Educate me on my Champion machine

[drummingpariah]

I've been fighting with a Chinese Shoe Patcher machine for awhile, and haven't been impressed with its consistency. When I saw this Champion machine show up, I decided it'd be worth trying to clean it up and see if I could get it running. If nothing else, the body should be quite a bit more rigid than the cheap little Chinese one. The catch is that I've had a tough time finding any information on it, or a maintenance manual for it. Everything seems to move freely, but I'd like to confirm that I have the timing right and figure out what the correct thread path should be. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm just soaking the whole thing in brass-safe degreaser right now, hoping to come up with a bit more information before machining any parts that are missing.

Thanks!

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

Well you sure went from one extreme to the other!  It is, of course, a very old machine.  Shop Talk might have a manual.  I've never owned nor run one, but I've seen work as good as any done on one.  There will be a long learning curve, being a hook and awl machine, but I'd still take it ahead of a Chinese patcher.  

[drummingpariah]

On 4/26/2020 at 12:45 AM, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

Well you sure went from one extreme to the other!  It is, of course, a very old machine.  Shop Talk might have a manual.  I've never owned nor run one, but I've seen work as good as any done on one.  There will be a long learning curve, being a hook and awl machine, but I'd still take it ahead of a Chinese patcher.  

Thanks, and you aren't kidding, this is nothing like the little Chinese patcher. I'm working my way through its components, trying to get all the grit out of the bearing surfaces and free up rusted/sticky adjustments. So far, so good. I'm really glad it came with an awl and needle, since it's starting to look like I'll have to make my own spares for it.

I managed to get the bobbin carrier out, but it seems like it was a lot more work than it should've been. Figuring out the timing on the bobbin has been really awkward as well. There are a pair of cam lugs on the front that cause mechanical lockup with the needle carrier, so I'm going to have to do some experimentation to figure out its intended alignment.

I'll get a video of it moving through its cycle sometime this week, to illustrate why I'm confused.

[Constabulary]

Holy Shit - what a beast Yeah - really - 2 extremes - a Chinese patcher and than this thing... kinda double quantum jump, I´d say.

ah - well - can it handle #96 thread and can I sew 2 oz leather with it 

Looking forward to see thing thing running

Edited April 27, 2020 by Constabulary

[dikman]

6 hours ago, Constabulary said:

Looking forward to see thing thing running

Me too!

[Handstitched]

What a beeeauty !!!!

Is this of any use to you? :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lie2yVF5_CY

I had a quick look around on the webiverse  , and found all sorts of weird looking Champion machines. 

Hope it all goes well, and good luck 

HS

 

[drummingpariah]

On 4/27/2020 at 10:23 PM, Handstitched said:

What a beeeauty !!!!

Is this of any use to you? :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lie2yVF5_CY

I had a quick look around on the webiverse  , and found all sorts of weird looking Champion machines. 

Hope it all goes well, and good luck 

HS

 

That looks like the same machine, and it does answer a couple of my questions. I still don't know what the big cast rocker arm on the top does though, and haven't been able to find any kind of specs on spare parts. So far, I haven't uncovered anything that I need to replace.

One interesting thing that video shows is that the bobbin carrier retracts into the machine. That's the biggest problem I have with the timing right now, but my machine isn't doing that yet. I think that might be the secret sauce to getting it running!

[Handstitched]

G'Day, glad it was a little bit of help.  I keep looking for any info , Found this :

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/7067-champion-lockstitch-shoe-machine/

Is there a model number? 

HS

[drummingpariah]

I haven't found any model information anywhere on the machine, other than a "366" stamped inside the needle area. It looks like it's an old wide throat machine, but haven't gotten much further than that.

 

I have it cycling pretty well without the hook (apparently it's a hook, not a needle) installed.

With the hook installed, I've found a definite timing issue. I haven't internalized how the machine runs yet though; I need to spend some more time looking at the 'lower mandible' parts to understand what they do and how they're supposed to work ... but right now, I have interference whenever I try to cycle it with the hook in.
 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by drummingpariah

[shoepatcher]

Deep throat Champion.    

glenn