DrmCa

IIRC 794 is the same as 7x3 where 7x3 is always round point, coincidentally they are 7cm long with a 3mm shank. General Industrial Sewing Machine (aka GSM Sewing) in Toronto, Canada, carries at least some types in that size. Just bought a pack of R in that size from them. Don't know if they would ship out of country though.

Yes, I know that the piece on the left is a keeper. The question is - how do I use it? Is the current rotation correct, or upside down, or turned about, etc?

This is about 3/4"-7/8" wide buckle from a mixed lot of leather hardware. For the life of me I cannot figure how to use the loop on the left. Can anyone with experience with this sort of buckles point me in the right direction? Much appreciated!

SOLVED: Figured that after reversed conversion to a roller foot the presser bar was not low enough to create sufficient pressure of the foot. All I had to do was loosening screw 32 on the bracket 28 and sliding bracket 28 slightly up the presser bar, then tightening screw 32 again, referring to section 4 "Hand lifter components" on p. 7 of the parts list attached. Now the foot is resting on the feed dog teeth and not floating in the air above them, and there is no more gathering and stitches form at all times with all feet even on the thinnest fabrics. DDL-5530 Parts List.pdf

The seller was very careful in NOT showing important parts in the pictures, I would stay away just because of that. If it does not work out from the get-go, it's likely going to lead to frustration down the road. Otherwise, it is an obviously motorized industrial machine, zigzag, and textile, like they already pointed above. If you were googling "Bernia", you might not get the results, as the correct name is "Bernina". Here is a somewhat detailed review: http://www.ashleyandthenoisemakers.com/blog/2015/5/7/bernina-217-review The price sounds about right.

I am looking to replace this single needle straight stitcher with a similar machine which has a reverse lever, i.e. 555 or 5550. Have tons of $$ invested in needles and feet, so staying with the same model. This is why this one is for sale. When I got it, it was set up for blanket quilting with a ring foot on a quilting table top (where the machine is mounted straight in front of you, not sideways, and there is a round cut-out in front of the machine for the operator's body). Will post pictures once I get home. Make: Juki Model: DDL 553 Needle system: the manual lists DBx1 but I always used 16/257 size 14 - 18, tried size 20 with TEX 90 thread, and it worked as well, but YMMV. The longest stitch is 6 SPI which is probably a bit misleading as it looks more like 5mm, the shortest is 30 SPI and it's really, really short (perfect for quality dress shirts). Adjustment is by pressing a button on top and turning the pulley. What it does well: This is a very versatile machine which does perfect straight stitching on medium to heavy weight textiles. What it has challenges with: climbing onto and off very thick seams on heavy denims. It may skip stitches before and after the thick part, especially if there is a simultaneous turn. I.e. if you are sewing jeans inseam, you would want to take it nice and slow. That all may be just caused by me not knowing how to properly tune the machine, but I want the buyer to be aware of anything I know about it. It did work fine on light upholstery leather using teflon or roller foot, but again, had challenges with crossing thick seams. Asking $100 CDN, open to reasonable offers. Prefer local pickup in Brampton or I can deliver after payment is received in the West end GTA, but shipping can be negotiated as well. Note: only the head is for sale, no oil pan, no K legs. If you want, I can throw in a free clutch motor, of which I have a couple to choose from: one Hitachi (the faster one) and one I can't remember the make (the slower one). I can also throw in a green quilting table top in very nice condition, say for $40. If you want teflon feet, I have several for $3 a piece. Also have a medium swing-out roller foot set including throat plate and feed dog for $15. These accessories are not offered separately and only sold with the machine head.

Yeah, I know that 553 is not a dedicated light weight machine, but it used to stitch light textiles fine before we set it up for leather. This is not really a big deal, because there will always be a zipper there to increase thickness. Perhaps I'll play with reducing threads tension more. Another thing was that it absolutely refused to stitch with a double-toe spring loaded foot. Would not interlock the thread. As soon as I put a solid foot on it - beautiful stitches. Go figure. Thank you!

I apologize that this is not leather related, but I have no one else to ask. Last night I was helping my wife to set up our long not used Juki DDL-553 for sewing in invisible zippers, and it would gather finer fabrics. We used this machine in the past to stitch light upholstery leather using first Teflon feet, then a roller foot (relatively unsuccessfully - it would skip when climbing or jumping off seams), but since returned it to the textile configuration. The light or heavy denims and twills would stitch just fine with TEX 18 or 16 thread, but when I tried batiste with the same thread, it gathered by quite a lot. If I stretched the seam, the thread of course broke. Tried loosening tension of the larger screw on the bobbin holder, and the nut on the top tensioner as well, but even when both threads were pretty easy to pull through, batiste would still keep gathering. We are getting slightly slanted stitches on batiste, but that is probably consistent with gathering. The denims and twills remain perfectly flat, and stitches look perfectly normal and straight. We were using a special foot for invisible zippers, and a new size 18 TIN coated 16/257 regular point Organ needle. The machine is threaded correctly to the best of my knowledge: from the stand through the disks on the post, into the hole on the post, into the 1st and 3d holes on the top guide, into the top tensioner, through the takeup lever hook, up the takeup lever, into the hook on the needle bar and into the hole in the collar on the needle bar. Having the same poly A&E TEX 18 or 16 thread on the cone and on the bobbin. I just ran new clean oil through the machine. So what am I doing wrong? Should I loosen bottom and top thread tension further? Or does this have anything to do with foot pressure?

For bags the cylinder arm would be a better choice. And you will want to expand anyway sooner or later, so why not getting a 441 clone right away?

You probably started off with a crooked bobbin, just replace it and clean up the shuttle hook from any lint, and you should be good.

Thread should not leave the shuttle too easily. There should be considerable force required to pull either thread - not much, but you should feel the resistance. More on the top. It is fraying thread... Try stitching different materials, for instance some light to medium textiles. Try size 18 needle with TEX27-40 thread. If the problem goes away, try on lighter leather. I had the exact same issue when tried stitching leather which was too heavy.

Is the machine threaded correctly? Is the thread clean of dust/pollen and from a new cone? Is the bobbin wound and inserted correctly? Is the shuttle hook clean of dust and pollen? Is the machine lubed correctly?

If it's made in USSR, I would stay away - horrible quality, very tricky and hard to tune products. I had a horrible experience with their Veritas and Podolsk brands stitchers and sergers.

I get lots of surplus (full and partial cones) American & Efird and it works very well in my Pfaff.

In my case the pressure runs down to 0 PSI so no amount of banging would help. Before these cans are completely low, warming them up under hot water prolongs their life a bit, but not for long.

Be careful, medieval and boots are a kind of oxymoron, as in medieval times footwear was not near as sophisticated as during Renaissance. If you are striving for historic accuracy, you should do a lot of research.

Historically gases were used for sanitizing something which could not be dipped or wiped, including sulfur dioxide and other nasty chemicals.

3M glues are absolute best, I use their foam glue in the green can all the time to make classic "cheese cutter" caps and it works very well. Unfortunately the cans run out of "air" long before they run out of glue, but I am investigating into the method to re-fill them from a compressor, just need to figure out the moisture removal.

So the made in Italy label is somewhat misleading?

Alder cones and bark give a very beautiful orange tan to hides.

I would be cautious about re-purposing a textile machine to stitch leather, as these materials have completely different properties. There are many sellers who will do anything to ride on the train created by the surge in demand for leather goods and they will advertise textile machines as leather machines. Seller stating that this machine is for leather does not mean it is. And stitching vinyl canopies and covers does not equal stitching leather. Before you buy, take your typical leather sample and thread to the seller and try stitching. If it works, you are golden, otherwise no amount of adjustment may tune it up to the task. When I was buying my Pfaff 335, I knew it was capable of working on light upholstery leather and it performed fine in the shop. As I was buying primarily for textiles, I was fine with it not being able to stitch anything heavier.

I do not feel that the rounded end is in any way inferior, it looks pleasant to my eye. Not sure you need to strive for a perfectly round end.

I just bought a full shopping bag of polyester #69-90 thread at CDN$2.50 a cone overseas in various colors (not available anywhere in Canada) and paid $10 for shipping to my door. No Canadian supplier would ever come even close.

Very cool indeed!

Yeah, everything in Canada costs as much, as if there was no concept of commercial distribution known to Canadian vendors. It feels like they buy each item at the retail price from the States, pay the general public's shipping rates and HST, then tally it all up ad come up with Canadian retail prices. Undercutting this crooked crowd makes me so pleased! I wish they all go bankrupt, greedy jerks.