New Keestar 441

[JimTimber]

A somewhat local business bought 4 of these direct from Keestar and then the owner decided he wasn't going to pursue the product he'd bought them to make.  He had assembled one and I was able to inspect and demo it, which left me with a good feeling about the machine and the deal (no dealer support, although Keestar states they have a lifetime warranty as well).  I took my "new in the sealed boxes" machine home and set it up.

This has an 800W servo motor and a gear reducer, but the table wasn't originally designed for the reducer and the belts didn't fit right with it installed (the original belt worked as-delivered without modification if the reducer wasn't used).  That was easily rectified with 3 new holes for an alternate motor mounting position, and a trip to the store for a new belt or 10 (seriously, I bought a lot of belts to get the length right, then returned the ones I didn't need).  I also needed to carve out the belt opening a little for the machine to reducer as the front edge of the final drive belt would rub if I hadn't.  I'm not impressed with the quality of the table's legs and may very well build a new one for it at some point.  For now, it's 100% functional and I'm able to sew.

The machine came with (3) #27 needles which are a little big for my needs right now, so I placed an order for more with The Thread Exchange and also picked up some 346 in addition to another 10# grab box of nylon/poly (this one was even better than my last box - very happy with the gamble!).  Those arrived today, and I got to loading up the bobbin and threading the machine.

This is the very first piece of material the machine has ever seen.  I set the stitch length to near maximum for the first pass, then reduced it a little, then reduced it a little more.  The second stitch was started forward, reversed to back stitch, then ran forward to complete the seam and that's why it's 3 threads thick.  Everything is hitting the same holes, and I'm delighted.  The only other adjustment I've made was to reduce the top thread tension since it seemed excessive when I was threading it.

 

#22 needle (yes, it's a little big but the smallest I currently have) with 69 thread.  I melted my tails with a lighter.

Top:

Bottom:

I'm a very happy camper right now.

[bikermutt07]

Anymore of these machines available?

[JimTimber]

Yeah, but shipping might kill the deal.  Here's the CL ad:https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/bfs/6008010338.html

I got him down to $2200 and only had to drive about 40 miles to pick it up.

 

[JimTimber]

It's not leather, but it was (partially) sewn on the Keestar none the less.

 

I did the zipper and the four zipper hems on my 211G, but the ends and the straps were done on the 441.  I can't imagine how much hair pulling would've happened had I not been able to use the cylinder arm on the bag ends, and I don't have that much hair left!  :D

There's 1/2" foam between the shell and the liner.

So far I really like the 441.

[brmax]

Good job Jim

Whats the material you put together there, looks pretty heavy both layers on the weave anyhow. 

Looks and sounds like your on a roll with the new machine, keep us posted on the future projects. 

Good day

Floyd

[JimTimber]

Thanks Floyd!

It's some kind of nylon weave.  The blue stuff has a heavy clear urethane coating and is thicker feeling than the (known) 500D stuff I got that has an opaque urethane layer stuck to the back (different vendor, and not used on this bag).  The off-white is a little lighter than the blue but not by much, and only has a slightly evident coating on it's back side (you can feel it, but seeing it is difficult), which isn't as thick/heavy as the blue.   I didn't really need this to be water repellent, but it's not a bad thing either.  I mainly chose the colors because I like that bright blue, and the off-white is light enough to easily see things in, but not stark white to show dirt.