dikman

It's finally cooled off enough to spend time in my sewing machine shed (it was getting up to 47*C at one stage, not good for me!). As some will be aware I had issues with the incorrect assembly of the lifting rod which caused it to jam when using the foot lifter. Today, while checking it over I realised I only had 10mm under the foot with a manual lift and 15mm with the foot lifter, not the 13/20 I should have. After going over all the linkages and finding no adjustments I released the presser spring and using a 13mm drill bit for a gauge under the feet I released the clamp screws on the presser bar and with the manual lift engaged readjusted the linkage position on the bar. It took a couple of tries to get it aligned correctly but now I have the correct lifting clearances. I realise now that my problem is that being a Cowboy, and supposedly being a better quality build, I had assumed that the basic adjustments would have been set before leaving the factory, but in the case of this machine because it was incorrectly assembled no-one bothered to check it and it was adjusted according to the faulty assembly. A little disappointing, I wonder if their quality control is slipping. And yes, I know a dealer would have caught this IF it was assembled as a package on a table but that's not how I bought it so I'm not blaming the dealer. Fortunately, thanks to this great site and my subsequent experience with other machines this was an easy fix once I accepted that the quality control was suspect. An interesting difference, compared to a Juki, is the foot lifting system. The way this is designed it is impossible to get more than 20mm lift using the foot lifter, even though the feet have enough travel to clear 25mm - I assume all clones are probably the same. The parts around the lifting crank are different to the Juki and have a built-in stop which prevents any lifting past 20mm. I'm just a bit perplexed why anyone would bother to re-design this, given that it's supposed to be a clone? Never mind, it's all good fun.

It's taken me a while to figure out what ljk was talking about but now I see.Very clever.

That's good, because one of the joys of metric threads is the vast number of pitches they use!! Can be very frustrating.

Yep, the big question is - what is the thread size of those bolts?

Have you read this post? This story pretty much mimics my attempt at importing a 441 clone to Australia. At the end of the day there was nothing to be gained and much to lose. Yes, on Alibaba they can look attractive, but that is only the starting point. The prices I got varied from about US$643 to $1200 - head only. By all means bring one in, but all you're likely to save is maybe $3-400 at the most by buying the cheapest, and you've got absolutely no idea what the quality of the machine will be.

This subject has been raised before. The 5100 is a heavy-duty harness stitcher, designed to sew thick leather with heavy thread. Wiz has described how these machines can be "dumbed-down" to sew light thread and thin leather but it's a fair bit of work and not really recommended. While the Techsew site says this machine can sew #69 thread for most people I don't consider that a viable option. If you buy this one it will be ideal for holsters and gunbelts while your 2750 will be great for smaller items - bags , wallets etc.

Thanks for your thoughts, Chris. While we have had some catastrophic bushfires in the past I've never known it to start this early in the season, or be so widespread. Many areas are in extended, intense drought and water is drying up in some places. There's no doubt the climate is changing (I've been noticing the subtle effects for many years where I live) but that's what happens on this planet. It changes. And yes, Handstitched, our PM is reluctantly being dragged into providing support for not only those who have lost everything but the volunteer firefighters too, for without them it's fair to say a lot more of this country would now be burning. Did I ever mention I hate Summer?

I decided to make one of these, only 'cos I could. It probably would have been quicker and easier to make it out of wood!!! I persevered because I knew I should And at the end it works real good! I think we can see why I didn't become a poet. Please ignore the rough finish as I had to use a sanding drum in a Dremel to get everything to line up. The problem was that as printed the height of the main body needs to be about 4mm taller, which I didn't realise until after it was printed. At over 8 hours I wasn't going to print another one!!! My solution was to print a top piece, which is thin, cut out the solid fill over the bobbin positions, glue it to the main body and then use the Dremel to sand everything to fit. When I made the base piece I extended it by 25mm and the white chair tip was a nice tight fit to hold it all together. As I only have eight bobbins it was perfect for my needs. I had a few issues printing as the extreme hot weather we're having caused variations in the bed height and also getting the things to stick properly, as can be seen at the corners of the opening on the top piece. Doesn't matter, however as it works fine. I had to scrap one top piece as I left it printing and when I came back the nozzle had obviously caught, knocked the glass off the bed and I had a lovely big blob around the nozzle! So thanks for your design effort, Brian.

Excellent! I'll bet that the EPS (synchronizer) setting had been set to ON and you've managed to turn it OFF. If I were you I'd still chase them up when they're open and ask for a copy of the motor settings. Happy sewing.

Ok, looking at the website the Cobra's don't normally come with a synchronizer so I'd say you don't have one (it sticks out from the end of the flywheel). Can you tell us what brand the motor is? Can you post a photo of the "piece of paper"? A photo of the motor and front of the control box? If we can work out what the motor is - brand, type etc - it shouldn't be hard to find the instructions. On one of mine the codes etc were stuck on the side of the control box.

Yeah, that's what quite a few do. Guess I'm lucky as being a new machine I don't want to be drilling holes in it (yet). I have no idea what the holes are there for but are very convenient.

I can't help with the identification but it looks pretty clean. I reckon you did real well for $150.

Toxo, I just searched through Aliexpress until I found one that was reasonably priced (quite a bit of variation). They call them a suspended guide, by the way. There are two types, one is the "usual" fairly solid looking unit and the other is a cheaper flat steel type. As for the bracket, my CB4500 has two vertical mounting holes at the rear of the head so I simply made an L-shaped bracket to convert the vertical mounting to horizontal holes.

I assume you actually bought it with a synchronizer fitted? Sounds to me like the problem you get when there's no synchronizer fitted but it's turned on in the control box. You should have a "manual" for the motor to explain what the codes are and how to access/change them and turn the synchronizer function of.

I just ordered a drop-down edge guide from Aliexpress, cost me about AU$26 delivered, which I thought was pretty good. I had to make a bracket to fit it to my machine but that was no big deal.

Well, at least the price is right. Are you saying the table is too long at 48"? Easy fix, just cut the end(s) off, I've done that before.

I generally have to jiggle the handwheel back and forth a little to release the bobbin thread when I've finished sewing.

Have you read Wiz's sticky at the top about what you need to sew leather? It should be compulsory reading for anyone wanting a leather sewing machine. You'll also get lots of opinions, including mine. With 3/8" clearance that would equate to your typical upholstery-class (medium-weight) sewing machine, and probably limited to #138 thread max. You mentioned the magic word - holsters. That immediately puts you into the heavy-weight class. If you look up the Cowboy 3200 the specs are probably the minimum you would be looking at, next up is the Cowboy 4500. There are other equivalent brands, of course, I only mention these as a starting point. There are other options, of course, as some of the older Singers can handle heavy leather, but finding them could be an issue. You will be faced with the same problem all newcomers face, there is no one machine to do it all. If you want to make bags, purses, wallets, dress-belts then an upholstery-class machine will be fine but once you decide to move into heavier stuff (gunbelts, holsters etc.) you WILL need a heavier machine - or handstitch them.

Actually, the thought that I don't need it 'cos I've got the foot lifter had occurred to me, but where's the fun in that? I'm always looking for an excuse to turn things on the lathe. Your second option might meet with a bit of opposition from my wife!

Could also mean that you have the top tension too high.

I've ordered a drop-down edge guide and knew i would need an extension for the lift lever. I bored out a suitable piece of steel rod to fit over the existing shaft and tapped it for a couple of grub screws. So far so good. My intention was to refit the original rod/knob assembly by tapping a hole in the end of the extension but then I found it's an odd-size (to me) thread - M6x0.7. The closest I had was 0.75 pitch! I was faced with making a new shaft/knob, not difficult but more work. Then last night it suddenly occurred to me that all I had to do was turn down the end of the shaft to take the original fitting. Doh!! Sometimes I just miss the obvious by trying to be too clever. The bracket at the back is waiting for the guide before drilling any mounting holes.

My glass plate is clipped to the bed with a couple of spring binder clips. When the print is finished I remove the glass to loosen the print job. Works for me and doesn't affect the bed alignment.

Interesting, although it doesn't actually say what it converts from and to, just says it can read a heap of different file formats?

At least it was an easy fix.

Wiz, can you lock this? Might be a good idea.