LiftPig

Hold the phone! Are those holster plates WITH feed dogs?!? Take my money!

That scope cover is beautiful. I need to make me one of those.

Be careful with the screw holding the bottom feed dog in. It’s crazy tight and easy to strip. The screw holding the needle bar is the same. But I’m betting you have experience with that so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Sorry this took so long to post. The top rows are the S point. The bottom two rows are TRI points. #25 needle. I have to say I’m not thrilled with the S point look. 277 thread top and bottom through 24oz of Hermann Oak veg

Beautiful work. I think you're right, as long as I make the loops nice and wide and out of 6oz or greater so they don't stretch I'll be okay. I might sew a 3/8" wide strip right where the shoulder is just for "safety", by which I mean to satisfy a nervous customer who kept asking how I'd ensure that his rounds don't fall out while he walks.

A very slight taper. 0.50" at the shoulder, 0.54" at the rim. Probably enough to keep things in so long as the loops don't stretch too much. The work is for hunting.

I bought a pack of 24's, 25's and 26's. I've been sewing on the 25's but I might try the 24's with the S point and see if I like the look of the stitch better but still having it sinking down a bit. I'll likely buy a pack of TRI/D points in those sizes as well. As I figure it, I'd rather have them on hand if I need them than need them and have to wait for them to ship. The thread chart I refer to says 24 or 25's with 207, 25 or 26 with 277. YRMV.

I've been asked to make a cartridge holder for 6 rounds of 7PRC. I've made bullet loops before but never for rimless cartridges. To keep the rounds from sliding down and out of the loops, what's everyone done? I was thinking of embedding a piece of nylon cord under the top layer of leather for the shoulder to butt up against or even to use domed rivets but if there's a better way, I'd do that. Cheers, -J

An S point needle looks like a chisel and makes a perfectly flat hole running parallel to the line of stitching. It will look a lot like the LL but without a hint of diagonal like you see with the LL and REALLY see with the LR. The stitch pulls really tight into the leather. I can post up a picture in a few hours when I get home. I'm not sure I love the way the stitch looks but I do like how deep it sets - no worries about fraying threads in my holsters.

Beautiful work. I love a tooled holster as much as the next holster builder but there's something elegant in a well done rough-out rig. Three questions since I'm considering building one: 1. How thick of steel did you put in the deflector? 2. What size thread did you use to stitch it? Looks like 346 but the weight is perfect for the rig. 3. Did you make your own pattern or is this one I could get somewhere? Cheers, J

Thanks for the replies. I've been sewing on a Class 26 for a bit now and never lubed my threads or used any kind of grease. I just give all the points a drop of oil every 8 hours or so. I'm guessing this was just a preference for the previous operator. I have a few pounds of 277 bonded nylon showing up from LMC today that I'll start using and I'll wipe the goop off the linkages this weekend and give it another good thorough oiling. I'm so excited to start working with this machine. Cheers, -J

Buy once cry once. I'd be very nervous buying something this expensive and tempermental from a company I'd never heard of and couldn't call back for support.

The Cowboy 4500, Cobra Class 4, Cobra Class 3, Artisan Toro 3200 and some others are all 441 clones and essentially the same with some differences in arm length. It really comes down to customer support. What are you wanting your new machine to do that your 4500 can't do?

That looks like some kind of upholstery leather that's embossed and glazed on the top side. It's doubtful that it's top grain leather and wouldn't hold up well to the kind of wear and tear that a wallet would have to endure. Springfield Leather Supply and Don Gonzalez Saddlery both sell wallet kits that are excellent. -J

Morning everyone, I just bought a used Artisan Toro 3200 and have a couple questions about lubrication. The story on this machine is that a friend of my wife's bought it in 2010 on impulse and then didn't use it. It was then leased to a local car upholstery company from about 2011 to 2018. I have no idea how many hours are on it. It's been sitting covered and inside the house since 2018. When I went to look at it, it was nice and clean, still threaded, and appeared in good shape. I put a drop of oil in all the spots indicated in the manual and it sewed great. So here's my questions. First, it looks like the previous operator put some kind of grease on all the linkages, perhaps in lieu of oil. Should I leave this and oil around it, leave it and don't bother with oil, wipe it off and proceed to use oil, or scrub it off with solvent and then use oil? The machine isn't caked with grease by any means, it looks like it was thoughtfully done but I've never seen grease on these machines. My second question is about lubricating the thread. It looks to me that the bobbin thread has been waxed or has some kind of lube on it but is this necessary? The bobbin wasn't stored in the machine so I don't think it's oil that drizzled down, I think it was put there intentionally. Again, just haven't seen this before. Cheers, Jordan

I have some oil and whatnot I can bring when I look at it. That's a great suggestion. Wiz, do you know what motors shipped w/ those back around that time? I'm guessing I'll probably end up replacing the motor and I'd also bet there's no speed reducer (just a hunch) so that'll have to go into my calculations. Right now the figure I have in my head is if it runs okay I'll offer up to $1000, get an ACF-681 motor (~$500 shipped). With that 1,100 watt motor I shouldn't need the speed reducer, right?

Good morning all, I was approached by a family friend and given the opportunity to purchase a used Artisan Toro 3200. I've been in the market for a 441 clone anyway so this is good timing. The person who has it knows very little about it. He bought it, he thinks, about 15 years ago and it was too heavy for his needs so it's been stored ever since. He has no idea what motor is on it. I haven't laid eyes on it yet. I have a Class 26 so I'm not an utter newbie to machines but I'm no expert either. Is there anything specific on this I should look for or look out for? Before I go look for it and make an offer I'd like to know what to look for. Cheers, Jordan

Thanks ArkieNewbie. This is an ongoing issue I'm having. When I sew with 138 it sews great, 207 and the tensions seem like they're all over the place. It's good to know that Aaron Heizer (whom I respect deeply) advocates clockwise payout. Makes me feel more confident. I appreciate the reply.

I'm still having some issues with my Class 26 sewing with 207 thread (there's a previous thread about it here if anyone is interested). I talked to LMC and the advice I got was that I had my bobbin in backwards and to switch it so it pays out clockwise and to drop my needle size to a 23 or 24. I'm trying to sew 207 through 16 ounces of firm veg. The knots are inconsistently showing up at the top and the bottom within a few stitches of each other. In other words, it seems like my tension is inconsistent. I did what he said and the problem didn't change one bit. Does putting the bobbin in "backwards" make sense? Everything I've seen and read emphasizes the importance of the bobbin paying out counter clockwise. I'm not trying to say I know more than the guy at LMC - he works on these machines all day. I'm just trying to wrap my head around his advice.

Ohh - that's pretty!

Here's my (I think) resolution post for my own reference and for anyone else running into problems who don't want to go through all the posts above and just want to skip to the weenie. I ran several pieces yesterday with 138 on a #23 needle through 8 ounces of veg tan married to 4 ounces of soft oil tan with contact cement and got good stitches and a quiet machine. 1. I shortened the throw of the check spring by loosening the screw on the underside of the device and moving the curved piece of metal clockwise about 20 degrees. The video from @Uwe posted above explains the proper position. The screw isn't obvious, it's not the two screws on the front of the disk, it's the one on the bottom going through a curved slot in a piece of metal that looks like it can be adjusted - you'll need to get your eye level below the disk and look upwards. This gave the top thread more slack coming around the bobbin case so it follows the contour of the case smoothly and at an even rate. The video for that is a couple posts above. 2. I adjusted the bobbin case opener to allow just enough room for 207 to pass through without binding up and no feeling of binding on the machine when sewing. The video on how to do this is below. Make sure when you think you've got it you turn the hand wheel slowly and feel if it is a smooth travel all the way around. If it feels like it's binding, you're probably adjusted too tight and you need to back that adjustment off a little more so the bobbin case opener isn't straining as the machine works. 3. I retimed my machine so that I'm advanced of the recommended 1/8" above BDC for my timing moment. I tried setting my timing so that the tip of the hook was at 12 o'clock when the arm was at it's very top and ended up skipping stitches. I backed to about 11:00 and that seems to be the sweet spot for my machine. I'm not sure where that relates to the needle above BDC because I didn't take the feed dogs off to measure precisely. It's around 3/16"-7/32". That video is below as well with the following disclaimer: Uwe mentions adjusting the timing belt. He has since posted that was the incorrect adjustment and was not the correct solution. The correct adjustment is the hook timing. Don't mess with the timing belt. A couple tips: 1. The Class 26 is a Juki 341 clone. There's a paucity of videos and info about the 26 but a bunch of stuff about 341 and Tacsew 1563. As best as I can tell they're identical in all the ways that matter. 2. Start with adjusting your hook timing. I did this backwards and started with the check spring adjustments, then the bobbin case opener, then the hook timing. Go in the opposite order. In my case the hook timing was the big winner, though the other two needed a bit of refinement too. 3. There's a second component to the hook timing, and that's the needle bar. It's mentioned in the video by @VanPlew above. If your timing is thrown off because you hit a snap or something, you'll probably need to adjust this too. 4. The manual that came with the Class 26 is pretty bad. A couple posts above @Tequila shared some much better manuals. Go download them. Thank you!!! to @Wizcrafts, @kgg, @Burkhardt & @Tequila for their help and to @Uwe for taking the time to create videos that we can all watch and learn from. Bobbin Case Opener Adjustment Timing Adjustment: Please note, Uwe mentions adjusting the timing belt. He has since posted that was the incorrect adjustment and was not the correct solution. The correct adjustment is the hook timing. Don't mess with the timing belt.

@Icho & @Moti did you get this problem resolved? I'm having similar problems and it seems to be not-too-uncommon with 341 clones. I got some good advice from @Wizcrafts & @kgg utilizing @Uwe's videos and the problem has improved significantly. I have one more adjustment to make this evening and I'm pretty convinced that this issue is going to go away once I do that.

Update: I moved the bobbin opener back as much as I can without causing a bind. The manual is really vague as exactly how to set it so I used @Uwe method of setting the tab in the middle of the slot when the thread reaches 3 o clock and then a touch more. I also changed the swing and tension of the check spring to give the top a little more throw. I would say the noise of the thread getting caught beneath the bobbin case has reduce about 50%. I did a few test stitches that looked pretty good but then had to leave for work. I'll test some more today. @Wizcrafts you mention in a few other threads advancing the timing a little bit (a couple degrees) when someone else described a similar problem. Would that be helpful? I have my timing set in the method that @VanPlew describe in their youtube video. I recall seeing a post from @Uwe saying how he likes to time based on hook position rather than a distance above BDC but now I can't find it again and I don't remember which position he mentions. I think it's having the hook tip at 7:30 when at BDC but I can't recall exactly. The aforementioned @VanPlew video:

The thread is same size top and bottom - 207. It happens with all threads pretty equally. I did once think it was a black thread issue (of which there are many) since most of my sewing is black thread but that's not the case. Wow these are great manuals. Why aren't the ones that come with Cobra's this good? Thank you so much!! Wiz and KGG - Thank you for the advice and videos! Looking at the 341 video compared to mine and breaking them down frame by frame, mine is under way more tension. I'm betting that the take up spring and/or bobbin case opener are mal-adjusted. I'll work on those adjustments and report back.

I can tell you what I do - it might not be the According to Hoyle right thing but it works for me. I set my tension for the thinnest part. Now I know the knot is somewhere in that thin material. Theoretically, going up in thickness should leave the knot in the same general place, and while it may not be right in the middle of the layers, it's buried. You could also give the tension knob a couple clicks tighter when you go up in thickness, keeping track of how many times you do that, and then go back down if the material gets thin again. When my machine is sewing well this works - I might get one wonky knot that just shows right at the transition between thicknesses but I can poke that down with a blunted awl.