AMule123

thanks guys! The manual for the 757 was helpful, but also a bit cryptic, for instance; "Determination of positioning for stitch length at forward and backward amount." granted, theres lot a i need to learn about sewing machines, but thats nonsense right? haha it goes on to say that it can be adjusted by the position of the feed regulating set plate, which as far as im aware would only change the maximum stitch length, and not affect the reverse length. am i wrong? might be time for me to call the dealer haha thanks again guys!

so after more reading, ive learned that im looking to balance the forward and reverse stitch length and tension. Would a machine specific manual exist that would show me adjustments like this? would it be worth contacting seiko?

Hey all! so I recently picked up a seiko ch-8b and have been having a good old time playing around. Problem is when in reverse the stitch length is roughly halved, which doesn’t make for a neat finish. Thing is the previous owner removed the feed dog and fitted a slotted plate, and I saw somewhere on here someone mention the same issue after this modification. so I replaced them, and not only did it not fix the stitch length, now the tensions out on the reverse! The manual I’ve found hasn’t been of any help, and it doesn’t seem to be all that common of a machine, so being a relative machine noob, I’m having a bit of trouble. Thanks in advance! sam

Thanks all! Super appreciate the help, I’m going to go with the seiko, it comes with a spare set of feet, and I’ve found a guy in aus with a couple more. thanks again sam

Thanks mate! Super helpful! Who makes your guides?

Thank you! That would be greatly appreciated! Yeah I think it’s Jess, and yes comes complete.

Thanks Dikman! yeah I’d considered that a 441 might be overkill, as I’m not planning on making saddles any time soon, but I’d rather have more machine than less, and the bags that I’ll be making will at the very top have about 12-13mm thickness, so it will give me room to move up, without getting a different machine. I do make wallet and other small leathergoods, but I plan on continuing to hand stitch those, it’s just gonna be the bigger bags that I can’t see myself handstitching for much longer! also I’d like to use a size 207 thread for detail stitching, to somewhat replicate hand stitching. good to hear re the drop down guide! Do you have a photo of yours? thanks Sam

Thanks all! Appreciate your responses. yeah I’ve been leaning toward the seiko, but the available attachments are a concern to me. I imagine I can make a flatbed attachment, and the dealer has offered me a guide, but it’s the swing out variety, as opposed to the drop down, which does limit its usefulness to me. He has also modified the feet, removing the right hand one and shortening and narrowing the left one, but also has a spare set of original feet. and finally it has a slotted throat plate instead of the original bottom feeder, apparently for saddlers to save the underside from marking. What limitation would this impose? What kind of specialist feet are available for the 441 that would not be for the seiko? thanks again! Sam

Hi all, I tried to post an absolute essay of a question yesterday and it didn’t work, probably cos it was too long haha Ill summarise; Im looking at getting a 441 clone, to replace the handstitching on my 6oz leather bags. being in Australia I was looking at a cowboy 4500 from Queensland. But as I’m in Sydney I was looking for a local supplier and found a used seiko ch-8b with a brand new servo and speed reducer, from a sewing machine supplier 20minutes from me, for slightly less than the cowboy would work out with shipping. i just met the guy and his seiko and it runs beautifully with the leather and threads I’d like to use. heres the question, with a limited (3month) warranty on the seiko, am I better off with a longer warranty on a brand new machine? he couldn’t tell me how old the seiko was, but it looked great. thanks in advance! you guys have already been such help! Sam