Jkirk3279

Could I ask a further question? We have one of the CK 563 clones. It needs a rebuild, according to our Sewing Machine guru. He’s training me in repair, so I could use it for a practice machine. The question is, is the CK 563 a perfect clone, so I can use Juki 563 parts? Getting the Tiawanese parts is ridiculously expensive. Since what went out on the CK 563 was the stitch length regulator, I’d need to know that I could put a Juki part in it before making the effort.

I’m in the same situation. I have a Pfaff 1245. I’m in training to rebuild and service sewing machines, and my tutor has set me a test of sorts while he’s out of town. I need to figure out how to rebuild this Pfaff 1245 “old casting”. I have every version of the manual I have found so far. The problem right now is the Pressure Foot. The outer foot isn’t going up and down. And I can’t find any shaft that powers it. I know there are repair gurus here with mad skillz. Adjusting the inner reciprocating foot is easy, and you set it to a clearance of 7mm. I can’t find the power shaft that makes the outer foot “walk”.

The Harley Seat came out pretty good. The customer was happy. I discovered afterward that spray glue comes in even stronger bond than our usual; I should consider that when doing something with concavities. photo.php

Okay, thanks to the guy from Northern England. I was hoping someone would have advice on getting started.... you know, holsters, etc ?

Hi. My name is William Carr, and our family owns The Trim Shop in Edwardsburg, MI. Since around 1974, we’ve done tarps, custom boat covers, boat upholstery, and recarpeting pontoon boats. We have two sewing machines; a Consew 226r with a Servo motor, and we just upgraded to a Pfaff 1245 that I’m planning to put a Servo motor in. It’s time to switch gears in this business, as fewer people have boats now as versus 1974. Plus, the Pontoon boats just keep getting bigger and the full covers heavier. So; I thought about doing car interiors, and that remains a possibility. But ideally, something smaller, shippable; something like... leatherworking. That would make it possible to advertise online and bring in work past the radius people will tow a boat. I’d love to hear how people here got into leatherworking. Custom holsters, etc, would be a joy to do, in my opinion. Since the usual learning from an apprenticeship route doesn’t seem likely, I hope someone has a story about how they started on their own, identified their customer base, grew a market, and prospered. Right now, I’m doing a Harley seat in leather. I’ve done enough boat seats to recognize how to make a pattern from the original, and I’m working on learning to pattern from scratch. Anybody have inspiring stories of hard work and determination yielding success?

{cough} Okay, first post here, but I thought I should say something. I got that “26 different timing points” speech from a guy who came in offering to re-time our machines for $75. I mentioned it to Tim, our Sewing Machine Guru and Trainer. He kind of scoffed. Basic timing is like this: 1) the rotation. 2) the distance from hook. 3) Needle Post height... and that’s stretching the point. It doesn’t get reset often. That’s it. Now, if you count everything that CAN go wrong... like messing with Feed Dog Height, Feed Dog centering, the stitch length assembly, the needle rotation... I suppose you could get to ten adjustments. If you added in all the weird things that could go wrong, putting in a different needle than the machine was timed for, or using a smaller needle than the thread calls for... But that’s not the usual problem. Normally, timing is controlling the distance from the needle to the hook, and the rotation of the hook so it’s at the right point when the needle has begun to rise. Get a magnifying visor. Or a Boroscope... I’m seriously fantasizing about a color Boroscope. I want to be able to poke the fiber optic wand in, and watch the hook approach the needle hole with a 5X magnification.