LeatherWerks Report post Posted June 30, 2012 Yesterday, I used my Cobra 4 to do some minor stitching, worked just fine. This morning I was getting ready to stitch up a belt and suddenly, I have problems. The machine appears to be threaded properly, the needle is installed correctly, the bobin is installed correctly and turning counterclockwise when I pull thread from it. The problem is that it does nothing but punch needle holes. Neither the top or bottom thread stays in the leather. Has anyone seen a problem like this? Thanks, Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted June 30, 2012 Did you have to force the machine to complete a stitch yesterday? Did you change thread, on top or in the bobbin? Is it the same needle as you used yesterday? Is the needle bent or dull or does it have a burr? Is the eye of the needle on the right side? Has the top thread jumped out of the upper or lower tension disks? Is there any twisting over of the top thread, before it reaches the needle? Are you sewing Biothane? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeatherWerks Report post Posted June 30, 2012 Wiz, someone came in behind me and re-treaded the machine but missed one critical area, the takeup lever. I should have looked closer at the threading before I posted. Steve Did you have to force the machine to complete a stitch yesterday? Did you change thread, on top or in the bobbin? Is it the same needle as you used yesterday? Is the needle bent or dull or does it have a burr? Is the eye of the needle on the right side? Has the top thread jumped out of the upper or lower tension disks? Is there any twisting over of the top thread, before it reaches the needle? Are you sewing Biothane? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KAYAK45 Report post Posted June 30, 2012 YOU ARE NOT ALONE! It's those darn shop gnomes. They use your knives, and never sharpen them. They use up all your bobbins and don't tell you! And maybe the worst of all, they change you tempered leather into dry crap! Damn gnomes! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted June 30, 2012 ....Yep it happens all the time....to some folks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted June 30, 2012 Trolls are responsible for re-threading his machine. They did the dirty deed in the midst of the night, then hid under a nearby bridge and watched in excited expectation to see his bewilderment as the needle poked holes in the leather and nothing else! This is how it actually was! And don't fancy I exaggerate, it was told to me by the Chinese Plate! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Nelson Report post Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) Trolls are responsible for re-threading his machine. They did the dirty deed in the midst of the night, then hid under a nearby bridge and watched in excited expectation to see his bewilderment as the needle poked holes in the leather and nothing else! This is how it actually was! And don't fancy I exaggerate, it was told to me by the Chinese Plate! We have shop gremlins in my shop. They hide tools,often in plain sight, rethread sewing machines, drain the coffee pot without making any more and sharp knives and bullets will not kill them. Edited June 30, 2012 by Ken Nelson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted July 1, 2012 I have a real shop gremlin story to tell ya. About 6, 7 months ago I was working at M&M Leather, in Flint, Mi, making rifle slings. We use bone folders to secure and shape the glued on suede linings to the backs of the straps, especially around the foam pads. Well, I recall finishing the bone folder work, putting it down and sewing the sling. That was the last sling in the run and I went home shortly after finishing sewing it. The next day the owner called me up and bitched me out because he couldn't find the bone folder I had been using. I told him where I left it. But, it was nowhere to be found! I scratched my head, my beard and other parts, trying to remember where I set down the damned folder. When I came in to work later on, I had to search the entire shop and my person, in vain. No folder! This folder was special; maybe 30 years old, with peculiar grooves on the fat end. My buddy was pissed. Two weeks later, while working at the same location, on a new run of rifle slings, for no particular reason, I looked down. Something white caught my eye. It was the missing bone folder, standing up against a very old gallon of dye. It fell off the table as I removed that last sling, weeks earlier, bounced off my jeans un-noticed, and landed in the upright position against a bottle on the shelf below! I still believe that gremlins caused this to happen and hid the folder on purpose to torment us. The odds of it happening the way I described are almost infinitely small. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Nelson Report post Posted July 2, 2012 I have a real shop gremlin story to tell ya. About 6, 7 months ago I was working at M&M Leather, in Flint, Mi, making rifle slings. We use bone folders to secure and shape the glued on suede linings to the backs of the straps, especially around the foam pads. Well, I recall finishing the bone folder work, putting it down and sewing the sling. That was the last sling in the run and I went home shortly after finishing sewing it. The next day the owner called me up and bitched me out because he couldn't find the bone folder I had been using. I told him where I left it. But, it was nowhere to be found! I scratched my head, my beard and other parts, trying to remember where I set down the damned folder. When I came in to work later on, I had to search the entire shop and my person, in vain. No folder! This folder was special; maybe 30 years old, with peculiar grooves on the fat end. My buddy was pissed. Two weeks later, while working at the same location, on a new run of rifle slings, for no particular reason, I looked down. Something white caught my eye. It was the missing bone folder, standing up against a very old gallon of dye. It fell off the table as I removed that last sling, weeks earlier, bounced off my jeans un-noticed, and landed in the upright position against a bottle on the shelf below! I still believe that gremlins caused this to happen and hid the folder on purpose to torment us. The odds of it happening the way I described are almost infinitely small. WICKED, SNEAKY little boogers aren't they!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catskin Report post Posted July 2, 2012 Every shop has them. The surpriseing part is 90++% of the time in order to see them you have to look in a mirror. WICKED, SNEAKY little boogers aren't they!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
