Tim Schroeder

Sorry I was repeating something I have read in here. I read somewhere in here you could sew 3 numbers down in needle sizes. Once you had it set for a #25 you could down to a #22 before having to shim the inner race. I'm still working on mine. Maybe I need to just work on mine. The hook is/was hitting a #21 needle. I will have to get a thinner inner race to be able to sew anything over a #21.

I use mostly 138 and 207. Some wallets I am only sewing thru 3/4 oz. plus the lining with 138. I use some 92 on the inside of wallets. Then want to be able to sew 277 in a holster if I want to. I have a Cobra Class 26 in Brand New condition boxed up and ready to ship sitting right here. The narrow needle plates and feed dogs are the game changer. The real reasons for the 441 is the 16" cylinder arm, the high presser foot lift and the ability to sew with the biggest thread made if you need/want to. Boy it looks cool sitting in my wife's formal dining room. It comes in handy on boots and some other stuff. I found a 16" cylinder arm the same size as the class 26 with the adjustable walking foot knob on top, but it was $3300 for just the head. As for one machine to do it all this machine can be made to sew #92 thread up to #456 as advertised by everyone. The only adjustment for needle to hook spacing is the inner race. You are not gonna sew with a #25 needle and then change to a #21 or #20 needle without changing the inner race or at least shimming it. I don't think you are gonna sew 346 thru thick nylon webbing with a Hennigan #23 needle plate and feed dog. Looks like the perfect solution is a different inner race for every other size needle. Then you just pick the correct inner race without having to mess with a bunch of shims. Not sure why they don't come with at least two different size races and/or a bunch of shims. Then the people who buy these 441 clones to actually use these machines for every size thread would be able to make it sew on their own without tracking down another race and/or a bunch of shims.

Just got this machine set up and ready to sew. I bought this one new from my sewing machine guy, but we just took it out of the box set it on a table, threaded it and hand wheeled a few stitches, and he said I was good to go. Thanks to UWE's YouTube video and a couple of others I was able to make a few adjustments and it sews great. I had a Cobra 4 until about 3 months before all the narrow needle plates started coming out. These narrow needle plates totally change what you can do with this machine. I bought #25 flat and round plates from Hennigan and a lifter handle extension. I plan on buying the #20 but not sure if it is necessary since the #25 fixed the original problem. I had to cut the table down so I could get the sewing height at 29". I have a cabinet on wheels with a cut out for the machine to sit down in even with top of the table designed but will be a while before I get to build it. I have a Corion countertop for the top and extension that I've had for 10 yrs. The extension table will make the table with extension the size of a normal flatbed table. I have had issues with the little outside presser feet leaving marks, so I made a bigger one out of the blanket foot that came with this machine and bought a small center foot which I cut down and made an open toe to be able to see the needle. I had to have the slot in the outside presser foot milled out so it would push it over next to the center foot. The table is from the Class 4 Premium Package I had that I filled the middle and covered with the Formica scraps left from building the cabinet originally. It was all scraps from a job. There's a seam in the middle but it should last a while until I can build the new table. I ordered some star handle bolts that will screw into the bottom of the mounting blocks from underneath and with just two in it is really solid. It doesn't have it yet, but I will put a metal bracket under the bottom that will sit on a bolt in the last bolt whole in the arm for support. I put a service light under neath so you can see to change the bobbin or make tension adjustments. It has a 12" pulley to a 2" pulley speed reducer for a 6:1speed reduction., so it has plenty of torque at super slow speed.

This is how it will be shipped. I'm putting an extra inch of foam under the bottom, so I had to take the bobbin winder apart to get it to fit in the top.

No wish I did though

207 Top and Bottom. Shipping box said it weighed over 70 lbs. My sewing table. I have about $50 in my speed reducer and a 12" to 2" pulley setup.

Sewing Machine HEAD ONLY. Table and motor not included. This is a compound feed machine that will sew 207 thru 3/8"or 7/16". I have everything that came with the machine from the factory. Belt guard, Knee lifter, bobbin winder, drip pan and bobbins. Few screw drivers, a bobbin storage tray with 19 bobbins, a roller guide and the little magnetic base light are included. It's in excellent condition and has been in my wife's formal dining room (my shop) since I brought it home. Machine is located near Dallas, Tx. Will ship to lower 48 at buyer's expense. Should be around $125 depending on where you are. Sample is 207 top and bottom thru 2 pieces of 4/5 oz veg tan. I sent this machine to the shop and ask the tech to just go thru it and oil it because I wanted to sell it and didn't want any problems. As you can see in the pictures it WILL NOT backstitch in the same on the second stitch. I tried it twice and it did the same thing. $750

Lowered to $1200

Cobra Class 26 HEAD ONLY $1400. This machine is in like new condition. Not a scratch on it. Located near Dallas, Tx. I have the original box and everything that came with it. I will ship to lower 48 at buyer's expense.

Thanks Everybody.

Built this for that ole boy my daughter is married to. All veg tan.

Thanks Chuck. Started tooling in the 7th grade. The teacher let me make him a belt and we entered it in the State fair, and it got second. My dad and his friends always had tooled wallets from kits from Tandy. My daughter walked in with this the other day. One of the first things I made not from a kit. I thought that tooling was good at that time. When I found Leatherworker.net I saw some of Hidepounders work and new I wanted my tooling to look like his. I tooled the same pattern every day for 6 days until it started to look something like his. Carl Chappell, may he rest in peace, gave me a lot of pointers. He said he judged a lot of competitions. He would always look at a piece for 5 or 10 minutes and then find some fingernail mark somewhere and ask me what tool I used to make that mark. He gave me the tip about rounding over every edge with a modeling tool. He said with out that everything looked flat. I do have 40 or 50 Barry King stamps and 2 Leatherwrangler swivel knifes. IMHO Paul makes the best blades.

Finished just in time. Christmas present for my daughter. She's been carrying my wife's old one but has since gotten married. She needed one with the correct initials.

This is the side of a Tote Bag I'm making my daughter for Christmas.

Made these for Pops for Christmas. He has some of those Nocona suspenders and they are really heavy. These are 1/3 the weight. I put the cheap spring latches because of weight. They are 4/5oz. HO lined with the thinnest veg tan I've ever seen. I bought it to make the inside of wallets. I would like to know if anybody knows how to keep the slide buckle from moving every time the elastic stretches. I had his other ones to measure so I know the shortest length. I put the slide buckle all the way to the bottom so it couldn't get longer. You can make them shorter if they stretch.

Thanks. That is a El Creek Buckle set I bought from Cavenders 20 yrs ago. Sometimes I use Ebay to buy buckles for belts I'm making. There is a Judge Leo Smith on Ebay that will make anything you want. He is here in Texas.

Thanks everybody for the kind comments. Yes sir Ross there is a magnetic strip all the way across. Saves space.

Thanks everybody. I really needed some lace up boots. My ankle just rolls completely over on any kind of sloped terrain with slip on boots. I'm ready to make another pair and have them decorated with my signature logo.

Thanks Chuck and Tom There's a piece of 3/4 oz veg tan just the width of the swell with the edges beveled glued on the back first, then the front laid on top. I make everything big and then cut it to size after it's glued together. I have the tooling between the billets with a good swell as well. It's a 21 needle with 207 thread and 135 in the bottom. . I was playing with the stitch length and thought I had it back at 8 spi, it's really closer to 9spi. I have a Class 26 now, I had a class 4 but was to big, so I traded it for this class 26. I was gonna modify a needle plate and feeddog on the class 4 myself. Now you can buy it already done. The class 26 does 95% of what I do and the Class 4 was good for about 5%. Wish I had it back now.

Needed a belt to wear when going out instead of my work belt.

Thanks for the comments. Here's a couple of better pictures. The boots are some Bison leather. The dye on the belt is a 50/50 mix of light brown and chocalate Feibing's diluted 50/50 and sprayed.

Just curious if anybody puts anything in their belts to keep them from bending in the middle of the back.

Is the T in their backwards sheilajeanne? Isn't it the wrong kind of T fitting? Unbelievable

It was for a door panel in a Old International Travel All. I had to tool another one, so that one is just a conversation piece. I have no use for it. I just let sit around to remind me to be careful.