Kako

Hi everyone. I've acquired a Singer 29-4 from a retired European Cobbler here in New York City. After a bumpy first couple of weeks with a loose belt, parts needing to be oiled and a missing threading rod, I've gotten this ageless machine to work. I'd like to be able to adjust the stitch length and the foot pressure. The foot leaves tracks wherever it makes contact and I am hoping to loosen up it's grip a little. Also, I'd like to be able to adjust the length of the stitch depending on what I am working on. The stitch also is laid down with a slight zig zag which looks very sloppy. I have the manual from Singer but it does not visually show where the adjustments are and Googling doesn't pull up the information I need. I don't want to fiddle with parts of the machine that I don't need to lest that it works worse afterwards or that I may even break something that will be hard to replace. As much as I would like to strip it down and give it a thorough cleaning and oiling, I only have a limited amount of time and I'd rather be using the machine rather than fixing it. I've attached some photos to give you an idea of what I'm working with. The manual says that the stitch regulator controls the stitch length and the thumb screw held by the lock nut controls the pressure on the material. I see a thumb nut in the photo showing the back. I will have a better idea of the lock nut where it is when I return home. Is that the right thumb nut? As for the stitch regulator, I have no clue. It may be a very obvious piece of hardware to those who have experience with sewing machines. I can take more pics for anyone who would like more detailed photos. Thank you guys for your inspiration.

Hey guys, another try, another unsatisfying result. So I roughed up both services, made sure they were clean, applied cement to both surfaces, allowed it to sit for roughly 45 minutes before I pushed them together. After that, I clamped the piece of rubber between two pieces of metal to apply pressure and left it to dry until this morning. I do notice a somewhat stronger bond, but as you can see from the pic, it still pulls apart very easily. I would like the bond to be so strong that the material would break before the glue does, but that's just not the case. From the pic you can see that the glue is stretching as I pull the material apart. Is this normal? Doesn't contact cement ever get to the point where it loses it's stretchyness?I'm somewhat frustrated for something I felt I should have figured out by now. I've been playing with different glues and adhesives for half a month but with no luck. northmount, the tire/tube repair kit sounds interesting, but my project will be to eventually glue the tubing to some type of canvas or fabric so I'm going to need alot of glue and would like to be able to buy it in large quantities. That also sounds interesting about vulcanizing tube patches to the tube with heat. On the directions it says may be activated with an infrared lamp, but I'm not sure what they mean. I do have a heat gun and I think I might just go and do some experimenting with that. Thanks Nick, that's an idea to look into. Alright guys, thanks for your input. Off I go again looking for answers.

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. It says Multi-Purpose cement if that makes a difference: To be more specific, what I'm trying to glue are bicycle inner tubes. After doing a quick search, it says they're made of either latex or butyl rubber. I'll have to do some more searching later tonight to see what type of glues work on them. Since you both recommend roughing up the surfaces, that looks to be the next idea to try. Here's a piece of scrap rubber roughened up a bit. The texture is much different when you compare the center and edge of the material. I'll let you guys know if that's the trick.

Hello everyone. I've been looking online for some good information on how to glue rubber onto rubber using contact cement but have had not much luck. In my searches online, this forum keeps coming up with people who use Barge's cement so I thought I'll ask the experts over here. Even though it's a forum dealing with leather, Barges cement looks to be multi-purpose and so I'm sure some of you have a good idea of how to use it. Me personally, I am using Master's cement, but it looks to be similar enough to work the same. I've tried gluing two pieces of rubber together, but after 24hrs, the material peels apart pretty easily. What's left looks to be a thin film on the pieces of rubber that is stretchy and not hard. Now, I know it's somewhat of a problem that the rubber is smooth, but it's got me wondering, how do they glue sneakers and boots together without the synthetic rubber parts just falling off? If anyone has any experience with this type of material and glue, you're experience will be much appreciated. I've included a picture to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with. Hope that helps.