Cheap Shoe Patcher with torque mods

That Chinese shoe patching machine everyone knows about got a healthy dose of automatic power and a huge increase in torque to reduce the slowest speed possible for intricate sewing of leather boots.
Many thanks to Harrison Hightower over at Mainely Acres for the initial help and inspiration getting this machine working. Here's his channel:
/ mainelyacresfarmbrooks

[@eCitizen1]

You've engineered a very nice high quality mechanism with precise control. It's impressive.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Thanks for the kind words Larry.

[@caduceus33]

Looks like a really fine machine you have made up! Harrison Hightower has really helped a lot of people with his instructional videos!

[@waterboy8999]

That's an impressive piece of work, mine is in the post and I'd already looked at a servo motor, thanks for sharing. Best wishes from Scotland.

[@diastoleny]

Oh man. Super cool. I love the ingenuity!

[@stevenrobinson9610]

Super smart way to slow your leather patcher down!

[@quochuync]

That's awesome, great speed!

[@gc1370]

this is the most refined version I have seen of motorizing a clsp. I bought a very similar motor for mine. im still waiting for some parts to come it to set it all up. I didn't plan for speed reduction though... I guess Ill probably have to

[@theguywitheyebrows]

that was amazing, the tuning you've done to allow it to stitch that smoothly is impressive but the slow speed you're able to maintain is also pretty bad ass. i gotta figure out how to tune the damn thing to keep it from breaking the thread before i can actually use it. great vid!!

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

I've got a LOT of trial and error in tuning that thing. Adjusting timing, thread tension (both main and bobbin tension), needle height, etc... I still break the occasional thread though, it's never perfect, but I can usually knock out a foot or so reliably without issue.

[@gergemall]

Nice job

[@november_victor9693]

I wanted one of these but just didn't have the skill to do all of the mods. That thing looks like a beast though.

[@Beauacadian]

Surplus Center for motors, pulleys and mechanical things.

[@jdhtyler]

Add an independent motor to wind the bobbin and old cordless drill or do you let it wind the bobbin while you sew ? like they did with old singer machines. Great short informative video. 4 y ago I nearly bought a 29k for £300 but my wife said where will you put it. :-(( so I have to use a hand Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl. Fortunately I do not have to do much heavy work.

[@stephenrobb8759]

Ooooo.... magical !

[@TheLoner00]

Brilliant setup. I know this video is a year old, any chance you could link the added equipment.

[@automotivedyi1984]

Thank you , you knocked it out of the park! Genius

[@joseterraza6891]

Excelente 🎉

[@rickeycannon7515]

I would like to see how you made that pedal.

[@anarchytelevision8445]

👋🏻👀 I got my machine a while back ago and I've done a few mods to mine also, I'm always looking at what other people did to their machine to improve it, I also would want to put a motor on mine but the motor I got is way too fast I have to figure out ways to slow the speed down, I might try something like what you did, I'm not sure yet 😊👍🏻

[@JorgeRamirez-np7ov]

Exelente 😉👍 👏👏👏

[@artangulo4550]

This is the Best Mod I've seen done so far I need to ask would you share a link to the parts you use. Thank you for sharing.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Since eBay links die, my recommendation is to go to eBay and type in "shoe patcher", then search from there. I just did that and found the listing for the largest pulley and extended shaft: www.ebay.com/itm/224623770789?hash=item344c9ebca5:g:DHMAAOSwRv1gtmVM&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoEdgJxpsTfKtOFfVTi4LGE6tsLLxO30Ec43wBR4IP1axeYSjb8RhwjevAHTyyHkTeEqNd7UfpdVCpu9Mkpz8QH7hlTMCKzDkX0rmBPbggu5qAplaufg2lDDSW9MOGrA1ew0O7Y5pUaaESVicXUVOFlkmB6c%2FUS83EVr4%2BZ9aGRInqlLiNOOeqihJkAcqkzPDqQYRslGEbNwpU%2BunW9RZZ2U%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-DtpaXUYQ

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Same for the servo motor. Search for "sewing machine servo motor": www.ebay.com/itm/165943440769?hash=item26a2fff581:g:X8kAAOSwzudiaPQs&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8JdHIKf3kFVIC07OyBGZDUaKkWEFCLbo%2F2wiVVi8I8LLbvl1tw7sm%2FTYoTgchZ5tFVBd6QxXzVG93kRbrdHGVKhE6IYaGxRvOM7l1px8dJUpOe5SwLE6u306LL%2Fe8%2FHSjQPCf%2Bjm6Of7y7FgIT7aCGISFHq9rOUzFLJVKpXlXzWCXLhe1mLlzi2LxtTeUqsGVFUEXm6554EM5mmTHhzbJBd6LKBp7UWyZqFRwbDiUHczy6141PAoUiE1to%2BYcnH%2F%2Fr6%2FirSg2LDXfpa%2FQKqO7jTqGY1QDNQzSiaK8sty3u1EJpE6j7vUVeDF99Qv1bBwDA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBM1oK6pdRh

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

For the rest, I used McMaster Carr. Go to their website and search for "V-belt pulley" www.mcmaster.com/products/pulleys/v-belt-pulleys-8/ and search for bearings and shafts the same way to fit the pulleys.

[@artangulo4550]

Thank you.

[@boiwgatdis]

Hello, all of a sudden my walking foot stopped moving the fabric ….just goes up and down…any ideas why?

[@tarheelk1969]

Not to sound stupid but how big it the big pulley on the very back. I realize the pulley that is attached to the machine frame is 11.5 inches but, the pulley on the very back looks to be a little smaller than 11.5.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Yes, the pulley on the motor is 45mm (import for a 12mm shaft), which is belted to a 10" pulley from McMaster Carr. Through the secondary shaft is a 3" pulley (also from McMaster Carr), which is belted to the 11.5" pulley from that eBay kit.

[@user-el7xq9pc4i]

💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@MrIgottap]

Does the foot pedal “throttle” at all on these servo motors or is the pedal just an on/off switch and all speed adjustments are done with the controller box?

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Oh yes, it throttles from a minimum of 200 RPM at the output shaft up to whatever speed you set as max. My throttle sweep controls the RPM range over the whole sweep regardless of where I set the max, but I don't set the max too high because I'm worried this machine will blow apart at high speeds.

[@MrIgottap]

@@shortattentionspangarage1312 ok, thank you for responding and sharing. I recently got my hands on this style of shoe patcher and so far I love it. It seems to be a very capable machine if you’re patient and willing to tinker around with it. I have been looking at motorizing it so I can free up a hand for material management.

[@guccirogue]

What parts did you sand down to make it smoother?

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Just sandpaper and my finger. 240 grit to be specific.

[@migueljumbo8415]

Me encanta la maquina, quiero compprarla soy de Ecuador de Santo Domingo de los Tsháchilas, Concordia.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Lo compré en eBay, pero Amazon también los vende. Todas las piezas las compré en eBay y McMaster Carr también.

[@jomarled]

what kind of needle and thread did you use thank you

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Sorry for the delay with my reply. The thread is the 137 size Poly thread from Tandy Leather, and the needles are Groz-Beckert part number 718682. Be advised, those needles are perfect for the 137 thread but they do NOT have a flat spot on the shank so you have to manually adjust the needle bar of the machine to properly set the depth and scarf location.

[@michaelpate5426]

U can use 138 and 207 with a 23 size needle

[@user-uk5qh6uh8w]

Ты очень круто прокачал свою машинку Подскажи пожалуйста номер иглы и нити ! спасибо

[@jameswest7351]

Do you have specs for your modification??

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Sorry, but not really. I'm a visual engineer, in that my designs are very improvisional. They work, and meet a design thesis, but getting the end game is more important than the specifics of the parts leading to the final product. For this, it was basically a servo motor and controller, pulleys, bearings, and shafts to get maximum torque with minimal speed at the slowest setting, and parts from eBay and McMaster Carr.

[@seymourwrasse3321]

no he wears contacts

[@phpprodesign]

i need ot sew thru 3 times nylon webbing

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

You could do that with a Singer Heavy Duty machine. Nylon webbing is easy to sew.

[@user-jr3su4ji5m]

电机不用整的这么复杂，直接用减速电机就可以了。china is 220v，usa is 110v。

[@zulqarnainaoon5257]

Pak machie manwal how price pak 2023

[@plemieux73]

You could buy 1000 dollar one

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

This was more fun. 😁

[@TimBarnett-pl9kd]

You don't need all pulleys by using a "voltage regulator". Turn down sewing machine rpms from zero to as fast as you could want, directly off electric motor. Just like variable speed drill functions.

[@MrIgottap]

Yeah but using the pulley system keeps the torque level up on the output. Many electric motors lose quite a bit of their “push” at low rpms and might not allow him to keep punching through the leather nice and slow. That in turn would require more pedal get started and then it’s “off to the races” and just like that he’s made 5 or 6 stitches when he only needs/wants one.

[@TimBarnett-pl9kd]

@@MrIgottap it's just moving needle up an down at very low speed shouldn't require more torque? I can make a machine spin crazy to stopped with voltage by adjustment of voltage regulator! Try it!

[@MrIgottap]

@@TimBarnett-pl9kd not this thing, it has a fluctuation in the load through it’s cycle. Try turning one by hand and you will understand, the force (torque) required to complete one cycle is not smooth and even. That’s why using a gear box or pulley system would help the motor “tractor” through things.

[@MrIgottap]

0:59 says it all, he’s using the pulleys to make it slower than it originally was all while not messing with a voltage regulator. Plus don’t things start to get hot when lowering rpm’s by “dropping voltage”?

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

@@MrIgottap Correct on all points. These cheap shoe patchers are very crudely designed and even 200 rpm directly applied to the shaft would blow it apart. I needed to step it WAYYYY down, and I wanted articulate control with full torque at the slowest speeds. Also worth mentioning, these servo motors come as a complete kit even though I had to build a pedal for the throttle.

[@ItAintMeBabe99]

Nice ! So you put about $600 worth of mods on a $99 sewing machine !

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

Eh, closer to $300, but it's better than a new $2000 patcher.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

@Michael Neuman Thank you. I've seen probably all the videos on slowing down this patcher machine and nobody does a two-stage reduction. Not only is it slow, but the torque is through the roof. I can punch that needle through a car tire now.

[@mohammedzeco8006]

In Arabic we have a proverb ( the inner is more expensive than the upper)

[@johnlee6843]

Old car tire boots would be epic and for sure viral....