Anything about sewing machines and the tools we use.
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By John
#1498
Hey @LeatherJohnny where did you get the seam guide that your using in this video?
Can you post some pictures of it?
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By BigRig
#1501
Really, Really nice. Wow smooth machine!!! I too am curious about the seam guide but @LeatherJohnny can you tell us why your last stitch when turning the wheel by hand you did not backstitch to lock the stitch? Does your machine do something different?
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By Revv Up
#1505
While we are waiting for Johnny I will show what I did for a guide, it’s a big chunk of aluminum bar stock pirated from a friend that does custom aluminum work. We imbedded 2 rare earth magnets into it and epoxied them into place.

Edited below because I changed out the photo

The short commings of mine are the magnets are too strong!! I’m probably going to build another with a 120 volt magnet with a switch to make it easier to move and remove. This one is almost dangerous because of the strength of the magnet.

My thread clippers just love the guide :grinning:
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Last edited by Revv Up on Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By BigRig
#1506
@Revv Up

I was waiting for something like this from you Revv Up ha ha. I bet you have really learned some ways to be creative in your industrial life.
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By Revv Up
#1507
@BigRig

The truth is more that I’m lazy so I scheme and think for hours of how I can make things easier and faster for myself. Notice I changed the pic as I had a bit of time this morning to provide a cutout by the foot to make turning easier. I also glued a piece of grippy vinyl to the bottom so it won’t be so harsh on the machine bed, I will work with this one a bit more before I build the new one
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By John
#1511
That's a cool design Revv Up! Do you find that it helps keep your seam allowance more consistent? Do you remember what pound rare earth magnets you used?
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By Revv Up
#1513
It’s deadly accurate for laying down a straight line, truth is I hardly use it just because my brother (who’s owned a boat canvas shop for 30 years) told me I’d be better off practicing hand/ eye coordination. Last few days I’ve been doing a boats interior seating and started using it again and I can be faster and more accurate with it.

The magnet I scrounged from a friend so I do t know much about them, but you can see them in the pic there’s 2 of them at least 1/4” thick and 1 1/4” X 1” and they are almost dangerous.... today I watched my nippers slide 3”- 4” for no real reason other than to give the magnet a hug. One day I’m going to get a finger slammed and trapped if I’m not careful
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By Revv Up
#1517
BigRig wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:49 pm @Revv Up ,

Magnets can be fierce, I wonder if it directs any pull on your needle?
I kinda doubt it, the magnets are on the outboard ends of the bar.... the machine has been sewing like a champ
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By John
#1520
@Revv Up I can understand your brothers point. Haha yeah those sound like some pretty strong magnets :joy:
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By hapyrdr
#1527
Sailrite sell a plastic magnetic guide that is 5 1/2 " long
I have some acytel pieces and am thinking of making one a bit longer and cutting a finger hold in one side like Sailrite has done and a cut out by the needle Gotta use these machinist machines some too :grin:
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By LeatherJohnny
#1529
Wow!!! Really useful and well designed aluminum guide!! Nice chunk of aluminum and I would like to have fabricator friends! :heart_eyes: Later I will talk about magnets to do something like that :grin:

I manufactured mine right after practicing the first days with the machine, given that I intended to make some leather belts for me and I was sure that I was not going to be able to sew straight...

I had no idea that I could purchase a seam allowance guide, and when I saw some threads in the machine I thought that I could do something useful using them.

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I simply welded some steel plates leaving some adjustability so that the guide can adjusted at left or right, and covered in leather the two bolts that hold it, so that they feel nicer on the fingers:

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I thought that I would paint it, but I still have not done it, so it is beginning to look at little rusted!! :joy: :joy:

Some months after doing it, I saw that sailrite sold a magnetic one, and I thought about doing something similar using some strong magnets as the ones that we can find in old hard disk drives, but I have not still find time to do it!! :joy: :joy: :joy:

The problem that I saw if I manufactured using strong magnets is that I read that they could affect the bobbin if we placed them close to it, but doing it as Revv Up has fabricated his, it would not be a problem :wink:

@BigRig Yes, the machine works very smoothly (we will see in some years!! :sunglasses: ) I did not backstitch to lock the stitch because I did not want the backstitch to be seen, so I tied both ends of the thread with a little bit of contact cement :wink:
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By John
#1603
Oh wow! that's one heck of a design. I didn't expect it to be so big. That's really creative though. Thanks for sharing this!
By LeatherJohnny
#1607
Yes, it is very big because the screws for the bolts are very far away from the feet... Youtuber Cechaflo made one with a hard disc drive magnet. I took some screenshots, just in case one day I manufacture one similar:
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One day I saw this other design in a YouTube video:
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This last design is mounted in the very same machine that I have, a PFAFF 1245. I'm happy with mine (it will look better with a coat of paint :blush: ), but it's good to see other possibilities, just in case! :grin:
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By BigRig
#1609
So here I start to wonder why there is not a special foot to see your needle, perhaps a clear glass foot or something. There are a lot of people sawing off a portion of their foot for needle visability.
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By Revv Up
#1613
BigRig wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:39 am So here I start to wonder why there is not a special foot to see your needle, perhaps a clear glass foot or something. There are a lot of people sawing off a portion of their foot for needle visability.
I had bought a foot for one of my machines that had a clear plastic base but I didn’t like it, it seemed cheap and hard to see through the plastic.
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By LeatherJohnny
#1621
BigRig wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:39 am So here I start to wonder why there is not a special foot to see your needle, perhaps a clear glass foot or something. There are a lot of people sawing off a portion of their foot for needle visability.
You're correct! I sawed off half of a foot that I purchased online because I saw a YouTuber (Cechaflo) using it, and I used it for all types of projects without a single problem, but now I use a regular foot if I tackle regular jobs because I was afraid that this "special" foot could cause a problem not gripping the material or similar... If I need extra precission I will use the hacked foot because it is very easy to see where the needle lands :grimacing: :grimacing:
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By BigRig
#1623
@LeatherJohnny ,

You addressed the gripping issue and maybe it is a problem with shifting material. I just use my foot as it is.

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nice job! :grin: