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[dave.hickman]

Hi there,
My machine is a Wimsew W3300 (also badged as a Highlead GC0318-1) and amongst the many settings that I have been looking at recently is the presser foot pressure.
In our line of business we are usually dealing with piecing together seat covers, with occasional sewing of listings ,etc.
I have viewed several videos on YouTube about the walking foot mechanisms and stitch formation. All very useful, but I have yet to see anything about setting the pressure of the inner and outer feet , for a particular job.
The outer foot being just a clamp whilst the inner (needle) foot does the work. Is there a foolproof way of checking these settings. By that I mean setting them both up for a particular material?
My manual (for the Wimsew) is not very clear at the best ot times, but states that a piece of paper should be used as your minimum gap between the foot and the needle plate dogs. Trouble with that is that only one foot (maximum) is gripping gripping the fabric at any point in the cycle, withe inner foot actually feeding the material towards the rear. So to me it seems that the inner foot pressure is the more critical of the two.
Could I ask, more experienced sewers than myself, how do you set this up and what are the ways to tell the feed is correct?
regards from the UK
Dave

[John]

Hi @dave.hickman
There is a video that addresses this in The Apprentice Course. But basically foot pressure is one of those settings you rarely ever change. Usually just setting it somewhere in the middle is good. If the pressure is too low you will have problems with the material not feeding consistently through the machine. Causing varied stitch lengths. If the pressure is to high it will smash the material causing the seam to be a little wrinkly. Wrinkly seams can also be caused by thread tension being to tight as well. The only time I adjust the foot pressure is if I'm sewing thin slippery material. With is almost never.

[Revv Up]

Every now and again you might run into a delicate material that the foot will leave marks on, for me it’s a high heat material called Sparks and the surface Is easily damaged, fine leather would probably be another one you would want to decrease the foot pressure on. Otherwise I just where John said... somewhere in the middle.

[John]

Yup that's a good point as well @Revv Up

[dave.hickman]

Hi everyone,
I have spent considerable time looking into the matter of the presser feet "pressure". The first thing I have noticed about my own sewing machine is that contrary to most Youtube vids that I have seen, my needle foot merely clamps the fabric, and my outer foot does the walking. When I use a standard foot (with feed dog ridges on the bottom) I rarely have a problem with feeding of the fabric under the needle bar.
When I do get problems it is when I use a zipper foot (right or left toe). If you look at the base of these then the outer foot (walking in my case) has less area of dog feed ridges . Thus to my mind , the outer foot pressure has to be increased, otherwise the material and the attaching zip will not feed correctly.
I can only conclude that if you stick with a standard presser foot pair then pressure adjustment is probably rarely needed.
Swap to a zipper, or a piping foot, and you must increase the working pressure by tightening them up.
It is too easy to say that settings don't need adjusting, because in my experience they usually do, and we have to know how make those adjustments. Upper and lower thread tension is a classic example of this. I asked pro sewers 100's of questions about setting this up, and could rarely get a sensible response. The latest industrial machines are all self adjusting, which just goes to show that it can be done.
Just some thoughts from across the pond.
regards
Dave

[Pays0n-UK]

Another element of this question is the feed dogs and matching needle plates themselves. I have been looking at a list of presser feet options for my machine lately. There are also corresponding needle plates and feed dogs to match the various feet listed. So if you have an inside or outside foot there should be a set of plate and feed dogs to match.
I suspect many of us make due with what we have as changing foot dogs and plate is a bit more to do than just presser feet. But I think this would be the real answer to the problem other than trying to get more grip by tightening the pressure which can lead to the problems noted by John. I am in the same situation at the moment and have been looking at this list/chart of feet and foot dogs trying to pick a pairing that would do most of what I need without having to change them. I think, In a factory setting for which these machines are marketed, no one would be switching feet or dogs and plates all the time as it wastes machinists time, they would just have different machines set up for different processes.

[dave.hickman]

I agree, it's seems a rare day when production line machines will have feet changed all the time. What I was drawing peoples attention to was that if you are forced to use your single machine for multiple purposes, then these pressure settings can be critical. Before I start even test sewing, I will do a trial free run through of fabric to see if does go through smoothly and without veering off to either side. I find this saves time and much cursing :)
Dave

[Pays0n-UK]

Good idea about the trial run. I’m gonna try that. I have been having problem with pulling loops then adjusting tension and getting straining in the vinyl from over tension. A trial run or two might have saved some wasted material on my last seat covers to have identified this before hand.

[dave.hickman]

Hi,
I have an established routine now for new sewing projects. Thread weight, needle size, set bobbin tension, the adjust top tension to get my best stitch. The issue of presser foot "pressure" has only come in as an extra variable, because I have to sew in some zips into my 205 GTi covers.I like things to be controllable.
regards
Dave