mikesc

Have you tried changing it for another needle of the same type?..and does the original needle actually make locked stitches ?..if so ? what do they look like top and bottom..

I'm guessing that without knowing the exact juki machine model,( there are very many models of juki machines, so which one is it ? ) it is not going to be an easy question to get an answer to.

A walking foot machine with servo motor and speed reducer..not my video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_SjYNjPUA0 and A walking foot machine with a clutch motor..video by wiz...he can make a clutch motor machine ( with maybe a speed reducer ? )run really slow..takes practice..lots of practice.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-QjJgJKKVM and finally.. A walking foot machine with a clutch motor running the way they usually do..fast..and quite hard to control..sewing textile.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o7yT8v9jM0

re servo motor..sewing machines used to be fitted with clutch motors ( moteur a embrayage ) they use a friction plate to transfer the force from the motor ( which is always turning at a fast speed ) to the pulley that drives the belt from the motor ( below the table )to the "sewing machine head" ( the part above the table or "bati" )..When you press the pedal the friction plate is moved and makes contact and the pulley spins..usually very fast..so the machine can be hard to control to run at slow speeds..to run slowly ( and have good control for leather sewing ) you need to move the friction disc ( clutch / embrayage disc ) just a little, ( this is called feathering the clutch )..it can be hard to learn..c'est delicat et pas tres evident.. The clutch motor runs fast all the time..and uses electricity all the time..and sometimes requires that you have access to AC current 3 phase ( tri phase )..some will run on domestic mono phase supply..or can be adapted to do so, if you know what you are doing with electricity .. example of a clutch motor http://fr.aliexpress.com/item/Clutch-motor-sewing-machine-motor-250W-high-speed-industrial-sewing-machine/32471847899.html Compare with.. A servo motor ( runs only when you press the pedal, is DC but plugs into AC domestic supply ) and is variable from verrrrry slow to fast.. Un servomoteur c'est un moteur qui fonctionne en courant continu d'intensité réglable par une system électronique et ça consome presque rien par rapport au moteur a embrayage. example of a servo motor.. http://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-500W-AC-servo-motor-for-Industrial-Sewing-Machine-instead-clutch-motor-Free-shipping-by-DHL/32260915360.html a lire aussi http://www.voiles-alternatives.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=366 et re le dernier lien...les variateurs à fréquence sont cher, et mieux etre un bon electricien pour le montage etc.. HTH ..btw ..I'm still thinking that you maybe read French too ?..even my French ( avec mes fautes d'ortho ) with some grammar mistakes

211G166 is good for what you want..better ( more recent ) than 111W155..and just as "solide" , and, like BigMatt says..it has reverse ( very useful , saves a lot of manipulation ) ..I have a 211U 166A..( made in Japan ) a very similar machine..Lots of spare parts available Fitting a servo motor is a good idea..much more control on any machine, and you can get good servo motors for not much more money than the cost of buying a speed reducer.

If you are in Ireland ? then AFAIK the legal minimum warranty is longer than that ..it is usually 2 years ( EU wide ) and some countries ( UK ,) extend it again to as much as 6 years..Even B2B ( and buying ex VAT ) you get a minimum of 12 months warranty.. Btw..what kind of prices ( Euros or USD ) for each machine are we talking ?

Tom..re "edit"..at the time when I posted that, it was during the upgrade..the edit facilty was unavailable to me ( maybe to others ?) , even within 30 seconds of the original posting, stayed like that for a while, then suddenly came back ( the scripts were shuffling about back there, or being got back into line by Johanna ), but it insisted that I put something in the "edit reason box"..( I wonder if I put "fumble fingers" or "senile typing" if it would let me edit, or just up my meds ;-)..linking went weird for a while too, had to put BB code in by hand.. Now it all works wonderfully again :)

Whoops ..Yes Eric..( re speed reducer )I forgot that it was not for leatherwork ..mea culpa :)

Yes ;) ..a small pulley on the motor shaft and a speed reducer are your friend..as is a servo motor in combination with the foregoing items..

I'd be inclined to heat ( heat gun on low or hair dryer ) the centre part of the balance wheel that is holding onto / around the shaft ( without heating the shaft )..hot ( even warm metal ) expands..so the diameter of the hole in the balance wheel will get ever so slightly bigger..and the shaft wont expand, so the balance wheel should "unstick"..wear leather gloves ( or oven gloves to pull it off..you shouldn't need to heat much for this to work..heating things ( with holes ) and then sliding them onto shafts so that they hold as they cool and shrink is the reverse of this..don't heat so much that you damage the bearing(s) behind the balance wheel..and not so much as to damage the paint..

IIRC, there are a slew of posts about various greases etc to put ( or not *) on the cork after it is glued.. to maybe aid in reducing the "instant bite" of it..so you can "feather" the clutch ( go slowly ) easier .. try searching for posts by Eric ( gottaknow ) with clutch disc in the text or subject..I don't know how good the site search here is ,but if you put the command /string into Google.. site:leatherworker.net gottaknow clutch disc you'll get back at least some of them..whether or not one uses grease of some sort on one's clutch discs , and what sort, appears to be like whether or not one puts sugar in one's coffee or water in one's single malt :) *lights blue touch paper and retires ;)

Salut adelvalle :) ..le Singer 111W155 c'est la meilleur option pour toi pour demarrer, pas mal des pieces sont dispo' toujours, pieds de biche etc , , c'est presque increvable, solide, tres bon matos :) Par contre .."Machine Omega WF22ZZ new with zig zag in 425$CA semi industrial portable" non..trop faible..le descriptif.. "semi industrial portable".. c'est du n'importe quoi.. Translation / Traduction..Because I think that adelevalle is francophone with English as second language so maybe a reply in French helps ?..I wrote.. Hi adelvalle the Singer 11W155 is the best option for you to begin with, a lot of the pieces are still available, feet etc, it is almost unbreakable. In contrast the "Machine Omega WF22ZZ new with zig zag in 425$CA semi industrial portable" , no, it is not powerful enough, "semi industrial portable" means nothing / is a rubbish description.. a lire read this .by Wiz..

Umm..I think that is glue both the metal surface and the cork surface ( allow to dry and press them together ) .."glue both sides" would be glue both sides of the cork..which I don't think that is what one would want to do ?

Btw..I'd add that although there are fora here ( in French obviously ;-) which are frequented by pro sewers and pro leather workers, I have never seen any evidence at all of any French sewing machine dealers, or spare parts dealers, jumping in to offer help or advice like the dealers do on this forum..Here nless you have cash in your hand they offer no advice, and once the machine is out the door they go deaf..This place , Leatherworker.net, is a real breath of fresh air and a goldmine for anyone who can read English, thanks to all the pros and the dealers who post here :)

Like I said..I know what the correct terms are..but when one begins.those two are illogical.."they" say "horizontal bobbin" or "vertical bobbin"..whereas they would be far more descriptive ( and accurate ) if they said horizontal axis / or horizontally driven bobbin, and, vertical axis / or vertically driven bobbin..kind of like car engines which most people refer to as "in the front" or "in the rear"..whereas the accurate description would also include the words transversal mounting or longitudinal mounting.. BTW..here ( France ) all sewing machines are referred to as a "Piqueuse" ( pronounced pickurz )..and are "simple entrainement",( bottom feed ) "double entrainement" ( top and bottom feed ) and "triple entrainement" ( walking foot , compound feed ) ..most sewers ( pro or not ) and most dealers , don't specify which of the three they are talking about, even in their small ads / advertising .."jump foot" and other "exotics" all get lumped in with "triple entrainement"..wastes a lot of one's time when buying ( visiting machines which are not as described ) and makes ordering spares a nightmare, so I order everything, except needles from outside of France..Thus also saving myself having the prices of spares multiplied by 3 or more by the French dealers.. eg; a small bobbin for a 29K51 is over $250.oo here !! Hirose hooks start at around $500.oo..and new machines if bought from French dealers are 2 times the UK or German price, ( both countries have around the same VAT rate as we do ) and 3 times the US price.

I'm wondering if there isn't some confusion ( there certainly used to be in my mind ;-)) about what is meant by "vertical" and "horizontal" bobbin..neither term seems to refer to the actual way the bobbin "sits" or "lays".."vertical bobbins" lay on their back..( parallel to the machine bed and the surface of the planet *) which to any rational person would make them actually horizontal ( when you lay on your back are you vertical or horizontal in relation to your bed or the surface of the planet )..and "horizontal bobbins" stand on their side ( at 90 degrees to the machine bed and the surface of the planet *) which would ( again to any rational person ) make them actually vertical .. The axis of the horizontal bobbin ( which can be accessed by sliding a plate on the bed ) is vertical in relation to the machine bed..and the axis of a vertical bobbin ( which can usually be easily reached by putting one's hand under the bench ( at least on my juki490 it can, without tilting the machine back ) is horizontal..To my "logical mind" the bobbin on my Juki 490 is actually "vertical" ( it is standing up ), wheras the bobbin on my singer 211 is actually "horizontal"..( it is lying down )..To my artistic/designers mind..it is all relative ;-).. I now view the sewing machine "terms" ( and the fact that thread sizes get bigger in some systems and smaller in others as they increase in thickness ) as like those of French grammar..<= arcane and weird and usually inconsistent..but they are what I have to deal with.. :)

The Chinese ( like any industrials who make OEM ) build to the "price point" that the companies that buy from them negotiate and then set.. They can and do build very high quality..if the buyer is very good at negotiating and willing to pay for quality build..iphones and the top end Samsungs and nearly everything electronic that you have( including whatever device you are using to post and read here ) are probably made in China.. If the most common use of a particular sewing machine that they make is not for sewing leather, then they are not going to set up a special production run for just one machine to sew leather, but they will set up a side run for someone ( like the dealers here ) who are buying tens or hundreds per month..and even then "getting the machines right" will take a few trips to China to iron out little things, and some tweaking when they arrive to whoever the importing dealer is..plus only the dealers keep the spares on hand, and their contacts at the manufacturer are the ones who speak and read and write and understand English..The dealers also do all the customs stuff..goods are shipped according to what customs agents call "points" each item is a "point".. An example from garment importing ( applies to any importing of any objects or goods , from anywhere, to anywhere ).. Let's say I want a manufacturer in China to make me some women's jackets..as long as the style is identical for each, and as long as the material is identical for each, then whether I buy 1 or 100 or 1000..the agent charges me for "1 point" ..at ( X dollars ) to clear jackets through customs..so let us say I pay $150.oo per "point"..I bring in one jacket, I pay $150.oo ( plus whatever duties or taxes there may be on one jacket , depends on the materials, condition etc etc etc )..If I bring in 100 jackets ( all the same, apart from their sizes ), I'll still pay the customs agent $150.oo plus 100 x whatever duties or taxes there may be on one jacket..and if it is 1000 jackets, then I pay the customs agent $150.oo ( plus 1000 times whatever duties or taxes there may be for 1 jacket )..and if I'm bringing in 100 or a 1000 jackets, I'll also be bringing in plenty of spare buttons and zips etc that are used in them so as to have the ability to replace and repair ( or give to my "final customers" in the pockets ) ..Now..if I also want them to take something that they already make, say a jacket, but change it to my specifications ( say make the sleeves 3/4 length and use a contrast lining, and widen the lapels , and make 50 in denim and 50 in metallic silver finished lambskin )..the I'll have "2 points" ( one applies to denim jackets, and one applies to lambskin leather jackets )..so for 100 jackets shipped, I'll now have to pay the customs agent 2 x $150.oo ( plus whatever duties or taxes there may be on one jacket, and the duties and taxes will not be the same for denim as for lambskin )..the more your items differ, the more complex and expensive it can get.. It is quite possible, even probable that sewing machines for textile are considered by customs as different from those for leather , and thus attract different rates of taxes and duties upon import..It is late here now , so I'm not going to look it up..but as a "f'rinstance"..women's denim jeans do not attract the same taxes and duties as men's denim jeans ( women's denim jeans are considered to be a "fashion item" and men's denim jeans are "work clothes" ..men's motorcycle leather pants do not attract the same duties and taxes as women's leather motorcycle pants..and then there is / are "gloves"..and and and.... The dealers here will know what I mean..their "markup" is not just "profit for box shifting"..it is for what they know, the sweat and the late nights and travel and phone calls and visits etc etc ( and orders that the "manufacturer" got wrong on the way to getting it right ) , their "backup" stock of spares, and all the other overheads.. Their headaches as importers, dealers, manufacturers, are what gives you your peace of mind..

Forgive me if this sounds a little harsh, and I may be wrong to boot..But given the size of the wallets, the corners on them, the size of the leather strips that you want to add..I fear that where the strips go around the corners it is going to look like crap..Leather"binding" isn't going to "do" small tight curves like that without rucking , bunching up..even skived.. IIWY, I'd make your corners more rounded( slightly bigger radius )..and burnish your edges..forget leather binding at those dimensions..Yes, it might be possible to feed the binding leather really slooooooowly, and to sew around the corners really slooooowly, but even so, IMHO, you'll get a lot of items with bad, ugly corners..even if your leather binding strips were made from 1 to 2 oz lambskin ( or even "stretch" lambskin ), which we use a lot..I wouldn't hold out much chance of getting a reasonable looking corner by binding ultra thin lambskin or even stretch lambskin around any radius corner that was tighter than the corners of an iphone..even going real sloooowly by hand..I think you'd still get a lot of scrap wallets with ugly corners..or you'd have to go so sloooowly that you'd make better money giving them hand laced edges, and making that your "distinctive" selling point ..That would of course make them bulkier.. I'm typing this with a lot of very high grade thin lambskins and stretch lambskins ( and a lot of goatskin offcuts from Hermes ) within arms reach of me, I just tried pulling some pieces and strips of the thinnest into the kind of curves ( actually the corners on your wallets are not curved, but are quite square which makes it even harder to get leather to go neatly around them ) that you are looking to do..even the thinnest "stretch" lambskin that we have the tanneries make for us ( about 0.8mm thickness ) and which has 30% stretch in one axis and 10% in the other axis ( at 90 degrees to the first axis ) bunches up and folds on itself terribly when I try to make it go around the outside edges of my wallet ( which is about the same size and shape as the one in your photo )..the thinnest non stretch lambskin ( about 0.6mm ) doesn't go around the corners any better ..even specialised high quality soft plush type lingerie elastic ( 10mm width ..so 5mm folded ) bunches and folds onto itself on corners like that, which is why we don't make anything that would need elastic or leather ( even fine stretch lambskin ) to go around corners or small tight radius curves..very thin vynil or PVC might get around those corners without looking too bad, but then it would be vynil or plastic, leather and vynil /PVC wallets is , I doubt, is what you are looking to sell..:) "Fold over elastic"..( 18mm folded to 9mm front and back ) which I just tried gets around the corner, but still bunches ( leaves the kind of corner that used to be called "hospital bed" ) into at least one fold..doesn't look good IMO..I have a Billabong textile ( nylon about 300 to 400 dn ) wallet here, it has nylon braided binding around the edges ( similar size corners to yours ) that is folded over ( "hospital bed style ) to get around the corners..binding is black , folds are not too visible..but it ( like all Billabong goods ) looks kinda nylon back packish ..My wife ( who is asleep ATM ) has some classic / vintage and modern Vuitton and Hermes bags sacs and wallets , purses etc , I can take a look later this morning ( it is 01.45 hrs here ) and see if any of them are made with leather binding on the edges, I don't remember them being so, but maybe ? If they are, I would think that they will have been hand stitched anyway.. Maybe Eric ( gottaknow )has tried ( and maybe succeeded ) to set up machines to do the kind of leather binding that you want on small objects and corners..? IIWY..I'd try to sew a leather binding on ( just to the inside, or the outside ) first, by machine, without a binder, and see what the corners look like, maybe you'll be happy with the outcome and the "look", and maybe you'll be able to work the binding application at an economical speed, but I suspect that you'll more likely be disappointed with the final result at the corners..

Just noticed after the site went offline for maintenance that previous images appear to be back ( I was using Art's "strop" thread as a control ) http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/36221-how-to-make-a-strop-for-knives/?page=1 ..images are back there now ..thumbs that when clicked upon open to larger images as was previously the case..Congrats and kudos to Johanna and "the team"..drinks ll round..raises glass ..:)

Is it possible that it is jamming because you made it longer ? ( the threads do not look to be exactly the same, pitch looks similar, but your new one looks more coarse ) might also explain the jamming. How far can you screw the new one in before the machine jams, is it an equivalent distance to the good old one fully screwed in ? re the thumbscrew part, I didn't mean make the thumbscrew part the same, but..curious why you didn't make the threaded part of the new one identical to the threaded part of the good old one, if they were identical ( length and shape, apart from the thumbscrew head part ) at least you would not have introduced a "variable"..will the good old one fit in the machine that has a problem ? re translation..French I'd have done it no problem, my German is not good enough to be reliable ( lack of practice )..Uwe or Constabulary ( maybe others ?) would be your best bet for translation from German to English

Polyester feels "softer" and they react differently to flame / heat.

Thanks :) That is really useful..as are the pictures of the back of the machine..Here in France there is a sort of "Craigslist".it's name is "le Bon Coin" ( Translates to "the good corner" ) ..no-one ever shows the back of the machines in the adverts, ( and most of the pictures of the industrial machines for sale are taken to include the entire stand, so you can't make out any detail of the head part above the stand, and are often blurry ) and frequently they don't give the model type, nor any details such as close-ups of the presser feet and needle areas.. The more I learn about machines from people here, the more fascinating I find them and the whole subject of the effects and influences of sewing machines on and in society and history..:)

Your "new one" ( if it is the one on the left ) does look to be a "smidge" shorter than the the original from the old machine ( on the right )..does that "smidge" correspond to the difference at the foot ? Looks to be a little less than half a millimetre "shorter", but that might be where the missing adjustment lies..what do they measure ( respectively ) if you use a micrometre to measure just the length of the part ( which you are measuring with your steel ruler ) which protrudes from the thumbscrew "head"..?

Is that long flat bar "spring steel" ? That would fit in with what I take Bob to be talking about..( and would make sense re the "difference" Bob mentioned, between Constabulary's machine and my 29K51 re foot pressure )..Looks like it can slide through the fitting where the wing nut is..and that the amount of "spring" can be adjusted by the large thumbscrew ( near the "pivot" ) in the middle of the top arm casting..

Thank you.. That brings a smile to the morning.. Compared with my recently aquired ( waiting for restoration ) 29K51* ( built 1928 ) and which was the only machine of a Breton cobbler ( I bought it from his family, straight out of his tiny workshop )..I'm curious, what is the flat bar and wing-nut assembly that runs at the back from the middle of the arm to the needle "gubbins" for ? *Bought as a result of seeing your posts and reading your "sig"..