GerryR

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:

With all the stuff recommended, he will need a roll-around tool box!!

Looks pretty complete, though I don't know why a small set of 1/4" (or nut-drivers) or 3/8" sockets wouldn't come in handy. Also, a couple of "C" or "E" clip tools might come in handy, as well.

Sorry, that unit has been sold, but I can post some pictures from the cast iron version that I have. It isn't a portable but everything is nearly identical. I'll take some pictures of a belt I made and post them. May be a little hard to see the black-on-black, but you should be able to get the idea. Edited to add pictures; last picture is the backside which is brown but doesn't show it in the picture. The buckle end pictures shows the beginning and end of a 45 inch long belt done with one bobbin with thread to spear (92 thread).

Here is a "portable" patcher I put together. It does need 220VAC to run, though. Much quicker than sewing by hand, and it can be clamped to any bench. The stitch quality is quite good IMO. This is the aluminum alloy patcher, not the cast iron one. The foot pedal speed control is made from a bicycle hand brake.

I have a "Chinese Patcher" and put a servo motor/controller on it. It cost me about $150.00 total. Maybe I'm not as fussy as others, but I think the stitching is fine. I changed the needle system to 135x16 so I have more options, and can sew up to 138 thread size. The change was rather minor; the needle bar had to be adjusted. I have a way of putting a flat on the needles like the HAx1 that the standard machine uses, but I have read where others modify the groove in the needle bar to accept the round 135x16 needles. The real negative I find to be is the small bobbin size, but I have been able to do the complete perimeter of a belt with no problems. Still the best buy to get one into a machine! (I had a Singer 153W103 and sold it as this sewed just as well. YMMV!) It will do up to 5/16" (20 oz.) leather, depending of course on the temper.

Nice tiger skin pattern!! Unique mag holder.

Thank you both for your comments. As I stated, I used on-hand straps that were collecting dust for the harness. If I was starting from scratch, I would approach it differently; the holster carrier would stay approximately the same, but I would approach the harness part differently, especially where it attaches to the holster carrier. @Hags - I would like to see what you come up with. Once an idea gets started, it is amazing how many variations come out of it!

I don't usually need a chest holster but wanted to have the option when woods walking (Black bear and now mountain lions). I built this harness so I can take my belt holster and mount it for chest carry. Not the best job I ever did but it works and might give others some ideas. I used web belts and harnesses from a tool bag and from a weed-wacker; the leather chest portion I made. No need to have a separate dedicated chest holster.

Why would the width of the feed dog matter, especially that little? There will be leather between upper foot and the feed dog. Just asking.

One additional Item: The controller must be in the "Pu" state (Position Up) for this to work. If in the "Pd" state (Position Down), the unit resorts to the "2-extra-cycles" condition described above!!

I had started another thread looking for input on a position system problem on the SM645B-2P Motor Controller. I found from a search that this was a manufacturer's problem that was never fixed. However, I decided to persue the issue and came up with a fix. I hope it helps someone else to get their position system working for these controllers. I might mention that this problem supposedly did not exist in th 2P (220V w/ Position) units but I have two 2P units with this problem. The problem: When removing your foot from the foot pedal, the sewing machine makes two extra cycles (stitches) before stopping. It stops in the correct position, but always two cycles later. Enduro SM645B-2P Position Sensor Fix: I came up with a "partial" fix for the position sensor problem with the SM645 units. The initial problem is that when releasing the foot pedal, the sewing machine makes two extra cycles (stitches) before stopping. It always stops in the correct position, just two cycles later. This told me that the control unit wants to see two pulses prior to stopping. I took the cover off of the sensor and found two holes in the optic disk that the two sensors "look" through. One hole is closer to the edge of the disk than the other. The one closest to the edge is for the stop command to the controller; the other is for the indicator LED on the sensor body. They are 180 deg. opposite each other. I took a piece of black electrical tape and blocked the hole closest to the edge. I then drilled two holes in the disk, one just above the LED hole, and one 0.475" counter-clockwise from that hole. See Picture. (My hand-wheel runs clockwise; if yours runs counter-clockwise, you will want to put the second hole clockwise from the other two, or the LED will not light in the stop position.) Both holes are, in my case, 0.216" from the edge. I used a #45 drill bit (0.082) for the holes. I elongated the lower LED hole slightly to compensate for the slight overshoot when the stop command was issued, so the LED would remain on when in position. This also helps when setting up your stop position; you place the sewing machine in the position you want it to stop and rotate the sensor ring until the LED comes on. Had I thought about it a little more before drilling the hole, I could have drilled the "stop" hole slightly ahead of the LED hole to accomplish the same thing, but you can't "un-drill" a hole very easily! Why a "partial" fix? Because now you cannot have a set of holes 180 deg. from the first set and be able to use the controller panel to change up or down position. You have to physically change the sensor position if you want down instead of up, or vice-versa. Just unplug the sensor for no position control. I hope this helps someone.

The answer was in this old post, so I found no need to repeat it, but I will restate it: The Enduro Drive SM645B-2P position system makes two additional machine revolutions before stopping, when the foot pedal is released. Uwe, in the referenced post, found that it is an actual flaw with the drive and was never fixed by the manufacturer. He did state, however, that the 2P version (220v w/ position) did not have this problem, but that isn't so, as mine do have the same problem. I may have a fix for this problem, and was intending on posting it, if it works, so that others would be able to apply it. I will report back later.

It is an Enduro Pro SM645B-2P drive I bought off of ebay a couple of years ago. I bought two of them. I have another patcher, the cast iron version, bench mounted, using the other unit. I recently bought this patcher off of ebay for short money and was surprised when I received it that it had an aluminum alloy frame, and the control arms were chrome plated, sort-of. Because of its weight, I thought it would be a good candidate for a portable unit, hence another project was born.