neelsaddlery

Seth: Glad the machine is working well now. I hope you are enjoying it, and from the sounds of things, it seems like you are!!!!

Hello: I would recommend using a bonded nylon or a waxed linen thread. Hope that helps

Hello: If it were me, I would go with one of the Consew 225 machines. Parts are cheaper, and the machines are more popular the Pfaff machine.

Ferg: The CB-3200 series machine is very similar to the CB-4500 series machine which we sell. The CB-4500 machine is a 441 clone. The similarities are as follows: 1. The CB-3200 machine is a compound feed machine (walking foot, needle feed, and feed dog). 2. The CB-3200 machine uses the same presser feet as the 441 machine 3. The CB-3200 uses the same hook, bobbin, bobbin case, and needle as the 441 machines 4. Many of the same parts used in the CB-3200 machine are the same with the 441 machine. This would be things like the front cover, the parts for the needle feed, many of the parts for the walking foot, as well some internal parts. About 50 percent of the parts used in the CB-3200 are the same with the 441 series machines. The CB-3200 machine is sort of a "reduced" version of the 441. Many of the parts are the same, the machine works the same way, but it will not sew quite as heavy as the 441 and does not have as long of an arm length. The CB-3200 series will sew just about what you can fit under the presser foot, which is around 5/8 inch. It has about an 11 inch arm. The CB-4500 series machine will sew to 3/4 inch, and also has a 16.5 inch arm. I can tell you that the performance of the CB-3200 machine has been exemplary thus far. We have sold many of these machines and they have held up very well. The users of the machine are very satisfied with its performance and it is holding up well for its intended function, which is sewing medium weight and heavy weight leathers. That I am aware, between our dealers and us, we have received no warranty claims for this machine thus far, and we have sold many of them. One of the nicest features of the machine is that it uses the same hook as the 441 series machines. The hook insures that the machine will not skip stitches. The reverse mechanism on the machine is also very good. It matches the holes perfectly in forward and reverse. This is something that most machines in this price range are incapable of doing. The CB-3200 machines resemble the Ferdco Pro 440 Baby Bull as far as outward appearance. However they work completely different in that they have a compound feed mechanism on them. Another nice thing about the machines are the stand and motor Of course we use a variable speed servo motor on all machines we sell, and the stand features a high quality plywood top with rubber bumpers and also has caster wheels on it. This is a real help if you need to move the machine from one side of the room to the next. The machine weighs over 200 pounds!!!! The CB-3200 machine would not be an ideal machine for sewing garment weight leather. You can sew two layers of 2-3 ounce leathers together with it. Some users have reported great success with a size 92 thread, however we recommend that a size 138 thread or larger be used. The machine can handle up to a size 346 thread with ease. No heavy duty stitcher would work well on leathers that are considered to be extremely light. You had mentioned that you use a Seiko for your lighter weight leathers. You can keep the Seiko for the lighter weight items and then use the CB-3200 for your heavier items. The main reason why we designed the CB-3200 machine is because many people were calling us wanting a heavy duty machine but they did not have the funds for a CB-4500 machine. The CB-3200 series machines fills that market niche nicely. It is nearly $800.00 less than the next closest CB-4500 package that we offer. It is the lowest priced compound feed stitcher on the market today. Hope this information is of some help to you, and if you have any additional questions, please feel free to call or e-mail.

Hello: Most people use the 'S" point that Schmetz has for the most straight stitches. If you are looking for straight stitches that are perfectly in line, then DO NOT use the LR and RTW points as these purposely will make the stitch look like a zigzag, either canted to the left or to the right. The Diamond Points "DIA and Triangle Points "TRI" do a pretty good job of getting s straight stitch. That I am aware of, Schmetz is the only maker of the "S" point. Hope this helps.

Seth: Thank you so much for your kind words and the video that describes your satisfaction with the CB-4500 machine. For the saddle shearling and fleece, I would still use a leather point needle if your substrate is leather. You will need the extra punching power to sew through the heavy weight leather. Hope this helps, and I am so glad that you were able to get the machine up and running and also that you were satisfied with Cowboy's level of customer service.

Seth: Thank you for agreeing to take down the post. I really do appreciate that. It will really help us a lot. I am glad that your machine has been working well, and again please feel free to call us with any and all questions you may have. Seth, I did not make the comment about the robe. Somebody else said that on this thread. Robe or no robe, you had a problem, and I hope that you can see that we all stepped up to the plate and corrected it. For the saddle shearling, I would look to do the following: 1. Sew the saddle shearling with the leather against the feed dog. The shearling itself should be against the presser foot. 2. If you have the padded material foot, I would use it. This is the really wide foot. 3. A lot of people, when sewing shearling, will trim around the sew path with a set of shears. This eliminates most of the fleece in the way of the sew path and allows for easier sewing. If the fleece is long enough, the 1/4 inch you remove around the edge will not matter, as the fleece will "comb over" the removed area. 4. I would use a size 277 thread, and tighten your top thread tension a bit. Hope this is of some help to you.

Hello: Looks like a Cowboy 3200 or any of the 441 clones would work well for what you are doing. Do you require a flatbed sewing machine, like your 111W? If so then you can look to the flatbed version of the 441, which is the 243, or the flatbed version of the Adler 205, which is the Adler 204 Lots of people sell low cost clones of these machines as well.

Hello: I have been reading the posts here on this topic tonight and from what I can tell a lot of issues have been resolved with the CB-4500 machine that Seth was having troubles with. Bob, Bobby, and all of us at Cowboy do our absolute best to provide the highest level of customer service that we can provide, and I hope that Seth sees that we have all tried to resolve his issues to the best of our ability. I also hope that Seth sees that if there are problems with the machine, that he can contact Bob, Bobby, or myself with questions that he may have and that we can resolve those issues. Seth, I did check on Youtube and the video of the 4500 is still on there. It is my hope that you will remove the video from Youtube, as persons that are viewing other videos which we have on Youtube may find that video and may unjustly feel that the machine is not a good machine, or that we are not offering the level of customer support that our customers have come to expect from us. Please know that if there are problems with your machine, that you will be able to find help with the problems by calling any of us at Cowboy. And of course, if we fail to provide the level of customer service that you and others have come to expect from Cowboy, then you could of course repost the video. I hope that you will understand our position and agree to remove a video which may potentially be damaging to our good name. Thank you, again please feel free to contact us with any questions or problems that you may be experiencing with the machine.

Hello: Most leather sewing machines use a lock stitch. This is the stitch of choice for leather because it is the most durable and resistant to tearing. It is an excellent stitch for leather because if these properties. There are always exceptions. As mentioned the Puritan machines used a chainstitch. For saddles, bridles, harness and reins a lock stitch is the best choice for strength and cosmetic appearance. Hope this is useful to you.

Hello: If you have enough room, I would use the padded fleece material foot that comes on the machine. Please observe the following protocols: 1. Install padded material foot onto machine. 2. Sew the material so padded side is against foot. Leather should be next to feed dog and needle plate. 3. I would use a 277 thread top and bottom. 4. If foot is too large, you can remove a toe on either side with a dremal cutoff tool. We offer replacement feet for low cost if you need another one to modify. They will fit your machine with no problems. Hope this helps.

Hello: Thread size depends type of thread you have. Waxed linen thread uses a cord system to identify size. Synthetic uses a different numbering system. If you are looking to attach soles to uppers you will need a heavier thread. You should use a 277 or 346 in synthetic threads and a 5-6 cord with linen threads. You are also in England, and that confuses the issue some. Nomenclatures used in England will.be different than those used in USA.

Hello: If you were in a very humid basement, and the machine were subjected to extremes of cold, then warmth, then I could see where a plastic dust cover would be a problem. The machine body is made of cast iron, and so it will sweat if the ambient temps were to get very warm all of a sudden (IE -- you open outside cellar door on a warm day when working with dies or something.) It would be very easy to make a dust cover out of fabric and use this for the sewing machine. Or, you could cut some small holes (just a few -- and very small) into the plastic cover to allow the machine to breath. Hope this helps. Hello again: We have seen on some of the 441 clones that the back shafts on the machine can rust when the machine is in cold and humid climates. I would make sure that you apply a thin coat of oil to all of the shafts on the machine and also the unprotected metal parts. Sewing machines are like guns, they will rust if not oiled and maintained properly. Hope this helps.

Hello: We get a lot of calls from folks that wonder exactly what the attachments for the 441 clones are used for, and while each attachment can be used for a variety of uses, the general uses are outlined below: 1. Flat slotted needle plate -- used where sewing against a flat surface (rather than the convex surface of standard needle plate)is needed most, and where the feed dog is not needed. The flat slotted plate is used most often when sewing belts, strap goods, horse tack and so forth. The flat slotted plate requires the removal of the feed dog in order to be used. With the feed dog removed, the machine will still feed, but there will be additional drag created by the removal of the feed dog. This will require the stitch length adjuster to be set to a larger stitch then if the user were using the feed dog. The left, the right, or the double toe harness foot can be used with this plate 2. Holster plate -- this is of course used mostly on knife sheaths and gun holsters, but also is used anytime you need to sew an item in which the item needs to be raised above the plane of the cylinder arm of the sewing machine. Uses of the holster plate include knife sheaths, gun holsters, radio cases, and other applications in which the work needs to be raised above the level of the cylinder arm. It should be noted also that the effective sewable thickness of the machine will be reduced when sewing with this plate because of the raised area. The machine will sew around 1/2 inch thick items with this plate. I find that one can use the left, the right, or the double toe harness foot with this plate. The feed dog is also eliminated when using this foot, and one will need to set the machine to have a bigger stitch length when using this plate because of the removal of the feed dog. 3. Stirrup plate - the stirrup plate is used mostly for sewing leather covered stirrups. However, the stirrup plate can also be used like the holster plate as well. I find that generally the left toe foot is the best to use with the stirrup plate. The effective sewable thickness of the machine is also reduced when using this plate, and so the machine will sew to around 1/2" thick, or a little more. The plate also requires removal of the feed dog, and so the stitch length will need to be widened when using this plate. There are also left, right, and double toe presser feet with the machine as well as a large padded material foot. Please see the uses for these below: 1. Double toe harness makers foot -- this foot is an excellent choice for all around leather sewing. Having two toes on either side it will work well in applications where space is not limited, or one is not trying to sew very close to the edge of the work. It is an excellent foot for horse tack, saddles, harness, some belts, and general leather sewing. 2. Left toe foot -- this works well when one is trying to sew close to the edge of the work and needs to have a toe removed in order to get close to the edge. It should be noted that that the left toe foot works best when the body of the work is going to be to the RIGHT of the needle. This is because the right toe is removed, and the right toe is the toe to the right hand side of the needle. This foot can be used for belts, holsters, knife sheaths and the like. 3. Right toe foot -- the right toe foot works in much the same manner as the left toe foot, but works best when sewing the material to the left hand side of the needle. General applications are the same, but again when the bulk of the work will appear to the left hand side of the needle. 4. Fabric foot -- this foot works best when sewing padded material, canvas, and fabrics. It is a very large and wide foot, suited best for holding large and bulky works. Hope this is of some help when it comes to the uses of the feet and also the needle plates for the 441 clone type machines.

Hello: I used to be the second largest dealer of Boss machines in the country and I can tell you that the people we sold them to either loved them or hated them. The Boss is temperamental when it comes to thread tensions. The Boss used to be the machine of choice for people sewing heavy leather on a budget because there were no other machines out there that could do what they did for anywhere near the same money. Now, however there are low cost heavy duty motorized machines that will do more and sew heavier for just a bit more money and in a few cases some machines are actually the same price as the Boss. The Cowboy CB-3200 is sold new now for $1595.00 and it will sew almost as heavy and has a much longer throat. The Boss was a great machine in its day because there was nothing else anywhere close in price that would sew as heavy. But if you can buy 250 pounds of cast iron sewing machine with a stand, table, motor and a speed reducer for $1595.00 you would have to really think about the benefits when compared to 23 pounds of hand operated stitcher with no stand and table and an aluminum casting. One area where the Boss still excels over other machines is repair work. Because you can control the stitch very well, repairs on this machine are very easy to do as you can get the machine to match the holes--hole for hole. Hope this helps.

Hello: Your bobbin tension on a 226 should have a slight amount of resistance. It should not have anywhere near the same tension as the top thread. I usually say about 1/2 pound of pull or less is good for bobbin tension on a machine like this. They make a metering device for checking bobbin tension as well. I would check your thread and needle size too. Needles too large for thread size can cause problems with knot centering and vice versa. The size of thread that you use versus the thickness of the leather can have a direct bearing as well. If for instance if you are trying to use a size 207 thread to sew two pieces of 1.5 ounce leather together then the thread tension and stitch appearance will never be satisfactory as the machine cannot center knots in material that is nearly as thick as the thread itself. Hope this helps.

Wiz: Thanks a bunch. I just have to find the icons you are referring to. I use my cell phone a lot to access web and never saw the mentioned icons. It could be I need to access from a desktop application. Damn those demons living in my computer!!!! Thanks again. Will look for the icons. Th

God I could use a few of them right now!!! Wiz, you are very computer saavy as I can see from your work here. On a totally unrelated note I have seen where you will type a sentence in blue and in doing so that sentence will link to a website or some other reference direct from your highlighted blue text. Because I still believe there are small demons living in the black box that is called a "computer" I have been unable to figure out how to tell them how to do this. Could you be a sport and share with me how that process is accomplished? Might be nice when typing an answer to a question and I need to show a link to a manual or something. Thanks Wiz, and yes you truly are one!!!!

Wiz: Yes, I was aware of that. Could Hoffman have some of those 111 style adapters floating around over there? Hoffmann is advertising using the trade name of Ferdco so seems like he is trying to keep the name alive.

Seth: Try using the 26 needle with the 277 thread. The big needle will not deflect as much as the smaller 25 needle. Yes it will punch bigger holes but the added thickness of the 26 needle will mean that it will not deflect as badly. Check that flywheel!!!!! I know I just mentioned it a billion times in my previous posts but trust me when I say the wheel could only do what it did in the video if one of the set screws slipped out of the v-groove. Hope this helps.

Seth: In theory wet leather should sew more easily than dried leather. It should be a lot easier to sew the wet leather. I would check the flywheel to make certain that it is lined up with the v-groove and tighten all bolts again. If the flywheel turned as it did in the video then the only other thing that could cause it other than a loose flywheel is if all the gears were racked out of the back of the machine and this would be impossible as the machine would not sew at all. Polish inside presser foot and black collar holes just to be sure thread will not fray. If you cannot get ahold of Bob, you can call me and I can help you with any issues you may be experiencing.

One other suggestion --- try a bonded nylon thread. I have found the nylon to be more resistant to fraying and a generally tougher thread. I use diamond point needles on all my machines and have not had this problem. Make sure also needle is fresh....no burrs. Make sure you are using right size needle and thread as well.

Ferdco at one point made an attachment for the PRO 2000 that would allow it to accept welting feet for 111 Singer. They don't have the binding attachment themselves but if they still make adapter then 111 binding feet should be made to fit 440 clones.

Hello yet again: One other suggestion with the thin sliver of emery cloth. Floss the black hole that you have threaded in the collar that the needle fits in. This is the last hole that you thread before threading needle. This hole can sometimes have rough edges and that can start the fraying process as well. Be sure to put paper towel over needle plate to stop shavings from going into hook, them blow off with compressed air. There is a special kind of abrasive string called "Mitchell's Abrasive Cord" that has aluminum oxide embedded into cloth string. Lot of sewing machine folks have it. Maybe hardware stores do too. It works like a champ. But if you can't find it then a thin sliver of emery cloth will work. Just trying to eliminate any areas where thread would fray. Hope again that this helps.