Art

They are not mady by the same manufacturer. Cobras are custom made by a full time sewing machine company. These machines are excellent in manufacture and operation. Steve has a long history in the sewing machine business and is quite knowledgeable and eager to please. I have a few of these machines and they are excellent. Zhiqiang Sewing Machine Company, Ltd. Qing County, Hebei, China Cowboy Sewing Machines are made by a toy manufacturer who does sewing machines from excess capacity, they are what can be called a conglomerate as companies in China go. While not a full time sewing machine company, it is quite commonplace for factories to fill their excess capacity with some other endeavor. They purchased quite a bit of Japanese CNC machinery several years ago and have been putting it to good use, the Cowboy machines are an example. New Century Holding Group Co., Ltd. 618 Gongren Road West, Jiaojiang District, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province China From what I have seen, the Cowboy machines are pretty well made and work quite well, Ryan, Bob, and Bobbie are good folks and quite knowledgeable. Art

If you pull a set of coils out of a 80's era Cadillac, they are 5160, they never have been 1095, that is way too much carbon for a spring steel without some other compensating products. If they were 1095, there would be a line around junkyards to get 1095 rounds. Art

Hi Charlotte, There isn't anyone I know who is terribly happy with that eco-flow stuff either. If you want it "totally" waterproof, make it out of nylon or polyester webbing. If you want it reasonably water resistant and natural, then Montana Pitchblend paste is the way to go, you might also want a coat of Montana Pitchblend Oil (no beeswax) on and dry before the Paste. Pecard's works too, but is not all natural. And for Ghod sakes, use Fiebing's spirit or Pro dyes. Art

I know my metallurgy may be a little rusty (pun intended), but spring steel is usually 5160 or a reasonably reproduced version of it. I think Bob Beard uses O-1, at least the last time I talked to him. Gomph-Hackbarth is using 1018 I believe, at least on the set of 15. God only knows what metal Tandy uses. Whatever steel you use, the heat treat is as important as the steel used. For stamping leather, any heat treat resulting in a RC-55 or better should be great, but lower isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is leather you're stamping. A good rust blueing as Bob Beard uses will help to preserve the finish although the occasional use of the oil rag won't hurt either. Art

Hi Steve, I am not sure about the R11, but I know I have seen 228-11s with roller top feed. They had regular drop feed though. I don't have any trouble using the Cobra 5550 for decorating tops and toe bugs; it had an upper roller and drop feed, of course a good Singer 31-15 or 20 would also do. The post machine can be a little difficult for decorating unless you build a flat bed table to go around the post. The Pfaff 491, Singer 51W28, 29, and 30, The Singer 136W104, Singer 236W124. The Pfaff 491 is going to be expensive, it is a gear driven top and bottom roller machine and needle feed with ball and roller bearings. When sewing uppers, the needle feed is a real help, not all machines have it. I have seen good prices on 51s; and 136s and 236 are staples for bootmakers and are again, expensive (not as much as a Pfaff). The Chinese, out of Ankai Machinery in Hunan province make the AK-8810 which for all intent an purpose is a 491, it is such a great machine that if you get a similar machine from other manufacturers, it was made by AnKai. I don't recommend a double needle post, as the extra bobbin on the post makes it too big and you lose that nice "shelf" drop off that is so handy for getting close. The gauge on most double needle machines is also usually too wide for shoe work, just sew it twice. Usually no roller on double needle machines. If you have to go Singer, the 136 or 236 is the one you want, build a table for decorative work. As important as the sewing machine is to shoe work, you really shouldn't skimp on it. Art

Hi Jim, There is also a chance that Steve Tayrien of the Leather Machine Company may have a couple of used stitchers. Contact Leather Machine Co, Inc. Warehouse 2141 E. Philadelphia St. "U" Ontario, CA. 91761 Business Hours: 8 am to 5 pm (PST), Monday thru Friday Contact: Steve Tayrien 8 am to 5 pm (PST), Monday thru Friday Email: cobra@leathermachineco.com The Leather Machine Company welcomes inquiries from all realms of the leather trade. We support teachers, instructors, students, leather guilds, leather forums, and the entire leather industry. We are active on leatherpros.net, a website designed to aid leather crafters all over the world with the best advice available by allowing you to talk to the professionals in almost all the areas in the leather industry. All of the "Resident Pros" are well established in the Leather Industry and have the credibility, integrity, and respect from all. Art

Hi Jim, There is also Nick Pittman of Nick-o-Sew in Tennessee. Hours of Operation Monday Thru Friday Shop and Technical Help 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST Shipping 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM CST Office, Parts and Sales 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM CST Shipping and Billing Nick-O Sewing Machine Co., Inc. 7745 Hwy 76 Stanton, TN 38069 Phone 1-800-526-4256/(731)-779-9963 Fax (731)-779-9965 Point of Contact Nick Pittman Vice President Sales@Nickosew.com Art

It took me over ten years to understand the Chinese sewing machine business. I still learn stuff every day. The machine you are looking at is a knockoff of a Singer probably. Look up all the Singer models and you'll find it. If it has been made by a major manufacturer, past or present, the Chinese have knocked it off. I know of two factories at least that are making the GA5-1 and GA5-1R, there are probably more. You are right that it is good to know what factories are building your machine, because two or more factories can be building something and one can be a great machine and another can be crap. Even the biggest and most prestigious factories don't make all of their machine line, they buy from other factories who most times meet their quality criteria. Don't try to learn the Chinese sewing machine business; leave that to the brick and mortar distributors who deal with the machines every day. You can take my word for it, when all is said and done, most of them make a couple of hundred on a machine, they have labor, rent, inventory, and specialty parts that take a big chunk out of any margin they may have. If you buy from one of the dealers here, you will get a good machine. Steve, Ronnie, and Jerry advertise here and they all sell decent machines, good solid machines that will run damned near forever if properly maintained. On eBay, you buy, it comes in a box, and you are on your own. Good Luck, Art

Now your decision is fairly simple, 9" arm or something bigger. The 9" arm 441 clone is the way you want to go, or the 16.5" arm if you want something more versatile. I have experience with the Cobra machines, they are excellent and the customer service is the best. Other distributors handle the 441 clones, some better than others. PM me with any questions. I recommend you find someone near who has one and take some of your leather over and test drive one. Art

Hi Steve, Not sure on your question. Clarifying, if the machine is a H3, it uses a 134-35, but if it is a H4 (high lift) it uses the 190. 190 is a little longer than the 134-35. Timing however is the same. Art

A lot of good suggestions. However, the first question is what size thread do you want to use? This will pretty much determine if you need a medium or big stitcher. There is quite a difference in price between the two. A Cobra class 18 (and others of the 618 ilk) will cost $1495 or there abouts. That is practically a rounding error on the cost of a big Adler. You can get a Cobra Class 18 AND a Cobra Class 4 (big stitcher) for the same price as the big Adler and they'll probably throw needle positioning in to boot. All of the current crop of 618SC and 441 clone machines will give good service as the top line Chinese machines are very very good. You have the money to spend, buy two top quality Chinese machines and cover all your bases. Art

I don't know about the quality, but way overpriced, and not set up for leather sewing. You can get a better machine from any of the vendors at the top of the page for less. Art

I guess I should, again, say a few things about sewing machines. Especially leather sewing machines. A leather sewing machine for a leathercrafter needs to be set up to run slow. Fast is for production where you do one function repetitively. Things need to be smooth on a sewing machine for leather, and the machine needs to be set up to run with minimal pressure on the feet; this is why you will hear most of us recommend needle feed. The machine must be set up with the correct size needle for leather not fabric. These might seem like small things, but as shipped from China, the machine head as shipped in the box is not set up for any of this. The dealers of leather sewing machines take at least four hours of competent mechanics time, and several custom made parts, to set these machines up to sew leather. That's $200 in labor and $200 in parts that are addons to the price that nobody ever mentions. When you get a machine on eBay, the seller is competing on price, that is all they have to sell. Don't even think of asking them a post sale question, they don't for the most part have a clue. There are also quite a few barking dogs out there in the sewing machine world, especially from China. It is just a commodity for them; anyone can convert excess manufacturing capacity into sewing machines; buy the parts, put them together, and most of them will run in some fashion or another. If you see a cheap price on eBay, you could be getting something that will run in some fashion or another. When you are sewing leather, all this can add-up in the wrong direction causing a sloppy stitch line or missed stitches on a good day. A good mechanic can correct some of these machines, but it takes a lot of time and is expensive. What I am saying is, Buy your machines from a brick and mortar dealer who does leather sewing machines as a major part of their business. They have to buy machines from good factories, or they will develop a bad reputation in the very small community of leatherworkers. On eBay, they just don't care, they can change their eBay name whenever they want. That being said, there are some good sellers on eBay, but they are usually Brick and Mortar operations. If something is too good to be true, well it IS too good to be true. Art

I couldn't say that a creaser in that condition would do much favorable to a strap. Art

How true. I have visited many machines where the belts are tensioned to play something close to a high C if plucked. As a lot of these were Cobra machines, I asked why the belts were so tight. Answer was, "they were pretty loose when delivered so I tightened them up". This does not work well with a bushing machine. The bushings are quite adequate for even continuous use, but require oil. When you set up ungodly tight belts, you somewhat compress the downside of the bearing and rob it, to some extent, of the oil film (which IS the actual bearing) that the shaft rides upon. In constant use this will cause bearing failure (usually unacceptable shaft slop) after time, for the leatherworker this may be years, but it just isn't good. If you have a machine that uses ball or roller bearings (usually a Pfaff), they are made to take side loading and the belts can be set up pretty tight. As far as lower torque in a motor at slow speed, the speed reducer helps a lot. I considered producing a motor that had full torque regardless of speed, but the 1/2 to 3/4 HP motors and controllers I consider adequate for big stitchers would have a market price starting around $500 (US made), possibly more. The Chinese would knock it off in a heartbeat, so I'm not interested in doing free engineering for them. But it can, and has been done. This is why we don't see much in the way of improvements in a lot of industries. The Chinese are by and part NOT innovators, the Germans and Americans (and often the Italians) who can innovate, won't do it and just give it to the Chinese (through espionage or just plain theft). So innovation has to be amortized at an accelerated rate, as does marketing and manufacturing so profit can be made in those first few years before the knockoffs start. Low volume products will not even be attempted given that model. Sorry soapbox off. Art

I have used a band saw to cut out pieces, especially sole leather. It works quite well actually. I think you are talking about splitting as opposed to skiving, and that would require a bit of re-engineering. I have used the knife edge band saw blades for cutting out patterns and it works well once you get the blade on, they are very sharp and come coiled up, I tend to look like I got the wrong end of our big tom when I am finished. Have the blade guide as short as you can. Art

Steve Tayrian http://www.cobrastitch.com had a couple of Toros at the Wickenburg show that he took in on trade. Call Him 1-866-962-9880. Art

The "Right" needle size is whatever works. I run as small as a 19 when sewing 138/138; just what I can get away with and I like the look. One thing about running smaller thread in the bobbin is the stitches are a bit tighter, but another is that you can get more thread on the bobbin; not a big problem on the 441, but it makes a difference on the 618. You can also make it "look" like you used a smaller needle by closing-up the needle holes after sewing. You can use a bouncer or some other type of slicker to close up the holes and remove any presser foot marks. You can do it with or without spraying with a little water. Art

That's strange. My Highlead sews 6 to the inch (according to my Campbell Bosworth gauge) and it doesn't seem to matter what I put in there. I don't think I have changed the stitch length lever except to go forward and reverse. Any chance your bottom stitch is hanging up on the needle (feed dog) slot in the needle plate? Maybe you could up your presser foot pressure a bit, and hold your threads tight till they get past the slot. Art

Just buy a speed reducer from Ryan, Steve, or Bob, they work perfectly. Art

The "R" means the machine has reverse, otherwise pretty much the same. A needle feed machine has a feed mechanism where the needle goes into the material and then advances the material by moving the needle. These machines have alternating feet with the center foot moving with the needle. Some of these machines additionally have a drop feed (feed dogs also assist with moving the material). When sewing multiple layers of material, this system is helpful. Most machines for canvas and upholstery shops also use this system. Art

You don't want only one machine in your shop, you want two. The 563 will work for medium and small stuff, and the 441 will work for all the big stuff. Setting up the 441 to do medium stuff can be a pain, and the medium machine (563) won't do anything heavy at all, so you need two. You mentioned the Cobra before, and that is an excellent machine with even better service. Others are good too, some not so much. A good dealer is almost as important as a good machine. I have 6 Cobra machines, and they haven't given me any grief, so I can pretty much endorse them. Art

"441" references the beloved Juki 441 machines. While they were in patent, they were rather expensive but one of the best originally for heavy fabric, but were modified later to sew leather. This was the base machine for the Ferdco Pro 2000 before they switched to Chinese machines which were "clones" or the original 441. The Cobra class 3 and 4, the Artisan 3000 and 4000, and several of the Cowboys are all clones of the Juki 441; they have gone through several iterations as to arm length and this and that, but basically, all the Juki parts fit most of the machines in various and sundry ways. The Chinese factories also clone some of the very popular Adler machines and a few of the Pfaff machines, all pretty good quality. Some better than others. The 441 clones were what basically made the "big stitchers" available to the common leatherworker and saddlemaker. The price is right, and the machines are generally up to the task, however, quality varies. Competition amongst various dealers has kept the price quite low, but the Yuan to Dollar exchange rates have been inching up, the last time about a month ago around 7%. There is not enough margin to absorb those kinds of increases for long; so expect prices to rise. Art

That's what Bob is there for. He should get to know you on a first name basis. Being no form of keyboard daemons, it will take a long time to convey what can be done on the phone in a few minutes. Call him. Art

Where is the dealer you bought your 3500 from? He will setup the machine for you. These are needle feed machines and should not have a problem feeding, unless the presser foot pressure is too light and the material is pulling back because of lack of pressure to hold it. Your dealer can help you with this. Art