Roller Foot Sewing Machine

[LeatherLegion]

I am trying to find a roller foot sewing machine that would be capable to sew through 5-6oz with a #92 thread (top and bottom) , #138 would be great . It's gonna be used just for the inside of the wallets , pockets and such. Any suggestions ?

Thank you !

Edited July 10, 2013 by LeatherLegion

[Art]

Cobra 5550, Singer 31-15 or greater, Singer 110w125 or so.

Art

[Wizcrafts]

Yep, a 31-15 is the ticket. I put a roller foot conversion on mine and use it at home to sew with #92 thread, into garment or chap leather. It is great for installing zippers.

[LeatherLegion]

Yep, a 31-15 is the ticket. I put a roller foot conversion on mine and use it at home to sew with #92 thread, into garment or chap leather. It is great for installing zippers.

Do I need a special feed dog and plate along with the roller foot?

[Wizcrafts]

Do I need a special feed dog and plate along with the roller foot?

Yep. They are sold as a 3 piece kit.

[LeatherLegion]

I guess Singer 31-15 it is !!! Anybody has one up for sale?...lol...

[Andrew Chee]

Will basically any straight stitch industrial machine work for this application? I'm not very familiar with the different classes of non-walking foot industrial machines. There's a brother db2 and a mitsubishi ls2-180 for sale near methat I'm thinking about.

I would figure that you could get any industrial machine and swap out the presser foot and feed dog/plate for an roller presser foot and you would be set. Am I wrong about that?

I'm looking to get one as well that would have to sew through maybe 10oz veg tan max with up to a 138 thread. any advice?

Andrew

[Wizcrafts]

Yes, as long as the machine is able to run at slow speeds, under 600 or 800 rpm without running out of oil. Some modern straight stitch machines must be run over 2000 rpm to distribute the oil to the important extremities..

[dirtclod]

I just put a roller foot on my 31 15 and it works fine.

[Geneva]

You would not be able to put a roller foot on it. I have a 31-19 Singer walking foot I would be willing to sell. This is a walking foot machine with one quarter inch beneith the pressure foot. It is a very nice piece sews great you would need to slow it down though it runs around 2000 spm. The machine was made in England around 1950 I think. 100 plus shipping will get it.

[Sovran81]

Yes, as long as the machine is able to run at slow speeds, under 600 or 800 rpm without running out of oil. Some modern straight stitch machines must be run over 2000 rpm to distribute the oil to the important extremities..

Wiz could you expand on this? It seems many of us slow our machines down for more control and power. It is rare I hit 10 stitchs per second unless I am on a long straight run. Now I am worried about oil starving my new 206.

[Andrew Chee]

What wiz is saying (i believe) is that there are some machines that are automatic oilers. They have oil in the pan under the machine and they use a pump to move the oil to the extremities of the machine. The pumps are powered by the movement of the machine. If the machine is not moving fast enough, the pump may not be able to move oil everywhere. If my 206 you mean the consew 206rb, then that shouldn't be a problem because I don't believe that machine has an oil pump. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

As for regular straight stitch machines, are there different classes of machines like a walking foot? Are some designed for heavier materials than others or are they all kinda the same?

Andrew

[Sovran81]

Andrew, yes consew 206rb-5. It does have an oil reservoir, but I cant tell through the little window if its a wick or a pickup tube in there.

[Wizcrafts]

Snip

As for regular straight stitch machines, are there different classes of machines like a walking foot? Are some designed for heavier materials than others or are they all kinda the same?

Andrew

Yes and no, Andrew. The average straight stitch industrial sewing machine is built for sewing soft material that is not sticky, with cotton or polycore garment thread. I am talking about dresses, shirts, pants, aprons and such. Most of this work is done at very high speed, where time is money. High speed machines need self-oilers to keep them from seizing during long production runs. Springs for both thread and foot tensions are usually light duty, to handle the soft cotton thread used in garment production.

That said, some types of straight stitch machines are and were built for heavier and slower speed uses, with beefed up take-up levers and connecting rods, bigger bearings, manual oil ports. Think about the ancient Singer class 25 machines as an example. These are cylinder arm machines, with very heavy moving parts, a large roller foot, heavy duty springs all around, a very large cylindrical bobbin and the ability to sew with #346 thread.

Modern equivalents of the Singer 25K series include the Cowboy CB2500, Techsew 3650 and the GA5-1 that is sold under various brand names. These machines are 25K clones, with modern improvements like a reverse lever, harness foot or roller foot option, and tech support (if bought from a reputable dealer). They are priced lower that the 441 clones, and a little higher than the average upholstery grade walking foot machines. With large tooth feed dogs and heavy hold down springs, these machines can lay down a tight stitch into about 7/16 inch of real leather, with #346 bonded thread. The only reason you don't hear more about them is because they leave deep tooth tracks on the bottom and maybe foot tracks on top, both of which can be smoothed out with some elbow grease. Also, some holsters exceed 7/16 inch and these machines just aren't meant to sew, feed, and hold down anything much thicker.

One other limitation of the aforementioned machines is that they all use a needle system which has a #23 needle as the smallest leather point available (which is for use with #138 thread). This means no thin work with thin thread (wallet interiors, thin finished wallets, thin pouches, patching, typical zipper replacement, etc.).

[cdthayer]

Yes, as long as the machine is able to run at slow speeds, under 600 or 800 rpm without running out of oil. Some modern straight stitch machines must be run over 2000 rpm to distribute the oil to the important extremities..

Hey Wiz, I have a question for you, hopefully, without hijacking the thread.

I have access to several oil sump machines, and even have a Singer 281-3 laying around here somewhere (came with an industrial K-leg stand that I used for something else). I don't know much about the auto-oilers, but there was a lingerie factory here for a long time, and they used industrial machines that sewed dainty fabrics. They auctioned them off, and they're scattered all over the county now. Some buyers thought that they were leather-sewing machines, (and didn't realize that they had 3-phase motors on them), so they turn up for sale every once in a while.

My question is, if you run an oil sump machine slow and occasionally, do you really need to use the automatic oiling system, or can you just service it like a non-auto-oiler? Folks have bought gallon jugs of Lilly White sewing machine oil from me to fill their sumps, but they may only use the machine sporadically. Is oil in the sump under those conditions really all that necessary? Have you had much experience with this type of machine, even though they don't have much to do with sewing leather?

CD in Oklahoma