Inline Cowboy presser feet on Cowboy CB4500

[dikman]

Ok, Uwe's had me thinking about this, so I figured I'd have a go as it could be a useful addition to my foot collection. I had a spare welting foot that came with some bits with one of my machines (can't remember which one!). As I have two of those feet, and am unlikely to ever use them anyway, I figured I could sacrifice one. I filled in the hollow on the bottom with weld then got stuck in to it on the belt grinder. Took a bit of trial-and-error but I ended up with a working foot. It still needs a bit of smoothing down, and the only problem I can see is being plain steel it will rust. Two possible solutions occurred to me - coat it with Devcon epoxy or Parkerize it (more messing around but probably the best solution).

[Constabulary]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

plain steel it will rust. Two possible solutions occurred to me

how about bluing with gun blue or the like

[dikman]

Good idea! I've got some cold bluing solution, I'll give that a try first.

[jimi]

Wizzo, that´s some nasty marks left by those feet?? i would have thought the whole point of these walking feet machines were not to mark up your leather   

[Wizcrafts]

1 hour ago, jimi said:

Wizzo, that´s some nasty marks left by those feet?? i would have thought the whole point of these walking feet machines were not to mark up your leather   

The marks are entirely inline with the stitch path and could be hammered or rubbed down if necessary. If one doesn't want any serious foot marks, one should use either a Union Lockstitch or Campbell Lockstitch machine with a right toe stepping foot, or a curved needle sole stitcher that has the bottom channel knife removed (e.g. a Junker and Ruh, or Frobana, or a Landis 12 that uses a curved hook and awl).

Our modern compound feed harness machines place a huge amount of spring pressure on the tiny feet in order to hold down tough and thick leather from huge needles and thread. This comes at a price of foot marks.

[Colt W Knight]

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, but what are the CONS to this foot setup?

 

[Wizcrafts]

2 hours ago, Colt W Knight said:

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, but what are the CONS to this foot setup?

 

The cons are that you have to have enough free space behind the first stitch for the trailing presser foot to grab onto it, and that you will lose some vertical space (~ 1/4") due to the tall upper section of the inside foot. 

[Uwe]

I made a small batch (5) of my version of the inline presser foot (named UP441-ILSS) and they're now available for sale for $70  ($90 for the set) in my ebay store: http://r.ebay.com/C7t3Tt 

If you're located in the U.S., you can also order directly from me for a 10% discount (send me a PM to get the ball rolling)

Here are a few shots of the production version:

 

[dikman]

No doubt about it, Uwe, you do some nice work!

Constabulary, the bluing worked, just thought you might like to know. Not quite up to Uwe's standard, but, hey, the leather won't care .

[RockyAussie]

They look pretty good Uwe but can I ask if you considered putting in a groove at the bottom to straddle the thread?

[Uwe]

35 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

They look pretty good Uwe but can I ask if you considered putting in a groove at the bottom to straddle the thread?

A thread groove would be fairly easy to add with a small diamond file or an angle grinder. I also considered making a variation with a slightly angled/curved bottom surface to conform to the standard curved throat plate, and also one where the rear foot comes super close to the front foot with almost not gap at all. But realistically, I have to stop making changes and settle on one design at some point to start with. I'm lucky if I sell enough of these to pay for all the end mills I broke making the half dozen iterations leading up to this one.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Uwe

[RockyAussie]

1 hour ago, Uwe said:

A thread groove would be fairly easy to add with a small diamond file or an angle grinder. I also considered making a variation with a slightly angled/curved bottom surface to conform to the standard curved throat plate, and also one where the rear foot comes super close to the front foot with almost not gap at all. But realistically, I have to stop making changes and settle on one design at some point to start with. I'm lucky if I sell enough of these to pay for all the end mills I broke making the half dozen iterations leading up to this one.

Thats fair enough I can feel the pain on those end mills. Though stainless is IMO overkill. It's a shame getting things cast is so expensive in small numbers. Well that's the case here at least.Hope it works out. Brian

[AdamPCain]

I have yet to buy my first machine but am soon. I run a 5000 watt CO2 laser and these could easily be cut the blanks out and then mill and drill the step out. I can't wait to buy a machine to make some diy parts.

[RockyAussie]

On 30/07/2017 at 3:00 AM, Uwe said:

I made a small batch (5) of my version of the inline presser foot (named UP441-ILSS) and they're now available for sale for $70  ($90 for the set) in my ebay store: http://r.ebay.com/C7t3Tt 

If you're located in the U.S., you can also order directly from me for a 10% discount (send me a PM to get the ball rolling)

Here are a few shots of the production version:

 

@Uwe Do you have any of these available to buy? Regards Brian

[Uwe]

I'm working on another batch. They'll be ready shortly.. 

[RockyAussie]

7 hours ago, Uwe said:

I'm working on another batch. They'll be ready shortly.. 

Thanks Uwe. I will keep an eye out but let me know when they are done if you don't mind. Brian

[Uwe]

The first few of my new batch of UP441-ILSS inline feet are ready and I've updated my Ebay listing (http://r.ebay.com/UhCM8M) for folks outside the U.S.

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Uwe

[Fire88]

I'm trying to install the inline presser feet on my 3200 and am having difficulty adjusting the foot to hold down the piece as it sews. 

I am sure it's simple and I Remember bob telling what to do but now I forget. 

Thanks

[OLDNSLOW]

there is the levers for lack of a better term on the back of the machine that adjusts for the tension, hope that helps ring a bell to what you are looking for.

[Fire88]

48 minutes ago, OLDNSLOW said:

there is the levers for lack of a better term on the back of the machine that adjusts for the tension, hope that helps ring a bell to what you are looking for.

I remembered how to raise and lower the needle bar, but the back foot I can't remember for the life on me. Whiz's description helps and I took off the side cover but I'm lost from there.

[RockyAussie]

46 minutes ago, Fire88 said:

I remembered how to raise and lower the needle bar, but the back foot I can't remember for the life on me. Whiz's description helps and I took off the side cover but I'm lost from there.

Did you get a Manuel???? The diagrams and descriptions would make it a lot easier to understand and I would think best to understand what to adjust and why before adjusting something wrong and end up not knowing how to get back. Here is a video that may help but I would be reading and understanding the Manuel as well.

 

[CowboyBob]

The video explains it better than the manual.

[Fire88]

10 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Did you get a Manuel???? The diagrams and descriptions would make it a lot easier to understand and I would think best to understand what to adjust and why before adjusting something wrong and end up not knowing how to get back. Here is a video that may help but I would be reading and understanding the Manuel as well.

 

Thank you for the video this explains much better, the manual does.

1 hour ago, CowboyBob said:

The video explains it better than the manual.

Thanks Bob I looked at the manual last night and just couldn't get it right. I will work on adjusting it properly when I get back home this morning. 

I did get the standard feet back on last night and adjusted back to right. 

[Fire88]

Ok so I got the front(needle foot) set right it has down pressure holding the piece in place. The rear inline(outer foot) has zero pressure on it when I turn the wheel by hand. How do I get it set so it hold the piece as the front foot comes up? 

 

[Wizcrafts]

53 minutes ago, Fire88 said:

Ok so I got the front(needle foot) set right it has down pressure holding the piece in place. The rear inline(outer foot) has zero pressure on it when I turn the wheel by hand. How do I get it set so it hold the piece as the front foot comes up? 

 

You have to lower the presser foot bar to get the short foot to hit the leather and cause the inside foot to alternate. The bar needs to come down about 1/8 to 3/16 inch.

I created a topic all about this foot set, including a video, under the topic: Inline Cowboy presser feet on Cowboy CB4500