and feed motors reconfigured in tapped-centre star mode to smooth out the second and third phases, giving roughly 250, 225 and 205 volts. I wonder if I need to/should/could increase the trip current to what the manual suggests for 220v operation? Does the manual mean what we'd understand as delta/star when it mentions 440/220v operation for a 3-phase machine? The motor's pretty beefy, I expect it would survive a couple minutes of drawing a couple extra amps. I know that several of our members have done or do operate these classic machines. Have any of you encountered such an issue? Could I get away with turning the breaker trip current up?

If the OP wants to wear goggles, a grinding mask or a full-body kevlar EOD suit is their choice. However my experience of cheapo safety glasses is that they are uncomfortable, fit badly, fog quickly, scratch easily and are optically non-flat (they distort the image you see through them). I find it interesting that the UK Health & Safety Executive (equivalent of the US OSHA), generally known (fairly or not) as a bunch of jobsworths who have never operated anything more dangerous than a clipboard, don't even mention goggles/glasses in their guidance to sewing machine operators, simply to assess provision of machine-fitted eye guards.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing safety glasses while operating a sewing machine, in any environment. Small workshops, schools, factories, never. I have a general distrust of safety gear used without a specific and well considered use-case. I find that it tends to get in the way, fosters a false sense of security and can increase the risk of getting injured.

I use dye -- either Fiebings or Norsol or the powder dye commonly used on bridle. I mix mine with the glue water I use for burnishing. If you're really stuck, a black marker works but try it on a sample first, some dry weird.

Yep, I love the things. Remember though that not all machines were built with them in mind, so you may need to make some minor modifications.

It's a slightly awkward size yes. However the servos come with a 75mm pulley, which will will give you far more control than a clutch motor. And if you want to go down to a 40mm pulley it's not a very difficult to modify a taper bore pulley to fit. I've used several brands of the cheaper servo motors. Jack are definitely better than many, and the slightly odd shaft size is a minor disadvantage.

College Sewing in the UK sells tapered bore pulleys, but they aren't a direct fit for all tapered shaft motors. Ironically this includes the Jack motors they sell, for which I have to bodge pulleys to fit. How tied are you to the old motor? Servos start at about £100 and are very controllable.

I used to own a W246. It didn't like TKT10 thread, even after I and a professional tech worked on it. Did okay with TKT20 and smaller though. "Okay" being the operative word. The DSC256 is a very interesting beast; it manages to shoehorn a large M-bobbin hook and a 4-motion feed-dog into a 48mm small cylinder, whereas most manufacturers can only get a 2-motion feed-dog and a G-bobbin or L-bobbin hook into one. It does this by some clever engineering workarounds that, while I'm sure work fine with the high quality manufacturing that Juki provides, don't lend themselves to the lower cost factories. There really isn't much margin for error. In the end I was spending far too much time fighting and retiming the machine. Found a used Seiko at auction and sold the W246. Never regretted that decision. Now I've got two identical Seikos and will probably buy more. In the interests of full disclosure my W246 didn't come to me direct from Wimsew, it was a second hand machine that had been run hard and put away wet (literally). However a few needle strikes and spots of rust didn't cause the crappy castings, the cheese-grade screws, the bearing surfaces rough as a badgers arse or the tolerances looser than my granny's knicker elastic. Maybe I got a lemon. Maybe their quality has improved since then (I noticed they're using better motors now). Or maybe I'm being far too harsh comparing the machine to ones that cost triple. Just my experience with one machine.

Forester, that's some really nice work. Apologies if I was teaching my grandma to suck eggs re. Will Ghormley and Packing Iron! Certainly not my intention. I've got several of Will's pattern packs myself but not yet got around to making much from them, though I do have my last piece of russet shoulder earmarked for a couple of 1911 holsters. Yep I'm a leatherworker. I mostly make bags, belts, dog collars and things -- mainly from English bridle and pull-up chrome leather.

Soling is very stiff, too stiff to bend much at all and very difficult to cut. Not only are specially stiff hides selected for its manufacture but the stuff is compressed and pressed during processing. I've not tried but imagine it would be near impossible to carve/tool in the normal manner.