Desert Leathercraft LLC FERDCO Pro

Desert Leathercraft LLC
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga
Repairing after an accident...and again...
Revised 4-21-2015
Contents
1 Story of One Machine
1 It Started with Ivan
1 The Transfer
2 The Accident
2 First Re-Construction
3 Second Re-Construction
3 Step 1 - Remove machine
4 Step 2 - Remove & Rotate
table
4 Step 3 - Countersink Bolts
4 Step 4 - Fill Holes
4 Step 5 - Mark New
Locations
4 Step 6 - Install Formica
4 Step 7 - Drill
5 Step 8 - Shorten Pedals
5 Step 9 - Mount Accessories
5 Finished (?) Table
5 Future Modifications
Story of One Machine
This is the story of a FERDCO Pro-2000
that has had two owners and a rough life.
It Started with Ivan
When I first moved to the Tri-Cities area in
Washington State, I was looked for fellow
leather crafters to share ideas. Ivan responded to a kpr.craigslist.org advertisement
to form a local leather group. Ivan and I got
together and started gather others to form a
small leather group.
Ivan had a very nice leather room just off
his kitchen. Then I got my first look at his
FERDCO Pro-2000. I was jealous—I had
sewing machine fever. I wanted THE MACHINE that would do everything.
The FERDCO company sponsored the Annual Leather Show held in November at
Pendelton, OR (now sponsored by Sheridan
Leather Outfitters, WY) and showed their
sewing machines. Ron helped me narrow
Copyright © 2015 by Bob Stelmack, All Rights Reserved
The FERDCO Pro-2000 is
actually a Juki 441 TSC that
has a few modifications to
eliminate skipped stitches
and raised the foot clearance
to sew thicker leather. The
Juki 441 TSC is the machine
that is most cloned by the
Chinese and sold by other
leather sewing machine
distributor and makers in
the US for saddles, holsters,
belts, etc.
down the machine
that would best fit
my needs. I wound
up purchasing a
FERDCO 1245
(clone of the Pfaff
1245) for about
one-third the cost
of a FERDCO Pro2000. Even got a
show discount and
they would drive by
the Tri-Cities and
Ivan would help me
pick it up from the
truck stop. I was
in heaven and my
hand sewing leather
book covers were
at an end.
Ron gave classes in sewing machine
set-up, operation, maintenance, and
troubleshooting during the Pendelton
Leather Show.
The Transfer
Years passed, Ivan moved, not far, but to a
smaller home. Some unexpected expenses
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga -- Page 1
befell him before the move and he asked if I
would be willing to purchase his FERDCO
Pro-2000. There were some, not a lot, but
some projects I do where a heavier duty
machine would help. So I purchased the
sewing machine.
Since I do a lot of flat work, FERDCO sold
me a flat table add-on for my machine. It
was a little (well, a lot) clumsy. In fact,
initial alignment and the set-up / take-down
was a hassle. I tried another flat table that
used screw the bolted into the sewing machine arm. I put it on and left it on and found
that the FERDCO Pro-2000 was seldom
used in leather book cover manufacturing.
Mostly used for belts, and large repairs.
The Accident
I do some wood working, actual I prefer
the term “wood butcher”, so I keep some 4
by 8-foot 3/4-inch sheets of plywood in the
garage, leaned up against the wall, in front
of the car.
Someone, only two of us live here, must
have pulled into the garage and pulled far
enough forward to push the plywood up to
a vertical position removing the “leaning”
of the wood.
Notice the plywood sheets leaning against the wall. Also notice how much space the
machine takes up in the configuration that FERDCO produced.
We left the next day, and watched in horror
as the plywood tipped forward hitting the
sewing machine and the hood of the car.
The dent in the car hood was not too bad, but
the sewing machine table was not so lucky.
Amazingly, the sewing machine was undamaged and was tested immediately by turning
the hand wheel. However, the particle board
sewing table did not fair so well.
The overall issue with the sewing table was
the particle board construction (and more
likely the poor planning of the plywood
storage).
The large area for the drive belt left little support for the for the heavy machine. Granted,
that the anticipation of the heavy plywood falling on it was not a design concept of the
original table.
First Re-Construction
Used broken table as a template to make the
new table. That way the holes for the motor,
speed reducer, drive belt, and the sewing
machine head would be correct. The new
table was made out of two pieces of 3/4 inch
plywood glued together and screwed with
additional oak trim. It was only fitting to
use plywood for the sewing table—the same
plywood that broke the table!
The table top was finished off with some offcut Formica from the carpet and tile store.
Since I was overly cautious, I included two
1-1/2 inch angle iron supports to run the
length of the table. This is the same “over
This is the damaged flat table that had the single bolt-on design.
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga -- Page 2
1-1/2’ angle iron
Bolts go through the
table top
Oak trim
engineered” mind set used in other projects.
I didn’t reuse the original hardware which
consisted nuts screwed into particle board
followed with bolts to attach the motor, and
speed reducer. Instead all of the attachments
were made with bolts that went completely
through the 1-1/2 inch table top including
the 1-1/2 inch angle iron supports under
the table. Yet another example of “over
engineering”.
The completed table, with all
the hardware and sewing machine installed was checked out
and ran like it was when it was
brand new.
Second Re-Construction
As you can see, the entire table,
as designed, was quite wide and
was always in the way. Cobra
Steve, from the Leather Machine Co. has a well designed
sewing table
designed for
the 441 clone
machines. It
does cost in
the neighborhood of $500
and includes
servo motor
and all hardware except
the sewing
machine. I
had more time
than money
so I finally
moved the
Cobra Class 4
sewing machine to the new
shed I built and used when I
needed it. I got tired and cold
in the winter and decided to
rebuild the table to reduce its
size and move it back inside.
Since I don’t make saddles
or need the cylinder arm to
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga -- Page 3
45 degree trim cut
Large unused work
space
extend freely outside the table, I thought
just turning the machine 180 degrees would
reduce the size of the machine and table. I
also needed to reconfigure the pedals and
move them under the table.
Step 1 - Remove machine
Removed sewing machine head (2-man
carry)
Bolt removed
Rock Hard Putty holes filled
Damaged table.
Hole saw shallow drilling
Formica installed, mounting
holes for sewing machine
Screwdriver
Motor still in front
Fixed and re-sized table.
Plug popped out
Motor moved to back
Step 5 - Mark New Locations
Marked location for sewing machine and
relocation of motor from front to back
additionally removed the 1-1/2 angle iron
support. Drilled oversized holes for Sewing machine to allow for fine alignment of
drive belt to speed reducer. Drilled holes
to relocate motor and performed steps 3-4.
Step 6 - Install Formica
Cut an oversized piece of Formica and glued
down with contact cement. Used a router
with a 45 degree chamfer to edge the top
exposing the oak trim.
Bolt countersunk
Step 2 - Remove & Rotate table
Remove table top and rotate 180 degrees and
temporally bolted down.
Step 3 - Countersink Bolts
One-by-one, removed the bolts, used a hole
saw to cut a shallow plug. Removed the
Pedals installed
plug, countersunk the carriage bolts and
tighten the bolts.
Step 4 - Fill Holes
Used Rock Hard Putty to fill the countersunk
holes even with surface and sanded smooth
when dry.
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga -- Page 4
Step 7 - Drill
Drilled pilot holes through the Formica from
the bottom to use as a guide for trimming.
Then exposed the drive belt slot and the
sewing machine mounting holes with a flush
cut router bit.
Step 8 - Shorten Pedals
Removed pedal support and cut to fit between legs. Likewise removed connecting
rod and cut. Reinstalled the pedals and
connection hardware.
Step 9 - Mount Accessories
Mounted sewing machine, installed ON/
OFF switch, light, and thread stand.
Finished (?) Table
Nope! The lift pedal is too far to the right.
I’ve ordered a new, narrower rectangular
cast pedal and will shift both pedals to the
left.
I only use my right foot for sewing, so the
new configuration will be just fine for me.
Future Modifications
Next mod, if I wind up using the machine
more, will be ordering Steve’s Cobra 4 (441)
pedestal table and moving the FERDCO
Pro-2000 to it and give the current table
away.
Bob Stelmack
Desert Leathercraft LLC
Finished! Table
Well, I couldn’t leave it alone. Here are the
pedals moved to the left. Works for me.
FERDCO Pro-2000 Saga -- Page 5