kgg

I agree with LatigoAmigo let it go otherwise it will eat you up inside, life is to short. However if making a pair is something that you would like to try at some point, do it by and for yourself but follow the 3 "S" rule. kgg+

The new direct drives remind me of the old singer sewing machines made for home use like some of the 15-91's that had the built in motors that were expensive and hard to replace. As Wiz and Constabulary note that the manufacturer has the control of how the machine should work and will also have control of future replacement motors. I know if I could afford the cost of one of those direct drives I would opt for something else that I had more control over of how it is ran. But I can see why they are going in that direction, manufacturing / shipping cost savings. My question is the new direct drive from Juki made in Japan or China?

I would go with the Juki line of machines particularly if you have a excellent / service dealer close to your location. However before deciding take a couple samples in and run them through to see what machine or machines will do the job plus more for the future as well see what accessories that are available like feet /binders/folders. You did mention the Juki flatbed 1508 which is a very very nice machine but don't count out the 1541S. There has been discussion on the forum and some people feel the difference in ability versus cost difference have or would have chosen the 1541S. I chose the 1541S and for what I do it is an excellent workhorse. kgg

Hi Katit, Another consideration maybe table mounting a portable machine like the Reliable Barracuda or Techsew 611 that are fairly inexpensive walking foot machines that probably would do the job for about $500 US. If you don't like it or the hobby and sell it after a year you would probably get half the purchase price back. My thoughts, kgg

Happy Birthday and may you have many more each better then the last. kgg

I would probably just go with a modern table / servo setup. I think you may run into problems with the finding a treadle table with a opening that will fit the sewing machine properly and getting the control of the treadle foot just right. The treadle foot may have a tendency to over travel with unexpected speed increase if the bottom pulley of the treadle remains connected to the large pulley wheel. My 2 cents, kgg

Hi JSLeathercraft, Thank you, I have found that people on this forum are very open and knowledgeable about everything from thread, leather techniques to machine repairs and everything in between. I hope my suggestions help you in some small way. For me a serger thread just could not standup to a litter of puppies for more then couple of hours before their little teeth would shred the serger thread and the item would have to be repaired. Ripstop edging has stopped that. I look forward to seeing what you decide on and how it works as I may be able to incorporate something into my projects. kgg

Hi JSLeathercraft, I to struggled with your question of using a serger or try and figure out what would work best. I now use my Juki 1541s with a 1 1/2 inch binding attachment to edge the fleece. Edging the fleece you showed in the photo is going to be difficult with a normal industrial serger as they are going to struggle with the depth of pile, the needles becoming fowled and probably will not accommodate a thread capable of standing up to the riggers of use. The depth of the fleece in the photo I am guessing is about a 1/2 inch pile with a standard material backing and a thread count of about 800. The single fold 1 1/2 binding attachment places a nice approximately 5/8" edge on both top and bottom of the fabric and will stop edge fraying. I use a good quality ripstop material for edging as it is tough, water resistant and lite. Some of my little projects require fleece, ripstop and 1/8 rubber backing. Any of your machines will do the job nicely if you can get a binding attachment for them. The small portable walking foot sewing machines will do the job but will struggle and I have use two different popular manufacturers machines. I do have two notes of caution when using this fabric 1) cut your fabric so the factory punch holes that are about 1" in from the edge are not a part of your project that extra material is just scrap 2) take a piece about 4' x 4' and wash and dry it before you work with it to get an idea on how much shrinkage you are going to get. What you will find is that the fluffy pile will pill and the size of your material will shrink about 2" with one side being more then the other. The material I use comes from Monterey Mills and should cost about I guessing $6.00 US a running yard. It is good stuff, allows water to wick through and keep the top dry, washes great and last for about 70 wash / dry cycles. We have used this in our whelping boxes for years and all the dogs (infant to senior) love it. My experience, kgg

I would keep all four machines for say 6 months and due some comparison sewing. After comparing the quality/ease of work and taking in to account the availability of repair and accessory parts keep the best and sell the rest. kgg

Hi Piqued, Overall you can't go wrong with a Juki machine. If properly maintained they are great machines with lots of available accessories and availability to repair parts from many sources. Juki is one of the main manufacturers that which the clones are held too. The Juki LS-341N according to the specs I have read it should be able to handle V69 to V 207 thread. Since your electrical grid is not as stable as you would like it maybe best to go with a clutch motor and speed reduction pulleys to increase torque, provide slower speeds and better control of your work. If you purchase a servo motor from North America you will need a voltage converter with the correct ampere rating for the servo motor you purchase. I would recommend whether you use servo or clutch motor that you should also use a dedicated correctly sized uninterpreted power supply (UPS) with a sine wave output rather then a chopped wave output to help remove exposure to mini brown downs or over voltage from the electrical grid to extend the life of the motors. For the other questions I will leave them to others that have more knowledge on those topics. kgg

I think it is based on the Juki 441. kgg

I think that first sewing machine is a 15-90 clone for two reasons. The serial number number begins with a "Z", I have never seen or can find a reference for a Singer that has its serial number beginning with a "Z" and there doesn't seem to be any holes present where the Singer badge would have been. kgg

Hi aguwa, I am going to suggest that you consider the Juki DNU -1541S (S denotes safety clutch mechanism) rather then the Juki 1508. There is a cost difference of about $1000 Canadian or approximately $700 US and the differences between the two series of machines from my investigating was minor. The big difference for me was the Juki 1541s is still made in Japan where as the 1508 now is made in China. Kgg

Hi txoria, My suggestion would be to maybe use a martingale style leather collar design to help reduce the amount of stretching and keeping it up high on the neck away from those powerful shoulders. To assist with the pulling what I have found worked with Huskies and Mals, who are true pullers by nature, using initially two collars at the same time on the dog for training worked. My goal was to show them to their championships in the conformation show ring and being able to walk them through crowds of people and dogs on a basic show lead. For that they really need to be trust worthy and focused. For those that don't know what a basic show lead is think of a shoe lace. One collar being a sturdy martingale and the second a prong with a good bride leather lead being alternated between the two collars in short two minute time frames and training lasting no more then 10 minutes in total followed with 20 minutes of pure one on one play. I must tell you that before ever using a prong collar it must be properly fitted to that individual dog so get a pro to show you how to fit and use it. Excellent small treats and positive reinforcement are going to be a must. Something like cooked meat / liver. What I have found is that after a few sessions the prong collar can be replaced with a show lead and after a few more sessions the martingale is removed for training leaving only the show lead. My experience kgg txoria

Hi RJLamie, If you can find a good second hand Barracuda you maybe be able to pick it up in your price range. When I needed / wanted a small portable walking foot I compared the Reliable Barracuda, the Techsew 611, the Sailrite LS and ultimately choosing the Reliable Barracuda because of price and warranty. New the Barracuda was $648 CA ($499 US) and came with a three year warranty. If requested it would have come set-up for #138 thread out of the box. Since I pick it up at a local dealer I had no shipping costs versus the Sailrite would have been $1049 US plus $200 US shipping to Canada or approximately $1600 CA plus probably duty. For me it was a no-brainer. Both are decent little portable machines with about the same capabilities. If you go the portable route I would suggest that you table mount it. I built a new 1 1/2" thick table top out of 3/4" plywood to accommodate the Barracuda and mounted the top to an old Singer treadle base. I extended the distance between the legs of the Singer base by 12 inches using 1/2" threaded rod and mounted the Barracuda's foot control so the foot of the treadle would push down on the foot controller. My suggestion, kgg

Hi RJlamie, The Sailrite LS1 is only rated for V92 thread and you maybe able to push 138 through with a few tweaks same with the Reliable Barracuda. Size 346 you are going to need a real heavy duty machine.

Hi BillyR, This could be as simple as your table not being level in one corner or the servo motor needing to be broke in so what I would try first is try an locate to source of the problem. I would remove the belts from the servo motor to the speed reducer and the speed reducer belt to the sewing machine pulley and run it for five minutes at various speed settings. Then I would run it at the low speed and see if your grumbling and vibration are present. If there is a grumbling and vibration then the problem has to due with the servo motor or its mounting bolts. If there is no grumbling or vibration present connect the servo belt to the speed reducer. If there is a grumbling and vibration then the problem has to due with the speed reducer, its mounting bolts, pulley to pulley alignment, belt tension and/or dry / damaged bearing. If there is no grumbling or vibration present connect the speed reducer to the sewing machine. If there is grumbling or vibration present it could be an off balance reducer pulley, pulley to pulley alignment issue or a belt tension / belt size issue. I would also check and see if the sewing machine is seated properly in its mounting slot and if there are anti vibration dampers needed they are present as well as the table top is true. If there is no grumbling or vibration present sew to your hearts content. My two cents worth, kgg

Hi JLSleather, I agree the cylinder diameter of the 6 shot vs the 7 shot is very close. The difference from making a holster would be if you were shaping the cylinder indents in the leather they would be off by say 8 degrees, 6 evenly space holes in the same circle vs 7 holes. Shooting point of view there would be less trigger pull needed to racket the cylinder from one round to the next. Still love the six shot but not the stub noses. kgg

Hi RSimpson, What I have found sometimes with the Singer 15 is that the tension in the bobbin needs to be re-adjusted. With the bobbin case out of the machine like you were going to install a new bobbin, hold the thread coming out of the bobbin case and let the bobbin case dangle. If the tension is to loose the bobbin will unravel and the case will fall to floor and to tight the thread will not unwind from bobbin. I like it to hold its position and move slightly when I give it a slight jerk/tug on the thread. Another thing to try would be to use say V69 as a top thread and one size smaller bobbin thread. kgg

Hi RSimpson, I think your top tension problem has to due with getting your thread properly sandwiched between the tensioner disks. Before threading make sure your foot tension lever is in the up position, this will release the pressure on the tension disks and allow the thread to seat properly between them. Depending on the size of thread I would set the tension dial to the lowest tension zero on the dial and work up from there. The needle you are using is rated for maximum V69 (Tex 70) thread and depending on how thick the fleece is can create havoc with the needle thread. kgg

Hi Anthony, I noticed that you: 1. Entered your thread through the first hole of the horizontal tension bar just before the first tension disk from the top of the first hole. I think it should enter from the bottom of the first hole. 2. Did you use your knee lift to get the first thread tensioner disks to open so the thread is sandwiched between the disks of the first tensioner? 3. Do you have thread tension just after the second tensioner at the thread hook? If not the thread was not sandwiched between the disks of the first tensioner. 4. Did you thread through the top vertical tension post on top of the machine, you didn't post a picture? My two cents worth. kgg

Hi geezer, My understanding of the singer 31-15 is that it was made as a industrial straight stitch not a walking foot sewing machine made more for tailors able to due light to medium weight fabrics. I would ask the owner to describe the movement of the foot and bottom feed dog as the needle goes up and down (straight stitch foot moves straight up and down with the feed dogs moving the material from front to back where as a walking foot lifts off the material at the rear of the feed dog cycle, moves forward and drops down on the material ). My 2 cents kgg

Hi Mark, I don,t have a clicker myself but am going to assume you are using a 1/2 inch material similar to puck board ( polyethylene). Which is used to line the ice side of hockey rink boards, kitchen cutting boards, whelping boxes etc. This material can be purchased in 4 x 8 sheets from 1/8" up at your local hardware store (Lowes, Rona, Homedepot) or plastic fabricator or they could ordered it for you. Then cut it to the size you need with a table saw or circular saw. In my area of Ontario a sheet in 1/2" would be about $200. If that isn't possible for you maybe you have a local woodworker with a table drum sander that could take off a skim to give a nice smooth surface to the clicker press board. Just my two cents worth. kgg

I agree with Bikermutt07 it doesn't look like a stamp however I think it could have been done with a tattoo gun. Back in the day when all registered dogs were tattooed with a series of Kennel Club assigned letters and numbers, I would practice on a piece of pig skin. You had to be fast, steady and you needed to get clean, clear lines in a small space on the puppy. Easier doing big breeds but the toy breeds were always a challenge.

Hi jos1980, I don't know how close you live to the border but what most people in this area do is to have a US address (mailbox) at UPS. We live about 45 minutes from the border and find that most orders of stuff over a certain dollar value has free shipping within the US. Then the wife and myself go across for 48 hours (weekend) and get $800 duty free. When we have to make a day trip to get a special item usually the item is cheaper even with the rate of exchange and you pay GST. Don't forget to gas up before coming home. kgg