Cowboy 4500

[jjshovel]

After a lot of searching and buying the wrong machine to sew leather I bit the bullet and bought a Cowboy 4500 probably about four times more machine than I needed.  I have found with the 4500 I can sew just about anything.  I am having trouble with the thread fraying at the needle.  I have changed threads, changed needles and so forth,.  As you probably have guessed I am new to leather work.  I am 75 years old and having fun doing holsters and belts.  I am sure one ofyou pros out there will have a simple fix for me.  Thanking you in advance.  MERRY CHRISTMAS 

[JLSleather]

I'm getting that too.. and not seeing from where.  I guess what's causing that is a secret (though I suspect we may be asking in the wrong place).

[Bert51]

Have you tried backing off the tension a little, just to see if that is the cause?

Bert.

[kgg]

I had the thread fray at the needle on my Juki 1541s when I was pushing it well beyond it's thickness sewing abilities. I know the 1541 is not in the sewing class of the CB4500 but what solved my problem was changing the needle size up one larger then what was needed for the thread size. My theory was that the needle hole wasn't quite large enough and maybe some slight needle deflection causing the thread too rub and fray.

kgg

[Handstitched]

G'Day,   It took a little while for me to get the tension just right on my machine when I first got it, but now its just perfect . I use 180/24 needles with 277 M10  thread . 

Perhaps check the tension , thread and needle size ? 

HS