Thread Recommendation For Junker And Ruh Sd28

[Wizcrafts]

I was seriously looking for a curved needle machine last year to do sole replacements. The expense of the machines and parts/needles made me back off for a while. Also, I was repairing work boots that had soles almost 3/4 inch thick. Not very many curved needle machines can penetrate that thickness.

[Hunhunt]

Thought I'd follow up with what I've learned so far with the machine. The ancient linen thread that came with the machine would break (upper thread) every time I tried to use it while trying to draw the lower thread up into the leather. While I waited for new thread to arrive I decided to completely clean the machine to remove all the sticky accumulation of gunk from all the years of previous use. Turns out gun cleaning solvents work great for cleaning away all the gunk (tested them on the underside of the base of the machine first). Then I loosened the bobbin tension slightly and tightened the upper tension some. I had decided to start off trying "Tiger" thread since the woven thread would eliminate the concern for finding right hand twist thread. The .8mm thread arrived and I spooled some up and gave it a try. I bypassed the lube pot since the Tiger thread comes pre-waxed. It worked perfectly on the first try. This little Junker & Ruh SD28 machine is really cool. The stitching is virtually indistinguishable from the way I hand stitched before. In less time than it used to take me to mark the upper to midsole with an overstitch wheel and punch the holes with an awl, I was done stitching with the SD28. I would have spent another 30-45 minutes hand-stitching the seam.

I imagine there are other alternatives to the Tiger thread that would work (certainly linen but it's hard to find in various colors) but I'm thoroughly satisfied with the Tiger thread. This is the first time I've tried it and I'm really sold on it.

[Vinculus]

Do you think 1mm. Tiger thread would work with a larger needle, say 7-8?

I'm doing the exact same as you used to do at the moment: stitchdown construction shoes with 5-6oz. uppers folded out over a 9oz. sole bend midsole. It's taking me freaking ages to do the hand sewing, and I've been looking into getting hold of an old Junker & Ruh SD28 or Pedersen #308. Like you, I only make a few pairs a month, so it won't see too much heavy use.

One thing I wonder, is if the machine would be able to stitch through an additional 3mm. rubber outsole. I do my shoes Viberg style, where the first line of stitchdown only goes through the upper and midsole, and the outer row of stitchdown goes through the upper, midsole and Dainite rubber outsole. The outer row is what takes the most time, since I can't use a sewing awl inside the waists of the shoes and have to saddle stitch the last 20 stitches with curved needles. That alone takes like 40 minutes per shoe. It would be amazing if the Junker would be able to handle that job. Thoughts?

[Hunhunt]

I have now successfully used both .8mm and 1mm Tiger thread. I used a size 5 needle with the .8mm and tried both a size 6 and size 7 with the 1mm. I prefer the look of the 1mm to the .8mm for outstitching shoes and I'm now using that exclusively. The size 6 needle worked fine with the 1mm thread. If I was using a particularly dense leather or for some other reason having trouble getting the knot to draw up into the stitch then I would switch to the size 7 needle for the slightly larger hole. There is not a lot of difference in the size of the 5-7 needles. Initially the hole seems quite large for the thread but as you press the edge down for gluing the sole to the midsole the stitching fills in nicely.

Don't know about stitching through an additional layer of rubber outsole as I haven't tried that. You may have to go to a larger needle to do that. As far as the force required to do it I can only say that stitching through 2 layers of 5-6 oz leather (heels counter + upper) and 9 oz of hard temper midsole is effortless. It has lots of mechanical advantage.

[Vinculus]

That's great news! Your thread on this matter and all the posts here couldn't have come at a better time.

And so begins the search for a machine in working order... Thankfully they aren't that rare here in Europe, but people have started charging upwards of $500 for them on Ebay. When they do pop up locally, they usually sell for a couple hundred.

[Con]

Hi all, great thread as it answered the question I intended to ask - No7 needle for 1mm waxed thread for boot outsoling. Need to find and buy a working Junkers and Ruh SD now. Regards Con

[Con]

Hi, I have been using a J&K sd28 with size 5 needle and 1mm round waxed thread with great success. For top and bobbin thread= it is great. I clean wax from the shuttle every time I want to load a bobbin. I'm going to try 1mm braided thread for top and bobbin next... I'm sewing 3mm veg tan onto 6mm Dainite soles and with the tensions set right I am getting a stitch to lay into the rubber - not a groove but not on the surface either.

Regards Con