garypl

Thanks for the suggestion! Should have new needle plate arriving today.

Yes, but it is almost touching the needle scarf now. Once I replace feed dog and cover plate I will go over all the adjustments again.

Thanks Floyd. I will go over all of the adjustments when the new parts come in. Will post results in a couple of days!

I played around today to see if I could get this machine sewing without skipping stitches. Still misses the loop occasionally as seen in this video. Starts acting up at the 33 second mark: It looks to me that the hook/needle timing is ok, but the loop that is forming looks small to me. Any ideas on how to make the loop bigger? I am using a 23 needle with 138 thread. Maybe the problem is that I am running without the cover plate installed. I have a new feed dog and cover plate coming tomorrow and I will install them and test again. Gary

Brian, you never cease to amaze me with the fixtures and equipment you design to use in your shop. Really interesting! Gary

I’m heading out in 30 minutes to go shoot trap, so this will have to set until I return home this afternoon. I’ll play with it later tonight just to see if I can pinpoint what is happening.

I have noticed that turning the handwheel does affect the ease of inserting or removing the bobbin case. It seems easier without the cover plate installed, but still much harder than my other machines. just went down and test sewed some more with a piece of thin cardboard under the leather and still getting occasional skipped stitches on 8 oz veg tan, but I think my tension settings need to be adjusted - seems like there might be too little top tension now. Think I will let things alone until new feed dog and cover plate arrive next week and start fresh with tweaking tension adjustments. Gary

Good point Brian. I did not have a piece of cardboard under the leather - it was just sitting on the feed dog. I am going to replace the cover plate as it is very obviously bent down on the LH edge as well as being a bit chewed up. Also replacing the feed dog. Once I get the new parts I will see how it does with thicker, firmer leather. Got me wondering whether this bent plate is also the reason why I struggle to load bobbins. Seems I have to play around for 5-10 minutes trying to install the bobbin case because something is obstructing it. Tomorrow I will see if the bobbin case slides in and out easily with the cover plate removed. Time for my beauty sleep now

Mike, I took your advice and removed the cover plate from the hook area and sewed the same piece of 8 oz leather - see video here: It sewed perfectly! I ran two lines of stitches without any problems - see picture showing two rows of stitches on top edge. So, the only thing I did was remove the cover plate. Upon further examination of the cover plate I saw that the LH edge was bent - see pictures: I never noticed this before, but I do remember that the feed dog seemed very close to the left side of the cover plate slot - feed dog was probably rubbing against it. So I think my next step is to order a new cover plate and ensure there is clearance between it and the feed dog. I never would have thought this would be the problem. Just goes to show you that we have to take note of every small detail when troubleshooting a problem. My thanks to everyone for pointing me in the right direction, especially Mike, who suggested running without the cover plate in place! I will update this post after I replace the cover plate and verify it still sews! Gary

I could not see the hook unless I removed the RH cover plate. Without the plate in place I don’t see how I could sew a piece of leather as there would be nothing supporting the leather except the feed dog. But perhaps I am overthinking this - I will try removing the cover plate again and see if there is any way I can sew and see the hook at the same time.

Wiz, I don’t see how I can watch the hook with leather in the machine. Only view is from the top. Here is a video of the needle-hook timing. I think it looks ok. Here is another look as I try to stitch a piece of 8 oz veg tan. It starts intermittently skipping stitches when I speed it up about 2/3rds of the way into the video Brian, I think it was just the lighting that made it look like the scarf was to the front. It is definitely pointed toward the hook. I tried fiddling with scarf position - rotating needle slightly in each direction, but no improvement. Any suggestions after looking at these videos? Thanks for the help! Gary

I have been going round and round trying to get my Consew 206RB-4 to sew harder temper leather up to @1/4” thick. It sews light temper upholstery leather fine (most of the time - occasionally skips a stitch). I am using a23 needle with 138 bonded nylon top and bottom. As shown in the video, thread starts missing stitches almost immediately with a piece of 12 oz veg tan. ADAFBDBE-3370-463C-8516-617EAE7F710A.mp4 I have been going through all of the adjustments and I guess I am not hitting the right combination to get it stitching reliably. I adjusted the check spring to keep thread taut until needle enters the leather. I am hoping that someone here can look at the symptom and get me started in the right direction! Gary

Thanks Y - I am going to mull it over before I buy another one. Bit lighter has been working pretty good

Well, maybe I will buy another one

About how often do you have to replace the lithium batteries?

I had a thread zapper and it worked pretty good when batteries were new, but it went through batteries so quickly, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. Something else broke and then it wouldn’t work even with new batteries. Went back to using a match or Bic lighter. Gary

Nice work! Looks like pretty firm temper. The only deerskin I have ever seen is very soft. Gary

Alex, those are beautiful pouches. What type leather are you using? Gary

I have a Consew 206RB-4 that sews soft leather up to @5-6 oz fine, but whenever I try to sew harder leather that is @8 oz or thicker, using the same needle and thread combination, the thread shreds as the needle exits the leather on the way up. Looking forward to hearing comments on this post that might help me to correct my issue. Gary

Interesting looking machine, but I suspect it would only work for very lightweight leather since it is only 1 ton. Ask the seller for max weight of leather it is capable of punching. Size is somewhat limited as well. Gary

Paint generally does not penetrate as far into the leather as dye. Think of paint as more of a surface coating while dye will penetrate deeper into the leather.

Dye will never crack or chip, but acrylic paints are also very durable. Really depends on the project and what you want to color. If you are trying to add color accents, either should work well. If you want to color an entire object, paint may work on a small object that won’t be flexed much, but if you try to paint a large item like a bag that will see a lot of use, I would expect you would eventually see cracking and chipping. Paint should be applied in thin coats to minimize chipping. Hope this helps. Gary

That’s a nice looking holster Jeff! Is elephant hide much more difficult to work with than thick veg tan, when used for stiffener? Gary

I buy Ritza Tiger thread from Egyptian Leather on Etsy. Nice selection at reasonable prices. Gary

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I had fun working with him and it is so nice that a youngster is interested in more than tv or video games. He is moving to Florida soon, so I gues I won’t be doing too many more projects with him. Will have to figure out where I can find more youngsters to help. Gary