A liitle change to make a BIG differance on Cowboy sewing machines

[Wizcrafts]

3 hours ago, Spyros said:

Yeah that was it, thanks Richard!  The other spring is much softer.

The presser foot still gets stuck halfway down, it's probably some moisture or something... maybe some WD40?

Open the front cover plate. It is time to oil the small crank shafts anyway. There are screws holding the presser foot bar (aka: presser bar) in place. The bar might be slightly askew causing it to hang when lifted. Oil all the tiny holes on everything that moves inside the head. You should eventually find out where the presser bar is hanging up and free it. I routinely swap coil springs if the work is softer or harder and my presser bar doesn't hang up under light spring pressure.

The presser bar also has a rolling wheel on the left side of the head, looking from the left side. It moves against a steel bracket that is adjustable. It could just need a little tweaking of the steel plate to let the roller move up and down freely.

[dikman]

WD40 has it's uses but I would only use it for "emergency" oiling on the machine. As Wiz said it's time to pull the cover off and have a look at how it works.

[Spyros]

How often do you guys oil you machines (beyond the daily drop of oil in the red holes)?

[RockyAussie]

Been holidaying a bit so sorry for the late answer here Spyros. I will get some pictures together and get back with some info tomorrow.

P.S. Can you pm me your number as I am stuffed if I can find it at the moment.

[michaelcbarr]

On 11/5/2021 at 6:35 AM, michaelcbarr said:

Thanks @RockyAussie - quote received and accepted 

Just as an update for the other forum members - I ordered the needle plate set before Christmas and, even with the crazy post around that time of year, it was shipped halfway round the world from Australia to Northern Ireland in less than 3 weeks.

The product is fantastic. It is a perfect fit, straight replacement for the stock items on my Cowboy (Hightex) 4500 with zero fettling. Thin leather is a breeze with this plate fitted and I'm now debating on whether to keep my Seiko STW-8B for lighter work, although it is handy having a second machine all set up with the correct needle and thread 

Thanks again to @RockyAussie and particularly Jessica for her patience with the ridiculous shipping situation regarding Northern Ireland. 

Mb 

[RockyAussie]

Thanks for the wonderful feedback @michaelcbarr.I have to admit that the postage to you was a real puzzle till Jess got it sorted. I know you will love the extra advantages you now have with this set and I am so so happy that you now have them.

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

I have used my set for over a month now, and wanted to test.it on all types of work before I gave a review.  It works splendidly for fine and narrow work.  In fact I didn't find anything that didn't work well with it until I sewed new sheepskin on a set of saddle skirts a couple days ago.  It didn't feed as well as the standard dog, which is understandable. I have plenty of other machines to do that on however, and I think I will just leave my machine set up with the narrow dog and plate.  Thank you for developing and making available to the rest of us a much needed accessory to these machines!

[RockyAussie]

On 1/13/2022 at 12:25 AM, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

I have used my set for over a month now, and wanted to test.it on all types of work before I gave a review.  It works splendidly for fine and narrow work.  In fact I didn't find anything that didn't work well with it until I sewed new sheepskin on a set of saddle skirts a couple days ago.  It didn't feed as well as the standard dog, which is understandable. I have plenty of other machines to do that on however, and I think I will just leave my machine set up with the narrow dog and plate.  Thank you for developing and making available to the rest of us a much needed accessory to these machines!

Good news to hear @BigSiouxSaddlery Just out of interest a couple of months ago I got a job that required the use of some sheepskin to be able to be put onto a wheel electric wheel chair armrest. I never got to take any pictures of it installed on the wheel chair unfortunately but was told that the fitted beautifully. The interesting thing about the job was that I designed it to be stitched with the fleece on both sides of the stitch line. Try as I might I could not find anything online anywhere on how this could be done so I went ahead and just gave it a go. Initially I had trouble with the standard needle plate due to the fleece getting caught up in the gap between the dog foot and needle plate so I switched over to the narrow needle plate set which has a lot smaller clearance for the fleece to get stuck in. That worked better but the the skinny foot kept getting caught up in the top fleece. I found a wider foot for the top and bingo my troubles were fixed. here are a few pictures to show some of it which may help -

The armrests to be covered. The sheepskin has to be able to be removed easily for cleaning as well.

 

I found that it was better to use brown thread in order to be able to see where I was stitching as i went. It does not show at all in the finished job.

Has anybody seen any examples of stitching done this way before? Do you have any links to share?

[DrmCa]

Furs are usually sewn on fur machines. Some have compressed air blowers installed that blow the hair down into the seam.

[RockyAussie]

3 minutes ago, DrmCa said:

Furs are usually sewn on fur machines. Some have compressed air blowers installed that blow the hair down into the seam.

Thanks @DrmCa. That would be interesting to see. I have a machine I bought a long while ago that is for stitching furs but it only stitches through the backs to join the pieces together. People I bought it from mostly made sheepskin rugs and stuff like that. The second picture above shows one of the seams like I am talking about.

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

1 hour ago, RockyAussie said:

Good news to hear @BigSiouxSaddlery Just out of interest a couple of months ago I got a job that required the use of some sheepskin to be able to be put onto a wheel electric wheel chair armrest. I never got to take any pictures of it installed on the wheel chair unfortunately but was told that the fitted beautifully. The interesting thing about the job was that I designed it to be stitched with the fleece on both sides of the stitch line. Try as I might I could not find anything online anywhere on how this could be done so I went ahead and just gave it a go. Initially I had trouble with the standard needle plate due to the fleece getting caught up in the gap between the dog foot and needle plate so I switched over to the narrow needle plate set which has a lot smaller clearance for the fleece to get stuck in. That worked better but the the skinny foot kept getting caught up in the top fleece. I found a wider foot for the top and bingo my troubles were fixed. here are a few pictures to show some of it which may help -

The armrests to be covered. The sheepskin has to be able to be removed easily for cleaning as well.

 

I found that it was better to use brown thread in order to be able to see where I was stitching as i went. It does not show at all in the finished job.

Has anybody seen any examples of stitching done this way before? Do you have any links to share?

Well that looks like a challenge for sure.  I'm afraid I have no insight to offer.  The sheepskin for saddle skirts is only on the bottom side as it is stitched, so the foot doesn't come in contact with the fleece.  I've heard people complain about the fleece getting caught in the standard feed dog, but oddly enough, I've never ever had a problem with mine.  I think the problem with the narrow dog not feeding it as well was due to there being less surface area to contact the material rather than any fault of the parts. Saddle skirts with dense wool an inch in length is asking plenty of any machine with feed dogs. 

I guess now that I think about it, I have sewn fleece to leg hobbles, for horses. With that project the fleece is on the bottom, then wrapped around the edges of the body and sandwiched between the body and a top layer.  Not such a fun sew.  But the foot still doesn't come in contact with the fleece, so I still have no advice! 

 

[Wizcrafts]

I got a flat slotted throat plate with my CB4500. The slot is long enough to allow for a half inch stitch length. The width is just 1/8 inch. I use that plate on the most difficult sewing jobs that call for this machine. Mind you, this was before I got the narrow dog and plate from Brian. My sense is that the flat slotted plate would be an excellent solution for sewing fleece and shearling. The feed dog must be removed to use the flat plate, making the machine dual feed. The consequence is that forward and reverse don't usually match unless you manually watch the needle come down in reverse and fudge the stitch lever to align the needle with the previous holes.

[RockyAussie]

3 hours ago, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

Saddle skirts with dense wool an inch in length is asking plenty of any machine with feed dogs.

That I think is just one more of the reasons that the art of saddlery always leaves me in awe.

 

3 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

The consequence is that forward and reverse don't usually match unless you manually watch the needle come down in reverse and fudge the stitch lever to align the needle with the previous holes.

Sounds good until you realise you can hardly see the thread at all let alone the needle hole somewhere in that hairy mess.

In the end it all worked out stitching up better than I could have imagined but after spending hours trying to find anything similar on the youtube etc I was getting pretty convinced it was not going to be possible.

Sometimes you just gotta try.

[DrmCa]

On 1/16/2022 at 7:40 PM, RockyAussie said:

The second picture above shows one of the seams like I am talking about.

Sorry, I did not understand what kind of seam you were making. Are you folding the edge? To keep furs out of the moving parts, you might try to wrap it in baking paper and to stitch over it then rip it off.

Edited January 18, 2022 by DrmCa

[RockyAussie]

10 hours ago, DrmCa said:

Are you folding the edge? To keep furs out of the moving parts, you might try to wrap it in baking paper and to stitch over it then rip it off.

Yes. What I have done there is folded the fleece back over on itself and stitched it up. In the bottom left in a couple of the pictures above you can see where I have already sewn around on the job. I don't believe it would be possible to cover the fur with baking paper and sew it due the thickness of the pile being more than an inch thick in combination.

[DrmCa]

There could be some other thin material that is strong enough to keep the pile out but easy to tear thereafter. A plastic bag? Pretty strong bags exist.

[AndrewW]

Just curious…does anyone have experience with the narrow plate and feed dog fitting on a TechSew 5100SE? Maybe @RockyAussie have you had any orders for that machine?

Appreciate the comments!

[dikman]

I'd be very surprised if it didn't fit, after all, it's just another 441 clone.

[RockyAussie]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:37 AM, AndrewW said:

Just curious…does anyone have experience with the narrow plate and feed dog fitting on a TechSew 5100SE? Maybe @RockyAussie have you had any orders for that machine?

Appreciate the comments!

So far there have been no issues fitting them up to the other 441 clones and I have sold a couple to other Techsew 5100 owners but as yet I can not say with a 100% certainty as they have either not had a chance to try them yet or they have not had a chance to share back yet their findings. As soon as I get any confirmation I will post it here. R..dall .....would you be so kind to confirm the fit is good when you can?

Edited January 24, 2022 by RockyAussie

[Thescandall]

On 1/24/2022 at 4:54 PM, RockyAussie said:

So far there have been no issues fitting them up to the other 441 clones and I have sold a couple to other Techsew 5100 owners but as yet I can not say with a 100% certainty as they have either not had a chance to try them yet or they have not had a chance to share back yet their findings. As soon as I get any confirmation I will post it here. R..dall .....would you be so kind to confirm the fit is good when you can?

It’s still on the boat steaming across the big pond. But as soon as it gets here I’ll give a report.  Looking forward to it. 

 

[Thescandall]

I would like to add. Shipping here in the USA is at an alll time slow. Getting parts and accessories from Techsew Canada is taking weeks because of the truckers storming the capital.  Lots of unhappy truckers over the mandates.  

[Thescandall]

Hey Rocky

Tracking says my narrow feed plate and dog are actually in Houston now. Should get it in a couple days. 
 I’ll give a report on the fit and function soon. 
 I got some small needles. #19 and #21 and some #138 thread.  Installed the drop down guide and put the left side presser foot on getting ready for it.  

[RockyAussie]

10 minutes ago, Thescandall said:

Hey Rocky

Tracking says my narrow feed plate and dog are actually in Houston now. Should get it in a couple days. 
 I’ll give a report on the fit and function soon. 
 I got some small needles. #19 and #21 and some #138 thread.  Installed the drop down guide and put the left side presser foot on getting ready for it.  

Thanks for the update. Just curious ...you say you have #19 and #21 needles and some #138 thread. The smallest leather point (LR if you want the slanted look)needle on these is a #23 which is what I have used on many of the products in the pictures in this posting. I am not sure that with 138 thread that you should use less than a size 22 needle even with the fabric needles either.

[Thescandall]

I have a 23 in 704 as well. The specs sat the 5100 will sew down to #18 needle. Your right I need some smaller thread for those needles tho. I think 96 or something. 
 Suggestions would be great. 
 I only have about 11” of stitching with it under my belt.  
 I want to do some smaller stuff like wallets and ladies.  wallets. 

[Spyros]

33 minutes ago, RockyAussie said:

Thanks for the update. Just curious ...you say you have #19 and #21 needles and some #138 thread. The smallest leather point (LR if you want the slanted look)needle on these is a #23 which is what I have used on many of the products in the pictures in this posting. I am not sure that with 138 thread that you should use less than a size 22 needle even with the fabric needles either.

Hey quick question: back in Vardhmans metric system, what needle would you use for an M13 thread?  I couldnt find M10 so I got some M13, and I used a 200 needle with it.  Which worked, but the holes seem a bit too big for that thread, should I go down to 160?

By the way I just had a battle between a RiRi zipper tooth and a 200 Smetz needle :D

RiRi won.  Good thing I was wearing glasses is all I can say, the needle shattered in 5 pieces.