Chinese shoe patcher build

[zzmikeg]

Just noticed something... Bare with my sloppy posting. I'm still trying to figure out how to put text and pics where I want and not drag other posts with it, or whatever the hell I'm doing.

[chuck123wapati]

11 hours ago, Frodo said:

Beautiful restoration,  Your wood working is top notch 

Thank you!! 

[chuck123wapati]

5 hours ago, zzmikeg said:

 

  That's a handsome little machine. Nice restoration.  Looks a little older and definitely a lot nicer than my Singer  ($50, Craig's List)   Nice job on that base, too.  Mine currently sits on four warped,  re-purposed, bare pieces of 2x4.  I'm going for that natural look.  It really classes up the joint.

You have that nice big wheel.  I've heard larger, and thus heavier, wheels help to maintain momentum when sewing which I guess is good when sewing leather.

Outstanding job by whoever did those newer painted flowers.

Thank you, The base is repurposed oak tongue and groove flooring, the flowers are all original just the photo lighting that day I think lol. My brother found it somewhere, under our folks house I think my dad was a collector of all things  old and broken and gave it to me as a project when I first retired it was covered with grime and really pitiful shape. Its a vibrating shuttle machine so took me a while to figure out as I've never seen one before.

[chuck123wapati]

12 hours ago, Frodo said:

Horay!!

machine showed during a tornado warning with lots of rain.

I gotta get me one of those UPS foul weather hats.

I unpackaged the machine, then checked ro see if it actually works. It does

next, I removed the cam shaft.  I will go to town and find another shaft or have one turned

I need one that is longer and will fit inside of the old 12'' cast iron tredel pulley

 

 

 

if my calcs are right at 350 rpm lowest setting on your machine your already down to about 44 rpm or 1.3? seconds  for one rotation if you foot feed can make it go slower you got made at least for your 3 second goal

[Frodo]

I had another shaft made

installed the shaft

 

[zzmikeg]

On 12/19/2019 at 2:55 PM, Frodo said:

I had another shaft made

installed the shaft

 

Looks like you're moving right along...  I love the looks of this thing.  It's got the cool factor.  Plus anything with re-purposed (upcycled-whatever) parts makes it even more cool.

[Halitech]

On 12/12/2019 at 2:09 PM, chuck123wapati said:

That will be interesting getting it down that low of rpm, is the patcher 1 to 1, one turn of the handle to one stitch?

I've had one almost a year and yes, 1 turn of the handle is 1 stitch. The slow speed is good for super control. Having both hands free to control the leather will be good with the slow speed

[Frodo]

yes,  one complete turn of the handle is 1 stitch.

here are my first sew samples.  9oz veg tan

 

[chrisash]

Wow aggressive on the presser foot

[chuck123wapati]

Sweet!

[zzmikeg]

On 12/21/2019 at 5:41 AM, chrisash said:

Wow aggressive on the presser foot

 

Had the same problem with mine. I took a file to the teeth to mitigate the teeth marks.  It worked well on most leather but lost traction a couple of times on some particular types of pieces. I don't know the specifics on the leather types but they were slippery and less expensive.  Eventually I glued a piece of "sticky" rubber over the teeth and haven't had any problems since.  The rubber came from a 4"x4" square used for cutting out custom washers, gaskets and such for plumbing applications.

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by zzmikeg

[blue62]

Nice idea, only thing at 27oz the stitch length might get kinda short, that's what happens on my 29-4.

[Gymnast]

How thick a thread do you expect this Chinese patcher can sew?

[Halitech]

2 hours ago, Gymnast said:

How thick a thread do you expect this Chinese patcher can sew?

I've used 138 myself with no mods. People that have done the mods can easily expect to use 207 and a few have reported to be using 277 with an industrial size 24 needle

[Lulu16]

On 12/25/2019 at 6:20 PM, Halitech said:

I've used 138 myself with no mods. People that have done the mods can easily expect to use 207 and a few have reported to be using 277 with an industrial size 24 needle

I just ordered an assortment of groz-beckert needles to see what i can make work on my machine. Digging up info on needles for this thing has proven to be a challange. I have been able to sew trough 2 layers of 8-9 oz veg tan with the schementz size 18 leather needles and #69 poly thread. I did noticed that at this thicknes, these needles are barely long enough. On the down stroke, the needle bar is pushing on the foot just a bit. I’m hoping that with the longer grotz-becket 134 needles this wont be a problem. I ordered several of their leather cutting tips including the diamond, s, lr and rr, on sizes 22, 23,24 and 25. I’m going to experiment with threads 138, 207 and 277. This is my first post on the site, but once i get to experimenting, i’ll start a thread. 

[Halitech]

18 minutes ago, Lulu16 said:

I just ordered an assortment of groz-beckert needles to see what i can make work on my machine. Digging up info on needles for this thing has proven to be a challange. I have been able to sew trough 2 layers of 8-9 oz veg tan with the schementz size 18 leather needles and #69 poly thread. I did noticed that at this thicknes, these needles are barely long enough. On the down stroke, the needle bar is pushing on the foot just a bit. I’m hoping that with the longer grotz-becket 134 needles this wont be a problem. I ordered several of their leather cutting tips including the diamond, s, lr and rr, on sizes 22, 23,24 and 25. I’m going to experiment with threads 138, 207 and 277. This is my first post on the site, but once i get to experimenting, i’ll start a thread. 

If you can cancel your order, you really want 135x16 or 135x17 needles. the 134's are much too long but the 135's are only 1/8" and by doing the needle bar mod, you can make them fit. And regardless of what needle you use, you want them to just poke out the bottom so you can feel it on your finger but not break the skin.

[chuck123wapati]

Hey Frodo were you able to get the 3 second stitch time?

[Lulu16]

Well i got the needles and successfully ran 277 thread on it. But only with the 22 ga needle. Its a bit small for the thread but it works on  2 layers of 8-9 oz veg tan. 

As far as the needles, the limitation is the hole in the bed. I’m thinking about enlarging it, but not sure yet. I don’t know if its going to cause me problems with smaller threads by having more space around the needle increasing the chance of things tangling up. I’ll start a thread once i get going on this. 

[Gymnast]

1 hour ago, Lulu16 said:

Well i got the needles and successfully ran 277 thread on it. But only with the 22 ga needle. Its a bit small for the thread but it works on  2 layers of 8-9 oz veg tan. 

I am suppriced by the fact, that you are able to sew a size V277 thread with a 140/22 needle. Can I ask you to be a bit more specific regarding thread type and needle type?

[Lulu16]

This is what i’m using: that’s a paste from my order from the thread exchange  

23 hours ago, Gymnast said:

I am suppriced by the fact, that you are able to sew a size V277 thread with a 140/22 needle. Can I ask you to be a bit more specific regarding thread type and needle type?

 

Polyester - Size 277 - White (Eddington) - Bonded - Nominal 8 Oz Spool - 750 Yards BPT277WHIT08Be     Groz-Beckert 134 - Size 140 / 22 - LL Point - a.k.a. 134 KK LL CR - 10 Pack NDL-758262

[Gymnast]

20 hours ago, Lulu16 said:

Polyester - Size 277 - White (Eddington) - Bonded - Nominal 8 Oz Spool - 750 Yards

BPT277WHIT08Be 

 

 

Groz-Beckert 134 - Size 140 / 22 - LL Point - a.k.a. 134 KK LL CR - 10 Pack NDL-758262

According to this link from The Thread Exchange  , the recommended needle size is 180 to 230. So 140 needle size is a very little needle for that job. Are you able to obtain a balanced stitch and get sufficient upper thread tension?

I (and I guess others) would love to see a video of you sewing this and view the stitched result (top and below in detail), because it is quite remarkable to be able to do this. The machine may have a special way in the timing.

[Frodo]

for needles and thread

check with bantam      for parts, needles, thread,  and you can talk to them about needle /thread combinations

 

 

I am currently on hold. i need some bearing sleeves for my pillow blocks

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Frodo

[Frodo]

On 12/30/2019 at 12:21 PM, chuck123wapati said:

Hey Frodo were you able to get the 3 second stitch time?

1.5 to 2 seconds. slow enough to control it

[zzmikeg]

I finally got around to cleaning this thing.  Stripped it down as far as I could, scrubbed it with brake parts cleaner, soap and water.  I couldn't believe how much filth I took off of this thing. Used Dremel accessories, scrub brushes, tooth brushes, Q-tips, tooth picks, dental floss. Buffed and polished anything that looked like it needed it, smoothed out and leveled any contact surfaces.  Even polished the bobbins and bobbin assembly, shuttle, rotary hook, all the way down to that tiny screw and micro leaf-spring clip on the side of the bobbin case or hook or whatever it's called. Gave it some black paint, gold trim, and mounted it on a heavy piece of 4x4 wrapped in black leather. Greased it, oiled it (oil seems to work better than grease), and what do you know, it still sews.  Made quite a difference.  Using it used to require patience and a steady flow of foul language, but now I can easily crank with one hand, turn my project with the other, all whilst I merrily tra-la-la. Took me longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. Watch me drop it now.

Here's a before (cleaned once):

 

and after:

 

I think I'm gonna lose the 4x4 post and mount it so I'm not killing access to the arm.  It holds it solid and still, but one day it's gonna get in the way.