gottaknow

The machine your asking about is a light duty, drop feed garment machine. It won't sew much in the way of leather at all. Perhaps a lightweight garment leather, but the feed mechanism won't do well for you. I'd pass. Unless of course you want a machine to sew lightweight fabric like cotton or nylon. Regards, Eric

I believe that is a 281-22, which is a needle feed machine. It won't handle what you'd like to do, but it's a very versatile machine. The 281-22 is unique in that you can set the needle stitch length and the feed dog stitch length separate. This is really handy for sewing lighter material that wants to feed the bottom ply too fast. Simply set the stitch shorter on the bottom than the top, and you can make 2 ply of nylon lay flat as a pancake. You just have to be careful not to get the difference too great or you'll break needles. It will tension T69 ok, but that's about it. It's sweet spot is T40. Regards, Eric

You want to loosen screw #4 and the other screw on the gear that's mounted on the horizontal shaft. The hook shaft has a "V" in it so it won't slip out of time. With screw 4 and it's partner loose, you can tap the gear left and right to advance or retard your timing. I would check your timing marks on the needle bar before changing the hook timing though. It is far more likely your needle bar got pushed up while sewing which would make your hook come in late, making you think the timing needs to be advanced. Regards, Eric

Greetings Darren! I bought the Highlead and the Juki at the same time. The Highlead was less than a week away, The Juki was in Japan and 8 weeks away. There wasn't a single Juki available anywhere in the States and I needed a machine asap. I knew I could get the Highlead to work, which I have until my Juki arrived. It's just not a solid enough build for daily factory use. Oh, I forgot to mention the bobbin winder died the second day. Having a serrated metal plate driving the winder which has a rubber ring on it is a bad plan. I installed a regular table mount bobbin winder. In the Highleads defense, it was half the price of the Juki. Regards, Eric

I recently purchased a new Highlead 3 step zig zag for the factory. It's a fairly close clone of the Juki. The only reason I bought it was it was available within a week and the Juki was in Japan. I'll have the Juki next week and take the Highlead offline as a backup. The operator sets deer suede pads on Lycra equestrian pants, at full speed. I have it set to about 3300 spm. Before I let her go full speed, I opened the hook oiler wide open and set the servo for about 60%. I wanted to make sure I had oil everywhere. I do have to use silicone on the thread and a needle cooler to control the needle heat, but I had to do that on the old Juki I retired. The problems that came up pretty quick included a broken take up spring, the thread kept removing itself from the roller tension so I added a pinhole guide inline with the disk. The operator jammed it good, wrapping thread around the basket which required removing the hook. I was pleased to find a Seiko hook from Japan inside. Timing it was straight forward. There were some cosmetic issues and it's not the same overall quality of the Japanese made Juki. I figured we'd get about a year out of it running 40 hours/week, but it will make an ok backup. My advise is to get as familiar with your machine as you can. I get familiar with new machines by studying the parts books, it's always worked for me. I am a bit disappointed in the manual for the Highlead, it's pretty vague. I'm curious how your manual is and if this is a trademark of the Highleads. Regards, Eric

I bought a new Highlead 3 step zig-zag a few weeks ago. I could tell it was made in China, I had to make some changes on the thread guides but aside from that, it's working good. When I buy a new machine, I usually remove the hook and re-polish them. I was pleased to find a Japanese made Seiko hook. I would consider looking at some of their other models as I need to. The top arm mounted bobbin winder failed after two weeks, so I installed a standard winder. I knew it would fail, rubber vs metal. Good luck with the new machine purchase! Regards, Eric

I have a set of Singer taps, I don't know if they're still available as I've had them for years. The issue for most people is being able to remove the feed dog carrier to get the tap lined up. I have in the past taken a new feed dog screw and actually used it for a tap. The carrier is softer than a screw, so if you can get it started straight, you can force it past the bad threads. The best way I've found without removing the carrier is to take an insert bit that fits tightly, then use a box end 1/4" wrench to turn it while pushing down with a finger. Good luck. Regards, Eric

Thanks for the information Yanni. My PLK's use flash programming via eprom. They still work surprisingly well given their age. They are limited somewhat by the clamping system as you probably know. I am ordering another Brother programmable bartack which I really like. It was able to do a nice box X on 2 5oz pieces of dense suede for some welding jackets we made. Thanks again for the reply. Regards, Eric

If you've tried 2 different synchronizers, it's got to be the stop function on the motor or the control box. I do know on the Varistop units, a poor electrical connection or plug socket issue will do this. On my Juki 5410's, oil migrates from the sump pans, down the foot lift rod, right on top of the control boxes. I've started using silicone to seal the cover plates for the electrical connections. Oh, and you get what you pay for with these units. Just saying. Regards, Eric

Ah. The magnetic sensors. Vibration kills magnetism over time. Take a small rare earth magnet and place on each magnet for a period of time. Say 30 minutes. I have re-energized magnets in synchronizers this way in the past. Give it a try. Regards, Eric

Wow. I'm thinking you have a bad synchronizer. If your synchronizer has the slots in the wheels for adjusting the needles down position, make the opening a little wider so the sensor knows it's time to stop. Regards, Eric

I've seen some high dollar leather car seats done with left twist on both needles and I could tell the difference. I also know some upholsterers who always use right twist on the left needle. In the factory, we seldom use thread larger than Tex80 poly/cotton, so you never see the difference. As for timing, I usually retard the timing on the left hook ever so slightly and rotate the needle just a hair towards the incoming hook. I also keep the hooks really sharp. A dull hook on the left side is almost always going either fray or break thread, especially when you're using as much Tex 40 and 60 as we do. Regards, Eric

From what you describe, you're blaming the wrong component. It's the motor itself that's letting you down, not the positioning system. All the positioner does is signal the motor where to start and stop. If the work is heavy enough, the motor doesn't have enough power to position the needle to the down position. If it fall short, you get a motor failure error and it has to be reset. If this is what happens, you need a speed reducer to give your motor more torque. Oh, and the extra stitch issue is a result of the motor working really hard to push your needle through, and when it finally makes it, it surges past your stop point because of the extra momentum and thinks you've pushed the pedal again so it goes to the next stopping point, giving you an extra stitch. Lots of servo motors do this when over-worked. Even the air-gap motors like the older Variostops have the same problem. Regards, Eric

The motor will not function. And yes, the needle positioner has no clue what you're sewing, so it will always try to position regardless. Depending on the control box, if the needle can't finish it's positioning, it will give an error and have to be turned off, then back on, or blow a fuse. ps. Did you ever get that other info I mailed sometime back? Regards, Eric

Good deal. If you have any questions let me know. Keep in mind the hook on the left side rotates opposite the right and will have a tendency to untwist your left twist thread. I deal with this by setting the timing different on the left hook. This is common to all double needle lockstitch machines. I still use 112's and 212 Singers, as well as Juki's, Consews, Brothers, Pfaffs, and Mitsubishi. The Juki's will actually do an 1/8" gauge set. I think at last count I was using a combo of about 25 of these for production with 1/4" being the most common. My Consew 327RB's have a split needle bar so you can raise either of the independent needle bars and turn a corner. Regards, Eric

I would use compressed air, simply blowing the fuzz and stuff out where you can. The bottom of these machines is pretty wide open, so you can easily blow the crud out of the hook area. A small brush and some tweezers should suffice for everything else. Don't use degreaser anywhere inside the machine. If you want to wipe the outside of the casting off with some kind of cleaner, that's fine. Make sure to give it a good oiling, including a drop along side where the bobbin basket spins in the hook. Have fun! Regards, Eric

This picture shows the thread guide in place of the thread lube pad. Either part can be found on 211's. The guide shown here uses the same mounting holds as the lube pad, and should also use the same holes I see in your machine. The guide down on the needle bar is a flat guide just above where the needles is held. The machine will work fine without it. There are several versions of these last few threading steps depending on the series of the 211 and the year. Regards, Eric

The 112's will take a 3/16" gauge set, as well as a 1/4" and several wider sets. You must change the needle holder, presser foot, feed dogs, and throat plate. You then have to have the ability to re-time the machine because you'll have to move the hook saddles. I always check the latch opener adjustment on both hooks as well since you'll be changing the throat plate (the latch opener adjustment should be set anytime a throat plate is changed, even in the same gauge). I would assume some or all of our machine dealer sponsors here could help with a parts order. If not, Universal Sewing Supply carries the complete sets. Regards, Eric

Take a look at this threading diagram. Regards, Eric

Any thread that is unbalanced (over twisted) will cause issues. Some brands are worse than others, as well as darker colors. I've had polyester thread behave the same way as well as polyester core/cotton wrap which is a very common garment thread. Inexpensive thread will usually have more issues. When we use nylon, we always use A&E thread. Their quality control is really decent. When you have to use unbalanced thread, you have to control it all the way from the cone to the tension disc. After that, there's not much room to deal with it. First I'll leave the original plastic bag over the cone with just a small hole at the top to feed it through. You can also buy an additional set of thread guides that you can clamp to your thread stand. Take some extra wraps wherever you can. I also keep a supply of small coffee stir straws on hand and will place these along the thread path, running the thread through them. You can experiment where they work the best. The idea is to prevent the thread from winding around itself. You can also take a wrap around the needle itself which make it flow better through the eye. Lastly, try different brands of thread until you find one that works well for you. Thread is as critical as the leather you're sewing as far as quality goes. In a factory, imagine having to deal with your one machine with lousy thread 100X. Not fun. Regards, Eric

From the looks of your first picture, I suspected the fabric wasn't being held down tight. Whether it was the foot too high or the clamp not holding the material firmly the results look the same. If it were me, I would build up the area around the trouble spots. I don't know what they make your jigs out of, but a permanent fix would be to build up the area a little at a time until it stops. I use regular masking tape to do this so I know where to make permanent changes. Over the years, (34 to be exact) I've seen a lot of design flaws that have to be corrected at the factory level. A classic example is the Juki 5410. We bought 25 of these about ten years ago. They are a really decent needle feed machine. However, the submerged oil pump is driven by a shaft off of the top shaft. In some machines, the oil tube coming off the top of the pump is too short and rubs against the spinning shaft that drives the pump. Over time, it rubs through the tubing and the only source of oil to the top shaft is cut off. It's an easy fix, but I had one bearing seize up so I tore down each machine. About half had the issues. Other than this jig issue, how are you liking the Brother? I need to think about replacing my Mitsubishi's in the near future. Regards, Eric

The machine should start sewing regardless of which way your programming takes you. If you say it's just the one jig, is the foot rubbing against the jig at all in the start area? Something is causing a "flag" skip where you're starting. The needle guards on the hook are going to keep the needle where it needs to be at loop taking time. I assume the machine uses a shuttle hook and not a rotary hook. Can you run your machine in "test" mode (one stitch at a time) and observe the action of the foot? Do you have other jigs that start on single ply? My other thought is that your needle bar is just a tiny bit too high. On a single ply, you're going to get a smaller loop formed due to the fact that the material is pinching the thread less on needle rise. Try lowering the needle in the holder, perhaps 1mm to start with. If you are getting a smaller loop, your hook could be going under your loop. If it starts to work, simply lower the needle bar whatever amount you dropped the needle in the holder. When you have an issue like this, think first about what your needle thread loop is doing. Regardless of what kind of machine you have, it's all about the needle loop and how and where it's forming in relation to your hook. It sure looks like your material isn't being held firm enough and that it's moving up and down with the needle just enough to not form the loop properly. One way to test that is to load your material with the jig in place ready to start. Take the needle out of the holder and use a small vise grip to hold it. Press the needle down through the material through the throat plate about 5mm. Now move the needle up and down and watch your material. If the material moves up and down with the needle, there's too much space and your material isn't being held secure enough. My programmable Brother bartack is really picky about how the fabric is clamped. Good luck. Regards, Eric

Steve, your top tension is pulling up your bobbin thread. Loosen it a bit or tighten your bobbin. The function of the check spring is to keep a slight bit of tension on your needle thread as the needle descends. This prevent the needle from sewing through your top thread. The first symptom of too little check spring action is finding your needle thread wrapped around your needle, or actually breaking the needle thread. The check spring is not for setting the stitch. That's what your take up lever and tension is for. Regards, Eric

If your pics are labeled correctly, either your top tension is too tight, or you bottom tension too loose. I would make sure your bobbin has some tension on it and is in the tension spring, and that your top thread isn't just too tight or wrapped around something extra. Regards, Eric

The proper sewing of any programmable machine begins with the adjustment of the stitching foot. You say it sews fine on two layers of your work, but not one. Loosen the foot and lower it exactly the same amount of the layer of leather you aren't sewing. It appears from your photo that the leather is flagging (rising up slightly with the single ply of leather) and your thread loop formed on needle rise is collapsing or not forming at all. This is common on this style of machine. We use the Mitsubishi PLK series of similar machines. They all have this in common. Your machine is simple skipping stitches because of improper foot contact with the material being sewn. The foot may have slipped up just enough to create this condition. The same thing happens on regular sewing machines when the foot doesn't make sufficient contact when the needle is rising and loop forming time. These machines are also sensitive to burrs on the hook point. Make sure it's sharp with no burrs. A bit of 600 grit emery paper rubbed ONLY off the tip of the hook point with fix this. Hope that helps. Regards, Eric