Needle plate and feed dog adjustments for 441 clone machines

[RockyAussie]

This post I have done to assist buyers of the narrow needle plate sets we developed here in Australia for the Cowboy CB4500, Cowboy CB3500, and most other 441 clone machines including the Techsew 5100, and Cobra Class 4.

Many of these machine owners have now purchased these sets and couple have reported back some rubbing issues when changing over to the new plate. In most cases their machines are set up well but occasionally some machines over time get a little out of ideal alignment with how either the needle centres into the fee dog or the feed dog locates into the needle plate. These instructions should help for any needle plate feed dog relationship alignment issues on these machines, whether it is for the standard needle plate feed dog set or our Narrow needle plate combination set.

For those of you that have not seen the narrow needle plate set in use and what they can do you can see some here in this video link - https://youtu.be/a83lCJe4JKo

or this one - https://youtu.be/wdloxyjeB1w

You can see more on these plates in this earlier post I made here -

The next video I will do is to show the drop down guide for these machines and how easily they can be installed and why they can be a better choice. Follow my Channel if you want to catch more like it.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by RockyAussie

[Thescandall]

on my Techsew 5100, the part fit perfect first try.  i do understand what your talking about when you say you havent had to remove it for any reason. i can get scary close to the edge of my material if needed. i put my factory set in a plastic box and forgot where i stashed it already.  i see no reason to ever change it back..  love this little improvement.

[Wizcrafts]

Brian;

I see you have a lot of bobbin tension in that video. I typically run with much less bobbin tension, allowing me to reduce the top tension and still balance the knots. This results in less fighting of the feed, especially on softer types of leather, like oiled or Carnauba'd belts and straps, or chaps. Lighter tension makes sense when using your narrow feed set to sew items we normally couldn't do on a CB4500 or equivalent.

[adventureleather]

Great video Brian thank you for sharing that. I wasn't aware of this adjustment for the machine so a bonus to find this out too. I am waiting for mine in the mail but Thescandall I have a 5100 so I'll see how it goes. I know as many mention there is no one machine to do it all, but with this part you have made I think we are close I am actually very surprised the sewing companies have made no progress in design from its users. I guess because us crafters are a small market in the industrial use of them. 

[RockyAussie]

On 6/4/2022 at 2:02 AM, Wizcrafts said:

Brian;

I see you have a lot of bobbin tension in that video. I typically run with much less bobbin tension, allowing me to reduce the top tension and still balance the knots. This results in less fighting of the feed, especially on softer types of leather, like oiled or Carnauba'd belts and straps, or chaps. Lighter tension makes sense when using your narrow feed set to sew items we normally couldn't do on a CB4500 or equivalent.

Yes I forgot when I set up the bobbin earlier for this video that I had the bobbin running with the spring (anticlockwise) and in the video I loaded it up to run clockwise which does give that thick thread a lot more tension. Just lazy of me but I often just switch the thread direction in the bobbin when I go up in thread size rather than adjust the bobbin spring if I don't need to.

36 minutes ago, adventureleather said:

Great video Brian thank you for sharing that. I wasn't aware of this adjustment for the machine so a bonus to find this out too. I am waiting for mine in the mail but Thescandall I have a 5100 so I'll see how it goes. I know as many mention there is no one machine to do it all, but with this part you have made I think we are close I am actually very surprised the sewing companies have made no progress in design from its users. I guess because us crafters are a small market in the industrial use of them. 

Thanks @adventureleather, I think that people will always find different ways to try and get their machines to do something more than they can as made and for me with all of the crazy stuff I make it is great to find ways to do this when I need to.

[adventureleather]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:13 PM, RockyAussie said:

Yes I forgot when I set up the bobbin earlier for this video that I had the bobbin running with the spring (anticlockwise) and in the video I loaded it up to run clockwise which does give that thick thread a lot more tension. Just lazy of me but I often just switch the thread direction in the bobbin when I go up in thread size rather than adjust the bobbin spring if I don't need to.

Thanks @adventureleather, I think that people will always find different ways to try and get their machines to do something more than they can as made and for me with all of the crazy stuff I make it is great to find ways to do this when I need to.

I am learning that with everything leather making, there are no absolutes haha. Right from the leather used there have to be tolerances that can be allows for. So far I ground down and polished the centre foot for a smooth bottom and no indent from the groove, lower tension spring for the presser foot shaft, and also polished the edges of the walking feet. Rounded the throat plate edges and taped the corner too. My next task is trying out your plate and also a stirrup plate is on order for trying to get into gussets. Mainly simple seam but also lap seam is nice on the front which just doesn’t work well on the flat throat plate. It’s been a journey but I’m almost there! Haha. 

[RockyAussie]

2 hours ago, adventureleather said:

My next task is trying out your plate and also a stirrup plate is on order for trying to get into gussets. Mainly simple seam but also lap seam is nice on the front which just doesn’t work well on the flat throat plate. It’s been a journey but I’m almost there! Haha. 

Do you have any pictures that show the gussets you want to stitch that you could share? AS you have previously been alright with rounding the throat plate etc I would consider looking at the holster plate instead of the stirrup plate as you don't need to take out the feed dog then. The holster plate could be ground down (rounded) a lot closer to the needle hole slot quite a bit without any loss to the back foot holding power. Have a look and see what you think anyway. It looks to be chrome plated the one I have here which may mean an all over the top clean up perhaps.

[adventureleather]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:14 PM, RockyAussie said:

Do you have any pictures that show the gussets you want to stitch that you could share? AS you have previously been alright with rounding the throat plate etc I would consider looking at the holster plate instead of the stirrup plate as you don't need to take out the feed dog then. The holster plate could be ground down (rounded) a lot closer to the needle hole slot quite a bit without any loss to the back foot holding power. Have a look and see what you think anyway. It looks to be chrome plated the one I have here which may mean an all over the top clean up perhaps.

I’ll have to get a photo. I got the plate and gave it a try. It works well for the corners of a pouch or curve gusset but changing the plate would be a pain I think over time (enter multiple machines haha) so I may leave it. I did get a right foot though which helps on the standard curve throat for the tighter gusset a bit. I know others who make bags and don’t change the plate so I am still trying to test. The one test I did do was great with the plate but again I wonder long term if it’s not worth changing the machine settings for. Do you sew gussets with yours? 

[RockyAussie]

16 hours ago, adventureleather said:

Do you sew gussets with yours? 

No I have a couple of other options that I can use for my line of goods. A Cowboy 6900 = (CB 1341 in the US I think) and a Cowboy CB246 which is the smallest size cylinder arm in the range. If I did not have them options though I would design my gussets to use the holster plate ground down I think. I hope to come up with another cross breed version but that will be awhile away yet I think.

[adventureleather]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:52 PM, RockyAussie said:

No I have a couple of other options that I can use for my line of goods. A Cowboy 6900 = (CB 1341 in the US I think) and a Cowboy CB246 which is the smallest size cylinder arm in the range. If I did not have them options though I would design my gussets to use the holster plate ground down I think. I hope to come up with another cross breed version but that will be awhile away yet I think.

Oh interesting. I wonder how round the edges of  the plate could get. Not having to fuss with the feed each time would be a big time saver. But that’s a good idea too, I’ll have to make sure my designs fit what I am able to sew first.