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Hi, Today I got my Tippmann Boss sewing machine. It came by post from U.S. I am in Turkey. I followed all set up/installation instructions but needle thread won't pick up the bobbin thread at all. I cannot call the customer service, everybody is on holiday as they state on their FaceBook fan page and anyway it would be very expensive to call from overseas. Until now I just used home sewing machines. Any help/advice on this matter would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

So, was going to practice with the 3200 and some scrap to try out a technique @JLSleather had mentioned keeping the walking foot impressions off your work... , i didn't even get a few practice runs in, started one and was really going slow and paying attention to where things were lining up and noticed my thread fraying after each stitch was made when the needle was pulling back up from the bottom .....just one little length a couple of inches on each stitch. So i changed the needle, didn't help, changed it again thinking maybe i got a bad one, still didn't help...double checked size #25 Organ needle 794 that came out of the pack that came with the machine. Changed thread, changed bobbins, no joy... So then I researched some, especially here via google, re-read the manual, went over the machine and checked for dust, dirt, burrs, and did a thorough cleaning and re-oiling by the manual. I couldn't find any thing that would cause this. I did find one little burr on the underside of the presser foot toe, right side middle of where the hole starts up the side on the outside. It was enough that if thread was pulled across it with light tension it would fray and break. I don't think this is in the thread path during stitching but smoothed it off jic and still same problem. I am thinking my next step should be to remove the shuttle race and bobbin case assembly to check for anything i couldn't see or reach with the small brush but not sure whether this will affect anything? The instructions in the manual make it sound easy, but this is under the "how to adjust feed dog height" part and that's not what i'm trying to do. I don't want to do anything that will cause @SolarLeatherMachines to say..."didn't i tell you not to do this"...lol. The last thing Alexander said to me was, it's all setup with #277 thread, #25 needle to sew belts, holsters, harnesses etc (as we discussed), just sew with it and don't dick with it...(not verbatim, but marines always have a way of saying things that make the bottom line stick in your brain...lol) I did a good spray of aerosol gun oil last night to let it sit and am going to wipe it down and see if anything comes of it, but wanted to post up here for advice/ideas if it doesn't. I'll get a couple pics and a video this morning of the affected area as well and post back. I mean, it's not enough fraying to break thread, and you can't see it when something is stitched. I hadn't noticed it before last night, but it is worse on the white thread than black, stitch length didn't seem to change it, forward or reverse didn't seem to matter either. Tension loose as a goose or tightened to where the know started getting close to the top didn't change it as well. First time i've tried stitching a line and cutting along the tops of the holes on the stitch line to see exactly where the knot lands so I have learned a couple things I'm tagging(not all inclusive, as a ton of folks have shared info here that has proven valuable) a few of y'all that have provided advice on others, and saved me a headache or helped me better understand how the machine makes the stitch as well, I feel like it's when the thread comes up the back side of the bobbin case and back up through the feed is where this is happening but i can't for the life of me "see" it when it's happening. If I can't figure it out today, i'll give solar-leather a call in the morning. @CowboyBob, @Uwe, @Wizcrafts

Hello! I am not new to sewing but very new to working with leather and furs. I want to start off making a small deerskin leather & silver fox vest for my daughter (she is 3, so it will be roughly 12in long and 12in wide), and when i am confident enough, make myself a leather and silver fox vest out of the pelts i have purchased this winter. I would like to use 2-3oz deerskin leather, but I am not sure what size i should use when it comes to the holes for the stitches, the number of stitches per inch, and the size of the needle and thread. I dont want to go too big, but i dont want to go too small, as I know either way could be problematic. Also, should i be carving a shallow groove into what will be the stitch line? Or should I not be carving a groove since the leather is already thin? I worry that maybe carving a groove would be problematic, especially since there will be the added weight of the pelts. And what is a good way to crease leather and fur pelts? I would love to set some creases in prior to actually assembling and sewing everything together My vision is to have the entire vest be deerskin, and sew the silver fox pelts on the the outside on the front and back. If anyone would be able to offer any tips or advice on sizing, creasing, or anything i would appreciate it immensely.

I was doing some leather work, quite heavy leather bikers jeans on my Pfaff 34 industrial treadle with a size 35 polyester thread, on double leather layers the machine sews fine but on triple layers the needle thread was constantly ravelling up at the needle point, as thought it was not being pulled by the hook underneath around the shuttle, I tightened up the upper tension alot but it doesnt help, my Singer 20 U machine did it PERFECTLY, albeit a bit hard on some sections but no needle thread reavelling at all, what do you think could be wrong here? I am a bit disappointed with the Pfaff 34 as this was a saddlers machine but it wont sew three layers of leather whereas my Singer 20U (a much lighter strength machine) did it fine. thanks - I was using leather DPX5needles size 16 in the Pfaff 34. and DPx5 size 16 in the Singer 20U. amateursewing