So, My Techsew 2700 Has Been Shipped

[Phatdaddy]

I have received confirmation that my 2700 has been shipped and should be here Monday. I have NO experience with a sewing machine.

Aside from fighting myself to go to work Monday rather than sit home and wait for it, can you pros toss some pointers my way, do's and don'ts etc

I also got thread 100 needles, flatbed attachment and roller guide as well as some spare feet. oil and some bobbins etc.

Thank you,

Kevin

[Sylvia]

Do's" (for any sewing machine) Thoroughly read your manual! Understand how the machine works, how to wind a bobbin and install, and how tension is adjusted.

Don't get your fingers or thumbs any where near the needle ever. If you need additional pressure near the foot... use a stilletto, chop stick or something like that.

I'm still Jealous!! *sigh* at this point I would take an old Singer Patch machine on a treadle. lol

Be sure to let us know how you like her....

[Wizcrafts]

Do hold the top and bottom threads back, with your left hand, before you begin a new stitch line. Failure to do so results in the top thread getting pulled hopelessly around the bobbin case and jamming it, or nested on the bottom of the leather. This usually causes the feed to stop in its tracks and can throw the timing out and filigree the leather.

If you are backtacking to start, hold the threads back until you cross back over the first stitch.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Wizcrafts

[McJeep]

What he said - learnt THAT the hard way LOL

Choo gon' love love love having a machine bud - there are some minor limitations to them like not being able to get tight into some spots due to feet etc, but overall, awesomeness :) :0

Congratz!

[Techsew Ron]

Good advice in here so far. Also, memorize the threading process !! Our video should help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytYnOat7m00

Give me a call if you need any assistance at all.

Thanks for your support!

Ron

[Spinner]

Welcome to the club Phatdaddy! I've had my 2700 for 5 months now and love it. First bits of advice:

#1 - Do not attempt to adjust the presser foot or thread tensions until you are fairly confident you have a grasp on the process.

#2 - keep a pad & pen handy and make notes of the adjustments as they are made so you can reverse them if necessary

#3 - make one adjustment at a time and run several test stitches with it to be sure it's what you were trying to do: yes, move to next step - no, refer to #2

Unless of course you want to drive yourself bats**t crazy and like talking to Ron a lot, then by all means just start turning dials thinking you can "figure it out as you go". Not that I did that or anything, just sayin'...

Once you get everything figured out, keep the pad handy. I make notes all the time, what tension adjustments for what needle/thread size, what presser foot adjustments for leather thicknesses, etc. Ron has a good needle/thread size chart on the website too. I can give you help/pointers where I can, just drop me a PM with questions.

Cheers,

Chris

[TTcustom]

If it comes prethreaded take a picture of it threaded and where everything is set. Number one thing... What everybody said above. Don't get wilda$$ crazy and start spinning tension knobs willynilly.

Also take vacation/sick (koff koff) day on tuesday and have fun!

[Andrew Chee]

Welcome to the club Phatdaddy! I've had my 2700 for 5 months now and love it. First bits of advice:

#1 - Do not attempt to adjust the presser foot or thread tensions until you are fairly confident you have a grasp on the process.

#2 - keep a pad & pen handy and make notes of the adjustments as they are made so you can reverse them if necessary

#3 - make one adjustment at a time and run several test stitches with it to be sure it's what you were trying to do: yes, move to next step - no, refer to #2

Unless of course you want to drive yourself bats**t crazy and like talking to Ron a lot, then by all means just start turning dials thinking you can "figure it out as you go". Not that I did that or anything, just sayin'...

Once you get everything figured out, keep the pad handy. I make notes all the time, what tension adjustments for what needle/thread size, what presser foot adjustments for leather thicknesses, etc. Ron has a good needle/thread size chart on the website too. I can give you help/pointers where I can, just drop me a PM with questions.

Cheers,

Chris

Hey Spinner. How do you take notes of tensions? Since tension adjustment is turning the tension knob in or out how do you know when you're at the "right" tension for a particular needle/thread/thickness combination. Is there a particular method you use to keep track of things?

Andrew

[TTcustom]

My method, and I will be interested to hear Spinners, is to make a note of if I turned a knob in or out and how far i turned it. Half turn, one full turn, cw or ccw, that sort of thing. my notes are arranged by needle, thread and then what tension adjustments i made. I took pictures of everything when it arrived too so that I could document it's as received condition and settings. I need to know I can return the machine to it's last known working state, just like a computer, so I need to know where everything was set when it worked fine. I may have measured somethings with a drop mic and calipers but that might be admitting some OCD tendencies... :D

[Spinner]

Hey Spinner. How do you take notes of tensions? Since tension adjustment is turning the tension knob in or out how do you know when you're at the "right" tension for a particular needle/thread/thickness combination. Is there a particular method you use to keep track of things?

Andrew

Hey Andrew,

Just as TT said, I do the same thing. Once I had the machine dialed in to a common & known setting, say for "6oz of leather, XX needle & thread size" that becomes my baseline. From there for the knobs, it would simply be a matter of dialing the knob all the way in, counting the turns and that is the setting number. The reason for going in versus out is that by going in you know the the knob will stop at a given and generally set point. Going out, you may not recognize when the knob reaches the ends of the screw threads thus counting an extra turn, etc. Be sure when you have the tension knob bottomed out to mark the knob & machine to identify "top dead center".

So say for your known setting it is 9 counter-clockwise (ccw) turns to loosen to the correct point from zero and you need to switch to a different needle/thread. Simply change them out and start adjusting, counting the additional or less turns required and record it. To test/confirm, return the knob to zero (bottomed out) and open it back up to the new setting. Make slight adjustments as necessary and note the findings. Note, not all settings are full turns. It's very possible to have 1/2, 1/4, etc. to get the thread to loop exactly mid stack. As with anything, always sew off a test piece of the new materials to ensure the setting is correct.

It seems like a lot of work in the beginning but later on when you need to switch confidently and quickly, one look at the notes and a few turns and you're done.

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. - to make things more frustrating, different leathers of equal thickness may have different settings. Example: 12 oz of veg-tan is stiffer than 12 oz of lamb and will require a slight adjustment to the tension.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Spinner

[Northmount]

Congratulations. You will enjoy it much more than the Tipmann Boss you were thinking of before. My 2700 is doing a great job.

Get someone to help you lift the head when you assemble it so you don't lose your balance. Set the table height you want before you put the head on it. As I indicated in your previous thread, I had to set the table down to just clear my knees to avoid problems with my old shoulders and neck. If you alredy know a comfortable working height for a desk or counter top when sitting, you will want to get the cylinder arm near the same height.

Lots of good advice above about being careful with making adjustments, especially being able to return to original settings.

You can file a mark at 12 o'clock on the tension knob so you know the starting point to measure 1/4, 1/2 turns etc. Coloured fingernail polish, white-out, paint, etc. can be used to mark it instead of a file, but the file mark doesn't wear off.

CTG

[Sylvia]

My method, and I will be interested to hear Spinners, is to make a note of if I turned a knob in or out and how far i turned it. Half turn, one full turn, cw or ccw, that sort of thing. my notes are arranged by needle, thread and then what tension adjustments i made. I took pictures of everything when it arrived too so that I could document it's as received condition and settings. I need to know I can return the machine to it's last known working state, just like a computer, so I need to know where everything was set when it worked fine. I may have measured somethings with a drop mic and calipers but that might be admitting some OCD tendencies... :D

I don't know if you feller's even thought of something like this. What I would do, (assuming it's set at a good tension at the factory) is immediately put some sort of mark with tape, north south east and west on all the knobs and corresponding marks on the body of the machine... color coded. Then measure the distance from the knob to the body of the machine and note that in the manual. so let's say N is red, W is green, S is brown, E is red. This way you can see at a glance if you've turned it a few degrees or 180*.

[Techsew Ron]

Hey Andrew,

Just as TT said, I do the same thing. Once I had the machine dialed in to a common & known setting, say for "6oz of leather, XX needle & thread size" that becomes my baseline. From there for the knobs, it would simply be a matter of dialing the knob all the way in, counting the turns and that is the setting number. The reason for going in versus out is that by going in you know the the knob will stop at a given and generally set point. Going out, you may not recognize when the knob reaches the ends of the screw threads thus counting an extra turn, etc. Be sure when you have the tension knob bottomed out to mark the knob & machine to identify "top dead center".

So say for your known setting it is 9 counter-clockwise (ccw) turns to loosen to the correct point from zero and you need to switch to a different needle/thread. Simply change them out and start adjusting, counting the additional or less turns required and record it. To test/confirm, return the knob to zero (bottomed out) and open it back up to the new setting. Make slight adjustments as necessary and note the findings. Note, not all settings are full turns. It's very possible to have 1/2, 1/4, etc. to get the thread to loop exactly mid stack. As with anything, always sew off a test piece of the new materials to ensure the setting is correct.

It seems like a lot of work in the beginning but later on when you need to switch confidently and quickly, one look at the notes and a few turns and you're done.

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. - to make things more frustrating, different leathers of equal thickness may have different settings. Example: 12 oz of veg-tan is stiffer than 12 oz of lamb and will require a slight adjustment to the tension.

Great advice Chris. I get a lot of questions about how to remember tension settings and I'll definitely be directing people to this thread.

Ron

[Andrew Chee]

Definitely good advice. Right now I do a lot of "hmmm... This is thicker than the last thing I did so I should turn the knob in a few turns". Your method definitely makes for better repeatability. Thanks.

Andrew

[TTcustom]

I don't know if you feller's even thought of something like this. What I would do, (assuming it's set at a good tension at the factory) is immediately put some sort of mark with tape, north south east and west on all the knobs and corresponding marks on the body of the machine... color coded. Then measure the distance from the knob to the body of the machine and note that in the manual. so let's say N is red, W is green, S is brown, E is red. This way you can see at a glance if you've turned it a few degrees or 180*.

I guess I forgot to mention it but yes Sylvia I had marked the know as a reference.

[Sylvia]

I guess I forgot to mention it but yes Sylvia I had marked the know as a reference.

I KNEW you were smarter than the average Bear! Did you get it all figured out?

[Leatherbaron]

Good onya.....

Now what did I learn Immediatly after getting my Cowboy 441 machine...basically the same machine !

- Yep Make sure you hold the 2 ends of the thread when starting a new stitch

- I found that the thicker the leather the stitch length changes ,

- Also found that 99 % of my stitching is on the slowest speed setting.

- When going round tight corners use the hand wheel or counter weight to advance the stitches not power.

- Suggested use of 1 size smaller stitch in Bobbin than on top. but not a problem if both top and bottom are the same.

- Found that with my smart Servo motor , the foot pedal connections on the inside of the motor are cheap plastic and mine broke first week

- I drilled a hole in the steel on the underneath of the power pedal and put a bolt with 2 nuts and made a limiting mechanism so that

my foot pedal could not be pressed to far down , because that is what breaks the smart servo motor connections.

- When looking for heavy duty thread , I was at a loss where to get it from untill I went to my local Uplolstery Wholesaler and I found they have

a full range of all the heavy duty 270 threads etc. if you cant find the wholesaler goto an upolstery business and ask like I did, they will help you if you tell them what you are doing.

They also have the Durable press button studs etc , and Webbing which you can now sew, also they have Contact glue and other leather lookalike fabrics that are usefull for wallet linings and bags.

- You will run out of bobbins all the time , I find that because I use 2 size threads, and 2 colours , and I sew a lot of belts , I needed at least 12 bobbins to survive without having to rewind bobbins all the time.

I get about 2 belts with one bobbin if I do 2 rows of stitch on each belt.

- I got a bright large single LED light with a flexible bendy arm at My local Woolworths store for $20 , I think it was a "one watt led" ( Damn is it bright ) better by far that 12 or 16 leds.

- I found that if I finish my leather belts with a clear finish before I stitch the belts, the belts are softer and I get Foot stitching marks a lot more than if I dont treat the leather untill after stitching. That applies to all my leatherwork now.

Well thats just a few of the things I wish I knew when I got my machines

Cheers Leatherbaron

-

.

[Phatdaddy]

Well thats just a few of the things I wish I knew when I got my machines

Cheers Leatherbaron

.

Thanks, these are exactly the things I was was looking for.

Kevin

[Greene]

Excited to have stumbled upon this thread. I just received my 2700 PRO for Christmas. ( I have wonderfully generous and supportive in-laws).

Unfortunately so far, the very first run of stitches jammed the machine and threw out the timing. very first stitches. <facepalm>

A couple of phone calls to Techsew support later and I've learned how to adjust the timing of the machine. Just tonight I finally got it timed right.

After running a few test pieces successfully. I noticed that I needed to adjust the bobbin thread tension. I understand that most machines should come "ready to sew" but mine stumbled out of the gate. Now I'm trying to figure out how to do this. Right now my threads are badly uneven. The lower thread is being pulled right through the leather and the top thread is essentially laying on top.

I already love my machine even though I've only gotten to make about 50 stitches with it yet. I'm excited to keep learning about the machine and hope the bumps in the road are all surmountable.

[TinkerTailor]

Before you mess with the bobbin, make sure the top is threaded correctly. Its easy to do it wrong, or wrap something the wrong way.

Don't feel bad, i pulled on the thread too hard for the first stitch on my 5100, I did not have the thread under the foot. I pulled the needle sideways and back with the thread. First needle break, jammed that bugger right into the top of the foot.........Btw, are you holding the threads when you start out? If not, you should. Firmly but not pulling......

Edited January 5, 2016 by TinkerTailor

[Northmount]

Excited to have stumbled upon this thread. I just received my 2700 PRO for Christmas. ( I have wonderfully generous and supportive in-laws).

Unfortunately so far, the very first run of stitches jammed the machine and threw out the timing. very first stitches. <facepalm>

A couple of phone calls to Techsew support later and I've learned how to adjust the timing of the machine. Just tonight I finally got it timed right.

After running a few test pieces successfully. I noticed that I needed to adjust the bobbin thread tension. I understand that most machines should come "ready to sew" but mine stumbled out of the gate. Now I'm trying to figure out how to do this. Right now my threads are badly uneven. The lower thread is being pulled right through the leather and the top thread is essentially laying on top.

I already love my machine even though I've only gotten to make about 50 stitches with it yet. I'm excited to keep learning about the machine and hope the bumps in the road are all surmountable.

Reduce your top tension first, before you play with the bobbin tension. Make sure the top thread path is not getting caught or hung up on anything.

Tom

[Darren Brosowski]

Unfortunately it is always possible that a screw or two will slip loose in shipping. Apart from Locktite on every screw none of us dealers can do anything to prevent it.

I just shipped a machine 4000km by road from one side of Australia to the other. It worked perfectly here but played up on arrival. A local mechanic went over the machine and a bunch of things had rattled loose on the trip but he sorted it all out and the customer is now happy.

[paprhangr]

thanks for kick starting this thread

[Greene]

Thanks for all of the replies. I did a bit more research and came to the conclusion that I should do as suggested and begin by working with the top thread as much as possible.

I was a bit concerned because the top tension is practically wide open at this point. The stitches are looking better however. I guess now it's a matter of fine tuning.

Thanks again for all of the input.