Massive

I learned my lessons well from people like you:)

It may work to tell you that a needle will work, but not that a needle won't work. There are many needle thread combos that work, well actually that don't work, and the eye size is only one factor. What I do is basically just follow the rules, and test combinations. In one of the type of sewing I do, outdoor gear, there are lot of people who want to get the strongest thread through the smallest hole. Not a great approach, the needle bends, and the point strikes something and the process fouls up. Any reason they had for doing it is no longer valid because the material is all snarled up. This happens with leather also. Either people want to run machines and therefore smaller needles than they should because it is all that they have. or they want to minimize the size of holes in the work. Just sticking to the normal set up is usually the best solution. Jeans are an interesting example, size 16 needles and fat thread for top stitching, works great in denim. But with leather the needle is the tool that applies tension, and there is often more than it can take required to close a seam.

I just bought the head of a 153W102. I would like to get a servo motor for it. I have two already, one that Atlas Levy sold that is one of those 3 piece brushless deals. The other is a needle positioning deal for the Cobra class 4, never been able to get the latter to work. Basically there are 4 levels I am seeing. One has brushes and it looks like a dial for speed control. Another has brushes but has an electronic box with digital display for the speed control. Then there are the brushless motors with speed control, and finally brushless with speed control and needle positioning. I don't think I need needle positioning. Other than that it mostly comes down to power and durability. Since I have a Cobra Class 4 for the heavy stuff. I am thinking 500W might be enough. This is a hobby machine so I don't know if brushless is all that advantageous. How often do brushes run out, and how hard will replacements be to find. The full cost variation is not all that great, so getting a good motor from the start is more important than saving some money. Any ideas what size and format to choose?

One thing I do with my bobbin cases on other machines than the Cobra (because they don't seem to be removable, and anyway, are probably expensive). Is I get a weight that pulls a length of thread through the tension spring when I hold the case in my fingers with the thread running with the weight straight to the floor, not taking some bend around the spring. This allows me to return the spring tension precisely to the perfect setting for various threads. I have been chasing a setting and got all messed up, though getting back is no big deal if one has a good system. However it makes me happy to know I can regulate the bobbin tension to factory specs and start all over even though it isn't marked. I sometimes mark the bobbing screw slot with a sharpie to know where to return the setting to, but the mark usually dissolves away eventually. However it works for a brief walk to the wild side. With machines that use cheap cases I set several up for different threads. For instance the Sailright I have does some domestic weight sewing and some heavy sail sewing, so 49-90ish threads. 69 is in the middle and can run out of either setting extreme. But I did get in a muddle when I chased the promised domestic sewing end performance when the machine comes set-up up for heavy leather and sail type work (heavy leather over dacron, not holster type heavy). I recently sewed some jeans on the sailright that were using 18 needles and heavy Jeans thread, into very densely woven Board Short material. What a set of Frankenstein settings that took. Sometimes you can't avoid breaking the whole the whole thing down. A lot of the nice new machines these days we are told do not need bobbin case adjustments and stuffing a heavier thread under the same spring as a lighter one will to some extent regulate tension anyway, the heavier thread needs more tension, and that is what it gets under the same spring. It works up to a point.

I just bought a singer 153W102 to sew thread in that range with 135 system needles. I have the cobra 4 set up for 277 thread, and figured I could get it to work with 69, but the main thing that deterred me was just that the needles are so long they will struggle with drawing up the thread. They are still long enough to do the super deep work that the machine is designed for so that means a long run of light needle going up and down, and also trying to needle feed. Just because one is running lighter material doesn't mean it will be a breeze to feed, so the needles could come in for a workout, then it needs to draw up the tension. I would rather do either with the 153 and 135 needles, which are dead cheap and plentiful in the sizes we need for these lighter threads. I hope I made a good choice, as I don't really know anything about the 153 directly.

Cobra makes a great machine for heavy work also. You can run very small needles on the saddle machines, but they are very long, expensive and prone to breakage. If it was me, I would look at second hand machines on ebay for the smaller end, there are tons of options there. When you get to the saddle weight end of things, the old machines are often more expensive than the new ones. So if I was planing on spending several thou on a machine, I would go for a new cobra (or cowboy) saddle machine, and pick up the light end second hand. Whatever you do, if the second hand machine is 500 bucks less than a top of the line saddle machine, don't get too excited, doesn't sound like a steal, and shouldn't distract you from getting the right machine for your needs. What limits most system as you go up in weight is the ability of the needle to apply enough tension to get a good stitch. Getting penetration, or a stitch is not that big a deal.but getting the right tension is where the systems get overwhelmed. There are lots of machines out there than can be perfect for what a person wants, but fail due to the feed system. Be sure you have the right feed for the work you are doing.

I bought a Sailxxxx, from Sailxxxx, and it doesn't backstitch worth a darn. I just mention it, because while I am not happy about that one aspect, and they did nothing through opening a case for it, they are probably the outstanding importer of Asian machines that provides domestic support for them. Truly the leaders in the industry. And it is a wonderful machine I bought it originally to sew sails, possibly to use onboard. But as a table top machine, would I be worse off with a Sew-line, set up for servo motor? Much of the time I wouldn't be worse off with the 20 dollar 95k40, that I bought off ebay, hooked up to a servo motor. The other problem I had with the Sailxxxx, my bad sorta, it is sucked some light material into the motor which is now really loud. It is obviously designed to sew very light spinnaker material, so whether they should jam at the sight of it is another mater. They offered to sell me a new motor, but I will probably buy a servo instead. I also have a Coxxx, that is about 18 months old. It has missing parts from the original order; parts that didn't fit the machine ended up damaging it; and I have never been able to get the needle positioning to work, for which there isn't any online support or written material. At this point, and this is the great news, I love it so much I really haven't followed up from my end either. Follow up on both ends has been inadequate. I have an import welder that has some problems also. What this all comes down to is a mode of modern business. Major manufacturers go out of business; Their speciality staff or something, starts an import business, and gets a great rep for their service. But business is really local. I remember reading a study of LLBean years ago when they were already huge, and it pointed out that despite being the model for fulfilment for many manufacturers, they still did the majority of their business locally. As good as these small shops are, they often come down to one person who really knows what they are doing, and there are still problems. If you can't easily return the machine or get local service. It is questionable how much premium you should pay for something that may end up causing trouble wherever you get it from. This is just a reality, I think prices are falling as a result of it. Or if you disbelieve that, there may not be anything magical that stops someone else from starting up in competition, there are quite a few sewing machine repairmen around who aren't doing anything these days. In my case I just assume I am on my own, and buy accordingly. I have improved both of my big name machines because I own a lathe and mill. In quilting one of the hot machines is the Featherlite, and the celebrity tech sell videos not machines. People that buy the Featherlite often learn how to take care of them themselves, That is probably the best approach.

Is this item still for sale?

I made a pony years ago, the T type, it only takes a few hours if you have access to a shop, which I realize is not the case for everyone. Mine was made decades ago, and is about as subtle as a scissor jack, but it works well enough I have stuck with it.

A hunting knife is closer to 22 a side for 45 total. Yeah, it is really fat. An extreme example is a wood plane blade 25 degree blade angle, and dragged through the wood at 45 degrees or higher, up to 60 degrees, that is pulling the blade edge sideways partially scraping. (The blade is above the arrow, it gets dragged through the wood in a partial scraping action yet is normally only sharpened to 25 degrees) yet that works great, but on a knife that cuts flesh, and is used in line with the edge, it is sharpened at 45 degrees. Go figure. Part of the rationale is that makers want a double grind, so the cutting geometry is balance, and yet they still want a lot of beef in the knife so they don't get returns. This is why chisel ground knife edges (one bevel only at about 22 degrees), are gaining popularity, though they have issued of their own. A traditional example of a chisel ground knife is a Japanese kitchen knife, though their swords were ground with double bevels. Japanese leather knives are chisel ground. If you look at these sharpening sticks, you will see the approx. 45 degree angles. One pair of holes gives 40 degrees while the other gives 50.

One thing I do use that is "new and improved" is diamond stropping. Frankly, with that, the hard blades I just partially dissed are easily sharpened, so there goes that objection. And diamond sharpening is cheap. If you aren't using it, you are missing out. I just back a flat piece of wood with some veg tan, skin up. A1/2 a pea sized piece of the diamond paste is spread all over the surface as thin as you can get it. It will last a very long time. One might have to reload a bit at first, though I haven't. For a lot of people this could be a lifetime supply, $7.50: http://www.ebay.com/...=item20cf5552a9 just a random add from ebay. The stuff I have is from leevalley, but I think a lot of people are just using random stuff off the bay.

Just as there is a craft of leatherwork, there are a lot of people in the craft of knife and toolmaking. One of the ideas that has gained traction over the years, and makes some sense, is that one can improve the quality of cutting tools, simply by using "better" tool steels, and making them harder, both with the intention of making for longer periods between sharpening. What is less understood is that there are categories of tools that do not work in this mold. An extreme example are scythes where the edge has to be regularly thinned out on an anvil. As a result the steel is ductile, soft, and needs sharpening every 5 minutes. Professionally though, one probably needs a rest every five minutes anyway... Other examples are razors, head knives, certain butchering knives, etc... As such, simply making a custom knife with a stouter blade, that is harder to sharpen, less flexible, thicker, is not always the answer. I'm currently using an Al Stohlman, which is an ok blade that needs regular touching up, but as such is "never" less than fully sharp. Part of why this works for me is because I make a lot of belts and holsters, and similar sized stuff. It might not work out if my projects were larger or more abrasive, or at least I would be resharpening more. One does have to match one's tools the the task, and the work day.

I got mine put it together and it runs like a champ. There are now several videos on youtube that have major info. Ingnore the complany ones from a few years back. Apparently there were some problems with the early servo motors. Mine works great, though the EPS isn't working at all. The servo motor is not intuative. You have to program it, which is easy enough, but it is like setting the time on some watch with 1000 functions and only 2 buttons. The video shows how. Don't waste time with email. I have had several problems that were acknowledged but never dealt with over email. That even extended to trying to send them money to buy stuff. Probably they are swamped with tire kickers or something, because that side of the business is hugely non-functional. I think you will love the machine when you get it going. My second project looked like Bianchi did it. The first one should have been OK, but I tried to use a pattern that worked for hand sewing, which didn't work in this case. Having the machine takes sewing out of the equasion. It went from being the largest pain to something that doesn't last long enough. The cool thing about a machine is that when you throw some stitching at a project it is like turning lead to gold. Most people can't sew leather nicely, so your product will stand out. You can turn a few scraps into a really useful product in just seconds. I am taking about you vs the public. Of course leather workers can sew leather, but you customers probably can't, and with the cobra you can make it effortless. The first one is made by a user, and is outstanding.

You can apply some of the silicon oils directly to the thread cone, they soak in the spool fees dry, but it does improve performance.

you have to be careful framing solid wood. It is not how the stuff works. That is why the typical forms float a panel in a frame, think door or kitchen cabinet. You can frame a ply or particul board top, but not solid wood. The reason is that it expands and contracts with seasonal moisture changes, and will tear your frame appart. Something like this is ideal. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Solid-Maple-Workbench-Top-48-Wide-x-30-Deep-x-1-3-4-Thick/G9913 I get it is way more expensive than you want to spend, but from hanging out on wood boards I can tell you threads come up constantly with outrageously good prices for this kind of stuff. This is similar to butcher block used in kitches, which is another source of the deals.