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I use bellies for shoe sole construction. I case a belly for insoles. While tacking the insole on the last I hammer the areas that conform to the foot. The midsole uses a tougher stronger leather that will not stretch because the edge will be used as a welt. The insole and midsole using a inseam stitch. A ancient method. I sometimes use belly for outsoles, wear is not important as I put on sole savers. Near 80 my eyes and hand work good, but my feet not so good.

Try $300 Machine has speed reduction pulley. The machine has large bobbin. Both servo;s and clutch have start issues. My wife has a clutch motor on her 206 with great control. I have a 280l with Enduro with needle position I love it. My shop machine a 206rb-It has a servo just ok. The speed reducer is valuable may help pay for that servo. Unless you are a nit picker a pc. of heavy fabric will worker just fine under that machine. I regret I didn't learn to backtack to lock stitches If you learn that"s what operators did for 100 years. My wife as a teenager worked in a garment factory and you would not get hired if you could not backtack. Be aware that non-reverse machines for sale are factory machines and have been sold off either because they are fully depreciated are because of auction of a closed plant so sad.

Here is my slow go setup. A 280l with Enduro servo with needle positioner. It is set to stop with needle down. This way I can go around sharp curves a stitch at a time. With pedal down I can sew a whatever speed I want. I would never travel as a stitcher with a servo not reliable. Or you should carry a spare. Reason for spare unreliable power from promoter or sketchy electronics. Broken servo's make great belt sanders.

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I'm a embroidery digitizer as well as a leather worker. I pull a image into my embroidery software sized it which can be done multiple ways. I then print to size and then use as a pattern. If the product sells well I will then use the pattern to make a clicker die and cut product. The image shows a center oval which can be difficult to cut cleanly, the clicker makes it easy to do precision work. coin purse.gen

The circled in red is the adjustment screw. Back out tension assembly by loosening screw. Some times I have had to loosen the screw at top of assembly and insert a washer. Other choices would be to shorten the pin that inter acts with release mechanism.

Many machines release tension while lifting. Most can be adjusted so thread releases at the top of lift. Usually the tension can be adjusted by the screw holding the the mechanism. Many such as Singer 45k and 144w don't even have this feature.

One more thing you may have what I call vertical axis thread break phenomenon. That is when thread particles get built up under the hook. Last resort. Do use posted advice first.

With a 2" motor pulley you could expect 4-900rpm tops with great control. I have seen some with a multiple pulleys on the motor so you could change speeds. On your machine the table and clutch is probably worth more than the machine. I could see a 111w or 211 for a real cool vintage look.

This is usually called a line shaft clutch. Still used in places like Amish communities. I saw one in a machine shop in Wisconsin. I used one on my machine as a vendor on the bike circuit. Glad I did had a motor blow at Sturgis and went to the farm store picked up a 110v 1/4 horse and was back in business. The clutch uses a 3/8" leather round belt. If it gets sticky simple slip a pc. of sand paper while running. Great control. For production work making chaps and vest I used clutch or servo.

I bought all my stuff in the 90's when the big move west and south. Things are different now there is a proliferation of off shore equip. now available. Here''s what you need. Helmond or clone bender with dies. Die stock 2 point and 3 point preferable .937 in height. A saw preferentially a band saw anything to cut shapes. A MIG welder. A hole punch that will cut die stock to screw to wood stock. I use 3/4" wood flooring. This works well because 1/4" rejection foam works well with this combination. You can buy online a box of small shapes that is .937. Now""class" read all you can, "steel rule die" on you tube. Harry Rogers has a good video on a cheap bender. Many videos on technique. AmeriKen is good source for materials. With many mechanical clicker hand operated machines available get one that rotates. You can position the die on the leather better. Now clickers. Schwabe is a beast not much on adjustment. Fipii 20 or various versions. Good choice because it reads height and pressure can be adjusted. If you buy factory machine you will have to deal with a phase converter. If you buy a euro. machine you will have to deal with euro wiring. Finally the bad. You need real computer and marketing skills.

I only use steel rule 2 and 3 point. My model C will not bend these dies, not enough tonnage. I dress the outside edge with a belt sander and finish with a carbide.

"ken's life singer 29k13" google or needlebar. Good article with images. If it sews but has short spi or foot not lifting high this will help. Shimming ladder gears can improve hook rotation. Make sure the bushing on the cam rotates smooth. I would think the experts will post. You can buy 1mm shimstock at NAPA

Try Ohio Travel Bag, Buckle Guy, and Goldstar Tool

I think a 45k 76 has some interesting features. The height of the foot is adjustable, which means it can be used for various thickness by a simple adjustment at the top of the machine. With the foot released you are free to move material, than make the stitch. I have a high gear reduction settup which can make a stitch at a time. A better choice would be a sevo with needle postion. With that you can position needle just right. Since it has no feed dog and the foot is flat it does not mark the leather. Much faster than hand stitching. You can also lock beginning and end stitches much like embroidery machines which lock stitches before and after jumps. I use it for shoe soles and knife sheaths. There also cheap. Picture shows $50 machine before rehab.

AmeriKen has stores all over USA. They have large selection of clearance items with pricing, location, and description. maybe you could get a good price to help pay for importing.

I will cover 3 machines I have and my opinions. Any shoe patcher should be test sewn with a pc. of fabric under the leather because of surface tension. I glue a pc. of teflon 1m onto the toe . I've done this for 25 years. 30-1 Great build quality, stupid parts prices small bobbin. Singer 29-4 Primitive, cheap. Relatively easy to refurbish including stitch length and lifting height. CLSP Chinese shoe patcher. Cheap including parts, stitch length up to 1/4", high lift only one a of the 3 with adjustable needle bar. Adjustable arm for centering needle and easy hook timing. Larger bobbin than the above. Any of three will work in your application. Attached photo is a insole stitcher that I intend to buy for insole and side stitching.

Other than paint it looks like my Mitsubish 280l. I heard this design went to Juki

You can view these machines on Amazon. Colored Peas CLSP or facebook chinese leather shoe patcher. The $100 model gets a lot of bad press I would call it a great design but poorly executed. However there is heavy duty $300 with high lift and larger bobbin. Though manual it would be no more difficult than a 29 singer patcher to motorize. There is another model that has a 45 degree foot with a high lift that would work for inseaming. My preferred sole construction is sew the insole and midsole . Than sew the midsole to the outsole. This technique is also called Blake Rapid.

I am in a similar situation. I make my own shoes because it's difficult and I have issues. Being elderly I'd rather sit at the bench than ply my trade. Auto trim, upholstery, and leather. My choice would be a cb3200 or a Singer 45k variant. The cowboy would probably fill all your needs. A alternative would be a one of the 45k. For example a 45k69 was designed for shoes and has a unique walking foot. I have a 45k76 which has a lifting foot with no feed, sewing a stitch at a time still faster than handstitching, these can be cheap. I paid $50. This machine is easy to mount to a shoe patch table and could than operate with a treadle. They come with a heavy flywheel. Finally explore a Cowboy Outlaw or Tippman. Or a heavy duty version of the CLSP .

I like this machine it will sew 138 thread with a 135/16 /23 needle. The foot can be moved. it has needle timing and hook timing. That's the good stuff The bad rough finish on hook and shuttle needs polishing. Lot of these machines need work, however with couple of hours it will sew. Go to facebook chinese shoe patcher and read the files and post.

I have a 45k. The second picture shows thread behind tension disc should be between. Other issues needle timing and needle to far from the hook. If you can't fix let me know and I will check rising needle timing to hook. If you have needle to far from hook you can bend needle bar where needle is inserted. Not recommended but hey I only paid 50 bucks for the machine.

If you go to needlebar.org and then search for ken's life or ken jerrem's you will find a excellent article on shimming various parts on a 29-4. You can buy 1mm shim stock buy the inch from NAPA

I purchased 3 clickers in the 90's A USMC model C a mechanical clicker running on 220 single phase. A Fipi 20 running 220v 3 phase using a phase converter. Best feature reads die height automatically, also has dial for pressure. Did conversion and found difficult because euro wiring colors and application are problematic. Today the internet would help a lot. Third was a Schwabe model D a dead simple machine with manual height adjustment, also 3 phase which I found easy to wire to phase converter. This machine was USA made. These were well used but all three required less than $300 dollars in parts. The USMC is mechanical and requires good mechanical skills and a operator manual. All machines are industrial and have a very long life. The hydraulic machines are noisy, theModel C is quiet except when tripped. When I sold business I kept the USMC Model C The Fipi and the Schwabe are still in use in my old business.

there is needlbar.org (kens life)site about 29-4. Very good info. I also am working on a 29-4. Bent handwheel (fixed) bell crank work in progress. Clearances seem tight, screws are not chewed up, don't think I will to shim rack. Hook has little wear and picks up thread. However it looks terrible on the outside but good on the inside. There is also a facebook forum site 29k and others. 1mm shim stock was 63cents per inch. from NAPA. Trying for 5spi.