kgg

Hi Matt Coats is a damn good thread I use mostly Coats Dabond Bonded Polyester myself. The V138 (Tkt 20) and the V69 (Tkt 40) are both 8 oz (250g) spools are I think considered a small spool on this side of the pond even though I have seen 4 oz spools. So the price is fairly comparable. kgg

I couldn't find any servo motor made by Juki on Amazon, could you provide a link to the servo motor. kgg

I am not sure I understand the difference between the Techsew 2600 and Phaff 335 (maybe the 0.55 inches vs 3/8) and their pros and cons so that probably means I need to research a lot more. Different machines all together other then being cylinder machines. To add to the mix depends on whether you are looking at a new Pfaff 335 which I think max's out at V69 thread or an older version. kgg

What thread are you using for £10 for 1lb (500g) spool which should have 3000 yds on the spool. I spoke to American & Efird last week and a 1lb (500g) spool, which should have 4200 yds on the spool, of Anefil Bonded Polyester or Nylon in V92 (T90,Tkt30) is going to cost $42 CA ($31.25 US / £24.56). They also said they are not supplying 8 oz(250g) thread anymore for general information. Totally agree as I do like to know what I am buying rather then I will take some thread in colour AA in spool size XX and thread size YY. Some retailers / importers don't even bother to add their own label, the spool just has whatever the "real" manufacturer has labelled it as. Totally agree. I agree when on 1 lb spools but the smaller 8 oz spools other things can and does happen particularly with "less then" quality (probably cheap Chinese) thread. kgg

Ya the good old days, I use to design & build substations and sequential controls for about 25 years. kgg

You should get some good use from that surface area. Very nice, the drafting table brings back some good memories from my previous life. Now you well be able to get the angles correct easier every time when marking / cutting. Does the table have the ability to move from almost straight up to down flat? kgg

JC2019, since this is going to your first and main machine, I would strongly advise you to decide on whether it is going to be a cylinder bed or flatbed machine for your stuff. Then decide on a firm price you can afford which will help in deciding whether it is going to be new or used. Finally since it is going to be an expensive investment take a road trip to at least one brick and mortar vendor that has more then one manufacturers machines in stock. Bring along some of what you what to sew and compare not only the results but how the machine sounds and looks. My requirement was the machine had to do a great stitch, run smooth as silk, be flawless and look great right out of the box along with a good detailed readable "English" manual for future reference. Buying a new or used machine online can be a great experience from a dollar saving perspective for the experienced user or the ultimate nightmare or boat anchor. That is going to depend on the vendor and whether it is purchased from a site like Amazon. Amazon has a great return policy in comparison to some others should there be a problem. Some new clone machines that I looked at when I was looking for a new machine I do admit their price was enticing, they did sew and that was about it for me. Their look / finish / feel for the price was what you would expect from an old Russian Lada car as well as some did the shake, rattle and roll. Some clones looked OK but sounded like a bucket of bolts banging around in a 45 gallon drum. Makes one pause to wonder about internal quality of parts and their longevity. It is going to be hard to beat the quality of machines like Juki, Pfaff, Alder and some others. A quality machine will have a better resale value down the road then a similar class of clone. Expect to pay more for a quality machine either new or used. Buy Once, Cry Once. kgg

I know what you meant to convey in that by putting a 2" pulley on the drive motor it would cause the sewing machine pulley to run slower not that the drive motor runs slower by putting a 2" pulley on it. kgg

Oh the fun of thread. You didn't mention if the thread you were using was on 1 lb spools or 8 oz spools and if they come of the spool in the same direction. I find black bonded nylon to have a tendency of feeling a little thicker and usually stiffer due to the dying / drying process. Thread can and does vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer and their individual specifications for the thread. Cowboy maybe getting their thread from manufacturer A and Weaver getting theirs from manufacturer B both tuned slightly different. It could be as simple as a difficult spool of red thread that may be older. A lot of good quality thread manufacturers will list the date of manufacture. I find a lot of the cheap 8oz stuff from China mostly lists just the size, some in Tkt and some in V. Depending on the manufacturer I find that if I go from white to black I may have to adjust my tensions in both top thread as well as the bobbin. If I go from 1 lb to 8 oz I have to mount the spool horizontally or it is just going to create problems. For a lot of reasons I predominately use 1 lb spools of bonded polyester. kgg

Darren for now is not available as indicated in the topic "I bought an ABLE290 manual for my Chinese Shoe Patcher from Darren Brosowski." Singermania indicated this in a post dated March 21. " Darren and I are friends, though he is not answering communication at present. He admitted himself that he messed up pretty badly and we and others have been trying to help those that did not receive machines, did not get machines that worked, did not get machines back that were in for service, did not get their full orders and so on. I'm guessing you will not see him here or anywhere else until the creditors disappear. It is an awkward situation, a lot of accusations and threats have been made. As a veteran of many years in business and a couple of recessions I know it can happen to anyone. " kgg

I would put a servo motor with the highest HP that I could find. I would be looking at digital speed controller rather then the turn the knob speed controller having the lowest start-up speed and the highest startup torque. Some servo motors claim to have a start-up speed of 100rpm, others at 300rpm and others don't readily list it. Finding the start-up torque may also take some research as suppliers generally don't list the value but a general rule of thumb would be the higher the HP the greater the available torque. I would also prefer a brush-less servo motor over one with brushes. Most suppliers rate their motors in watts (1HP is approximately 745 watts). My top two choices if I were in the market for another servo motor would be: 1. Brushless Digital 12-coil DC Servo motor Sewquiet 6000sm from Reliable (550 watt, costing $169 US or $232 Canadian) 2. Brushless Digital ??-coil D.C. Servo Motor from the Leather Machine Company (600watt, cost ??) kgg

Damn that's expensive, that works out to $2225 US or $2988 Canadian plus the cost of a compressor. kgg

From reading an older post "Artisan Toro 3000 vs Aerostitch vs Adler 205" back in 2009 from Henry Veenhoven who was a dealer in Toronto, Canada. " As to why they were discontinued, they made 1000 of them originally and then were going to redesign the machine with a longer cylinder. But the sales numbers did not warrant ordering another 1000 castings because the sales just did not justify the investment. They were selling hundreds of BOSS machines a month so it didn't make sense to put out so much money for castings when they could barely keep up with the BOSS production. " This was in a post "Artisan Toro 3000 vs Aerostitch vs Adler 205" back in 2009. Personally I would have not considered the machine not from a performance point or cost point of view but rather the associated vibrations / noise of having to have a compressor running in the room. kgg

Ah, it's getting bad when I cann't read my own writing, must be the long Victoria Day weekend. Yes, it should have been American & Efird. When I checked the spool the funny thing is the label indicates it was made in Canada and dyed in the USA. So from that the dying process occurs after the thread is manufactured. The thread was a 1lb spool of Anefil Nylon T135 (V138,Tkt20) black bonded nylon. kgg

I guess we all need to be more conscious of thread / stitching problems when they occur and eventually they will. We need to not only suspect the normal culprits but the direction of how the thread twists as it is spooled off. This can affect tension not only for the top thread but the bobbin thread particularly nearing the end of what is left on the bobbin and when we are pushing any machine to it's normal sewing limits or beyond. It would be nice to know who the manufacture(s) of the thread, the thread sizes and type were. kgg

Nice clean design, like it. kgg

The thread in the video is indeed coming off counter clockwise. Your comment on noting the un-spooling direction of the thread sparked me to do a quick checked of my spools of threads, which I really didn't pay much attention to in the past. What I found was: 1. My no name probably cheap Chinese 8 oz black and white nylon comes off clockwise. 2. All my Coats thread various colours (nylon and polyester) comes off their 1 lb spools clockwise. 3. My American & Efiro black nylon thread comes off counter clockwise. From this it is obvious that different manufacturers are spooling their thread differently, may have something to do with thread size, thread type, spool size or some technical spec. Maybe one of the dealers could do a quick check and see if their thread in different thread sizes comes off the spool differently. For me the direction of how it comes off the spool doesn't seem pose a problem but more related to the size of the spool, 8 oz vs 1 lb with my problem child being the 8 oz spool. kgg

Depends on how many layers and how thick. I think a walking foot machine would probably be the best in being able to keep the layers together and from slipping around. You maybe able to even get away with a portable walking foot for the occasional use. Something like the Reliable Barracuda on the low end of new ($500 at Home Depot) or Sailrite LS-1at the expensive new end ($1300 from Sailrite) and then there is always the used market. If you would like a industrial machine I think you would need to consider something similar to the Juki 1181N. kgg

If it works as the ad says and Maxsold in Canada is pretty good about that, it could be a decent buy for someone. The high bid on it this morning was $26.00, hell that's not even a mornings worth of smokes. Yea, I use to smoke for 50 plus years, most of the time 4 packs a day. Just decided to give it up one day two years ago and save a couple of bucks not for health reasons. kgg

Sorry about that the link should be: Nakajima: https://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/16055/item/vintage-nakajima-leather-sewing-machine-c-1490188/ kgg

If someone is interested and in the Los Angeles, California area I seen on Maxsold.com that their are a couple of sewing machines being auctioned. They are listed as a Consew model 100 and a Nakajima model 280L (walking foot). I just noticed as I was browsing around and should go real cheap. I have no association whatsoever with either the seller or the auction site. The links are: Consew: https://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/16055/item/vintage-sewing-machine-and-table-by-consew-c-1490187/ Nakajima: https://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/16055/item/vintage-sewing-machine-and-table-by-consew-c-1490187/ kgg

A lot of potential customers have what I call the Walmart mentality they not only want it now but cheap.They assume you have a warehouse full of isles and shelves of similar items at different price points just ripe for the picking NOW. My email reply would be "Gone fishing, have a nice day." kgg

I think you are going to need at least two machines to do the range of work you mentioned. Maybe a Juki DNU-1541S or similar for the upholstery weight items and a Cobra class 4 type machine for sheath / holster work. Sewing Gold have a good set of videos on youtube that maybe of interest. Machines that do good work on the lighter weight stuff won't be able to handle the heavy and the ones that have the punching power to handle the heavy stuff would probably tearup the light stuff without always having to fiddle around with it's setup. kgg

Been quite awhile dikman since I had a young child running around, one was enough and no grand kids thanks be to gxx. Next time I am at the hardware store I will check to see what other alternatives are around. kgg

Free trade is not the same as fair trade. When a country has a lower wage to create a product/service then the designation country the exporting company from that country has an unfair advantage. With China I would suspect the average wage is probably about 1/4 or less of that paid in the US or Canada for any particular industry. Free trade I think could be even worst if it was strictly up to the free market to sort out. There still needs to be checks and balances in place to offset standard of living discrepancies to put everyone on a level playing field. Look at what happened in the textile / garment industry for all tense and purposes it was destroyed in North America. kgg