JimTimber

I call them United Parcel Smashers for a reason. Sadly, FedEx ain't much better.

I'd be returning it to the seller (easiest solution). If they refuse to give a refund, then I'd pursue a chargeback against them. OP bought a non-wrecked sewing machine, and it was not delivered.

If you paid by credit card, you might have protections about this kind of thing in your card member agreement. Visa, AmEx, and MC all have protections included with the transaction (at least on the cards I have/had).

Sewing anything empties a bobbin quick on my 211G. Reverse is pretty sweet though, and it makes great stitches too. Get too thick of material and even TiN coated needles will stick in the work, but as long as the point hasn't deflected out of reach of the hook, she'll keep on sewing great. I have no question why so many copied this model going forward. It works.

I don't go back through that first thread guide at the top tension disk, but I run it through the guide at the second disk before wrapping it twice and then coming out the guide again to then go to the take up spring (I'm pretty sure that's the Cowboy directions). The second tension disk is like a windlass, so having more complete contact seems like it should make it respond better to adjustments (less slippage).

I'm pretty sure this is demonstrated in the Cobra videos on youtube. It's interesting to see the variations on threading between the manufacturers (distributors, really) for what's virtually identical equipment. When I use the guide rod on my 441, I'm not using more than one hole of the 4. It's literally just there to position the thread above the working parts of the machine below, because the table my machine came with has a corner mounted thread holder and it's a long run from the guide on it to the upper thread guide on the lube pot.

Some of the stuff I'm sewing is thinner than leather, and the only problem I've had is that it gets fickle to center the knots when dealing with really thin stuff or when you're stacking row after row of stitches doing webbing for buckles. The tension needs to be higher for the second pass/back stitch than when running though fresh material so the first few stitches have too much top tension or the last row of bottom stitches will have loops. This might be fixable with a bigger needle, but I haven't tried that yet. Is there a dealer around, or another member here local to you? Get some exposure to the real deal in person if you're not sure about if it'll fit your needs. My 211G gave me more trouble with 46 thread than my 441 ever has with 69 (keep in mind, I'm a noob too). I had to come up with a new threading method to keep it in the tension disks (Thanks Wiz!).

The guide post is sticking up above the "Y".

Call it the Van Gogh mod. :D

If you don't have room to go backwards, you could mount another cross brace to the legs and go down.

Easiest way to do it is placing the reducer where the motor started, and then moving the motor to a new location. Original belt goes to the reducer, new belt will be decided on where the motor winds up. If you need to switch sides of belt for access, you can reverse the motor in the controller parameters.

Going from a 3" to a 2.5" or whatever the smallest motor pulley is will reduce the surface area of the belt on the pulley and reduce the belt radius to cause more wear on the belt (it has a rather sharp bend to it now). Granted, I'm not used to dealing with belt driving things under 5hp, but I wouldn't go smaller on the motor pulley before seeing what the system behaves like with the speed reducer. I'm at about a stitch a second with my current setup on the Singer 211G, going to 3:1 should drop that down to a stitch every 3 seconds, and that's plenty slow enough. The 4:1 reducer that came with my 441 runs a bit slow at it's lowest speed and could benefit from a little higher starting speed, but I haven't looked into changing that setting just yet. What's nice about using a servo with a reducer is that you can then speed up the motor on the top end and get your full range of stitches per minute back. Running the motor at 5000rpm is going to get you close to the 1750 it used to have with the clutch motor prior to the reduction.

Do the reducer, then see where you're at. My servo will go 30rpm minimum and it's not one stitch at a time slow with a 3" motor pulley. I'm going to 3:1 reduction to get down there.

I guess I wouldn't look at it as "dumbing down" per se, but being able to do it is an attribute of benefit even if it's not technically ideal. I certainly appreciate your division of labor methodology and agree that when you have better options the task dictates what gets utilized. Sometimes we only have a hammer, so nail or screw it's getting hit.

Wiz, I'm curious why you say 138 and up for the 441 clones? Earlier this evening I was sewing 69 on the bobbin (just trying to use it up since there's not much left on it) and 93 on top using a #19 needle sewing light weight poly webbing onto single layer 500D nylon. I didn't change anything but the top thread (put the 69 on my 211G for more flat work tonight) from when I had the same 69 thread on the needle last night sewing four layers of the same fabric with 2 layers of 1/2" open cell foam pad between the nylon. As to Biker's original question, if you'll notice what two machines I'm using (441 clone and your Consew is in the same family as my 211G), I'd have to agree that you've got the right idea as it's the conclusion I came to as well. For as awesome as the 441 is, it's not as fast as my Singer. If you're going to do large thinner items, having the bed machine is going to be an asset. Starting out, I'd go for the 441 first. You can get a table for it easier than you can get a Consew 206. When funds allow, having both is really nice. Or maybe get a used older walking foot like I did. There's no replacement for the larger needle system on the 441's (you can't get a #26 for the Consew), and I can tell you it doesn't take all that much to bump a 135x17 off track enough to miss a stitch or smash the point into the dawg - even with something light like 8 layers of 500D nylon.

I guess I value my hours more than you do. I paid $12 for all the sewing on that rig. First holster ever. Think about that and then shove your smug attitude up your rear. What you can't seem to grasp is that I never mentioned you, your work, anything - hell, I didn't even know you existed before you started coming after me because I have an unfavorable opinion about the design attributes about something you seem to take great pride in making. You can build a Yugo with Swiss precision and you're still left with a Yugo.

I have my Grandma's machine at my parents house (currently occupied as their microwave stand and my mom denied my request to re-acquire it) which is in need of a new cord (insulation is cracked off) and a lot of wood restoration (was used as a flower stand by the window for 50 years). She used it when my dad was young, but then it too was slated for the donation center when we were cleaning out her house and I saved it in the mid 90's. Not sure what model Singer it is, but it's electric and that deep royal blue (not black) with gold scroll work. I thought it was pretty and didn't really think much about how good it worked at the time of diverting it's trajectory. I want to say it's a 20's something vintage, maybe 30's but I seem to recall '23 for some reason. I did look it up at one point, but that was 20 some years ago. Collector's value back then was about $200.

What does a hem do? It doubles up the edge to make a stiffer part without adding that extra weight to the whole panel. My holster doesn't need a metal insert to stay open when drawn, but it's not going to remain open if I lay on it while the gun is out (something I'm not concerned with). I designed this to be comfortable, and it's proven to be a great holster. I was paying by the seam to have that made, so I made it in a way that I could achieve the desired goal without multiples of stitches and forming operations. That hem was wet formed around the gun under vacuum, then when dried the back was glued and later sewn by another contractor. Doesn't everyone have a vacuum pump?

Longgun45, that's not a 50/50 pancake. Sam makes the proper version of a two-layer OWB holster, he just calls it a pancake. Since my rationale isn't good enough, maybe someone should ask Sam why he doesn't make 50/50's?

Thanks Floyd! It's some kind of nylon weave. The blue stuff has a heavy clear urethane coating and is thicker feeling than the (known) 500D stuff I got that has an opaque urethane layer stuck to the back (different vendor, and not used on this bag). The off-white is a little lighter than the blue but not by much, and only has a slightly evident coating on it's back side (you can feel it, but seeing it is difficult), which isn't as thick/heavy as the blue. I didn't really need this to be water repellent, but it's not a bad thing either. I mainly chose the colors because I like that bright blue, and the off-white is light enough to easily see things in, but not stark white to show dirt.

Hard to give you any advice without knowing where on Earth you are. There's a Cowboy 3200 for sale in Minneapolis, MN for about what a Boss sells for. I had my hands on a Tippman Boss the other day and it wouldn't index to the next stitch. I don't know if that's because it didn't have thread or because it was broken. Display in a Tandy store. While they're probably awesome for someone who's used to an awl or a hand stitcher, they're no match for a motorized sewing machine.

It's not leather, but it was (partially) sewn on the Keestar none the less. I did the zipper and the four zipper hems on my 211G, but the ends and the straps were done on the 441. I can't imagine how much hair pulling would've happened had I not been able to use the cylinder arm on the bag ends, and I don't have that much hair left! :D There's 1/2" foam between the shell and the liner. So far I really like the 441.

The reason I've never retired this one is because it's still comfy as all get out and does the job. It's got very little, if any, sentimental value to me but it still works. Even now as I'm getting my sewing up to speed, I don't have an imminent need to make another one to replace it, although I probably will just because I've never been happy with the "drunk" shoe repair guy's stitching on my hemmed edge. First ever hemmed edge I did (not trimmed after sewing at all): It's just a personal distaste for the 50/50 pancakes, nothing to do with anyone's quality of work. Lord knows there's a lot of big name makers producing the things, but then Glock sells a TON of guns and I can't stand those blocky things either (partly because their made in such a way to maximize ease of production and lack any semblance of grace in their lines). We all value different things differently.

This one doesn't get as much use. #2 ever made. Again, someone else's stitching but I did all the rest.

You can do whatever you want, not everyone's going to like it or agree with you. Like I already said, I don't know why anyone buys a traditional pancake holster, but they sure are popular from a sellers perspective because they're easy to make. My holsters? Well, since I've only owned a sewing machine capable of leather for just under a month - I have to get partially naked and pull this one out. The pic angle is deceptive, that's actually vertical with a fully loaded (12+1 230gr) magazine in it and held in by nothing but leather. Been using it daily for 6+ years. My design, my leather, my glue, my vacuum forming, but I had two different guys sew it for me. Got any 6 year old pancakes to show off? Can they hold a gun without a belt to tension them?