Machine A new toy for the shop.

[terry_g]

Picked this up on Amazon a few days ago. Its based on a 1870's Bradbury machine.
I read a few reviews and watched some Youtube videos on them and the
general opinion is that they need a good cleaning some tweaking to work properly.
I was pleasantly surprised when I unboxed the machine. The frame is an aluminum casting
not iron and it was nicely finished. I put the hand wheel on and built a simple stand for it.
I threaded it with and wound the bobbin upholstery thread and tried it out on some scraps of
vinyl I had. It can sew through 8 layers of marine grade vinyl like nothing. I'm pretty impressed
with it so far. It was $148 delivered to my door.

 

[whydontu]

That looks like fun. Can you post a link?

 

[garageguy]

Are you going to try it on leather? Being able to sew leather would be a bonus.

 

[historicalarms]

If I was still building my own holsters & sabre belts ect I'd sure be hot after one of those....not sure it will have the mechanical advance that is needed for tough thick leather but worth a try for that money.
i tried using a leather awl but for going through 3 layers of bull hide, it was just too hard on the hands so I jury-rigged a small drill press with leather needle and used it like an awl....use the quill mechanical advantage to punch through any thickness of leather with ease and then hitch stich the loop same as you would with the awl....it wasn't fancy but sure made an inexpensive holster that did the job it was intended for admirably.

 

[DPittman]

I've bought a couple of the cast iron ones, one for a brother and one for myself. My brother who does leather work has been able to do great work with his....me not so much. I had mine completey apart and finished things off a bit nicer and made some brass/bronze bearings for some of the wear areas and I am not completely confident I have back in perfect timing yet. There seems to be a lot of little things that can make or break a successful stitch.
I've also noticed that prices on the machines has always been all over the place, but $148 is a good price.

 

[Tom O]

You might find this guy interesting he has a few videos on these as well as mods he’s made to it.

 

[BMW Rider]

Well that looks useful. I have a repair job on a motorcycle bag that would be much easier with that machine. Might have to look into getting one.

 

[terry_g]

Spent some time doing improvements to the new sewing machine. A table I think that is the correct terminology.
and a bigger crank handle and some nice knurled thumb screws for the tensioners and stitch length screw.
I also glued and stapled some rubber to the underside of the base I made so it doesn't slide around when in use.

A $4.00 cutting board from the Dollar Store.

I cut a slot in it for the free arm.

The base for it from the scrap pile.

The completed base.

I glued and stapled rubber to the bottom.

It should be a bit more versatile now, especially because you have to feed the material through with one hand while cranking the handle.
I may install a motor on it.

 

[terry_g]

Here's the link to where I got it from.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B077B8ZVNX/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Former Member]

I seriously considered buying one about 3 years ago, still may.

Keep posting as to your results and impression (including problems).

 

[terry_g]

From what I read this machine is better than machines from other sellers. It sewed right out of the box.
I had a couple problems, the lower thread would break occasionally and it would fail to grab the lower
thread every 40 to 50 stitches. I fixed the thread breaking problem by deburring the hole in the shuttle
the thread goes through. When the needle is adjacent to the hook the eye of needle should be .060"
to .090" below the tip of the hook. I raised the needle bar about .060" and it no longer misses the odd
stitch.

 

[BMW Rider]

I ended up getting one of these machines too. Got it set up on a base and did a bit of fine tuning. Managed to do the repair to my motorcycle bag and did a couple other small jobs. Once it's set up, it sews pretty well. I like that I can go slow being hand cranked. I found a facebook group all about these machines and some good helpful content on there for setting it up and modifying it. I may build a small table like that too sometime.

 

[Bofobo]

If I was still building my own holsters & sabre belts ect I'd sure be hot after one of those....not sure it will have the mechanical advance that is needed for tough thick leather but worth a try for that money.
i tried using a leather awl but for going through 3 layers of bull hide, it was just too hard on the hands so I jury-rigged a small drill press with leather needle and used it like an awl....use the quill mechanical advantage to punch through any thickness of leather with ease and then hitch stich the loop same as you would with the awl....it wasn't fancy but sure made an inexpensive holster that did the job it was intended for admirably.

Are you not hole Stamping? I used an old sturdy baby fork beaten flat and a pair of regular needles with thimbles to make my watch strap and machete cover. Its a pretty simple tool to make if you wanted to go more robust than a fork.

 

[historicalarms]

No. I start & finish the holes with the leather needle threaded with an appropriate thread for what I'm building. I have sewn 4 layers of bull hide with almost effortless hole forming & threading and then insert the bottom thread and pull for all your worth on both threads before moving to the next hole position. i did purchase a 'hole spacer marker" from a leather shop but didnt find it was needed after a bit of practice.