kgg

I found this article which may help. From Cowboy Way ( www.cowboyway.com/What/BullVest.htm )"What Is A Bull Riding Vest Made Of?" and go down to the section " Inside A Bull Riding Vest ". I did find some Ballistic Spectra Fabric Plain Weave 215 Denier 2.6oz/88gsm on Composite Envisions (comcompositeenvisions.com) at ( compositeenvisions.com/product/ballistic-spectra-fabric-plain-weave-215d-2-6oz-88gsm/ ). How thick the fabric needs too be is needed to provided adequate protection is the question. Probably very similar to what would be needed for a stab proof / resistant vest. As a note the stab proof vest and bullet proof vests may not be legal to own / use in your province or state. kgg

How thick is your leather that you are trying to skive. From the Techsew site ( www.techsew.com/en/techsew-sk-5-heavy-duty-leather-skiving-machine.html ) " The SK-5 is recommended for leather from 4-5oz and thicker. For thinner leather, we recommend the Techsew SK-4. " kgg

Where are you located so other machine options that are more common in your area can be suggested. kgg

The Techsew 4800 is a clone of the Juki LS-1342 and the Techsew 2750 is a clone of the older Juki LS-341. From Juki website ( juki.com/ls-1342-series ) "The vertical stroke of the walking foot and presser foot can be easily set and changed (LS-1342, LS-1342-7) The vertical stroke of the presser foot and walking foot (amount of alternating vertical movement) can be easily changed with the large dial mounted on the top of the machine head. The sewing speed is automatically regulated based on the vertical stroke setting. This ensures ideal sewing conditions at all times." kgg

I used the specifications for the PFAFF 335 from the pfaff industrial website which is for the newer model ( pfaff-industrial.com/en/portfolio/sewing-machines/cylinder-arm/pfaff335 ) which lists the needle system as 134-35LR and needle size from 80-100. Be careful with what you see as you need to know how thick and what type of leather as well as what modifications were made to the machine. Like @Wizcrafts said a used Consew 227R would be better. Another consideration would be a Class 341/1341 machine like a Juki 341 or 1341 or a clone. kgg

My understanding is that the Pfaff 335 can only handle V69 thread as it can only accommodate a #16 (100) needle and is best suited for thinner items. What are you planning on sewing? kgg

Sewing machines: One armed Bandits: i) Tippman Boss sold by Tipmmann directly ( tippmannindustrial.com ) ii) Cowboy Outlaw from dealers like Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines ( www.tolindsewmach.com ) iii) Weaver Master Tool Cub ( weaverleathersupply.com ) Pfaff Industrial sewing machine: Go to Pfaff site and look for dealers in your location ( pfaff-industrial.us/dealers/ ) Landis Equipment: Go to LandisInternational USA ( landisusa.com/us-en ) A lot of equipment can be had as used from industrial sewing machine repair/sales locations or online markets. I would recommend not going with a one armed bandit but rather a Class 441 machine either a brand name machine like a Juki, Alder or a clone machine like a Cowboy CB4500 or Cobra Class 4 to name a couple. kgg

To answer your question the bobbin thread should come off the bobbin in a counter clockwise direction. I think your best source would be the manual from Leather Machine Co. and Al Bane who seems to know his stuff about the Cobra machines. It also appears he has a close relationship with them. A good video by Al Bane about the bobbin is kgg

Yes I prefer the Schmetz needles and never have had problems with them in any of my machines but have had problems with other manufactures needles in the past. I'm sure other people find other manufacturers needles just as good as well. Schmetz is a manufacturer of needles for a wide variety of both domestic and industrial sewing machines. All the sewing machine manufacturers (clone or brand name) have recommended a needle system and a min / max needle size that works for their machines. So as long as your needles are the same needle system and in this case 135x16 (DPx16) or 135x17 (DPx17) from a #18 to #24 needle they will fit quite a number of machines whether they are flatbed or cylinder bed configuration. When you order your needles also order a brand name spool of thread either bonded nylon or bonded polyester depending on what you are sewing. kgg

I think the printing on your pack of needles is probably a bit blurry and it says DP x17 which is the same as 135 X17. The 17 denotes that the needle is used for fabric. Your machine requires 135x16 ( leather) or 17 (fabric) needles otherwise the needle will be too short or long to allow the hook to pickup the top thread properly which will give you skipped stitches if it does manage to pickup the top thread. When you measure the height of the spool, a 1 lb spool is about 7 inches tall from the base to the top. So you need the guide hole on the thread stand to be about 17.5 inches above the base of the spool of thread to allow for the thread to properly unwind / unkink. The problem I find with the commercial thread stands is that this can give a fairly serve angle from the thread stands guide hole to the first thread guide pin. I like to keep my top thread as close to horizontal to the top hole of the first guide pin on the top of the machine. The example is of a Kobe LS-1341 (setup for binding) which is the same as your Techsew 2750 that are clones of the older Juki LS-341 just different clone name. kgg

For leather you should use the 135x16 needles as they are designed to pierce / cut through leather where as the 135x17 are for fabric where they separate the fibers rather then cut through them. The needle size for V92 should be a #19 / 120 or #20 / 130 needle. A good thread size to needle size chart can be found at ( www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html ). You may find in thicker / tougher leather or multi layers of fabric you may have to go up another needle size above the recommended. This is so the hole that the needle punches is large enough not to allow the thread from being grabbed by the material which will affect how the loop is formed. If the loop isn't formed properly the hook can't catch it. A good source for needles can be found at Wawak.com. I personally find the Schmetz needles to work the best in may machines. Also the quality of thread can play an important role. Buy a brand name thread like A&E (made in Canada and the USA) as the consistency / quality is always dependable where as the cheap Chinese stuff is just a frustration generator with overall poor quality. Also I find the 1 LB spools of thread have less problems then the 4 or 8 oz spools. Remember you need 2 1/2 times the height of the thread spool too the thread stand thread guide hole. kgg

Any chance of posting a couple of photo's or a short video showing: i) How you have the machine threaded. ii) How you have the needle inserted in the needle bar. iii) Are you using 135x16 or 135x17 needles? iv) What are you sewing Fabric or Leather? v) How thick is the item you trying to sew? vi) What size of thread? vii) What size of needle? kgg

Does the skipped stitches happen on a turn or on straight runs? Have you checked the Hook timing? For future reference here are two video's of checking and setting the timing on a Class 441 machine: i) By UWE using a Cowboy: ii) By Al Bane using a Cobra: kgg

Couple of questions: i) What size of needle are you using? ii) What size of thread are you using? iii) How thick is the leather? iv) Is the hook worn blunt? If the hook has been worn back from use it will need to be adjusted as in retiming the machine to advance the hook. kgg

I would suggest you reconsider the Consew 206RB-5 rather then the 1206rb-1. The reason I am suggesting this is the 206RB-5 has a safety clutch system so when you jam up the hook/ shuttle you don't cause damage to internal parts. I think most people have at some point jammed a machine up. With a safety clutch you clear the jam, reset the clutch and you are back sewing. One simple jam on a machine without a safety clutch could and probably will cost you more then what you are saving on the initial price. Don't buy a machine based on price alone. Buy the best machine for what you are planning on sewing. There is nothing worst then buying a machine, irregardless of price, that is not capable of doing what you want. Once you buy a machine you are typically stuck with it. I think most of us have been down that road. Those machines are soon replaced usually at a dollar loss. kgg

Sorry about that my mistake. Both are Bonded Polyester and then it comes do to how those are processed. kgg

Yes both are Tex 90 but one, the top one is a Bonded Nylon and the other is a Bonded Polyester. The Bonded Nylon is physically thicker, stronger and to make matters more noticeable the Bonded Polyester is softer but handles UV and bleach much better. kgg

Just adding a sewing machine that can do your items will cut your labor cost. In my example your cost would drop to $15.00 rather then $30 which would give you a fighting chance at attracting sales. kgg

If you want to level up the playing field with your competition and gain more sales based on price you need equipment to reduce the main cost, Labor. To do that you need to invest in equipment, sewing machine, clicker press, burnisher etc. Lets assume the quality of your work is as good or better then the competitions. Lets assume a couple of other things the labor cost is $20 per hour, the material cost to make a wallet is $5 and the selling price is 2 times the cost to make the wallet. There are two fronts that you have to become competitive in: i) The time it takes to be ready for sewing. If you and your competition have similar wallets that sells well they are probably using a clicker press and produce the pieces for their wallet in less then two minutes where as you are hand cutting the same pieces for a similar wallet and it takes 15 minutes. In an hour they have 30 or more wallet pieces ready to be sewn and you have 4. Their cost per wallet is $0.67 and yours is $5.00. ii) The time it takes to sew. It takes your competition say 15 minutes to sew the wallet and it takes you 60 minutes to hand-stitch one. Your item costs $20 and theirs is $5. Your competition can sew all day long with very little fatigue day in day out. I don't think you would want to try doing that by hand. Summary: Competitions wallet costs: $5.00 in material and $5.67 in labor for a total cost of $10.67. Selling price: 2 x $10.67 or $21.34 Your wallet costs: $5.00 in material and $25.00 in labor for a total cost of $30.00. Your competition could sell the similar wallet for less then what it costs you to make it and still make a profit. Ask yourself would you pay the extra. If two items are of equal quality most customers will chose the one costing less. You have to either have a better item or be at least at a similar price point. There is and will always be a market for items made totally by hand but the general population can't appreciate or if they do they don't want to spent the extra dollars. Also since you are hand-stitching what size of thread do you want to use in the machine? This will also be a factor in selecting a machine. Most upholstery class 1541 flatbeds can handle V138, most class 1341 cylinder beds can handle V207 while the class 441 can handle V415. The totally manual machines like Cowboy Outlaw ($1400) can handle up to V346 and the Tippmann Boss ($999) can handle up to V415. kgg

Have you visited a industrial sewing machine dealer? Having local support to help you get familiar with a machine maybe of benefit if you have very little experience, they may have a good used machine that would work for you needs and you would be able to test drive probably different machines before you purchase. I would suggest buying a cylinder bed machine with a flatbed table attachment. You can then have the option of doing items not only items best done on flatbed but also items best done and sometimes only can be done on a cylinder bed machine. You may have too either increase your budget or purchase a good used machine. Buy Once, Cry Once. kgg

How thick is the material? Have you tried using a 110/18 needle? Is the thread a bonded nylon or polyester? kgg

Very nice rebuild. kgg

Since oiling and tapping of the shaft has helped I would also ask LMC if instead of the normal machine oil if something like a good penetrating fluid or Synthetic transmission fluid or even diesel fuel would be another alternative combined with oiling. I don't use regular sewing machine oil in any of my own sewing machines. I find that a mixture of Synthetic transmission fluid and Synthetic oil works much better but I am willing to take the risks associated of going outside normal sewing machine oiling / lubrication recommendations. I often use diesel fuel to free up seize metal components. You did mention that the boxes you received from UPS on the second machine was pretty damaged. Did you save the box as couple of photos of the box may help to determine was the damage caused by mishandling. kgg

According to Schmetz Needle Size Designations (https://www.schmetzneedles.com/pages/needle-size-designations ) A number # 19 is a 120 metric needle this is good for A number # 20 is a 125 metric needle A number # 21 is a 130 metric needle which is good for V92 (Tkt30) A number # 22 is a 140 metric needle kgg

The one for your machine that the manufacturer recommended, which was the 134-35 needles so the Groz-Beckert should be the ones. The manual I am referencing is https://www.manualslib.com/manual/461721/Duerkopp-Adler-269.html?page=4#manual kgg