Leather Machine Guide

GUIDELINE FOR MATCHING NEEDLES & TENSION

Needles: They are sold by size. The bigger the number, the bigger the needle! Again….simple, huh? A word about needles! Take as an example, a needle that is 135 x 16. The 135 is actually a system number, and a metric measurement. The number 16 indicates a cutting point. If an even number follows the system number, the needle is a cutting point. If it’s an odd number that follows the system number, it’s a non cutting point. In other words, 135 x 17 is a round point needle, and 135 x 16D is a cutting needle with a diamond point needle, but both are the same size, and will work in the same machine. 135 x 16, is a cutting needle with a triangle cutting point. Any time you need needles, it’s helpful to have all the numbers that you can from the package. 99% of the time a standard diamond point or a chisel point needle will be all that you need. A round point will work well with fabrics but diamond points are better when sewing leather.

If possible, save the package that your needles came in! It has valuable info on it!

Tension issues If the bottom thread isn’t able to pull the top thread down into the holes, your top tension is probably too tight. If the bottom thread is pulling the top thread too far down into the hole, your top tension is probably too loose. The thread and needle need to be matched pretty well. If you take a 2 ft. section of thread, and hang a needle on it, the needle should slide fairly freely up and down as you raise and lower each end of the thread. A little jiggle should make it slide pretty easily. If you use thread that is too small and a needle that is too big, you’ll begin to have tension problems. If your thread is too big for the needle, you’ll break thread, fray thread, cause looping on the bottom, and the family pet will get sick.

NEEDLE TO THREAD GUIDE

needle size thread size 12-14 33 14-16 46 16-18 69 18-20 92 20-22 138 22-24 207 24-26 277 26-28 346

DIMOND POINT NEEDLE

ROUND POINT NEEDLE

45

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