When to stop and turn the material

[dikman]

Yup, that was me, lots of naughty words (luckily my shed is far from the house). I think the "thread bunching" underneath was due to me lifting the pressor foot too much while trying to see where the needle was going while trying to adjust the stitch spacing. It just shows how easy it is to stuff up the stitching if the tension is let off at the wrong point. The inner foot only has a hole in it for the needle, I think I need to cut a slot at the front so that I can actually see the needle point as it enters the leather (the foot on my Pfaff is like that).

[RockyAussie]

Dremel cutting blade and polish mate. When turning at belt tip corners and against the guide remember the force against the needle presses it away from the hook. The angle of the belt here also needs to be held upward more than every where else.Anyway why not use the post for this it helps with the curve around. STOP laughing I am serious I do but i hate flat beds. Regards Brian.... PS come up to Rocky sometime and swap notes.

[dikman]

I was already thinking of getting out the Dremel, as you suggested. If I can see where the needle is going (as in hitting my guide line) then it will be easier to adjust the spacing at the belt tip. The last belt I used my Pfaff cylinder arm, but I'm having problems with it using #138 thread - it doesn't seem to like it - whereas the Singer is quite happy with it. I'm thinking though that perhaps I should have used #69 thread and closer stitching as it may have looked neater. A bit of experimenting is called for.

Wouldn't mind visiting Rocky, but timing would be critical as my wife and I dislike hot weather and humidity (has to do with getting old, I suspect ). My daughter worked as a Pharmacist up there quite a few years ago, thought it was pretty nice.

[RockyAussie]

Weather wise then now would be the best time, as its bloody cold by our standards. AT least it doesn't rain much here in winter. I admit that I mostly use for my dress belts a 40m (#69) thread due to them having a 1.6 to 1.8mm filler which makes mis stitching a common thing to watch for. These dress belts are coc top and chrome liner.Can I ask what type of thread you are using and needle style? A terko satin M25 may be a better option if you want a thicker look as being softer than Strongbond (ex Venus) it tends to lay down flatter and appears near as wide as the M20 (#138). There is a spare double bed in the factory next to our cabin if you want to find a weekend sometime.We are about 20 k out of Rocky and 3k short of the Caves area on our property.Google Garn Hatch Lane Etna Creek and you should see a map showing where we are. This is an easement on our place. See pic of the factory. Regards Brian

[dikman]

G'day Rocky, sorry I didn't get back earlier been a bit busy. I used a Schmetz needle, size 21 and is a leatherpoint (marked R TW  and LR, not sure what they mean). Thread is Serafil, M20 (#138) and I think it's a poly/cotton (twisted). I finally got it stitching ok, but when I waxed/polished the item the thread started going a bit fuzzy from the polishing cloth! I've got some Coats poly thread which I think might be better (so far I can only find one place here in Adelaide that sells thread and their range is limited).

 

I've been trying to get the Pfaff working, as it started occasionally snagging the top thread underneath somewhere. I finally stripped it to check the needle settings and after fiddling around a bit ended up re-setting the needlebar height/hook alignment, hook spacing and setting the needle a bit lower to ensure the loop was forming early enough. I also touched up the hook and polished the end. Now I can run a stitch line of #138 top and bottom, which I couldn't do before!

 

I think I'm slowly starting to understand the relationship between all these bits and pieces, but boy they can be finicky!!

Edited June 29, 2016 by dikman

[RockyAussie]

Serafil is no good by me and gives a lot of headaches with tension. I find it too slippery and shreds easily. Coats poly is better but try Strongbond from Shann it was called Venus and in my onion is the best by far. It is very strong and burns off well.I use it in all sizes.  http://www.shann.com.au/product/amann-strongbond-thread-bonded-nylon/84

[dikman]

Thanks mate, that site looks good unfortunately according to their home-page they only sell to the trade.

Fortunately I only bought a small spool of Serafil to try (won't buy any more). I tried another run with the M20/#138 Coats on the Pfaff and found that if I feed slowly it's fine, but if I try to speed things up I run the risk of the thread snagging - I'm pretty sure it's the hook catching the thread rather than the loop. No big deal as I go slow anyway.

 

Back to Uwe's reason for starting this thread, I also found that thicker leather can be problematic when stopping and turning the material. If the needle is only just in the material the thicker stuff can push the needle out of alignment if care isn't taken, so having the needle at the bottom of its travel is probably safer. (I found this out the hard way and put a very nice double offset bend in a needle, beats me why it didn't break!).