Cobra 4 Accesories ** Help **

[JLSleather]

Imagine that .. out of curiosity, I'm searching - and found this slightly older thread about.. well ... thread

STILL no info about using these swap-able "plates"? Holster plate, stirrup plate, ... and I still have yet to have someone SHOW me the Cobra 4 "stitching back in the same holes". Yeah, that's in quotes because everyone SAYS it - not so many DOING it. I've seen THREE of these machines that defiinitely do NOT stitch back in the same holes, and have had one man admit that his doesn't either.

Anybody? Hmm?

[Greystone]

so far to date @ 20 months mine has hit the back stitch every time,

except when I do something to screw it up.

I'm satisfied with mine and and would not hesitate getting a second if the need was there.

I think when if/ it misses its been MY ERROR as the cause,

and or I'm stitching slow enough at these points I automatically/ instinctively adjust to hit the end where I WANT IT.

Still learning, something new every use, and confident, that its a solid machine and if it screws up its operator input/error first

still using the standard plate and not tried any of the others

but feel no issue changing plates, with LMC's help and or info here if I have an issue

just my over priced $0.02

David

Edited December 9, 2014 by Greystone

[Squilchuck]

Does the height of the center pressed foot or the tension on the outside foot need to be adjusted? I have just experimented with plates that require feed dog to removed and have hard time keeping stitch length even because leather feeds poorly. Any tips?

[awharnessshop]

I've got a 441 and a short arm clone and used bunch of feet, and plates from where ever. Where is it that you adjust the presses for height? I've got a "tufting" foot I use with a raised throat plate, but never knew how to adjust the height for the paddle foot! Pictures would be great!

-Andrew

[Squilchuck]

Instructions came w my Cobra 4. Maybe that doc is online at their Leather Machine website?

[Wizcrafts]

I've got a 441 and a short arm clone and used bunch of feet, and plates from where ever. Where is it that you adjust the presses for height? I've got a "tufting" foot I use with a raised throat plate, but never knew how to adjust the height for the paddle foot! Pictures would be great!

-Andrew

Andrew;

Look directly behind the left side of the machine. There is a crank arm emitting from the head that fastens to another crank arm that has a large hex bolt on top. With the outside foot down, loosen that bolt and the inside foot should move up and down freely. When you find the right height, tighten it back down. The downward push of the inside foot causes the outside foot to lift X amount. Readjust the alternating lift thusly.

The overall ratio of lift is controlled by the other crank arm that comes out the middle area of the back of the machine. It connects to a curved slot that determines how high the feet can lift. If you find that the feet can't climb over or below new layers, lower the position of the mid-crank in the slot.

[amuckart]

Here's before & after pictures of my holster plate. I ran it down on a belt grinder, 120 & 200 grit to get the grooves followed by 80 micron trizact which gave an acceptable finish.

I made sure to relieve all the edges and corners slightly on the trizact belt and did the inside of the slot by hand with 2000 grit.

I don't understand why Cowboy stamp these grooves in either.

Before:

After:

Edited April 9, 2015 by amuckart

[Wizcrafts]

My US Cowboy holster plate does not have those grooves. However, the standard plate did (past tense), until I sanded them off.

[amuckart]

Interesting about your holster plate being smooth. When did you get your machine?

I was hesitant to grind the grooves off of the standard plate because they were very deep and I thought it would remove too much material. I just had another look and did it anyway. They're not 100% gone, but only slight traces remain.

Before & afters:

It's interesting how polishing shows up irregularites in the plate that were hidden by the satin finish. I wish they'd satin finish all the feet and plates, it is much less prone to corrosion in humid environments than a polished finish.

Another thing worth mentioning, on my machine at least, I can install the holster plate without having to remove the feed dog. I can't do this with the stirrup plate.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

OK, I am going to join in here, because; I do it a little different and it seems to work for me. I am fussy about the finish of the edge on my stirrups so this is what I do. First I use a stirrup plate and the right foot stitch. I place the body of the stirrup to the left of the machine and the raised portion of the plate nests under and up against the stirrup outer edge. Now then on covers that are tooled, there is a border and a stitch line that I mark and want the stitches to follow, so in order to have enough material sticking out for the foot to adequately "clamp" down on for each stitch, I leave about 3/8 to 1/2 inch extra material sticking out past where the stitches are to be. This does several things for me, 1 as mentioned, it gives enough material for the foot to rest on, 2 it allows me to be very specific about where the stitches go , 3 and after it is glued, stitched, and cut off to the exact final trim line, it gives a good surface to edge, burnish and finish for a nice mirror finish. Hope this didn't confuse. Here is a piece of a pic to show what it looks like when finished. Sorry, but; this is the only pic that shows a finished stirrup.

Bob