Amazon shoe patcher machine frustrations

[Loudcherokee]

So my shoe patcher came in. After a thorough degreasing and building a makeshift stand for it, I threaded it up and started messing around. The first stitches were ok with the super thin thread that came with the machine, until I tried some thicker leather. 2 layers of 7-8 ounce it does not like. I messed around with the tension up top and finally got it to feed through that 7-8 ounce double stack, and then decided to switch thread types. 

I put in some 207 and threaded it up, and it will stitch, but not well. The bottom of the piece looks a mess and it keeps lifting my leather off the arm when the needle moves up. 

I kept tinkering and eventually got it to thread nicely and make a beautiful stitch, and then went to pull the bobbin out and the whole works came out. Ever since I cannot get the needle to pick up the bobbin thread. It keeps making birds nests underneath the plate and getting wrapped under the bobbin and ive broken 3 needles. When I finally got it it to grab the bobbin thread, I threw in a piece of leather to see if it was stitching correctly and this happened. 

Any ideas? Also, where can I find size 20 or 22 needles for this thing? Biggest i can locate are size 18. 

 

LC

Edited January 11, 2021 by Northmount
copied photo from imgur and pasted here.

[DonInReno]

The FB group on these has a good collection of files that details how to troubleshoot and what needles to use.  The members of that group are pretty enthusiastic about the machine and you’ll find some good help if you are careful about sifting through the people that don’t know what they are doing from those that do.

[CowboyBob]

You need more foot pressure to hold the leather down or try to hold with your hand as all machine won't sew correctly if the material is lifted while your sewing,if it's an old dried out piece of leather you need to oil or wet it to soften it up.

The group on FB is China Leather Shoe Patcher

Edited January 11, 2021 by CowboyBob

[Loudcherokee]

Here is what I'm now dealing with. I set the timing on the cams, arm, and bobbin shuttle, and also slightly enlarged the hole in the plate.

I don't know what happened. It was stitching fine. If you look at the first picture you'll see how well it was stitching in the second picture. 

 

The link is a short video, followed by a picture of the aftermath. 

 https://imgur.com/a/uwHAuBG

LC

Edited January 11, 2021 by Northmount
copied photo from imgur and pasted here.

[kgg]

I looked at your video. I have a couple of comments. When you bring down the needle to pick up the bobbin thread you should have held the end of the top thread and pulled the bobbin thread up through the hole once the needle had cleared the bobbin cover before attempting to bring the needle back down again. Also what size of thread are you using? Is the thread matched to the correct needle size?

kgg

[Loudcherokee]

12 minutes ago, kgg said:

I looked at your video. I have a couple of comments. When you bring down the needle to pick up the bobbin thread you should have held the end of the top thread and pulled the bobbin thread up through the hole once the needle had cleared the bobbin cover before attempting to bring the needle back down again. Also what size of thread are you using? Is the thread matched to the correct needle size?

kgg

That thread is 207 with a #18 needle that came with the machine. Ive ordered some 21 and 22 size needles but they aren't here yet. 

I've noticed that the thread is going up under the bobbin shuttle, the part with the gear on the bottom, occasionally. Its also wrapping around the bobbin shuttle itself. It appears that the claw is at times piercing the thread rather than grabbing it like it is supposed to. 

LC

[Northmount]

@Loudcherokee I have copied your photos into your posts.  Please do not use 3rd party photo hosting services for photos.  It's okay for videos as there is no way to get them into LW considering their size.

3rd party hosted photos disappear when the host changes policies, goes out of business, or otherwise.  They also disappear when the originator changes their location, deletes them, etc.  When this happens, the integrity of the thread is lost for all the members that come along later.  You will find lots of examples of this if you browse other postings here.  You can reduce file sizes if necessary to meet the size requirements.  These files were small enough that there was no problem uploading to LW.

19 minutes ago, Loudcherokee said:

When you bring down the needle to pick up the bobbin thread you should have held the end of the top thread and pulled the bobbin thread up through the hole once the needle had cleared the bobbin cover before attempting to bring the needle back down again.

@Loudcherokee  Did you notice kgg's comment?  If not you are in for a lot more trouble.

[Loudcherokee]

8 minutes ago, Northmount said:

@Loudcherokee I have copied your photos into your posts.  Please do not use 3rd party photo hosting services for photos.  It's okay for videos as there is no way to get them into LW considering their size.

3rd party hosted photos disappear when the host changes policies, goes out of business, or otherwise.  They also disappear when the originator changes their location, deletes them, etc.  When this happens, the integrity of the thread is lost for all the members that come along later.  You will find lots of examples of this if you browse other postings here.  You can reduce file sizes if necessary to meet the size requirements.  These files were small enough that there was no problem uploading to LW.

@Loudcherokee  Did you notice kgg's comment?  If not you are in for a lot more trouble.

I did see that and haven't gotten back to the machine to try it again. 

As for the images, when I tried posting those, I kept getting a warning of 1.46mb max file size. The pics were taken from my phone so I'm not sure how to reduce the size. Thats why I used the hosting site. I'd rather not use it but I had to.

Maybe the 1.46mb limit is because I'm new? 

LC

Edited January 11, 2021 by Loudcherokee

[Northmount]

8 minutes ago, Loudcherokee said:

Maybe the 1.46mb limit is because I'm new? 

That's the limit!  Kind of small. 

There are lots of suggestions as to how you can reduce file sizes here.  800x600 pixels is adequate for most.  1024x768 is a bit better.  Either of these will allow you to post many photos.  It is also a favour to users on the fringes of good internet access.  They don't have to wait an hour or so for a couple large photos to download before they can view the post.  Please refer to this thread to find several pieces of software or web based utilities to help you.

 

 

[Loudcherokee]

I found a way to resize in my phone. Lets see if this works. 

Hey it worked! The original image was 2.4mb. It resized to a little over 500kb. 

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

LC