Have Mercey On This Girl... New Consew 206Rb...

[Geneva]

Don't apologize for needing information and help. If the lower thread is flat across the bottom of the material there is to much tension on the bobbin spring. Get a very small screwdriver and back the screw up 1/2 to 3/4's of a turn make small corrections not seven or eight turns at once. Make sure you are loading the bobbin the right direction when you put it in. Back off on the upper tension 2 or 3 turns. Test this adjustment and see how it sews. No, holding the thread at start up will not take care of the tension problem but it will stop the machine from pulling the thread out of your material. I assume you have not slowed your machine down? It will sew much better around 700 to 800 spm. Not what it was set at the factory to run. If you can spring for one you need a servo motor for your new toy. You will not believe the difference in the machine's performance. I bought mine from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines at the top of the page. Hope this helped.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Geneva

[paprhangr]

on the Consew 206rb5, should the needle be in or out of the leather when engaging reverse?

[Danno3]

Don't apologize for needing information and help. If the lower thread is flat across the bottom of the material there is to much tension on the bobbin spring. Get a very small screwdriver and back the screw up 1/2 to 3/4's of a turn make small corrections not seven or eight turns at once. Make sure you are loading the bobbin the right direction when you put it in. Back off on the upper tension 2 or 3 turns. Test this adjustment and see how it sews. No, holding the thread at start up will not take care of the tension problem but it will stop the machine from pulling the thread out of your material. I assume you have not slowed your machine down? It will sew much better around 700 to 800 spm. Not what it was set at the factory to run. If you can spring for one you need a servo motor for your new toy. You will not believe the difference in the machine's performance. I bought mine from Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines at the top of the page. Hope this helped.

Thanks! I bought it ready to go with a 3/4 servo motor, its at its slowest setting so I'm all good there. I am terrified of adjusting the bobbin tension, heck, I can hardley get the thing back in after. Not accustomed to a horizontal loaded bobbin... OMG the curse words that came out of my mouth my husband was laughing! BUt, if it must be then it must be.

[Danno3]

Keep at it, when I started working with leather I got a wild hair to build a saddle, I'd never made anything out of leather. Now I'm doing wholesale work for a local store and selling all kinds of western gear from chaps and chinks to saddles. I know how frustrating a machine can be, but don't feel bad about calling your salesperson. They should be able to help you with all the adjustments.

I'm also a special olympics ski coach, I was one of the coaches for the World Winter Games Team USA that went to South Korea last winter. Sorry to hear about the fractured skull, but I admire all the parents out there that do whatever it takes for their kids. If you ever have any questions this is a great place to get them answered.

Thank you Undeberg:) NO helmet needed so it was careful attentiveness and communication where possible that helped. Its been 4 months, should be healed now but no more CAT scans to find out LOL....

Saddles... that's my guilty interest. I keep an old english one aroun din case I feel liek deconstructing one day. Also nostalgia:)

[Danno3]

At my age I should know better but I bought a Cobra 4 from all the kudos on machine and customer service. No one said anything about that steep a....learning curve. Test and sew. Test and sew. Test...........

Don't give up.

I was about to post your reverse is adjustable. And your machine is rather limited to "low to medium weight leather".

What are your products?

Well Im glad you said that... After again finding it impossible to use my 29-K, I decided to just buy a cylinder arm. But I couldn't deal with the test and sew, rinse repeat. I need something reliable and consistent.

Sewing fairly thin 2-3oz embossed and other leather. Some lamb if I ever get different feed dogs. May be I was giving it mor ethat it could chew?

[Fat Dog Leather]

Hey donno3,

As a FNGirl to this world of leather work who is learning all she can by asking questions and advice along the way; I cannot offer adjustment info. on your machine, just a few more words of encouragement ........

I too started on a 29-4 that I thought was too cool. Quickly found out why it is a patch machine and struggled to sew straight lines after working hard on projects. Recently bought a new walking foot and could not be happier. So if you can manage the old 29-4, you can handle any new machine - without a doubt!

I can throw it out there to always try a sample of any new material to see how the machine will perform prior to putting your ready to sew project under the needle. Good luck!

[Wizcrafts]

I have a few observations based on your comments Danno.

First, the thread lying flat on the bottom can be caused by the following misadjustments:

1. Bobbin case spring way too tight
   
2. Top thread spring way too loose
   
3. Top thread too springy, causing it to flip out of the center area of the tension disks (no top tension)
   
4. Needle too small to pull knots up into leather
   

Normally, the bobbin thread tension spring is set for a light, even pressure when you pull on the bobbin thread. If it is very hard to pull the thread that emits under the tension spring, something is binding as the thread leaves the bobbin. It could be a burr on the spring, or maybe the thread has unwound around the bobbin inside the case, or you left too long of a starting stub after cutting it off with your thread snippers. Also, if the bobbin case has an anti-backlash spring inside it and the bobbins are just a little on the wide side, the case and anti-backlash spring could jam the bobbin against the shuttle face, adding a lot more tension than you expect to have. Always prove the bobbin tension after pulling the thread up through the feed dog hole.

Issue #2 can be fixed by adding more spring tension to the top disks. Screw in the adjuster nut to add more pressure from the beehive shaped spring. Improvements are usually noticed right away, unless issue #3 exists.

Issue number 3 is trickier. This happened to me last year, as I was sewing. It is a known secret among professional leather sewers that a lot of times a spool of black thread will unwind like a coil spring. These windings tend to form twists and even knots along the path to the needle. One day, as I was happily sewing long strap on my walking foot machine, the top thread started bunching up under the leather and motion ground to a halt. There was zero top tension! When I followed the thread back from the needle to the top tensioner, I found that the thread was literally sitting on top of the disks, rather than down inside them. It was black #138 bonded nylon thread and it unwound like a clock spring. First, I tried looping the thread around a post on top of the machine, which added back tension, which helped pull the thread down into the business area of the disks. But, due to its springiness the thread formed another loop around the post and jammed the machine to a halt, filigreeing the leather.

When this kind of trouble happens and you have no other suitable thread to change out to, you find unusual solutions. My unusual solution, which I am still using, is to feed the top thread under the little 1/16" diameter steel pin that keeps the top tension disks in alignment. The disks have a little semi-round cut-out that flits over the little spring-pin. My thread feeds straight through the top post, winds around the three hole guide over the right side of the tension disk assembly, goes under the little spring-pin, then a sharp turn up to the left and around the tension disks, then down to the check spring assembly and on to the take-up and feed down guides. With this configuration my top thread has never again twisted itself out of the top tension disks. The sharp turn up from the pin adds more tension, so I no longer feed through two holes on the top post. It simply isn't required any more.

I explained in the last paragraph that some thread is more springy than other threads. This is especially true of bonded black nylon, which is often redyed from a dark blue to black. I now keep different brands and batches of black thread on hand, purchased at different times. Some is springy, some is less so, some not at all. Bonded polyester tends to be much softer and less springy in all colors I have on hand.

As for the needle sizes, #69 (T70) thread is usually sewn with a #16 or #18 needle and usually produces a great stitch in thin materials, like Naugahyde and garment leather and motorcycle patches on vests. However, if the tensions are decent, top and bottom (no jammed threads), but the knots lie under the leather, and the machine is properly threaded and the top thread has not lifted out of the top disks, increase by one needle size for a larger hole. If necessary, you can even try sewing with a #20 needle.

Matching your reverse stitches can also be fine tuned by changing the timing of the alternating presser feet on the back of the machine head. In my photo below, the big six sided bolt locks down the timing of the feet, while the nut-secured sliding piece, that moves in the curved slot, controls the amount of lift the raised feet have. By loosening the big bolt, and rotating the shaft connected to it, you can adjust the moment when the inside foot makes contact with the feed dog to happen just after the tip of the needle passes the top and begins to enter the hole. Do this while the needle and inside foot are on the down stroke, without material under the foot. You will probably have to adjust it a few times before you zero in the stitch length to match in forward and reverse.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Wizcrafts

[paprhangr]

thanks Wiz, Is there a beginner's video guide "How to " adjust/ sew with your Consew 206 RB-5.

[stanly]

Thanks! I bought it ready to go with a 3/4 servo motor, its at its slowest setting so I'm all good there. I am terrified of adjusting the bobbin tension, heck, I can hardley get the thing back in after. Not accustomed to a horizontal loaded bobbin... OMG the curse words that came out of my mouth my husband was laughing! BUt, if it must be then it must be.

everyone seems to experience this at first = feed dog needs to be moved up (rotate machine), the first couple times I crawled under table to see what the heck... I'll admit to some jealousy about servo, I cheaped out and went Monster wheel route.

Well Im glad you said that... After again finding it impossible to use my 29-K, I decided to just buy a cylinder arm. But I couldn't deal with the test and sew, rinse repeat. I need something reliable and consistent.

Sewing fairly thin 2-3oz embossed and other leather. Some lamb if I ever get different feed dogs. May be I was giving it mor ethat it could chew?

u can put layers of masking tape on dogs to smooth them some, U prob. got a selection so already know there are different walking feet that have no teeth (or could file down for permanent fix of you're fav feet). Flat bed is cheaper, but can be challenge to to sew inside some things. With a table on arm the cylinder can do every thing a flat can. Edited August 31, 2013 by stanly