GerryR

I personally like the natural wood and its contrasting with the rest of the machine. (I did mine like that.) That is some really nice work! Now its time to enjoy using it.

The bearing that is attached to the horizontal arm is what works the hook; it slides left and right. Slide it, in or out, to where it lines up with the inner groove of the handwheel when putting the handwheel on the shaft. Then line up the other bearing, the one on the arm going to the needle bar, with the outer groove, rotating the handwheel so the pin on the handwheel shaft goes into the notch of the handwheel. Also, there is a washer that goes between the handwheel and the shaft bearing to prevent the handwheel from rubbing the frame. If your unit is missing the washer, find one that fits over the shaft and remove the pin in the shaft and install it. If you can't get the pin out, file a notch in the washer to slip over the pin. The other option for a "washer" would be to take a solid piece of copper wire (12 or 14 AWG house wire) and make a single wrap, end-to-end, around the shaft behind the pin and then put the handwheel on. Hope this helps!

Much of the work done on these machines is for appearance sake, trying to make them look better. I have had a couple of these and they work "out-of-the-box." I can easily sew up to 20 oz. leather with these machines. Maybe I got the luck-of-the draw, but I think they get a bad rap because of their looks and price. What would you expect to get for ~$100. 00 these days? On the one I have presently, I did convert it to the 135x system for more needle options. Even that was very easy to accomplish. It still is the cheapest way to get into "machine" sewing of leather though not as elegant as other machines, unless someone just gives you a machine.

Actually, I had very little clean-up to do on my cast iron unit, which I then motorized. It sews better and has a higher lift capacity than a 153W103 Singer that I had. It sewed so well that I sold the Singer. I also came across a cast aluminum version of the patcher, which was a little more refined, that I made into a portable version (picture attached) that sewed just as well. The downside is the small bobbin size, but for what I do, it is no issue. (more pictures here:

You need to slide the shaft out manually so it does fit in the inner groove. Once you have both bearings in their proper grooves, the handwheel should be in alligmment with the pin on the shaft.

For non- leather machines, www.victoriansweatshop.com. They discuss just about any machine, but many of them are vintage models. It is neat to see "the way it usta-was."

I have the SM645B-2P which is the smaller version of the 1050. I haven't tried it on 120VAC. There is a problem with the needle position sensor on the 645 in that the mache makes an extra revolution when it goes to stop. The reason, I found, is that it is looking for a 2nd pulse to stop on. I ventured into the sensor and modified it to give a second pulse rather than wait for a 2nd revolution. There are 2 small holes next to each other and then a third hole 180 deg. away on the radius of the top hole. I merely placed a piece of black electrical tape over the single hole (the one 180 deg. away) and drilled a hole approximately .75 inches away from the first top hole. It now works fine, and can be set either needle up or needle down. (Picture attached) You have to know which direction your wheel is turning; mine is turning CW, but I have the sensor on the back side (patcher) so the sensor is also turning CW. The hole I added is as shown in the picture. If your sensor is turning CCW, the added hole will have to be on the opposite side. I don't know if the 1050 has the same problem, but if it does, this is the fix.

Very nice!! Looks like with that speed reducer you can make a stitch every 30-days or so .

Do you have a picture of what they look like now? Osbourne has two-prong thronging chisels; they have hardened prongs and should be used over a board, or something reasonably soft, so as not to damage the tool when punching through leather. Lacing "needles" are a different animal altogether.

I assume you clamp it to a bench??? I made mine so you can "attach" it to a chair and sit on it to stabilize it. It is adjustable for different height chairs.

I seem to favor AC servo systems. They are 3-phase motor systems (with 1-phase power input) using a variable frequency drive (VFD). I have built a couple of different systems. They are more expensive than the Enduro DC drive systems, and you need an "Inverter" rated motor to run at low speeds (to handle the extra heat). I mention this because using a proximity sensor and a metal flag on the hand-wheel, for example, they can be made to stop in any position, depending upon the location of the metal flag, regardless of the speed reducer used. They, generally speaking, are very reliable systems, as well. A general DC servo system can be made to do the same, however the systems made specifically for sewing machines do not seam to have this option. I'm just tossing out another option when considering motor drives for sewing machines.

xxx found the videos.

Verry nice. (I used stainless steel caps on the jaws on mine. It will defleck the needle and protect the jaws if I get too close when stitching.)

I need things that are portable, as well as functional, because of space requirements. I made a table/stand for my Chinese Patcher from 2" PVC pipe. It has ball rollers at the bottom of the pipes and a handle to shift the weight to the rollers when I want to move it; functional and portable! I made "T-nuts" from steel stock and used long bolts to fabricate the table using the pipe; not as sturdy as a weldment, but good enough for a small patcher.

The best "critique" you are going to have is when you actually use the finished product. Then you will say, "I should have done this or I could have done that; all the shoulda, woulda, coulda's. That looks very nice and very sturdy and already looks like a lot of thought has gone into it! I took the easy way out and adopted a cheap work station from Harbor Freight to do the job: