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I have a Juki 1541S, with a speed reducer. The speed reducer is great, but makes it hard to manually rotate the handwheel. Does anyone know if there is an oversize handwheel available for this machine. Sure would make it easier on my old hands! Thanks, Steve

My wife needs a 10mm presser foot for her skiver, ran across an article on you tube that had a demo of a roller foot ......that sounds interesting. Has anyone used the roller foot type and where to obtain one? Thanks, Steve

Call Gregg at Keystone Sewing....we got a Juki 1541S about a month ago. Terrific deal.....great communication...just a bit more than the Thor machine, but well worth it.

Wiz, understood, and thanks again!

Wiz, another question....what is a type 3L belt? From you question about the 4L 1/2" I am tempted to think that belt width might be measured in 1/8" increments, therefore a 3L would be a 3/8" width and a 4L would be 4/8" (1/2")? Does the "L" mean that it is a "lug" belt? Also I would guess that a sewing machine belt might be somewhat softer and more flexible than the automotive belt? Another question while on belts.....how much tension so as not to over wear bearings etc.?

Wiz, it is a 3/8" belt, but it is an automotive belt.....it is not as "soft" as the other belt that came with the machine. It does fit down in the pulleys as it should, but it could be a bit stiff for this application. I will look for a proper belt as you recommend. Again thank you for looking out for me. Steve

Wiz, took your advice and got a box type speed reducer for the Consew 228 R11. It arrived today, and I got it installed this afternoon, 3 trips to O'Reilly's to get the correct length belt...agh.....had to lower the rear brace on the T-leg table frame all the way down to clear the servo motor, but it worked out slick! Very glad you put me on to this box type speed reducer instead of the pulley type.....lots better! This is a made in Japan Consew machine, and apparently Seiko manufactured them for Consew? Are the Japanese mfg machines are better made than the Chinese made ones? I think this machine is going to be a good one, it is 3 1/2 years old and only got used for 3 months, according to the seller. I believe the reason they sold it was that it did not have a speed reducer on it, and their other post machine did have one on it. You almost cannot tell this is a used machine....should work out good for my wife making leather handbags.. Thanks again for your wisdom and advice! Steve

Wiz, thank you for your advice on the box type speed reducer. Ordered one from Ed at Indianapolis yesterday, Ed is a very interested in getting his customers fixed up in the right way. Steve

Where did you find it and about how much do they cost?

Wiz, looked at Toledo website did not find any link to the box type speed reducer. Approx what do they cost and do they end up with the same reduction as the 9" pulley type?

Wiz, thank you for all your insights on the machine. We went and checked it out, Carolyn sewed on it, it will work very nicely on the leather thicknesses that she is making handbags and purses. The machine is 4 years old and the sellers purchased it new, only has about 3 months use on it. Very clean and slick machine. Almost cannot tell it from new. The standard thread she uses is 69 in her bag making. The lady who had this machine has another just like it, but with a SR-2 speed reducer on it. She had this machine as a back up, and decided that she did not need a back up machine. This one I will have to add the speed reducer to it. That will add about $165 or so to the investment, so I think we're still ok. I think this machine will allow her to do some 3 dimensional work that she can't do on the flatbed, or it will make some of the awkward work she's done on the flatbed a piece of cake.... Thanks again, Steve

Wiz, thank you for those informative videos. Are there any "land mines" with this machine that one should be aware of? Is 1200 a good price ? I truly do not know.. Thank you, Steve

I've run across a very nice looking Consew 228 R 11 Post Bed machine. That said, I know enough to be dangerous when considering a new machine. My wife makes handbags of various kinds, and got her a new Juki 1541S a few weeks ago, super machine. The subject post bed machine is equipped with the servo motor and the T-leg table, no speed reducer. Did a bit of looking and found out that it is a roller feed machine. Would this be a good addition to her workshop or would a cylinder arm machine be better. Is the Consew 228 xxxx a good machine or is this worth considering? Probably could get it for $1200 or a bit less...what do you all think? Steve

To follow up on the bobbins with an overly large hole to fit on our new Juki 1541S, I called the seller and advised about the problem, and they are going to get me some that fit correctly, by fitting them on a like machine to confirm proper fit. Since Gregg from Keystone Sewing responded here on this thread, I will give a big "thank you" to Gregg and his staff, ie, Lois, (the nice lady who answered the phone), and she said that she would take care of it, and we would have bobbins that fit correctly in a few days. I must say that the communication, shipping and help with choosing the right machine and accessories.. working with Gregg and Lois, the whole experience was absolutely "FIRST CLASS!" Steve

Amazon's (and other entities similar to them), motives are not completely what they appear to be....they "appear" to be compliant with various state sales tax laws, and that they are. But the real benefit to Amazon, et.al., is the massive amounts of money they have in their bank accounts, that they have zero investment in, that is the sales tax monies they collect. They remit the sales taxes due to the states every thirty days, and yes, it's probably done every day due to the unimaginable amounts of dollars they collect every day in sales tax, but they get to "borrow" if you will, massive amounts of money "free" on a monthly basis....that's why Amazon didn't object to the states requiring the collection of sales taxes. Aside from a relatively small amount of expense to administrate the collection and remittance of the sales taxes collected, it's a HUGE win for Amazon and their ilk.

Guys, thanks for all the responses....looks like this is a common issue. Machine was purchased new from a well recommended seller. Have been very happy with his communication and everything else. Just the dozen extra bobbins, where 6 of them fit correctly, and 6 don't fit tight enough.....oddly enough, they all appear to be from the same manufacturer. I will call the place we got the machine from and let them know about the problem today, I feel confident they will take care of it. The idea of shimming the oversize hole with the tag end of the thread had already occurred to me, just hadn't done it. Expanding the outside diameter of the shaft with a wedge of some sort, while I know that would work, just doesn't seem right to me. Steve

My wife just got a new Juki 1541S and in the process of getting acquainted with the machine, ie, winding bobbins, we have discovered that some of the bobbins supplied with the purchase, have slightly different bores. Enough so that when sliding the bobbin on the winding shaft, some have a reasonable amount of friction, and consequently, wind the bobbin nicely. However, several others have larger bores in the bobbin, and when sliding the bobbin on the shaft, it will just spin without any resistance at all. Those bobbins won't wind at all.....so what's the story on all this...the winding shaft has a split in it that one could jam a screwdriver in and spring it open wider probably enough to hold the over-bore bobbins tight enough to cause them to wind, but doing that would make it unreasonably hard to slip the ones on that presently do fit correctly. We are new to leather sewing machine, and the new Juki seems to be a wonderful machine, but whats the deal on the bobbins? Thanks, Steve

My wife got a new Thor bell skiver about three years ago, and the same problem soon developed, the waste not getting scraped off the stone roller wheel....very puzzling....tinkered with it a lot before thinking that possibly there was simply not enough spring pressure on the scraper itself. So I took the scraping assembly apart, wound the spring tighter, which created more pressure on the veg-tan piece of leather (scraping blade) that actually does the scraping, and it has worked well for her since then. I would guess that over time the veg-tan scraping "blade" will wear out and require replacement, not difficult to simply make one from a stiff piece of veg-tan from the scrap box. YMMV, Steve

Where to buy and what brands of high quality leather hand tools? Round knife, edge guides, edge bevelers, etc. thanks, Steve

Have been researching various cylinder arm machines, just wondering if anyone has actual experience with the Techsew 2600 Pro and/or the 2750 Pro machines. Would appreciate any first hand knowledge regarding these machines. Thanks, Steve

Am in the early stages of researching a cylinder arm machine for my wife, she makes purses as a hobby. (she has and still does sell real estate professionally for the past 40 years, and making bags is great therapy for all the stress of the real estate business). There are a lot of choices out there in machines, as well as where to purchase them. She had a 1961 Pfaff 145 for the past 3 years or so to get her started, sold it last week only because the presser foot handle was just too much for a 73 year old lady with lots of arthritis in her hands to deal with, and now has a new Juki 1541s with the knee lift. Purchased a Thor skiver about two years ago from Sunny Sewing Center in Dallas, and that has been a great addition. Now the search is on for the right cylinder arm machine.....the ones under consideration are: Typical 2263 Thor 1341 Techsew 2750 Pro Techsew 2600 Pro Obviously, servo motor, speed reducer, and needle position sensor (if it will work well) are the main necessary options. Knee lift as well, but some have the foot lift...which is best? Her new Juki 1541S has the knee lift... Next, is where and from whom to purchase? There is Techsew, Sunny, Keystone, Sewing Machines Plus, Toledo, Nick-O-Sew, Solar, and probably many others..... Any thoughts and recommendations from you experienced folks would truly be appreciated! Thank you, Steve