Uwe

There may not be a "qualified" Cowboy dealer in all of South Africa, since the original dealer/agent didn't really set things up correctly to begin with, according to the original post. Sometimes taking the machine in for service is just not an option. Well over 99% of all people do not live within driving distance of a qualified Cowboy dealer. I'd say certain hook + race combinations just don't work well together. Mixing and matching parts between OEM (Juki) and aftermarket copies (Cowboy and others) does not always yield desired result. If an aftermarket copy is a truly faithful copy of the original, then the OEM parts should work. Some manufacturers make subtle design or manufacturing changes (on purpose or accidentally) that go unnoticed but result in poor parts interchangeability. I have a feeling the issue of thread getting pulled into the race during reverse has, among other things, to do with very subtle differences in the curves and slopes of the shuttle hook tip itself, and also the shape of the right edge of the race and backing ring. Thread material, and how sticky/slippery it is may als affect this issue. If the thread does not want to slide back on the hook during reverse, it is more likely to get dragged into the race. A slight burr on the hook will have the same effect. Aggressive polishing of the hook tip may make things permanently worse. The opposing movement of hook and needle during forward stitches hides many imperfections and timing flaws. Sewing in reverse where both needle and hook move in the same direction, but at different speeds, is much less forgiving. I'm working through the hook timing instructions in the Juki TSC-441 engineering manual (Juki 441 Engineers Manual.pdf). It's not exactly intuitive and some steps don't compute in my head quite yet. Missing reference marks on the machine don't help, either. In the meantime, I made a video showing how my machine's race and shuttle hook fit together and how things come apart. Perhaps it will help others notice some differences, or confirm that theirs is the same as mine in the video.

I decided to get to the bottom of my machine's issues in reverse at max stitch length. I now know how it snags the thread and why it occasionally skips a stitch in reverse. Exactly how to fix the issue, I'm still not sure about. I made a needle feed throat plate from clear acrylic so I see could what was going on below. I made a video for the occasion and it might be of interest to folks with a Juki TSC-441 class machine, even if they are not experiencing any issues. On my machine the thread snag is caused by the top thread loop getting pushed into the race channel by the hook. Using thicker thread may actually avoid this issue because the thick thread is less likely to squeeze into the tight gap between the shuttle and race channel. I'm using size 138 thread in the video. I may need to tighten up the race channel a little (not sure how/if that is even possible.) The hook-to-needle timing on my machine looks spot-on to me. Alas the hook does not go back quite far enough to make reliable stitches in reverse at max stitch length. Perhaps retarding the hook a little bit may improve clearance between the needle/thread and the tip of the hook in reverse at max stitch length. Sewing at higher speed may also help, actually, as the hook gets tossed back and forth and is more likely to rest against the shuttle drivers push point. My slow-motion hand turning in the video does not create much momentum to toss the shuttle to the limit stops. Here's the video for your entertainment:

You can copy and paste the web address of your video (in this case "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDDnYJoJqH8" ) directly into a reply and it will be automatically embedded for easy access:

I finally got a few snippets of film catching the machine as the thread gets snagged. It's hard to see and even harder to film, but my machine actually manages to snag thread in two different ways. One is subtle and only causes somewhat loose stitches at the bottom, the other is a major snag and causes big loops of top thread on the underside. The main problem is when the thread gets snagged between the shuttle and the race: The photo below shows four rows: Top: forward Second: reverse with big snag loops Third and fourth rows are forward again with smaller stitch length followed by reverse with moderately loose bottom stitches. I still don't know exactly what causes the snags or how to fix them. I put together a few video snippets showing how my machine catches the thread under certain circumstances. This is not some elaborate how-to-fix-it video, just documenting what can go wrong.

The fix was super easy! Just point a camera at the machine and threaten it with public shaming in social media and it'll make perfect stitches in both directions at all stitch lengths!

So I was just trying this out on my Cowboy 4500, and, lo and behold, it does the exact same thing when I reverse at maximum stitch length! It sews just fine in both directions when I select a smaller stitch length, but at maximum stitch length in reverse, the thread loop snags momentarily between the shuttle and race, the take-up lever pulls more thread from the spool with a snapping sound in the upper thread path, and leaving a loop at the bottom. I'm not sure yet why the thread snags or how to fix this, actually. I guess it's my turn to take a video snippet of my machine misbehaving and report back.

I'd open the hook cover, turn a few stitches very slowly in reverse by hand and closely inspect what's happening as the thread gets wrapped around the hook. Your top thread may snag some place in reverse and pull more thread from the spool, which the take-up lever cannot pull tight anymore. A video snippet uploaded to Youtube is a great tool for remote debugging.

That Juki 1541S in the CL ad came from @Gregg From Keystone Sewing . The machine in the CL Ad looks to be in very nice condition. The price for that machine new from Keystone $1,510. Here's a snapshot of the CL ad for this juki DNU-1541S, just in case anybody's interested:

Also make sure you actually pull up the bobbin thread through the feed dog hole. You can't just leave the bobbin thread dangling underneath after changing the bobbin. Hold the top thread and hand-turn one cycle to pick up the bobbin thread and bring it to the top. The hold both threads for the first few stitches to avoid tangles underneath.

That Adler 30-5 sure looks like it's worth a loooong drive to pick up. If I was within driving distance, my inquiry to them would go like "I'll take it. When's a good time to pick it up?" https://wichita.craigslist.org/for/6131529553.html

When you get a chance, please let us know exactly what you ordered and how it worked out. Did the folks at Altanta Attachment offer any insights you care to share?

I'm afraid almost nothing form that Pfaff 335 binding kit will fit on a Consew 227. The cylinder arms are totally different. The off-the-shelf binder you're looking for will be similar to this KHF-48 style binder made by Kwok Hing for large diameter cylinder arm swing machines.(http://www.kwokhing.com/KHF/app/app_bi_cy.htm)

The Pfaff 138 gets my vote. There's a detailed topic on that machine:

Many stands in the technical part of the show did indeed have "no cameras" signs plastered all over. The entire Juki stand was off limits for photos and videos. I took only a handful of photos and one video during the show. I may post about a few items here and there as time and motivation allows, but I don't plan to write a detailed trip report.

I stopped by the stand again today to take a closer look. The designer/engineer was there and offered some additional insights. The stand is rather over-engineered in a good way. There is a fair amount of complexity because certain parts are customized to the sewing machine head installed on the stand. So you can't just order a dozen of these stands and sell them to a bunch of people with very different machine heads. Purely hypothetical, if you were a manufacturer of a certain size and affluence in, say, Southern California, you could just order sixty of these stands, have them loaded onto containers and shipped to the Durkopp Adler NA headquarters in Georgia to be fitted with shiny new identical Durkopp Adler 669 cylinder arm machines and then delivered to your factory. That's the way to do it, purely hypothetical. The cost of the stand is only about a quarter of what that Durkopp Adler 669 and Efka drive system runs - a bargain in my opinion, especially if you buy sixty of them.

Having built my share of flatbed table attachments and sewing machine stands, I was duly impressed by the convertible sewing machine stand the French company Echo Positif (http://www.echo-positif.fr) showed at the TexProcess trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany today. The lady was very kind to let me film a demo:

The various bits that connect to the guides are listed on the Kwok Hing website: http://www.kwokhing.com/adler/da_guide.htm The zipper guide is called KG-BZ

It sure looks heavy duty to me. That motor can probably operate an elevator. Love that monster hand wheel.

Thank you Eric!

Yes, That Pfaff 335 is for light to medium use. That Adler 105-64 is well suited for heavy materials and 1500 Euro is not really that expensive (it's the Pfaff that's bloody cheap.)

I'd recommend checking with Global Industrial Sewing Machines (http://globalsew.com) in Haarlem, Netherlands. They're just a two hour drive north of you. If you REALLY want to see everything make a day trip to Frankfurt and visit the TexProcess Trade Show that runs from May 9-12. I'll be there, like a kid in a candy store. That show only happens every two years in Europe. For flatbed wheel-driven machines, the Durkopp Adler 887 is one of the current reference machines:

The Consew 206RB-5 is a made-in-China copy of the original made-in-Japan Seiko STH-8BLD-3, which you can buy for around $1,500. Seiko made the older versions of the 206RB for Consew. So if you want a new Consew 206RB-5 with the same quality and reputation as the older ones, buy the Seiko STH-8BLD-3. Very nice machines. Made-in-China by itself is not bad thing per se. You just have to pick the right factory or suppliers. A few decades old is good when it comes to industrial sewing machines. Buy an Adler or Pfaff from the 70's or 80's when Engineers ruled and happy, well paid workers in Germany assembled the machines. TechSew has done their homework and picked good suppliers for their machines from what I can tell.

There actually is a list of numerically sorted part numbers in that particular PDF file. I've seen the numerically sorted pages removed from many PDF scans. I just ran OCR (Optical Character Recognition) text recognition on the PDF file which makes it searchable. You can type in a part number and it should show up three times (or more): once in the grouped parts list, once in the numerically sorted parts list, and once in the picture plate pages. It worked for two of the three part numbers I tried out. Here's the OCR version of the SInger 97-10 parts list that should be text searchable: 97-1_10 OCR.pdf Having searchable PDF files is a step in the right direction. I can search my own PDF archive on my computer for certain mystery part numbers. But my archive of PDF parts lists is incomplete and nobody else has access to it. It would be preferable to have a centralized, online parts look-up system. But that may not be practical (unless Google decides they LOVE vintage sewing machine parts lists.) 97-1_10 OCR.pdf

I acquired a fair amount of Singer 97-10 parts last year along with a larger inventory purchase. Some used, some reproductions, some new old stock. The problem is that the parts are not organized or cataloged yet, but rather in a four-level, 900 sqft chinese puzzle (I have to move at least ten pieces to get to the one I want, if I even know where to look.) I did come across a box marked "Singer 97-10 races - new" yesterday. I counted about fifty new reproduction races that somebody had commissioned some time ago. Time will tell what else pops up in the other boxes and drawers. I was going to have things organized and cataloged over the winter, but here I am at the end of April and I've barely made a dent. I sure hope to actually own a complete Singer 97-10 machine some day. I'm glad to hear of people who still have and use these fantastical beasts. I also wish there was a reverse parts look-up tool where you can enter a part number and it spits out all the machines (or at least one) where that part was used.

You may want to consider a Bottom+Needle feed machine. The full compound feed machines tend to be on the heavier side. For many industrial sewing machines, the manufacturers made various subclasses that handle different range of materials. Check the spec sheets to make sure your candidates support the needle system and sizes you want to use. The Durkopp Adler 272 is a modern incarnation of the Bottom+Needle feed design and supports the fine needle sizes you are looking for: The Singer 111W151 is the vintage version. Alexander Dyer made a nice video with this machine.