Matt S

That seller bought the one I considered buying. They've put it on a new table and oiled it. Definitely worth the £1200 markup they put on it...

Shame that Tipmann doesn't sell a pneumatic upgrade kit for the Boss -- massively reduced production/inventory costs over dedicated Aerostitch parts and a functionality improvement to the Boss. "Got a Boss but getting lopsided biceps? Got a compressor? For $500 upgrade your machine to pneumatic. Now, with 72% more better!" I think that this was both the Aerostitch's unique selling point and reason why it had limited appeal -- the idea was good but massively outweighed by the practicalities. I almost bought a used one recently, thinking I could take a portable air tank to shows but did some calculations on how much air it consumes... and realised that at 5CFM a standard 24 litre portable air tank would be empty in about a minute. Even a big 250 litre tank would last... 10 minutes? Even a standard 2.5HP DIY compressor would be running about 50% duty cycle to keep this thing fed.

So is backlash not much of a problem with vertical-axis bobbins? If so why -- is it the weight of the bobbin pressing itself down onto the hook basket?

Is the 563 a vertical axis bobbin or horizontal axis? My Seiko lcw8 is a balls adjacent to the wall fast machine (2000SPM), has a large vertical bobbin and have no problems with backlash. Even with abrupt stop/start. Conversely I used to have two horizontal axis machines that had to have backlash springs fitted or be babied, or i got massive backlash.

AIUI all you need is a fine double crease, a ruler, a steady hand and a lot of practice. It's a bit like checkering a gunstock -- the diamonds are created by where you choose to stop each checker line. I guess it has fallen out of fashion in the US harness trade? What out-of-date terms are you getting for the tools?

What did you glue your Airfix kits with as a kid then Mike? Retiled the bathroom lately? Best practice is to glue and stitch. Anything less is a compromise that could easily cause your product to fail. I wouldn't trust a glue-only belt, especially for something that's going to be out in all weathers, bent, abused, tools clipped and unclipped, 40+ hours a week -- then thrown in the back of the truck at the end of the day with the kango and 3 bags of offcuts bouncing around on top of it for the drive home. To say nothing of the practical issues caused by the stiffness mentioned upthread... Do you (or your customer) have tools and pouches that can attach to a 1/2" thick belt?

Just looked it up. Basically the same as a CB3500/GA5 (non-R) or Singer 45K21. Cylinder bed, drop-feed-only, no reverse. Speed limit 800SPM. No cup holder.

That's a long drive to Yerksher and back! I think the one you're looking at is the 105-MO on eBay, yes? That's got a differential upper feed, which is used in puckering the toes of boat shoes. Apparently you can set the upper feed to match the lower feed but I've never tried. Maybe @Constabulary or @Uwe knows?

What does your research show you about that machine model? And how far is Yorkshire from where you are?

There's cylinder bed Singer 45Ks as well as flat-beds, and the Adler 5/105/205 series are cylinder beds of a similar capacity to the old Singer 45Ks. There's really just too many suitable machines to list. Industrial sewing machines are something that needs a lot of homework to buy wisely.

The first two are flat-beds. Will your project/product fit on a flat-bed? Also, the 58 subclass doesn't have a reverse. That's a 133K, but yes similar to the cylinder-bed 45Ks.

Yeah it's a good machine. Slow and heavy but powerful and reliable. I'd be happy to sew some pieces for you if you like though getting the very heavy thread is difficult. I mostly use TKT8 polyester at the moment and even that's pretty hard to find. A Singer 45K or similar would do 3x layers of 3mm leather fine, though you'd be limited to TKT8 thread (0.65mm). No, patchers like the 29k would be worse for this job than that Juki.

I buy threads from Abbey England mostly, but you need a trade account. Otherwise eBay and sometimes Amazon. Synthetic machine threads are typically sold by their metric/ticket number in the UK -- TKT20 is what I would expect to put through a machine like that, or TKT40 if I need something a little thinner. Juki make good machines -- better build quality than that Wimsew. A 563 will be a similar capacity to that Wimsew you have at work -- still no triple layers of 3mm veg tan and no heavy threads! Out of interest, what are you making? My heaviest machine is a BUSM #6 -- a classic machine designed for making working horse harness. It can sew up to 20mm thickness of veg tan using threads up to 0.8mm... or maybe a little thicker but I can't find bigger needles. Also got a couple of Singer 45s, which are fairly heavy duty.

I used to have that model of machine. It's an upholstery-weight machine that takes 135x16 needles. Not bad for what it is but there's no way it can sew with 1mm thread. TKT20 (0.4mm) is near the maximum. TKT13 (0.5mm) in the needle with TKT 20 in the bobbin is possible, depending on the leather and how your machine is setup. You might be able to sew two layers of 3mm veg tan together with it, using TKT20 or TKT40 thread, but not 3 layers. Sadly very few sewing machines can use 1mm thread. I have an heavy harness stitcher that can take 18/8 linen (TKT5 or 0.8mm synthetic) and that's right at the top end of what you're likely to ever encounter.

Welcome, Archerydude. Which sewing machine do you have? That determines what sort of needles you need. There's not many machines that can sew with 1mm thread.

My experience dealing with tanneries, wholesalers and curriers in the UK echoes Mike's exactly. There can be a huge range of reasons why industrial suppliers don't make their prices public knowledge and that's fairly common in many other industries too. Try finding a steelmill's price list for instance. @TanneryLEJA Your leathers look great and prices quite reasonable. I might be in contact directly with you. Do you offer an English "bridle" (heavily compressed and greased) finish?

Good news -- your hook works! Looks like you have nearly zero top (needle) tension. Check that you've used all the provided thread guide holes and that you've fully pulled the thread into the tension discs. If that doesn't fix it (assuming your tension adjuster knob and its beehive spring are both present and not backed off so far that it's threatening to fall off) unthread the machine and rethread it from the beginning. Follow the manual, word by word and check very carefully against the pictures. It's easy to go in the wrong order or to skip something out. TKT60 could be used for fine/light leathergoods like watch straps and wallets, or tough cloth items like bags and clothes.

It's difficult for someone to recognise a problem with no provided photos or description beyond "it don't work". Your machine is a clone of the Singer 45K, there's really not a lot to go wrong. A lot of us here have used 45Ks and their various clones so I'm sure we can get it sorted... if you provide more information. Having said that if the bobbin falls out of a 45K the operator probably hasn't clipped the bobbin case in properly. The spring clip is pretty stiff and can feel like it's home even when it's not. I've made that mistake myself and it's not fun chasing the thing downhill. If you've replaced the bobbin, did you pull the bobbin thread in underneath the bobbin tension spring? That could cause tension issues, which can cause thread to bunch up. Again been there, done that. Also, if you've been fiddling trying to solve tension issues... was the bit that fell off the back the thread tension discs?

Hi Toxo, welcome to the site. That hook looks a little blunt/broken but it could work. If it's just for a hobby best thing would be to see how it goes. I don't know what the availability of hooks for your machine might be but some are very expensive and a replacement might exceed the value of your machine. Your bobbin case is supposed to have a little slop in the carrier/driver -- that's how the needle thread passes round the case! Case-carrier fit may seem loose but they have a very specific loose fit -- a single piece of thread will often jam them up solid if it enters at the wrong place or time. There's often a non-obvious knack to threading up bobbins. On a well deigns machine like a Durkopp you certainly won't need to remove the bobbin case to to thread it! Just imagine the machine operators in a sewing factory doing that every few minutes. Looks like if you drop the bobbin in place and pull the thread down into the slot and to the left it should snap in underneath the spring. Joggling the balance wheel backwards a tad might help too. There'll probably be a rather narrow position window when the parts align just enough so you have sufficient clearance to pull the thread under the bobbin tension spring. Then trim the tail to 2" before turning over to avoid it tangling. Servo motors are great. Even cheap ones. I trust you have a needle plate for your machine?

I have had a manual machine similar to the Outlaw in the past, and if you're doing it for anything more than an occasional hobby piece every now and then it gets old real fast. Heck currently I have a treadle-powered BUSM6, which can comfortably do over a hundred stitches per minute and a batch of belts gets tedious very fast. If you're going to do more than a handful of items every now and then, or if you're charging for your time, my advice would be to find or make the space for a motorised machine. You can get a short-arm Juki 441 clone equiv to the CB3200 from Sieck for €1700+VAT http://www.sieck.de/en/machines/sewing/arm-type-machines/?produkt=5562 (probably worth upgrading to a servo motor and having it put on a pedestal stand though).

Well your pump motor is turning, which is probably the only part of your press that relies on 3-phase so the answer is "probably no". Chances are whoever converted your machine to single-phase built a Steinmetz phase conversion onto the motor which, while far from perfect, works. It's what I run my 4-motor 3-phase splitter on and while there's consequences of slight motor imbalance, motor power derating etc. I think that your issues are switchgear related. Have you had any success finding or tracing out your own schematic yet? What about the other suggestions like fiddling with the microswitch and spool valve? Any success there? Any luck fingering out how the machine is meant to sense bottom of travel? I'm still a bit iffy about the valves/tubes on your control board, and your control electronics generally. But in the absence of a schematic or someone who knows these decades-old machines well enough to not need a schematic we're playing darts in the dark.

Finding at least what the part is called is often quite easy in this digital age. It took me under 30 seconds to find the Simanco part number in this case: Singer 17U242 parts manual is here: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/153917/Singer-17u230.html#manual -- the very first Google result when searching the model number. Page 2 indicates several possible part numbers for the shuttle hook. So we look at the usual wretched hive of scum and villainry: Aliexpress. Search for "singer 17 shuttle" and we get a whole bunch of results, including this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Shuttle-Hook-use-for-Pfaff-27-55-11-28/32809846431.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.6c204a932Et26O&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0%2Csearchweb201602_10%2Csearchweb201603_51&algo_pvid=4c308dcd-dad0-4371-b93c-224d80279217&btsid=cfa1ec57-3702-4a14-9d09-e55ae729c7d0&algo_expid=4c308dcd-dad0-4371-b93c-224d80279217-1 £10.06, or for an extra £3.60 to include 10x bobbins. Note that the seller claims it's equivalent to 547744 (one of the part numbers in the Singer manual) and 8028 (Seiko equiv. -- see below). Whether the bloody thing will work reliably when it eventually arrives is a different question and part of the fun of working with vintage machines. The 17U series were, AIUI, Seiko TE machines rebadged as Singer in, I think the 1970s and 80s after Singer closed its factories. Seiko TE series is in turn a clone of the Singer 17. It's definitely an industrial machine rather than a domestic. The Seiko TE-6 parts manual is here: http://www.seiko-sewing.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PARTS_TE-6.pdf Genuine Seiko shuttle hook is part num 8028, available from College Sewing for £73. https://www.college-sewing.co.uk/store/08028-SHUTTLE-HOOK-COMPLETE-SEIKO-GENUINE You might find that the genuine Seiko part would fit your machine, but maybe not. It would definitely be better quality. A little tricker to fix will be your stitch length knob, which appears to be missing.

PM sent.

No mate, we all lose.

EBuystuff calls it their Global Shipping Program, and the seller ships to their national distribution node (paying domestic shipping). eBay sorts out customs and international shipping (having calculated things at checkout and the customer having already paid all relevant charges). Amazon calls it Global Store I think: Looks about the correct amount of largess going to the government, so HMRC is happy. No valuation delays at customs so they're happy. Courier doesn't have a bunch of packages hanging round or have to collect payment from the customer so they're happy. And the customer doesn't have their package delayed or have to pay a handling fee so they're happy. Not sure if it'll help you in your situation Mike but there it is.