The First Dreaded Crossroad....

[Colt W Knight]

I have a consew 206, and I can't get it to sew #207 regardless of what I adjust. 

[bikermutt07]

After looking at some thread comparisons I have a new question.... After using some proper hand sewing thread at .6, .8, and 1.0mm I understand these are all larger than anything I could use on the consew.

So, if 416 thread is only about .8mm thick and I like that size thread for my smaller projects, is there any reason I can't sew a wallet or journal on a 4500? Or even using 277 or 346? Is a wallet just too thin?

Edited March 17, 2017 by bikermutt07

[brmax]

No reason that i can see. I think you know well enough and possibly with more insight. That from hand sewing the art of having the knot or loc in the center of the stitch is the ideal so if that is concealed alls good. 

Floyd

[Wizcrafts]

40 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

After looking at some thread comparisons I have a new question....

If 416 thread is only about .8mm thick and I like that size thread for my smaller projects, is there any reason I can't sew a wallet or journal on a 4500? Or even using 277 or 346? Is a wallet just too thin?

You can't bury the lockstitch knots from #415 thread in leather thinner than about 12 to 14 ounces. Light colors and white thread will fold easier than dark blue and black thread. So, you might could bury the knots of white #415 in as little as 10 ounces, if the tensions and holes are perfect.

The reason you cannot equate hand sewing thread to machine sewn thread is because with hand sewing you usually do a saddle stitch with two needles sewing over and under. There are no knots to bury and the stitches look perfect on both sides. In contrast, 0.8mm bonded thread that forms a lockstitch knot will have a working diameter of up to 1.6mm and will require a #26 or 27 needle to poke a wide enough hole to allow the knots to be pulled up sufficiently into the leather.

[bikermutt07]

5 minutes ago, Wizcrafts said:

You can't bury the lockstitch knots from #415 thread in leather thinner than about 12 to 14 ounces. Light colors and white thread will fold easier than dark blue and black thread. So, you might could bury the knots of white #415 in as little as 10 ounces, if the tensions and holes are perfect.

The reason you cannot equate hand sewing thread to machine sewn thread is because with hand sewing you usually do a saddle stitch with two needles sewing over and under. There are no knots to bury and the stitches look perfect on both sides. In contrast, 0.8mm bonded thread that forms a lockstitch knot will have a working diameter of up to 1.6mm and will require a #26 or 27 needle to poke a wide enough hole to allow the knots to be pulled up sufficiently into the leather.

Thank you for educating my ignorance, once again. Be patient with me, I'll get there.

Just for information purposes, I have no practical knowledge on a sewing machine. I have never used one and have only seen a real cylinder arm once.

But, I have been reading plenty.

[JimTimber]

Some of the stuff I'm sewing is thinner than leather, and the only problem I've had is that it gets fickle to center the knots when dealing with really thin stuff or when you're stacking row after row of stitches doing webbing for buckles.  The tension needs to be higher for the second pass/back stitch than when running though fresh material so the first few stitches have too much top tension or the last row of bottom stitches will have loops.  This might be fixable with a bigger needle, but I haven't tried that yet.

Is there a dealer around, or another member here local to you?  Get some exposure to the real deal in person if you're not sure about if it'll fit your needs.

My 211G gave me more trouble with 46 thread than my 441 ever has with 69 (keep in mind, I'm a noob too).  I had to come up with a new threading method to keep it in the tension disks (Thanks Wiz!).