Yanni

No, there is no play at all, very stable needle bar, it's just the needle for some reason is around 1.5mm to the left inside the hole of the feed dog. I thought the same Bob but the manual says that you need to re-set the bar rocker...please see attached photo. I've also found where this screw is located at position "L" as in second photo.

Hi Eric, The brother machine is fantastic, has one of the easiest timing settings you can get on a machine with three screw adjustments your timing is perfect. We have jammed it badly, broke needles, presser foot, then you turn it off an on and you are back and running within seconds. If you buy one of these make sure you buy the Brother PS-300B software, paid £300 for it but worth every penny as you will need to make minor adjustments depending on leather thickness, mainly on the presser foot. You can go through multi layers of leather and then back on single ones without any problems. I also bought a 2-step tension device that can bring extra tension in and out of the same program to perfect the stitch. I found that the thread tension is different when the machine is sewing in the two opposite directions so the two step tension is a great tool. The guy who operates the our machine was working with PLK ones that they were loading the programs on floppy disks! This one takes a CF card and I have bought an extension and converter from a CF to Micro SD so that I do not damage the internal CF reader and can take the micro SD card and read it on my laptop. Any more questions...let me know..I just placed an order for another one, this type a copy at £23K but it comes with built in programmer and USB connection not CF card.

I am trying to move the needle bar a bit towards the right so that the needle is dead centre to the feed dog hole. The manual says unscrew w59 picture attached) but can't find where this eccentric is. Can someone help locate this eccentric so that I can move the needle bar towards the right a bit. Thanks Yanni

Thanks again Eric, I lowered the needle bar a bit as you suggested but made no difference whatsoever. My only guess as it happens most of the time but not all the time, is that the two rectangular pieces on JIG01 are very low down on the jig as the engineers tried to fit too much on one jig. It's a 600 x 300 sewing area. As they are fairly down on the jig the top lid of the jig if it's not closed very tightly it allows some movement of the leather inside and thus the mess underneath. If you see JIG02 has an identical start and it is perfect every time but the sewing line is further up on the jigs thus keeping the lid of the jig shut more tightly. That's again my guess which I will have to try again on Monday when back in the factory. I'll get there in the end....I'm not sure whether I have been extremely unlucky but every single machine whether it's an eyeletter, cutting press or rivetter everything I bought had some kind of issue that had to figure out how to solve it...for most of them the engineers did not have a clue how to fix them initially!

Thanks for your help Eric, The problem is that this machine is 4 weeks old and unlike the PLK machines this one has the presser foot height adjustment on the software. So you basically program the foot to raise in increments of 0.1mm anywhere you like on the program. You don't do it manually. This way you can stitch both single and double layers of leather on the same program. I have tried lowering the foot to almost 0.2mm above the leather, slow down the speed during the beginning of the stitch but still it does that. I'm wondering if I do the initial stitch locking wrong. It always stitches from left to right starting with: A. 2 3 4(forward) B. 3 2 1(back) C. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (forward) etc... with 1 being the hole furthest to the left. I will try to reverse the sewing order as sequence A moves the jig away from the hook to see if it makes anything better and also I will increase the number of stitches forward before moving backwards just in case this is what causes the loop not to form. Any other thoughts much appreciated as it's only one jig that causes this problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT2qWOzcIVc We have one of these Brother automatic sewing machines in our factory and it tends to do what you see on the photo in the beginning of some stitches. It seems that the thread doesn't make a proper loop. The way it starts is 2 stitches forward, then three back and then forward to lock the stitch. I have tried decelerate the program to stitch slowly, changed the thread tension and still can't figure out why it does it. It's usually on single layer leathers only, if it's more than one leather then it doesn't really do it. I understand most of you guys are using manual cylinder and flat beds but could someone with perhaps a bit of experience in these machines guide me to the right direction. Thanks

Wow, that's so helpful, thanks guys. The supplier( sieck.de) in Germany is offering me the DC 1500 ...not sure if it is the 1550 I think it's a wattage difference. Tor, can I please check, what is the minimum speed it will run this motor, we are sewing leather and i usually get the machines down to 100rpm!. I can always add a smaller pulley but if I can do this electronically would be amazing. i can do that on my Ho-Shing HVP-90 motor. I was offered the Efka at 580 euros where the Ho-shing HVP-90 is around £450 which is similar in price. We have the JACK servo motors at work but the synchroniser keeps on adding an extra turn after you release the pedal in addition to completing the final turn( so two turns in total). We have a compressor in the factory so can either Gregg or Tor suggest a solution for the pneumatic lift please? Either something compatible with the Efka or completely independent.... Thanks guys. Yanni

Would you guys recommend a servo Efka motor with possibly a foot lift option? installed in a cylinder Adler 269 machine. We have these JACK motors at work ...they are good but when the run on speed and you lift your foot of the pedal the synchroniser adds another turn in addition to the last one instead of just completing the last turn which is very annoying on leather. Thanks.

I'm confused about my motor's specs. It definitely came with a 3-phase wiring but I'm confused with the writings on the motor's labels. I've got the feeling I can wire it for 220V also but haven't got a clue how to do it. Yanni

I'm buying an Alder cylinder machine that comes with an Efka motor with auto foot lift etc but it's three phase. Is there anything I can buy to convert single phase into 3 phase as we only have single phase 220V(UK)in our factory, What exactly am I looking for and can you recommend any shops... Thanks.

Yeah, the discs exist but when you add more tension by twisting the thump screw the thread jumps out from the discs. I can add wider discs but I'll need to find some compatible ones probably from an overlocker or something...

I've got an Adler 269-373, it's an older refurbished model that comes with the original thread tension assembly which has very small tension discs and the thread slips out despite coiling and twisting it around...following the manual etc. I have noticed that for around 8-9 years now Adler have modified this part and on new models the tension discs are wider. I have highlighted the part I mean on the photo attached. Can you please help where I can find one of these either genuine Adler or compatible as I have seen a lot of chinese clones of the Adler 269 and the 267. European shop would be great although a US shop would be great too. Both machines use the same part. Thanks

Problem solved...forget what the Adler manual says. Just do the timing based on instructions from the PFAFF 335 and it works like a dream!.

We bought a brand new Highlead walking foot industrial sewing machine for leather, very heavy duty and fitted with a large bobbin but the clutch kept on jamming until the engineer from the shop came back tried to fix it and eventually got it back for a refund. I've heard very good reports however about them. I now, almost exclusively, buy only second hand machines, ones that have worked so are almost guaranteed to keep on working. ( The one we bought was the: Highlead GC20618-1, we sew leathers up to 2-2.4mm thick up to 3 layers, usually skived down to 1.5mm per layer).

WoW...Fantastic...just seen your thread Gregg...a million thanks. I will try this at work hopefully tomorrow. Do you have a guide for a PFAFF 335 or an Adler 269-373 too to adjust front and back stitches? Happy to pay for the advice if that helps!....will make our leather bags look so much more professional.

Just bought a used Fortuna skiver from Germany with built in suction for 2800 euros and i do not regret it at all. It works first time all the time and doesn't need lubrication...all ball bearings.... I'm not buying chinese machines ever again...bought a Highlead sewing machine last year brand new and the shop took it back after trying to repair it for nearly 2 hours in front of me!....

We've got an Adler 269-373 at work and I'm trying to get the timing right. I have attached photos from both our PFAFF 335 and Adler 269-373 service manual that have different instructions for the timing. On both machines the distance between needle and hook is 0.1mm however the distance between the top edge of the needle hole and hook point is different on these machine. If you had one of these Adler one do you stick with the instructions of the manual or do it slightly different. The only think I might be doing wrong is that the distance between the hook and the needle is around 0.3-0.4mm rather than 0.1mm Shall I stick with the manual or do something similar with the PFAFF 335 and have the distance between the top edge of the needle eye from the hook point at 0.8mm? Needle bar height and everything else is as in the manual.

I think Wizcrafts has said it all. We make leather bags here in England and the tension is something you set depending on thickness and hardness of leather. You might have thin leathers but very dry so you need more tension for the needle to get back up etc. As previously said on the post, most issues are generally related to top tension of the thread. If too high and the stitch is filling the holes on the top side of leather, then reduce the tension until they disappear but make sure the stitch is not coming from off the back. Also, make sure the bobbin spring is doing its job and the bottom thread is not too lose, check also tension on bobbin winder.. On older SInger/Seiko flat bed machines, there is a little metal pin behind the tension roller that usually gets stuck in one place and needs oiling or replacing. This can also be a cause. In our factory we've got a PFAFF 335 for closing backs(3-4 layers of 1.4-1.8mm leather) and another one for sewing around pockets(2 layers of leather) etc. The one that is used for pockets has less tension than the one used for closing the bags. We use 130 size needle as we sew mainly rucksacks. If I see missing stitches and tension problems on harder leather, usually a 140 needle cures that. This is all UK sizes...we use Schmetz needles type S, although for a more decorative stitch I would use LR type.

Oh! I see, this is the way to sharpen it? I used to simply move the sharpening stone close and away from the blade. I'll try your way moving the blade towards the sharpening stone instead and post my findings. I'm so tempted to invest in a Fortuna with a suction built in as we use this skiver quite a lot in our factory here in the UK. Thanks...

I have a Highlead skiver, looks like a Fortuna copy and it decided not to take the material any more despite any adjustements I have made. What do I need to do ? The feed wheel is at its correct height, there is enough pressure from the top and it still does not skive. I have sharpen the knife too...wondering whether the angle of the sharpening stone is wrong.... Need desperate help!...

I have a SEIKO LSW-8BL, I think is similar to the Consew 255RB. http://www.industria...onsew_255rb.pdf The stitch length on the reverse is shorter than on forward stitching. We are making expensive leather bags here in the UK and need to backstitch at same length as on forward stitching. Is this possible as I get contradicting opinions. Thanks...

I've got a clutch motor by Highlead. Is there a way of changing the rotation of the motor by wiring it differently as it doesn't seem to have a rotation switch on the back. It's a 240V single phase one. Thanks

I'm trying to get a perfect backstitch for finishing the stitch but struggling to get the needle falling at the previous forward path. I'm using a walking foot flat bed machine( SEIKO LSWN-8BL) I want to finish going backwards exactly above the previous stitch. What is the best timing to press the reverse bar, when the needle is down and the presser feet are down too or when the needle is down and the feed dog is down while the presser feet are up? If there is a video that would help, I've seen it on Cobra machines but mine hasn't got that particular function, I think it's called a versatile function or something like that where you can do perfect backtstitch in one move.

We're trying to source some veg tanned leather for our bags and our agent says that since April the prices of raw hides have gone up 20% thus they are trying to sell us leather from €40 to €44 per sqm. Is this possible that the price has gone up by that much in such a short period of time.? What's your experience. Thank you.

Oh, I didn't notice that Kev, will change it soon. Thanks. Anyone with experience on clicker presses. I just found out that the G222 was the industry standard in the shoe manufacturing during the 70s.