greyleatherco

TL;DR cliff notes version: -Thank you Wiz -Thank you Bob Kovar- your customer service is unbeatable. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy a machine. -My machine is fixed and it was all because of one little nut and brake arm that needed tightening and adjusting. Longer version: Hi Wizcrafts (and anyone else interested in my machine conundrum), First off, I want to A) Thank you again for your time in trying to help me troubleshoot and Sing the praises of Bob Kovar and Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine's Customer Service (again). I submitted a help request form through the TISM website late yesterday evening explaining everything I posted above. By 8:45am PST Bob had already called to help me with my question. We ran through everything quickly over the phone and at first he wasn't sure if there was a potential "fast fix". He very generously offered to send me a different motor and have me send this one back so they could see if there was something they could figure out that was causing the problem. We talked a bit more and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to try and fix it from home before having to go to that. We narrowed in on the nut that is on the brake pad arm (it seemed like the only thing that could possibly be adjusted without ripping into the whole motor/shaft). He suggested that somehow that piece may not be at its own true "zero" and the shaft may have gotten wonky (my term, not his ). We weren't sure since it seemed like it was tight and working properly. I said, let me try and mess with it a bit and if it doesn't fix the problem, at least we'll know we tried everything before replacing it. We hung up and I rummaged through the garage to find the right size wrench for the nut. When I went to loosen or tighten that nut it was very tight, so I wasn't sure that would do anything. I backed it off a bit and used my right hand to apply simultaneous upward pressure to both the brake pad and the black plastic motor control arm as I was tightening that nut back up to wrench tight. It was a very, very small adjustment (not even noticeable with the naked eye small) but it WORKED! The brake will completely stop the wheel now when I push the foot pedal all the way down and let off. I'm so happy it was an easy fix and I can get back to work. Hopefully no one else will ever have that issue since it was SO random, but now we know how to handle it. Bob and I are still not sure how the brake arm would've "fallen" microscopically with the cover on, just from being moved a couple of feet since that nut was more than "finger tight", but oh well. It seems like a one in a million fluke. Bob Kovar and Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines sell fantastic machines and their customer service is even better. Any time someone asks me about my machine I always tell them about Bob and Toledo. If you're spending that kind of money on a machine, you want to know you'll both be taken care of should anything happen, no matter how big or small. Bob is that guy. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again or send anyone his way. Thank you so much Bob! If you made it reading this far, thanks and sorry. I'm just so relieved and happy to get back to using it! -Hannah

Will do. Hopefully it won't be an expensive and/or time consuming fix.

Ok, I ordered the machine from Toledo Sewing Machine, so I'll start there. Thanks so much for your time!

Hi Wizcrafts, We took the motor cover off and nothing is binding up inside. Everything seems like it's in the right place and as tight as it needs to be. It runs very smoothly, it's just stopping it that seems to be the issue. The brake cork WILL engage and stop the machine when I push partially down on the foot pedal and let up. If I push the foot pedal all the way down and then let up, the brake cork will NOT completely stop the wheel from turning and the machine keeps running. I have to manually push that black plastic motor control arm all the way up until it makes a fairly loud noise, clicks back into "place" and then everything will stop. If I apply some upward pressure with one finger it will temporarily stop and the brake cork will fully engage, but if I let off the upward pressure with my finger it will continue to run without pressure on the foot pedal. Nothing about the brake/cork looks odd or concerning. The squealing noise mentioned earlier when the machine runs and won't stop seems to be coming from the wheel and cork contact. The plastic arm is definitely not bent and there is plenty of slack on the chain connecting the foot pedal to the motor, so it is not preventing it from going all the way up. I'm just really confused what would cause this because I didn't touch the motor while sliding the machine (on castors) out of it's usual spot to clean the machine and surrounding area. I also never removed the cover until the problem was discovered, so nothing has been changed or adjusted. Previously, I could push all the way down on the foot pedal, let off, and the machine would stop completely. So it all seems very odd that this happened. I made a short clip and uploaded it to youtube. I thought that might help if I'm not clear in my description. The only thing I forgot to film is that when I say I am pushing the pedal part way down and everything "looks fine", I forgot to let up to show that the brake will stop the wheel completely. https://youtu.be/Ihuox5y8lSs The video is "unlisted" so you need the link to view it. Hopefully it works for you. Please excuse my voice, I'm sure I'm not the only one who hates the sound of their own voice on camera.

I’ll have to get back into it tomorrow. I’ll check it out and report back. Thank you!

Hi Wiz, My dad is helping me look and we aren’t seeing a spring on the motor control arm. Should I unscrew the plastic cover again? I also don’t see an obvious bend in the motor control arm. For some reason I can’t upload photos from my phone. There is definitely slack on the chain from the motor to the pedal. I marked it with a sharpie when I first set it up when I got it. I tried moving it up and down today after discovering the problem and it didn’t do anything to help, so I put it back in the “sweet spot” that had the sharpie mark. If I can figure out how to reformat my phone photos I’ll try adding them so you can see the motor control arm, but like I said, it looks straight. Thanks!

Hi all, I was doing some spring cleaning/maintenance on my Cowboy 4500 today. I got everything dusted and cleaned, back on, put together, and oiled. I turned it on to test without a needle/thread installed and it ran great, the only problem is it runs so great that it runs even when I'm NOT pressing on the foot pedal. I don't think I changed anything, but I suppose it's possible I may have bumped or adjusted something unknowingly while moving the machine. -I can push lightly (about half way) on the pedal and the machine will work normally with the speed reducer function. When I let off the foot pedal, the machine will stop as expected. ***The problem comes when I push all the way down on the foot pedal and then let off, the machine keeps running (needle, feed dogs, foot moving etc.) like it's on the slowest setting. It also makes a fairly obnoxious squealing noise while moving very slowly. I tried moving the link on the chain up and down to change the amount of slack and tension- that doesn't seem to be it. If it's too tight it will run too fast and I don't get the speed reduction. Too loose and it doesn't matter. I even had the chain completely unhooked from the pedal and it kept running. I've narrowed it down (I think) to the black plastic arm on the servo motor that is attached to the foot pedal by the chain. It's not going all the way back up to stop the movement of the machine. I can gently push up on it momentarily with a finger and the machine will stop normally. If I let off the pressure with my finger, it will keep running. I also can apply a little more pressure and the whole black plastic arm will "click" or "snap" back up to a locked position and the machine will remain off. It will start up and run normally when I press the foot pedal, but again when I put it all the way down and release it will not stop completely. I have to manually push this arm up to stop it completely. Again, that's why I thought it might be the chain tension, but had not luck when moving the link and tension. Is there anything you can think of that would fix this? What could I have done to cause it? Could the problem be coming from something else? This machine is only 2 years old, hasn't seen excessive use, and it is well taken care of. I bought it from Toledo Sewing Machine and have never had any problems with it before. I'm really hoping I don't have to replace the motor since it's so new. I took the cover off the servo motor to see if there was anything obviously wrong and couldn't see anything. I'm not super mechanically inclined, so I thought I'd start here with the experts before doing anything. I didn't want to start chasing one problem and create a handful of others. Any help you all could provide would be greatly appreciated. Fingers crossed it is something simple and I can get it back to normal. Thanks in advance, -Hannah

Thanks, Scooby! I’ll give that a try. I might just end up going with resolene for the waterproof element. Maybe I’ll cut it 50/50 with water like some people do on sheaths and holsters? Just thought I should ask for some opinions on softer leathers since I hadn’t tried it. Having it a bit shinier than I had wanted would be better than not being able to sell it at all. I also have an email in to Horween since I forgot to call again before they closed. So I’ll let everyone know if they get back to me either way. I really appreciate your time! -Hannah

Will do!

Thank you! I thought of that, but by the time I found out about the issue they’d closed. Dang time zones! I thought I’d ask here too in case anyone had come across the same issue and found a useable solution. I appreciate you taking the time to post the number!

That would be great, thank you! I’ll keep buffing and see what happens. I buffed like crazy and it seemed to lessen a little, but then when I went back to that spot it was still coming off on the light colored material. I appreciate it!

Thanks for taking the time to respond and for the extra hope I’ve got my fingers crossed that someone will come through and save the day. It is definitely a bummer, but we will see. I haven’t given up get. And I guess worst case scenario, I’ll just have to swatch different things and then try and pick the best with what I’ve got. I’ll live and learn I suppose. Thanks, Battlemunky!

Hi everyone, This is my first post here on the forum, so I apologize if I didn’t put this in the right place. Sorry for the length, I just want to give all the info I can to get the best advice. Thanks in advance for your time! I recently picked up a side of matte-ish black Horween Essex for a custom tote order. The tote was made and shipped and I started using the rest of the side for a crossbody bag with an alligator flap. I checked in yesterday with the tote customer to make sure she was happy and she said she was, but she’d noticed that the color was rubbing off on her white pants. She didn’t have this problem with her first tote from me last year and I’ve never had this problem in the 3 years I’ve been working with Essex so I was surprised. Out of curiosity, I went over to the alligator and Essex bag that I just finished up and rubbed it with a scrap of light colored T-shirt and sure enough quite a bit of color came off. Obviously, I’m concerned that not only does a customer have a tote that’s leaving color on her clothes, but in the meantime I have just finished an expensive, fairly time consuming hand-stitched bag (my first using alligator) that’ll be rubbing on someone’s shoulder and hip. I can’t have it leaving big black marks on someone’s clothes. I wouldn’t even try and sell it if I know that’s a possibility. Now that the bag is done, what can I do to try and seal it? The edges are all painted with Vernis edge paint so I’m nervous about getting any kind of solvent on them and having that turn into a big mess. I tried buffing the whole bag with a soft cloth to remove excess color, but the color transfer hasn’t stopped. I thought about using Resolene, but I’m concerned about (a) being able to apply it consistently and not having it gum up since it’s all finished and 3-D and not an easy flat surface and (b) won’t it make the matte black really look shiny and plastic-y? I liked the way it looked before with the soft finish. It made the gray alligator flap pop. Lastly, does it work well on leathers with soft-medium tempers. I’ve used it on heavy veg tan work but not this kind of thing. I can’t afford to experiment with stuff that “might” work, because if it works on a flat scrap and not on the finished 3-D bag, the whole thing’s wasted. Is there any way to salvage it? I loved the way it turned out and would really appreciate any advice. I’d also like to be able to help the tote customer so she’s not stuck with a bag that ruins her clothes. She’s in a different state, so if you have a product in mind that she could buy separately and apply as a non leather worker that’s even better. Thanks again! -Hannah