The Type Of Sewing Machine You Need To Sew Leather

[gtonthemove]

Hello everyone. I have the opportunity to purchase an Adler 467 with a 220 motor at a good price. Could anyone tell me the pros and cons about this machine. My husband says that he will have to change the outlets to conform to the motor. Should I change to the servo motor as suggested? I will be using it to do car upholsterly and leather seats for cars. I am an expert seamstress for clothing, but now I feel I am moving into the big leagues. Don't want to make a mistake. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Wizcrafts]

I think you will be better off to just buy a 110 volt, single phase motor. Your outlets for the 220 volt motor would need to be wired for three phases plus ground.

I bought a SewPro 500GR servo motor for my walking foot machine and it gives a full range of speed control, without needing to feather a clutch. They are sold at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines: 866-362-7397. They can install whatever size pulley works best for your work. Leathercrafters prefer a 2" pulley for punching power, less friction and better control with slow speeds. Upholsters prefer a 3.5 or 4" pulley, for higher top speed (time is money in upholstery). You may need to also change the belt length is you install this motor and the pulley size is much different.

[Wizcrafts]

Lately, I have been answering questions from newbies to sewing leather, who are laboring under the misconception that an old, restored home type cast iron sewing machine is good enough to sew leather holsters. The people selling these machines even post close-up photos showing them using what appears to be very thick thread and sewing what looks like thick leather. Nothing could be further from the truth! These are still home sewing machines, made to handle cloth and thin, flexible thread. The photos exaggerate the real sizes of the items in them. Read on...

Newbies to sewing leather should listen to the advice given by people who have paved the way for you. Long time leather sewers, who have dozens of years of experience between them, have worked their way up, from fancy looking home sewing machines, to straight stitch, to needle feed, to spring foot, to walking foot jeans-upholstery machines and finally, into really strong machines that are specifically designed to sew hard and thick leather, with very strong thread, without breaking down. I am one of these people.

I have watched the take-up levers on cast iron home sewing machines bend or snap off, under the strain of using #138 thread, while trying to sew 5/16" of veg-tan leather. The slightest thread jam in the bobbin throws them totally out of time. Tensions are hard to balance and they don't hold much thread, once you go beyond size 69.

So, what about a big industrial sewing machine, like those found on eBay and Craigslist? These must sew hard leather with thick thread ... right? Mostly wrong!

There is little more disheartening than having spent $1000 - $1500 on an industrial sewing machine and setting it up with a #24 needle and #207 thread, sewing into 3/8" of holster leather, than to hear the decisive THWANK it makes as the main parts break, strip, de-time, and/or seize under the strain. This happens when a person tries to use garment and upholstery grade machines to sew 3/8 inch of veg-tan or latigo leather, with #207 or thicker thread. Yes, you may get a few projects sewn, but, eventually: THWANK!

Over-stressed machines will typically produce shorter stitches in thicker leather, due to a combination of the pendulum geometry and the lack of "feed-ability" of smooth surfaced leather that is too thick for the feeding system. I have watched in dismay as a fully rebuilt, huge, Singer 132k6, with a spring loaded "walking" foot system, which I payed $1500 for, slipped and slid all over the edges of a hand stamped and Carnauba waxed belt I just made. The stitches varied from 5 to the inch, down to 10 to the inch! The knots were all over the place, vertically. This was caused by me buying an incredibly strong machine that was made to feed and sew buffing wheels, tow ropes, parachutes and tents, but using it to try to sew veg-tan leather.

I have probably wasted over 7 or 8 thousand dollars, moving up through inadequate, yet tough looking sewing machines, over the years. Once I acquired a real harness stitcher and learned to use it, I never looked back. I sold off most of the other machines and only kept a long arm patcher and a Japanese walking foot machine. When I work at my buddy's leather shop, I sew on his Cobra with a 16.5 inch arm and an 18" arm Adler 30-70 "Patcher." The patcher maxes out with #138 thread and a little over 5/16" thickness. Everything else is either sewn on the owner's Cobra, or I take it home and sew it on my Union Lockstitch (with #277 or #346 thread) or my modified National 300N (#138 or #207 thread).

I also have a small collection of some beautiful, very old Singer and White Rotary sewing machines. At best, they are able to use #69 nylon thread and sew up to 1/4 inch, maximum. These are the types of machines being sold by the eBay restorers and similar shops that specialize in old iron. I picked up a nice Singer 15-91 and totally rebuilt it, including the motor. It had a terrible time feeding 3/16" of leather, or two layers of Naugahyde. So, I bought a so-called walking foot attachment for it. This allowed me to sew the Naugahyde better, but cut down the clearance under the feet to 1/8 inch. The lift of the feet above that thickness caused the needle bar to hit the inside foot and damaged it.

Don't be fooled by beautiful close up photos of restored old home sewing machines. They use close-up lenses to distort the actual size of the needle and thread being used. It appears to the untrained eye that these machines are sewing 12-14 ounce leather belting with #207 thread, when in fact they are sewing an 8-10 oz belt with #69 thread. That is all they can handle. Most home machine needles stop at size 18, which feeds #69 thread (and maybe #92). To sew with #207 thread requires a #24 or #25 needle!

Home machines have a tiny motor, weighing about 1 pound, that is rated at between 1/2 to 1.5 amps, equaling 50 to 150 watts current draw. The horsepower rating of these motors ranges from about 1/25th to maybe 1/10th. A gear-reduced Thompson, or Sailrite produces the equivalent of about 1/5th HP. This is great punching power for denim, Naugahyde, duck cloth, plastic windscreens and even small upholstery projects. But, when it comes to penetrating 3 or 4 layers of 8 ounce veg-tan leather, with a #23 needle, threaded with #138 bonded nylon thread, 1/2 Horsepower is the minimum requirement.

Most sewing machines that are set-up and or built to sew hard, thick leather, with serious thread, have very small pulleys on the motor, which tends to range from 1/2 to 3/4 HP, drawing from 300 to 600 watts. These motors then feed a large wheel on a speed reducer, which has another small pulley feeding up the the machine pulley. You will often see an overall speed reduction/torque multiplication of 5 to 15 times, from the same type of machine setup for use in upholstery or garment work. I had an Adler 204 flatbed machine, equipped with a 3/4 HP clutch motor (almost 50 pounds!), with a 2" motor pulley feeding a large difference speed reducer. The net outcome was a pedal down, blazing top speed of 2 stitches per second! This machine penetrated 3/4 inch of belt leather like it was butter!

The same machine, as setup and sold to an upholstery shop, might produce about 800 to 1600 stitches per minute. That would be slow for most upholsters! Most upholstery machines clock in at around 2,000 stitches per minute. Most garment machines are made to sew at over 3,000 stitches per minute! These speeds are totally useless for sewing any leather other than upholstery grade. With veg-tan, or latigo, the slower, the better.

I mentioned the difference in available needle sizes between home and industrial machines. There is more to it then just the diameter of the shaft. Home machines are designed to sew thin cloth and if they have a clearance under the foot of 3/8 inch, that is unusual. Also, the needles are short, in comparison to say, walking foot needles, and don't have much room between the needle bar and top of the pressor foot. Most have only 5/16" under the foot before the top thread tension release engages. Once that happens there is little or no tension on your top thread. This results in knots under the bottom layer and usually leads to jamming.

The stitchers built for sewing heavy, thick leather have very long needles (~2 .5" ), allowing for high lifting of two alternating pressor feet while sewing through 3/4 inch plus of hard leather. Most of the 441 clone machines use series 7x3 and 794 needles, which start with #18 or 19 on the small end, but go up to #27, or even #30, on the big end. These needles are the diameter of the nails used to hold a wooden porch together! The flange that mounts inside the needle bar is about 1/8" diameter! The flange width (on the round sides) on a home sewing needle is just under 1/16 inch. The biggest home series needle I have found is a #20, which is straight from the mounting flange down.

As I discussed much earlier in this thread, the bobbins are vastly different between home and industrial "sewing" machines and leather "stitchers." A home machine bobbin, like the Class 15, might hold a couple hundred feet of household cotton thread, or hundred feet or so of #69 nylon. The bobbins on the 441 clones can hold at over 5 times that amount of thread, in sizes 138 up (the thicker, the less).

The bobbins used by my Union Lockstitch machine, measuring in at 2.5 x .75 inches, can hold about a football field length of #277 thread, tightly wound.

Nuff said.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Wizcrafts

[Sixer]

Great info! Thanks again Wiz!

[tackgirl956]

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with a Tacsew GC6-6 Walking Foot Industrial Machine?

I mainly sew leather handbags and cell cases out of the old fancy stitched cowboy boot tops..would this machine be over kill for my type of leather projects?

I would like to try my hand at making leather headstalls and halters later on..but can't afford 2 different leather machines.

BIG thanks to Wiz for sharing all his been there done that machine experiences with us!

[Wizcrafts]

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with a Tacsew GC6-6 Walking Foot Industrial Machine?

I mainly sew leather handbags and cell cases out of the old fancy stitched cowboy boot tops..would this machine be over kill for my type of leather projects?

I would like to try my hand at making leather headstalls and halters later on..but can't afford 2 different leather machines.

BIG thanks to Wiz for sharing all his been there done that machine experiences with us!

First, you're welcome!

Second; I wouldn't go there (Tacsew brand) if I were you.

Do not confuse the Tacsew junk machines with Techsew, which is a good brand, distributed, setup, adjusted and modified if necessary, by Raphael Sewing in Montreal.

This is just my opinion. Opinions are like a__holes: everybody's got one!

[Techsew Ron]

First, you're welcome!

Second; I wouldn't go there (Tacsew brand) if I were you.

Do not confuse the Tacsew junk machines with Techsew, which is a good brand, distributed, setup, adjusted and modified if necessary, by Raphael Sewing in Montreal.

This is just my opinion. Opinions are like a__holes: everybody's got one!

lol, thanks Wiz !

Ron

[CowboyBob]

I have a few customers with them Tacsews & have had to repair them.We had to wait a month to get a hook in.Wiz is correct STAY AWAY from them.

Bob

[tackgirl956]

Thank you Wiz and Bob!

I really appreciate the input on the Tacsew Machine. you saved me from making a possible $800 mistake!

I'm taking everyone's good advice and searching for a Conew, Techsew etc...they are much more expensive though really going to have to shop around for a good deal on these machines.

I did find out about the new Servo Smart motor at Raphael Sewing in Canada, sounds like a good thing to keep the speed down (what I need being a newbie)

anyone have any thoughts on that motor?

[Johanna]

Scroll up and call "Ronnie" from Techsew (Raphael in Canada). I have an old Singer that sews 750 stitches per minute. I could quickly sew my arm to saddle skirting. With a Servo Motor (available on all the new machines) you can sew at any speed you want. Having a Servo Motor takes the "intimidation factor" out of sewing leather.

Johanna