kgg

Here is Uwe's video @Uwe. kgg

I have purchased leather from Cuir Di Zazzo Leather in Montreal and they are fully bilingual. It was worth the drive as there prices were much better then anywhere I could find in Ontario. Maybe worth a email or phone call. https://en.cuirdizazzo.com/ kgg

The machine you have takes 793/794 needle system needles. Basically you are stuck with that needle system which is a large diameter needle system meant to punch through thick leather up to about 3/4" thick with thread sizes from V69 to V346. I have never seen a needle size below a number 20 for that needle system. The best one to contact would be @CowboyBob for available needle sizes. The 794DIA 200/25 tells you the needle system (794) and the size of needle where the 200 is the metric size and the 25 is the US size. The needle that came with your machine is a #25 needle meant for V277 thread. A good reference chart for needles versus thread size can be found at https://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html kgg

I am not familiar with the Seiko machines as in my neck of the woods they are not a common machine. Looking at the spec it takes a 793 / 794 needle so the needle has a large diameter and will punch large holes which maybe not want you want. I would put the Seiko CH-8B in the 441 class of machines based on it being rated for threads sizes from V138 to V346. This machines is a compound feed so I don't think a roller foot is going to work as I think you need a drop feed machine for the roller foot to work. I would suggest looking at other machines better suited to handling the thinner leathers of shoe uppers, wallets and with smaller diameter needles like 135 x 17 for fabric or 135 x 16 for leather. Yes you can sew thinner items and close to the edge if you can get the proper needle plates. They are available for the Juki TSC441 and clones but I don't know if they are available for the Seiko. As for an all rounder I would suggest a Juki LS-1341 or clone, there are a lot of them, when combined with a table top attachment can be very versatile. The drawback is V207 would be the largest thread you would be able to use. kgg

Thank you, I appreciate the compliment. I haven't tried a drop-down edge guide on the 441. I know when I did the installation of one on the Sailrite LSZ-1 clone it wasn't as convenient as I thought it would be and wound up in a spare parts bin somewhere in the basement. I can see that it could get a bit crowded in that section and with my chubby hands I would probably skin a couple knuckles. HaHa That would be a nice winters project. Maybe something like a one armed bandit. kgg

I did have a couple of comments that my first articulating table top attachment was shall we be honest and say a little overly complicated, the mounting hardware took away from the look of the machine and looked clumsy. So I think I have corrected those concerns while still allowing it to be swing away and be stored underneath the cylinder arm. The twist to the original table top attachment is that is now modular and I have added two drop down straight edge sewing guides. The surfaces of the table top and edge guides that any material will touch are really smooth / slick to prevent catching and reduce tension. The straight edge guides can be used together (one on each side of the needle) or individually (to the left or right of the needle). The front and back drop down sections have measurement marks in their surfaces with half moon marks indicating "inch" marks from the center of the needle so getting accurate and straight alignment of the straight guides is pretty easy. Also in the photo's is a adapter that I made that attaches to the existing vertical lifting rod for raising the presser foot up by hand. This is a rough working prototype as the original knuckle buster round black ball on the end of the vertical rod was a royal pain to get too with my chubby fingers. By extending it out towards the front of the machine it is much easier get to and more accurate to operate. The last two photo's are of the original vertical attachment and the new horizontal attachment. I know my welding skills are in need of improvement so for those who know how to weld have a chuckle and bear with me. There is another addition to this table top attachment that will extend it's size to about 10" x 16" that I will probably complete a little later on. I would like to thank @MtlBiker for his input throughout this project. All comments and or suggestions are always welcomed. kgg

If the machine doesn't say Juki somewhere on the machine it could be depending on the time it was made a Aurora A-460 ( tensioner on the front ) or possibly some clone of Mitsubishi, Seiko or some Chinese clone. There seems to be quite a mixture of what machines they modified. Some were walking foot machines unlike the compound feed machines of today. The best source of info would be the Hoffman Brothers as they took over some of the Ferdco ( https://hoffmanbrothers.com/leather-machines/ ), Weaver took over the Cub. kgg

I would check a couple of things first before changing / modifying your presser feet: i) the height the feet dog protrudes above the needle plate. It maybe needs to be adjusted up slightly to bite into the bottom of the leather a touch more. ii) the position of the presser foot. Is it at the level of the needle plate or above? iii) the tension on the presser foot. If I'm not mistaken the Techsew 2700 is the same as the Cowboy 227R so this manual may help. kgg CB227R_Oper.Manual_print_pages_3-13.pdf

Knowing what machine would be helpful. kgg

To cover your range of items you IMO would need a class 441 machine like the Juki TSC-441 or similar clone to sew holsters with the thickness of leather needed in conjunction with the heavy thread that would also be required, V277 and thicker. For wallets I would suggest a cylinder arm machine like a Juki LS-1341 or similar clone as it can be converted to a flatbed by adding a flatbed table attachment. There are needle plates and feed dogs available to allow a class 441 machine to sew thinner items with much thinner thread. A lot will depend on your pocket book, these machines even used are not a cheap investment. kgg

Yep, we are getting as bad as California and becoming a nanny state. The funny thing is if you want a gallon, 5 gallon pale or a 40 gallon drum, no problem but those little 4, 8 or 16 oz bottles are the devils juice reincarnated. Here is a link to the article on Zelikovitz Leathers site ( www.zelistore.com/en-ca/blogs/news ). kgg

Who did you order the 120 mm pulley from? kgg That calculator saves a few of the old remaining brain cells. kgg

He must have meant "new to you". kgg

To me it appears Used. A new one is about $3000 plus shipping. The best one probably would be @CowboyBob to comment on the age. The value depends on the operating condition whether it has a stand and motor, speed reducer, etc. I wouldn't consider it for a $500 plus shipping difference over a new one. For me it would have to be a complete package and sub $1800 but that's just me. kgg

Here is a good link to save you some time when designing your speed reducer and get a pretty accurate estimate of what you design will give you. https://www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belt kgg

I know there are a few who use 3D printers with the majority probably being flatbed slingers or core XY machines and this may help provide some information on what to expect when printing parts using different bed plates. The example I am showing are of four final outputs using the same design .step files. All are acceptable from a strength point of view and were printed with 3d850 filament. The first photo showing the the four table top plates for the 441 are the same size but they appear to be different sizes in the photo due to the angle it was taken. The first photo is of the engineering plate which is similar to the Prusa 'Satin' Plate as it is a PEI coated plate that has more stippling grip that an old school PEI sheet but not as much as a PEI "textured" plate. Basically a compromise design between smoothness and 'stickiness'. We did not use it long enough to judge its sticky abilities before moving on to new tech plates. Aesthetically acceptable does have mild some grip to the surface. The second photo is carbon fiber pattern PET, a lower grade of PEO and basically the same as PETG without the glycol added. Its Glass Transition temperature (Tg) is 70C so once again great for PLA and 3860/3870 but PETG (let alone ABS) is a non-starter. Where it is not as robust as PEO the pattern in the sheet is more noticeable to the touch and the finishing surface is not as smooth. Still better than even 'satin' PEI sheets but not as good as 'smooth' PEI sheets. Parts do not stick as well to it as PEO, so when cool parts do pop right off, but while hot you have to rip them off. Aesthetically acceptable does have less surface grip to the surface. The third photo is a 3D pattern and my favorite a PEO sometimes called 'PEG' plastic. Similar to PETG but higher temperature resistance. The latest PEO plates can handle over 100C, the older ones can handle ~80C. NONE should be used with PETG filament as they probably will bind to each other. Causing you to rip the 'sticker' PEO sheet. These plates result in as smooth a surface as old-school 'smooth' PEI plates and arguably as smooth as glass with just as much 'shine'. BUT PLA sticks to it better than PEI textured plates. Even when cool it takes a tiny bit of effort to release the part from it. Aesthetically very acceptable has less surface grip then the other surfaces more like polished glass. The fourth photo is the least aesthetically acceptable with the greatest amount of surface grip and was done on Prusa MK3S with a full bear upgrade (bed slinger) and retained the glue tracking lines on the bed. It is also I think worthy to note that the printing time for the first three took approximately 5 hours each at standard speed and were done on Bambu X1 Carbon (core XY) while the last one was done using the Prusa MK3S with a full bear upgrade taking approximately 16 hours to print. All comments, discussion are always welcomed. kgg

I think on the 1541 you need to adjust the hook timing and it's position. Here is a couple of video's you may find helpful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHyn5A1v-hs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KtJCSfRafA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obvI-v7w0qA Also here is a copy of the Juki 1541 manuals kgg JUKI_DNU-1541-7OwnersManual.pdf JUKI DNU-1541 Parts List.pdf JUKI_DNU-1541-S-7EM01_SERVICE_MANUAL.pdf

The problem as I see it, especially thinner items, there can be a few variables at play. i) if the forward and reverse stitches aren't in perfect syn then you could be dealing with a tension issue in the stitch cycle particularly should you decide to change direction ii) if the timing is off just a touch then you probably going to have a stitch problem iii) then you have to deal with how accurate the needle position software is as these units are generic in nature and typically not tuned for one style/type/manufacture of machine. Some of these don't work properly on some machines and work OK on others iv) how accurately and securely they are mounted to the frame of the machine. Some people love them, some not so much. I don't particularly even like brushless servo motors as the box of electronics adds another layer of complication when trouble shooting. Then add in a needle positioner and it can become a real problem to back track and correct problems. I guess I fall into the "not so much" group but that is probably just me. kgg

I do agree they are big and I actually just got the other day a set of feet that I just haven't had a chance to install. kgg

Thank you both. So far the consciences is that a table top is not necessary, it was just a thought. kgg

I would just remove the needle positioner all together but that is me. A couple of tests you could try after making sure the top and bobbin tension are correct, bobbin is installed correctly and your thread path from the thread spool is set up proper( a couple of photo's of this maybe helpful): i) reset the needle positioner to the up position and see what happens ii) reset the needle positioner to the down position and see what happens iii) remove the needle positioner by just unplugging it from the box of tricks and see what happens. For Tex 70 ( V69 ) depending on the thickness of material being sewn I would go with either a #16 or #18 needle. A good reference chart for needle to thread combinations is located at https://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread-chart.html kgg

The binding attachment in the photo is just an inexpensive Single Fold Binder mounted to a swing away bracket. Binders use to be cheap in the sub $20 CAD range but I haven't check the prices recently. The swing away brackets use to be also cheap as well in the sub $10 CAD range. I think most people use the 90 degree binders which are expensive in comparison at about $60 CAD per tape size and type (raw or double fold edge). If I'm not mistaken on the 441 class machines the 90 degree binders bolt directly to the flat plate directly behind the needle plate. That said if I had to do really tight corners or only had a cylinder arm machine the 90 degree binders would be the binder of choice. Since I have flat bed machines and a couple cylinder arm machines I want to be able to move attachments from one machine to another and didn't want to invest in machine specific attachments. With the inline binders I found it to be a problem: i) going from the a flatbed 1541 to a 1341 cylinder arm so I had to design a little table top to do that. ii) going to the 441 class with the standard plate that comes with them a inline would work but was a real pain in properly setting the distance to the needle and you have basically no support under the folder attachment so I designed another little table top for that as well as the one in the photo's and video. The little binder specific plate can be seen slung under the cylinder arm on the Velcro strap in the fourth photo. My thought is if you are only going to use one tape size and type (raw or double fold edge) for your needs it probably would be best to go with a 90 degree binder setup. kgg

Thank you @Cumberland Highpower. kgg

Thank you @dikman. I do still wonder what a good size table top needs to be for holster type work? kgg

The problem I see with some table top attachments is storage. You have bolt them down to install then unbolt them when you don't need them then find a spot to tuck them away. So me being me again, I figured I could do a little better. I have designed an articulating table top that stores in both the vertical and horizontal position under the cylinder arm to either the front or rear side of the cylinder arm. The attachment to the articulating joint on the bottom of the table top also adds extra rear support to the table top. The short video is moving it from the mounted position to the front of the machine for storage in the vertical position. I did add Velcro strap through the needle plate opening to help support it but the articulating joints will hold it in place by themselves. The 3d printed table top in the photo's and video was printed using a PEI "cool plate" with 3d850 filament which is technically PLA but it is stronger then ABS without toxic odors to deal with. The last photo is of a sample that I printed using a PEO 3d plate which the finial table top will probably be printed in. The PEI "cool plate" print is smooth and looks decent but the PEO "3d plate" gives a 3 dimensional look to the surface with a slippery smooth glass finish. I will over the next day or so do a sample print with a PEO "carbon fiber " which will give a slippery smooth glass finish as well. The 3D printing was done with the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon core XY. What an improvement over the Prusa MK3S with a full bear upgrade both in speed, ease of use but most importantly quality of print. There is NO first layer calibration it does automatically so changing from one printing plate to another is as easy as changing your socks. This table top measures from the needle to left edge 4.25 inches and 7.0 inches from the front to the back edge. Photo #1 and # 2 are of the table top with an inline swing away binder attachment mounted. Photo #3 and #4 are of how the table top swings away from the cylinder arm from the install position. Photo #5 and #6 shows that is gets swung under the cylinder arm and hangs vertically. Photo #7 and #8 are the dimensions of the table top. Photo #9 is what the table top will look like when I print it using the "3 dimensional glass finish plate". For the photo we just laid a sample print on the surface of the table top. Have a look and all comments are always appreciated. kgg