gottaknow

Hi Dave. From what you describe, your top and bottom shaft timing may still be a tad off. Perhaps one tooth. Machines will sew being one tooth off, they'll just be a little quirky. If you get bored, move the belt one tooth, retime the hook and try it. It's also possible that there's some wear in your take up arm or more likely it's bent. It's really easy to bend one. If it is, I suspect it's bent upward a touch. That would give you just a tiny bit too much thread during the cycle. Less than one tooth of shaft timing. Food for thought. Regard, Eric

Learn to clean and oil your machine yourself. If you take it to a shop to have them troubleshoot the needle breakage, then that's what you're paying for and when you take it back, it shouldn't be breaking needles. If you're using the wrong size or type of needle, a good mechanic will be able to tell you. Be sure and take your material and thread for them to use. Have them sew on the machine and more important they should let you sew on it before you pay. If it's something that you're doing, a good mechanic will correct you and help you learn to get the most out of your machine. Repairing the machine shouldn't be tied in with cleaning and oiling. It would be like taking your car in for an oil change, finding out you need a new transmission, and have it included in the price. I honestly leave a fair amount of fuzz in the machine to transport oil to all the tiny areas that the oiling system doesn't get. None are perfect. Keep the fuzz out of the area between the throat plate and the feed dogs, as well as the thread path. The needle bar and presser bars should be kept clean so excess oil doesn't migrate down to your material. Have fun! Regards, Eric

One of the benefits I see is that it would free up the sewing machine motor to be used as a drill.... It does remind me of the time I took my mom's new electric can opener and made a wood lathe out of it. I was pleased, mom not so much. Regards, Eric

We cheat in the factory when hemming our jeans. It's a Union Special 63900T which is a cylinder machine set up with a compensating foot. It has small rollers on the bottom and just to make sure the seams can be sewed over at high speed, there's a close-coupled puller. To cheat further, it also has an air operated hemming folder that makes a perfect 5/8" rolled hem. We bought 3 of these when we first made Levi's in the 80's. They are pretty bulletproof, made in Chicago. Each leg takes about 12 seconds depending on the operator. I do soak the Tex 80 thread in silicone to prevent melting. I'll snap a pic if I remember, it's a cool old machine. Regards, Eric

We sewed mainly outerwear. These machines are quite versatile. We used them for making the small parts, top stitching, zipper setting, etc. If you're ever driving through Idaho on I-90 let me know. The factory is about 20 minutes east of Spokane. Regards, Eric

Nice job. You'll likely get some fray there where it's notched, but the rest of the rolled hem will keep it in check. Regards, Eric

I had 20 of these in a factory. Pretty solid and the needle feed should do what you've listed. It will likely have a problem with 138 thread. On a horizontal hook machine, you can't get near the latch opening as you can with a verticle hook. The heavy thread will hang up somewhat as it passes around the floating latch opener. You can cheat a little bit by opening up the gap a bit, and crank down the needle tension, but not really enough to produce a nice stitch. It will do a really nice stich with Tex 90 and even 105. Setting timing is easy and overall I had few chronic issues. You may want a servo motor if it doesn't have one for speed control. Have fun. Regards, Eric

That's great CD. I'm glad it's working out. I'm glad to help whenever I can. Regards, Eric

It won't hurt a thing. It's standard practice in factories to contain any migrating oil overnight that tends to travel down the needle and presser bars. Cotton works best. Regards, Eric

You need to back the entire wider assembly away from the belt. Loosen up the winder, engage it to the wind position, and slide it into the belt just enough to turn the winder. What's happening is your spring's too wimpy to disengage the winder from the high belt tension. Regards, Eric

It won't really hurt anything, other than it's noisy and does bang the feed dogs a bit. It's better to lift the foot a bit either with the knee lift or the manual lift on your particular machine. Most important is making sure your needle is unthreaded and that you hang on to the loose needle thread so it doesn't get all tangled up. If an operator has on a Teflon foot, it does tear it up if you don't lift your foot. Regards, Eric

Lol Wiz. Milzed is a universal word for deleting a entire post. ie, "he Milzed a post". It's usually a post where the person thinks better of what was originally posted. I figured you'd be the one to wonder...heh Regards, Eric

milzed

I have a Brother KE-430D. I have used size 130 thread on it, but it required all the tension I could put on it to set the stitch. That was using a size 22 needle which is about the max for this machine. I did box X's on welding jackets going through 2 ply of 4 oz suede and 2 ply of heavy elastic. For that I used a size 21 titanium needle (regular point, not leather) and size 80 Kevlar thread. The tension release mechanism must be adjusted so the tension isn't released sewing through a lot of thickness. The biggest advantage of the newer tackers is speed control. I'd say a used Brother could be located for $3-$4k. On my older line tackers, I regularly use 105 thread with no issues. Larger than that requires some modifications. Regards, Eric

A 269 is a good general use tacker. I would not however use it for a box x. Main reason being you can't change the speed. When tacking leather or heavy webbing, a straight line tacker without a speed control like a 269 or one of the older Juki 900 series are fine. For a box x on leather, you'll appreciate the adjustable speed as you adjust to different materials and threads. I should add that neither a Singer, Brother, or Juki tacker will tension 207 thread. If you want thread that heavy, you'll need to use a regular lockstitch machine. There's no difference in strength, just speed. I've seen plenty of folks that can sew a box x manually and you can't tell the difference. Regards, Eric

If you're going to be making a living off your products, and investment into a new programmable bartack machine would be a good investment. If you're just doing a few as a side hobby, You can make decent box x's with a regular lockstitch. Both Brother and Juki make really decent bartacks that can do multiple tasks. Be prepared to spend a lot of money. I have both machines and prefer the Brother. Keep in mind as you change tacks, you may need additional clamps and plates to accommodate whatever tack you want. For example, one type of clamp will do most regular straight bartacks. To do a box x, you'll need different clamps and base plate. Regards, Eric

I would look for an off angle folder that mounts on a swing away mount. The off angle brings the binding tape into the sewing area at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 degree angle. What this does is still allows easily doing inside and outside curves without making your heavier tape make the turn at 90 degrees. Running heavier binding is all about having the tape run through the folder with as little friction as possible. Too much friction will result in a puckered look as the binding will stretch and then snap back like a rubber band. The swing away mount will allow you to easily overlap your binding onto itself if you're not running off the end. You get close to where you started, pull the folder away and cut your binding. You can then fold it over your starting point and do a nice clean tie in. The folders I don't make myself, I buy from www.atlantaattachment.com they build the best folders out there. They also make the best swing away mounts that hold your folder as tight as if it were hard mounted. If you plan on doing a lot of this work, send a sample to them of what you want to do and let them pick your folder for you. There's nothing worse than trying to make a cheap folder look nice. I've been buying folder from them for over 30 years. Also, if you look through their website at their folders, you can learn a tremendous amount. A good folder will make your projects look professional, so they are worth their cost. Regards, Eric

We hem most jeans with tex 80 thread and a size 125/20 needle. Regards, Eric

I have a box of size 31's for my Singer 7. I use one for a center punch. Regards, Eric

There should be a set screw on that outer shell that allows the spring and it's shaft to be removed. Usually, it's on the thinner part of the outer housing and takes a small screwdriver. It's also how you adjust the tension of the take up-spring. Regards, Eric

I've got a 1900 as well and it's one of my most used tackers. Good machine. Regards, Eric

I would simply hold the tail threads from the previously sewn seam, having left them long enough to hang onto when you start. This is a good habit to get into on lockstitch machines without underbed trimmers. After a few times of practicing this, it becomes second nature and also prevents those unattractive thread wads when starting on heavier materials. If you're holding something more complicated, you can use a single finger to push the tail threads towards the rear of the machine by simply pinning them to the plate and moving with the material. Once your work is clear, just let go on your merry way. Regards, Eric

Both the 980 and 984 Juki's are good tackers. I have no problem buying parts at all. 42 stitch is too much for a belt loop. With a 28 you could do both. We use both models 40 hours a week on belt loops and pockets. To run smooth you have to keep them a bit over oiled and sharp needles. I like them just fine. Regards, Eric

Now that I see what you want, I'd keep my eyes open for a used zigzag machine. Regards, Eric

The 269 series of bartackers includes a wide variety of machines and what they do differs. Each subclass does a slightly different thing. The 269W7 is a shoe tacker and can make tacks 1/8" to 3/8". It uses an 18 stitch cam because of the narrow width. Moving up to the common belt loop tacker uses a 28 stitch cam and is adjustable from 1/8" to 1/2" but can usually be fudged out to make a decent 5/8" tack. We use a 42 stitch tacker for back pockets on jeans. 42 stitches destroys a 3/8" belt loop. I'll be honest with you, maintaining these machines to work properly is not for the novice. Timing the hook is the easy part. Making everything else happen when it's supposed to is another. Don't get me wrong, these have been a real workhorse over the years. Levi Strauss was heavily involved in the various versions to better automate their jeans production. I use them for belt loops, the front fly, and line tacking over the end of a one piece waistband. There are several different size needle plates and clamps. Your machine has no tying stitches which is the last stitching on most bartacks. This prevents cutting the leather by repeating the same path as the initial staying stitches. It's a cool find, but I like your idea of using the table for another machine. Regards, Eric