Darren Brosowski

Ebay is full of crap. I do a lot of business on ebay but lose a lot of customers because they ask me questions about other listings or buy one of my machines because somebody else said that type of machine will sew leather. I call or message every customer who buys a machine to ensure that it will do what they require and every professional dealer does the same. Do not buy any machine until you talk to the seller. If they are a private seller and are just guessing what the machine will do then ask an expert (this is a good place to ask) Often "working" on ebay means they turn the handwheel and the needle goes up and down There are plenty of shonky dealers and the dead giveaway is that they are 30% cheaper than the dealers on here. The difference is that the machine has not been out of the box. Do your research. There is a pinned thread by Wiz about leather machines and it is a great place to start.

Could be as simple as a burr in the needle plate that only comes into play when sewing in a certain direction.

In the UK there are lots of Pfaff 335's and Consew 227R's around. The Consew is essentially a Singer 211 built by Seiko as a cylinder bed with reverse so parts are inexpensive. There are of course plenty of clones but if you see a "Golden Wheel" machine then they can be a good buy as they are built in Taiwan.

The machine can only sew light leather. If you fit a servo motor and run at low speeds then the bearings designed for 3000 rpm will have negligible load on them and will run for another decade or so. As the machine cost very little it is a good return on investment if it will sew what you need.

There are a couple of steps to take: 1/ Look at the feed dog height as it should be about 1mm at the bottom setting. If it is too high then take it out and grind off the bottom end so it sits further down. 2/ Take to the teeth with a flap disc fitted to a drill as this will take off the sharp edges. 3/ Look at the finish under the foot and if it is crap then hit it with the same flap disc. 4/ Roller feet are available. I sell them on ebay but pretty sure Bob Kovar will have them too. 5/ When sewing with a 45k the way to get the stitch length even is to hold the job with BOTH hands. Left in front and right behind Two of the top saddlers in Australia do 90% of their work on 45k's so don't believe the negativity about them. They are probably the most common leather machine ever built.

Way too much and 3/8" of leather of complete and utter BS. Davis made some great machines but this is a $50 display piece.

There is an oddity with the serial number as Singer did not acquire Wheeler and Wilson until after the turn of the century so if it is branded "Singer" then it has been refinished at some stage. In fact I can find no reference to a 3W1

Would suggest a Pfaff 335/Consew 227R compound feed for the sort of work you are doing. I imported some of the sailrite machines from Taiwan and I was not really impressed. For light leather they really do not offer any great advantage over a 1960's Japanese central bobbin domestic machine that you can lick up for $20

The 1000 class needle is made in China in two sizes but only in sharp point. I could take these needles and grind them to an approximate LR profile then harden and temper but price is going to be about $4 per needles.

Crap needles are the bane of any sewing machine.

The 45k has a top speed of 800spm and most would not have ever been run at that speed for any length of time in a leather working shop. As Wiz says they have a very long life but parts are hard to come by. It is possible that 45k parts are about to hit the market again but at this time I do not want to say too much until I have checked the quality.

My personal opinion is that if you are considering sewing as a long term hobby then restoring an old cheap machine is a great way to learn how a machine goes together and works. If you can restore a 111 or 45k then you will know a lot more about machines than when you started and this knowledge will be a major advantage in keeping your machines running.

The 201 series have a horizontal shuttle and when you wear it out with 138 thread (and you will) it cannot be replaced. The 15 class mostly use a central bobbin case that is cheap and easy to replace as is the shuttle. The 15-1 fiddle back bed machines use a long beak shuttle the same as the 17 and 18 class cylinder bed machines which are still available as the Seiko TE and TF respectively. The 95 class uses the 88X1 needle and I have never seen these bigger than 18g.

A bit off guesswork can be required. Send the same pic with the needle just starting to rise.

This is an odd question. In the business environment companies buy cars and equipment (usually leased) and expect them to last a maximum of 5 years before they trade and get new equipment so why do we expect sewing machines to last forever? Any well built machine will last for decades and I am talking about pretty much any current production, cast iron machine. Most machines I see do not get cleaned and oiled as often as they should be but they keep running. In the unlikely event a machine constantly plays up any dealer worth their salt will either make it work or replace it. Warranty is a statutory obligation but most honest sellers are ore concerned about the moral obligation of having happy customers. Everything I have seen here - and elsewhere - suggests that dealers like Bob, Ronnie and Steve are more concerned with happy customers than meeting pure legal obligations. These guys have even helped out people who buy machines online from others where they have no obligation to help.That is the mark of people who really care.

G bobbin is similar to the L bobbin. L does not mean large as the M is bigger. Horizontal bobbins are generally G size and have other issues. Personally I only like horizontal bobbins on twin needle machines so if you only need single needle then go for a machine with an M class bobbin

Message Bob Kovar at Toledo or any of the other dealers here. This is a standard machine and parts are easy to come by.

This is a bloody big job! if you manage to make this work then you are probably doing better than 90% of the supposed sewing machine mechanics in Australia. Go for it guys and if you can do this then you are better than most who have a shingle hanging out the front claiming to be sewing machine mechanics.

That is assuming the body even has the drillings for the feed assembly and it probably won't as I think the bottom casting is specific to this machine. If you were in Australia I would love this for my collection! 45k25 or 45k21 are the machine you are looking for. They are identical except the 25 left the factory with a roller foot and the 21 with a standard foot.

Have seen many steampunked machines over the last couple of years. Unfortunately the asking prices are usually too much for the market and they do not sell I have done steampunk versions of the ABLE 290 where I strip the machine, grind out the rough casting defects, paint the body black and plate most parts in copper.

LOL mate, I don't care what people call them as long as they buy them No problem mate, I do my best to help people with the machines even when they buy from others.

Yes it is ugly! But it is also inexpensive and reliable. It makes a great starter machine for newbies as it is also light and compact. Many of my customers purchase these for repairing horse rugs and have moved up to more professional machines for leather. Some upholsterers and auto trimmers buy them for those odd jobs that people turn up with every now and then. A 29k takes up a lot of space on a treadle and moving the head around when you need it is a pain (at 30kg - literally). A couple of guys leave it on the front counter as a talking point. I think "factory" is too grandiose a term. More likely a cave somewhere

Hi, The instruction manual does not include anything about adjustments but I think I know what your problem is. Before starting any adjustments make sure the needle is correct and in the right way. The needle is a standard domestic 705, HAX1, 15X1 etc with a flat on the shank. The flat goes against the needle bar so the long groove is facing left and the scarf faces the body of the machine. You need to be threading from the left to the right. There are a few things to check 1/ make sure the needle is centered on the hole in the needle plate. If not there are three bolts under the bed to loosen off for adjustment. 2/ Sometimes there is a bur in the takeup leaver that can damage the thread. 3/ Check the position of the shuttle carrier. Open the needle plate, turn the handle clockwise until the needle hits bottom and the comes up a couple of mm. The 1/3rd moon shaped shuttle carrier should by up against the needle - two thirds to the front (handwheel side) and one third behind the needle. If not then remove the shuttle carrier and drop it into the correct position. The shuttle carrier lifts out and has a pinion on the bottom. If all of the above is ok then it can only be the needle bar height. 4 Remove the shuttle but leave the shuttle carrier in place. Turn the handle clockwise as in step 3 but keep turning slowly until the needle is exposed. The top of the eye of the needle should be just level with or slightly below the flat surface of the shuttle carrier. If not then undo the screw facing you at the top of the needle bar adjust. All of that should take 10-20 minutes.

I have seen 45k hand cranks going through 10mm of leather with no problem but my preference is treadle. The old Singer 7 class treadle will easily run any 205 or 441 style machine at low, medium or high speed without having to make any adjustments

Always love to see the unusual machines!