lute

Thanks, Greg, for the reply. I was hoping that between you and Art I could get some expert help with this. It's no exaggeraton to say I've been trying to get this the Pearson going for several years, off and on. Ivan at Aaron Martin Harness and I have been phone pals for a long time now. He found me a set of pedals that were missing from my treadle stand. You well know how impossible it is to find pedals for one of these machines. I was told by a couple of Pearson "experts" that I would never find the pedals in my lifetime. Ivan is a great guy and very helpful. Unfortunately, I'm in Florida and he's in Canada, and it's not easy to diagnose problems over the phone. I did get new thread tensioner plates from Ivan, as well as needle plates, and I have two different versions of the manual. Will take those measurements of the needle bar and get the serial number.

I have a love hate thing going with my treadle Pearson 6. Have never been able to get it to sew properly. One problem with this machine seems to be that the needle slide plate, and/or the track that is runs in, is worn. If I take out the slack using the adjustment screws, the needle itself is pushed over to the right and hits the needle plate rather than passing through the hole. Obviously some one used the machine for a while with this problem, because the play in the slide plate caused the needle to bounce around and chew up the needle plate opening pretty good. I obtained some thin brass shim stock and shimmed the plate on the right side as a temporary fix. The needle now centers better in the hole. The machine forms a stitch, but I can not get the thread tensions balanced to save my life. The machine will sew well for a ten or twelve stitches, and then snap the thread. This machine came out of Canada; the fellow I bought it from said that it had been in storage for years, but before it was put up he had sewn a complete set of harness on it. I always wanted a Pearson; it's incredibly ornamental in the shop, but I need to get it running the way it should. I've got excellent close up digital photos of the problem areas if they would be of use.

A very useful article on the preparation of an awl blade: http://www.ehow.com/how_15430_stitching-awl-leather.html Go to the bottom of the page under "Member Comments" . The author is Jeff Cochrane. The process used is the "ScarySharp" system employing progressive grits of sandpaper.

"They also made a 2000 Pro on a real Juki frame that was almost as good, tie either of those to a needle positioning motor like an Efka and you have the ultimate. I wouldn't pass either of those up at the right price and good condition." Art, could you tell us about needle positioning motors? I need to upgrade my old squealing clutch motor and I'm curious about these. Thanks, Lute

Thanks for the replies and the links. I have been researching this for over two years. The problem with the elastic suppliers is that they all have what are called "narrow" elastics. The stretch is the long way of the material. There are some "wide" elastics available, but they max out at 12 inches in width. I did correspond with Abbey Saddlery, and they sent me a sample of what they had. It was less than 12 inches. They said they could not find a source for half-chap elastic, either, and if I found one, to please let them know! None of the equestrian fabric suppliers have elastic wider than 10 or 12 inches. That's why I say this stuff is made of "unobtanium". It requires a special and rare type of loom to manufacture, and it is only made to order. I know for a fact that there is at least one mill in Belgium that make this stuff. But I have not found them. Yet. I'm hoping that some one who reads this board and lives in Belgium, France, or Germany can point me to a source. Some manufacturers use stretch leather in place of elastic. This is a very thin genuine leather that actually incorporates an elastic fabric. I think I will post a seperate inquiry for stretch leather; maybe someone has a source for that...

A lot of the English style half-chaps or leggings have a strip of elastic from top to bottom that keeps them from rotating around on the leg. This is a very strong elastic, usually black, sometimes brown, that (obviously) has a sideways stretch. The pieces used on the leggings are a couple of inches wide and up to 18" or so in length. The closest elastic I could find was from a shoemaker's findings supplier, but it onlyl comes in up to 12 inch width. I've tried other elastics like Spandex but they are too thin and light. My research tells me this stuff is made on a special loom and is usually only available to the larger manufacturers who can commission a minimum order. I think it's only made in Europe. Anyone familiar with this stuff?