Union Special 63900 D

[Vwoodard]

Having not done alot of fabric sewing over the years, and having never even touched an industrial sewing machine, I really didnt know what I was looking for when I lucked into a great deal on this. The machine is a Union Special 63900 D. Seems to be in great working order, and sews Like crazy (leaves a bit of oil on the bed of sewing area though). Problem is that the stitching isnt locking (large loops on the bottom of fabric test piece) and we have played with the tension on top, but no luck. I have a Tippmann boss, that I am just starting to work with, but I needed something to do things like bags, purses, garmet items and the sort and the Boss doesnt seem to like light weight stuff

The guy i got the 63900 d from lost the manuals for it as he was moving when i picked it up. If anyone has any advice on where I can get the manuals for it, or knows how to deal with this issue, please let me know.

Thanks

Vince Woodard

[Johanna]

I've had good luck getting manuals and parts lists from Proleptic, but I don't see your model number listed here:

http://secure.nccoastcommunications.com/pr...ory.asp?catid=9

I would give Dan Preston a call just in case he has one and doesn't have it listed for some reason. Or, he may know where to find one. Anyone else have any good ideas? I did a couple of internet searches and came up with blanks.

Johanna

[Art]

Hi Vince,

Juki will have them. Try:

http://www.miamisewing.com/Page_2x.html

Juki used Union Special heads on hemmers under the Juki Union Special label. If you just run it a lot the oil should go away. What size thread are you using and what needle? If these are changed from what it was originally running you will have tension problems. Remember these things are setup to do one thing, and very well thank you. A manual isn't going to help you much, it is a very straight forward sewing machine, but it would be nice to have. Do you really mean it isn't locking? That is a way different problem than tension. Try running a bigger needle to start (or smaller thread), I have seen this solve a whole lot of problems real fast, and make sure the needle is seated all the way.

Art

Having not done alot of fabric sewing over the years, and having never even touched an industrial sewing machine, I really didnt know what I was looking for when I lucked into a great deal on this. The machine is a Union Special 63900 D. Seems to be in great working order, and sews Like crazy (leaves a bit of oil on the bed of sewing area though). Problem is that the stitching isnt locking (large loops on the bottom of fabric test piece) and we have played with the tension on top, but no luck. I have a Tippmann boss, that I am just starting to work with, but I needed something to do things like bags, purses, garmet items and the sort and the Boss doesnt seem to like light weight stuff

The guy i got the 63900 d from lost the manuals for it as he was moving when i picked it up. If anyone has any advice on where I can get the manuals for it, or knows how to deal with this issue, please let me know.

Thanks

Vince Woodard

[Vwoodard]

Hi Art,

Currently have a Leather needle in it (size is a 120 I believe), using a spool of coats & clark apolstery thread (looks to be about half the size of a size 69 thread) spooled on the bobbin and thru the needle.

Basically when we run a piece of double layer 12 oz sunforger canvas thru it, it goes thru lightning fast, and the top seems even, but the bottom side is just a series of 1/16 th inch loops. you can pull the bobbin thread right out of it. when the guy did the tuneup on it (manually turned the wheel on the side since I didnt take the table to him), he was able to feed a piece of denim, and it seems to sew consistantly. I told the wife that based on needle size, that the thread we were using in it might be too small, but I wasnt sure. I got this chart from the guys at Tippman for the boss of thread vs needle size... does this sound like it would apply to this as well?

Thread Needle

415 250

346 230

277 200

207 180

138 160

99 130

69 110

Thanks.

Vince

________________________________________________________

Hi Vince,

Juki will have them. Try:

http://www.miamisewing.com/Page_2x.html

Juki used Union Special heads on hemmers under the Juki Union Special label. If you just run it a lot the oil should go away. What size thread are you using and what needle? If these are changed from what it was originally running you will have tension problems. Remember these things are setup to do one thing, and very well thank you. A manual isn't going to help you much, it is a very straight forward sewing machine, but it would be nice to have. Do you really mean it isn't locking? That is a way different problem than tension. Try running a bigger needle to start (or smaller thread), I have seen this solve a whole lot of problems real fast, and make sure the needle is seated all the way.

Art

[Art]

Hi Vince,

First make sure the needle is in the machine correctly and threaded correctly, thread goes down the channel side and through the eye to the scarf side.

Are the loops you see from the top thread? If you can pull out the top thread before pulling out the bobbin thread then you are not locking and this is usually caused by way too big a hole (needle) for the thread. The needle on the upstroke makes a loop that the hook catches when it passes the needle, the top thread has to be held in the hole by the size of the hole and the needle doesn't move the thread because there is a channel for the thread in the needle. A 120 needle is big enough for me to use 138 Coats poly or 92 nylon in my machine, I am sure something half the size of 69 is just laying in the channel and nothing is touching it. Also make sure you have left twist thread. So get some bigger thread 69, 92 or 138 bonded left or Z twist, preferrably poly. Next thing you need to check is that the loop is forming and the hook is going through the loop where the scarf is AND that the thread is going all the way around and releasing. They put special little fingers on machines that use big thread at about the 7:00 o'clock position to help with this; don't know if yours has that. This is called timing and if it doesn't catch the loop then it may need retimed. If it came with a 120 needle, then it probably wants 69 or 92 thread and that is probably what the bobbin tension was set for too.

See if any of this helps, if not send pictures.

Art

Hi Art,

Currently have a Leather needle in it (size is a 120 I believe), using a spool of coats & clark apolstery thread (looks to be about half the size of a size 69 thread) spooled on the bobbin and thru the needle.

Basically when we run a piece of double layer 12 oz sunforger canvas thru it, it goes thru lightning fast, and the top seems even, but the bottom side is just a series of 1/16 th inch loops. you can pull the bobbin thread right out of it. when the guy did the tuneup on it (manually turned the wheel on the side since I didnt take the table to him), he was able to feed a piece of denim, and it seems to sew consistantly. I told the wife that based on needle size, that the thread we were using in it might be too small, but I wasnt sure. I got this chart from the guys at Tippman for the boss of thread vs needle size... does this sound like it would apply to this as well?

Thread Needle

415 250

346 230

277 200

207 180

138 160

99 130

69 110

Thanks.

Vince

________________________________________________________

[Vwoodard]

Thanks everyone for all the good info. After pondering everything, and finding a parts manual online for the machine (http://hendersonsewing.com) I called the guy there about my machine. come to find out, this specific machine is a heck of a workhorse if you want to sew cotton dress shirts, or anything up to a lightweight trigger (or real lightweight dennim) but it cant handle the heavier weight thread thru it. I guess the "pull up" for keeping the thread tight doesnt have enough power to handle more than lightweight thread. He said that if i run the heavier thread thru this with heavier material (canvas or leather) that I will probably end up with loops on the back because the pull up tensioner cant pull the heavier thread tight, and it will always bunch up the stitching because of being a needle feed unit. Oh well, guess I should have gotten the model of the unit before buying it. Maybe I can get out of it what I have in it, and the buy a good used one...

Thanks again everyone.

Vince

____________________________________________________________

Hi Vince,

First make sure the needle is in the machine correctly and threaded correctly, thread goes down the channel side and through the eye to the scarf side.

Are the loops you see from the top thread? If you can pull out the top thread before pulling out the bobbin thread then you are not locking and this is usually caused by way too big a hole (needle) for the thread. The needle on the upstroke makes a loop that the hook catches when it passes the needle, the top thread has to be held in the hole by the size of the hole and the needle doesn't move the thread because there is a channel for the thread in the needle. A 120 needle is big enough for me to use 138 Coats poly or 92 nylon in my machine, I am sure something half the size of 69 is just laying in the channel and nothing is touching it. Also make sure you have left twist thread. So get some bigger thread 69, 92 or 138 bonded left or Z twist, preferrably poly. Next thing you need to check is that the loop is forming and the hook is going through the loop where the scarf is AND that the thread is going all the way around and releasing. They put special little fingers on machines that use big thread at about the 7:00 o'clock position to help with this; don't know if yours has that. This is called timing and if it doesn't catch the loop then it may need retimed. If it came with a 120 needle, then it probably wants 69 or 92 thread and that is probably what the bobbin tension was set for too.

See if any of this helps, if not send pictures.

Art