Shoemaker id
 

I have been asked to identify this machine. I don't have a clue, of course, but they don't know I have helpers. I've asked for better pictures, but so far no go.[ATTACH=CONFIG]540426[/ATTACH]The badge that's on it is Norwegian, and definitely not the maker. Anyone?

That looks like it falls under Steve's area of expertise.
beautiful machine.
Rodney

"they don't know I have helpers" - gave me my chuckle for the day. Don't know a thing about the machine except back in the day I probably saw a cobbler use one. Lived in a little tiny town that had "while you wait service". His big spinning roll with sanders, polishers etc. always fascinated me as a youngster.

Steve has one of those or something similar. I believe they were made by Bradbury or Claes and sometimes labeled Elastique on the irons.

Jon

Bradbury was my guess. I've been hoping for a rise from Steve on this, yes

Good Morning.

Jon was spot on. It is an antique Patcher.

It looks like a Durkopp logo in the spreader. (German)

I would guess 1870's to 1890's

Wish there was a nicer picture so we could see it better. Looks really interesting.

It looks better when it is right side up.
Right click on the picture, then click on "View image". Works every time.

I right clicked on mine and didn't get what you get but I clicked on "open image on new tab" and it showed upright, yeah, so much easier to look at, and it is a cool machine. Thank you mav.

Ive been reading up on boot/shoe making and at some point will make my own boots, wife some mocaccins. Unless I can find a treadle sole/leather sticher. Prob will end up starting out with hand tools for the leather part, and my Singer 347 for the fabric parts.

Also been looking at doing leather or layering leather with ductape for the outer sole, and leather and cork for the insole.

Any shoe makers in here?

Not me but I've been looking into it by reading and watching youtube videos of the various machinery. I haven't seen much on using hand tools. The sole and inseam machinery is quite specialized and mostly only used for shoe / boot work with a few exceptions. I understand the Singer 31-15 Industrial is a favorite for work on the uppers. This might be a good group to learn more from:

http://www.thehcc.org/

Jon

I got some slightly better pictures. I'm envious. The new owner stresses the fact that the room is NOT his, but the previous owner's.

Do you know which needles it takes?

I also got some hints regarding alternative or extended utility of this machine from Adam Sandler in "The Cobbler". I will not rate the movie...

DBx1 works on my early Politype Patcher. (and it worked on the 29-4 i used to have)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]541053[/ATTACH]

Hi,

Probably the best way to figure it out would be to measure an old working needle if available. DBx1 sounds good but it is a shorter needle than the original so it would need to be lowered in clamp.

Jon

so, what would the original be?

Wish I knew. I had some 1x1 needles (System 81) in size 21 and was told "Some of the Polytype machines use that needle. Also Claes & Flentje patcher models use that needle". My 1902 Singer needle book lists 1x1 and 16x63 for Bradbury but doesn't specify by model. I've also read people using 175x3, 29x3, and 135x17 though some tweaking of the timing might be involved. With all these possibilities the DBx1 sounds pretty good though the original needle is a bit longer, around 1-3/4"-2" judging from the various possibilities.

Jon

Not a shoe maker but love to watch them make shoes, you can google and find lots of things on shoe making, people still are doing it.

That is such a great looking machine, hope you have a lot of fun with it. Wish I had a room just for sewing machines.

Any current machine thats worth a dern, worth buying? For boot making?

Not sure if I can find a (peddle) patcher locally or am I off starting and staying doing handtools?

I enjoyed the Lisa Sorrell videos, who makes custom boots, and it will give you an idea of the machinery involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7aEWWk6-U8

The patcher is mainly used for shoe repair rather than manufacture.

Jon

Jon and Steve

I dont know how accurate the measurements are, but the needle that was in the machine - so grimy that the owner thought it was broken, had to clean it to find the eye - measures 1,87 mm shank diameter, 46 mm overall length. I can convert to inches, but I get confused by decimal inches - I leave it to you guys.
How long is the DBx1?

that works out to just over 1.8 inches. About the same size

Hi,

The most critical measurement is the distance from the shank to the top of the eye. Once you have that dimension you can go through the Muva catalog to see which is closest.

http://needlebar.org/needles/index.htm

Unfortunately, Many of the old needles are no longer available or difficult to find.

The Dbx1 has a shank diameter of 1.60mm or 2 mm and shaft to eye is 33.9 mm. Pretty close to a 15x1 except it has a round shank.

Jon

I wasnt referring to attaching the upper to the outer sole. I was asking about embroidering the leather, and stitching the leather seams for leather boots, not saddles. "Well,no saddles yet :)"

Would the Singer 5532 with a walking-foot work, a brother brand or Juki brand be a solid investment, Im not willing to pay $3 for a machine just yet?

While reading up on my 31-20 Singer, they were saying how it was used a lot for sewing boot uppers (cowboy boots) with a wheel roller foot for the decorative stitching and boy can they make pretty uppers. Probably any straight stich machine heavy enough could do that. Your walking foot could do it but that is mostly for straight stitching the way I understand it, not curvy designs.

steihy,

I measured a few of the needles I mentioned previously and here are the results. The needles without the overall length are from the Muva catalog which I posted the link to. All have a 2mm shank except for 175x3 at 1.75mm

29x3, 29x4--(odd numbers cloth even leather) -----45.00mm length------38.83mm shank to eye
1x1, system 81 ---------------------------------------49.09-----------------42.52
16x63-------------------------------------------------45.20------------------40.08
175x3-------------------------------------------------------------------------41.4
135x16, 135x17--------------------------------------------------------------38.9

Jon

Depends on the walking foot machine. A patcher is a walking foot machine and it was specifically made to do stuff like the stitching on the sides of boots.. being able to rotate the walking foot 360 degrees while sewing really makes a difference. My first try with my 29-4 I sewed my name onto a belt....

Steve, that is very nice to know.