Sold My Motorcycle And Bought A Chandler 26-188, Have A Few Questions!

[ItsthatFLO]

Hey all,

For months I've been scouring this site getting ready to make leather technology cases and such and have learned a lot. Thank you very much to everyone for this wealth of knowledge!

So I bought a machine after hand sewing tested my patience and I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find elsewhere.

First off, there is some type of tensioner right above the stitch needle on the top most part of the machine. What does this do exactly? Does it effect the walking foot?

Second, the feed dog is rather rough and marks up my veg tan. I found a thread on here that talks about it and using rubber dipping compound to fill in the grooves to stop it. Anyone have any other ideas? Is it a tension problem?

Finally, I just can not sew straight on this clutch motor. It powers on through but I can't contain it! Where could I find a decent servo motor that will fit? My current is 110V.

Thanks again everyone.

Cheers,

Glen

[CowboyBob]

Glen,

Yes,the knob on top is for the foot pressure.This machine is better suited for sewing upholstery & canvas than leather due to the feet & feed dog s marking,yes,you can work with it & make it better BUT you might be better off getting a compound walking foot needle feed.

HTH

Bob

P.S. years ago I used to sell these new & they are a good machine.

[Iron Pounder]

Glen,

Here is what i did for the foot marking the leather. I took the foot off and brazed and teeth grooves up so it was completely flat then put a very light cross hatch on it to still give it something to pull the leather with. This has worked just fine for me. If you can't braze or find someone to help ya out you could jb weld the grooves up flat and cross hatch that. As for slowing that rig down you could put a super small pulley on the motor and adapt a bigger pulley to the machine itself, you could make or buy a speed reducer set up with 2 pullies some steel or you could buy a servo motor.

I have ran 69-207 thread on top with great results so i would try and use what you have before spending big money on something that may not work any better than what you have.

[ItsthatFLO]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your responses! Great suggestions about getting a new pulley. I ended up getting a servo motor for 89$ from ferdco's closing down sale.

I also bought rubber dipping compound used to coat tools with rubber grips and will be putting it on my feed dog and walking foot.

I'll be getting my horween swatches soon and will you keep you updated. Thanks again!