Consew 206rb-5

[dikman]

Once someone mentions sewing holsters then a 441-class is the obvious choice, plus by using a modified needle plate and feed dog setup it will be far more versatile, capable of comfortably sewing down to #138 thread and lighter materials. BUT it won't do everything, you will find an upholstery-class machine (like the Consew) will be very useful to have too. Between the two machines you will be able to sew most things.

If you decide you want to saddle-stitch a holster, then like JLS said the big machine will allow you to quickly pre-punch your stitch holes, giving you even spacing.

[JLSleather]

MOST of my holsters are 277 thread, with a 24 needle (with an LL point), and 6 stitches per inch.  A few pics here, just for reference.

 207 thread, #23 LR point needle, 6 per inch

#69 thread, #18 needle (on the consew 206), 9 per inch

 277 thread, #24 LL point, 6 spi

 Zoomed in detail on Sig P938 holster - natural leather with natural thread, pic says the rest.

[DieselTech]

11 minutes ago, dikman said:

Once someone mentions sewing holsters then a 441-class is the obvious choice, plus by using a modified needle plate and feed dog setup it will be far more versatile, capable of comfortably sewing down to #138 thread and lighter materials. BUT it won't do everything, you will find an upholstery-class machine (like the Consew) will be very useful to have too. Between the two machines you will be able to sew most things.

If you decide you want to saddle-stitch a holster, then like JLS said the big machine will allow you to quickly pre-punch your stitch holes, giving you even spacing.

Thanks. Yeah I decided to get the cobra class 4 1st, but a am going to buy me a 206rb-5 after I acquire my play money back from the Cobra purchase. 

[JLSleather]

14 minutes ago, dikman said:

If you decide you want to saddle-stitch a holster, then like JLS said the big machine will allow you to quickly pre-punch your stitch holes, giving you even spacing.

AND ... you can also "pre-punch" on the smaller machine - just end up with smaller holes (which likely doesn't matter).  Incidentaly, on VERY heavy projects, I have been known to put a large diamond point needle in the drill press and "poke" the holes that way.  Leave the spindle off, make sure your diamond point is oriented correctly, and use an overstitch wheel or similar to set even spacing.

I used the pic of the little purple Sig holster for a reason.  This one shows one case where I didn't want the parts sewn "just yet".  The stiffener panel is sewn on as usual.  Then the holster is folded into position, marked, and sanded for evenness.  BUT... tehn the holster is "poked" around the outside edge for stitching, without thread. This is done because that holster is OPEN ENDED.  It is fully lined (with natural cowhide) and incorporates a tensioner screw so she can set her own ease of removal (for this purse gun).  Thus, it's sewn together ONLY in the little "rectangle" area to the right of the pistol and under the grip. Without the long version, lets just say this was the only way to do this and keep the stitching continuous.

Edited January 21, 2024 by JLSleather
pic

[DieselTech]

10 minutes ago, JLSleather said:

MOST of my holsters are 277 thread, with a 24 needle (with an LL point), and 6 stitches per inch.  A few pics here, just for reference.

 207 thread, #23 LR point needle, 6 per inch

#69 thread, #18 needle (on the consew 206), 9 per inch

 277 thread, #24 LL point, 6 spi

 Zoomed in detail on Sig P938 holster - natural leather with natural thread, pic says the rest.

Thanks for sharing your work. Beautiful work I must say. What is the LL needles? Are they special shaped or something? 

Thanks. 

[JLSleather]

4 minutes ago, DieselTech said:

What is the LL needles? Are they special shaped or something?

Well, yeah

The point is 'twisted" the other way from the "LR" needles, and not the same as the (very popular) "D" or "S" needle.  I got a pic here sumares...

RED arrow shows direction of sewing, meaning the way it sits here is the way it went in the machine, top of the pic away from you.  These are sewn with the SAME size thread and the SAME 6 stitches per inch. 

Done this way to show the difference in teh LOOK of the finished project.  I LIKE the very straight, very tight results from teh LL point.  The LR point tends to be less deep, and has that angled, almost 'lacey" look I've always found a bit "girly".  The belt above with the official Colt buckle set was FOR a girl, so. ... there's that

Note how much deeper the stitch is pulled on the LL, even though no groove was made and the tension was not changed.

Somewhere around here there's a whole thing about needle geometry.. see kin I find it....

[JLSleather]

Schmetz leather-needles.pdf

this is jsut one brand, but you get the idea.

Edited January 21, 2024 by JLSleather

[DieselTech]

5 minutes ago, JLSleather said:

Well, yeah

The point is 'twisted" the other way from the "LR" needles, and not the same as the (very popular) "D" or "S" needle.  I got a pic here sumares...

RED arrow shows direction of sewing, meaning the way it sits here is the way it went in the machine, top of the pic away from you.  These are sewn with the SAME size thread and the SAME 6 stitches per inch. 

Done this way to show the difference in teh LOOK of the finished project.  I LIKE the very straight, very tight results from teh LL point.  The LR point tends to be less deep, and has that angled, almost 'lacey" look I've always found a bit "girly".  The belt above with the official Colt buckle set was FOR a girl, so. ... there's that

Note how much deeper the stitch is pulled on the LL, even though no groove was made and the tension was not changed.

Somewhere around here there's a whole thing about needle geometry.. see kin I find it....

Thanks I appreciate it. I cant believe needles make that big of difference in stitch looks. 

That really opens my eyes up a bit. 

[Gump]

Why not have the best of both worlds and get a Consew or similar cylinder arm machine with removable flatbed attachment. I have both a 206RB3 and a 227R cylinder arm and I use the cylinder arm for most lighter sewing, wallets bags etc. It is much easier to work with the cyl. arm machine, more space and room to manuever. I have a servo with needle positioning, and it won't work with speed reducers, so I am set up so I can bypass my speed reducer for high speed commercial sewing with needle positioning on.

[fasn8ya]

30 minutes ago, Gump said:

Why not have the best of both worlds and get a Consew or similar cylinder arm machine with removable flatbed attachment. I have both a 206RB3 and a 227R cylinder arm and I use the cylinder arm for most lighter sewing, wallets bags etc. It is much easier to work with the cyl. arm machine, more space and room to manuever. I have a servo with needle positioning, and it won't work with speed reducers, so I am set up so I can bypass my speed reducer for high speed commercial sewing with needle positioning on.

I have needle positioner on my machines with brushless servo motors and  speed reducers and they work just fine.  Im running a class 4, cobra 5510 and a techsew 2750 all have speed reducer pullies installed under the table. Doesn't affect the needle positioner at all. I wonder is it the brand you have or something. I just bought the cheap needle positioner on amazon and installed myself.  Another thing I always hear is that if you have a cobra and don't include the needle positioner with initial purchase you will have to buy a new motor. That wasn't true for me either . My moter controller had the buttons for needle up and down so I figured I would buy one positioner and just see if it would work  and it did. Ive found most of the accessories sold by the big companies are way over priced . They are getting them from China just like you can and install it yourself.