Champion No. 12 Channeling and Grooving Machine

OK World who else has one of these? This thing is seriously rare; I have reached out to all of the North America shoe machine companies and NOTHING, its like the machine came from outer-space.
I am hoping that my friends from around the world can help, I need any print data on it. 

To get it to Michigan I had to have it shipped from Hawaii, it didn't get to Hawaii by itself now did it?

I am in the middle of a complete restoration, it was completely frozen, none of the rotating parts would move. With great care and patience I freed up and removed everything down to the castings.

It's all there except for the broken knife blade and the grooving cutter. I think I know how it works and what it was intended to do, I am sure I can get it to cut channels.

Well I am nothing but being a tenacious searcher; I started with the names of the Champion Engineer guys that I knew of and added "patent" to the search and came up with THE patent docs on the No. 12!

These and the full patent description are going to make all the difference!!! Now I know what the one missing part is supposed to look like.

So now I have a special update to the patent drawings for you;

Thats much better! A few hours on PS and we have something that really pops.



More to come:::

Champion 77 Foot Pedal Ergonomics

After just a few runs I recognized that the left foot pedal is very high off the floor.
If you have run the machine you notice that the pedal needs a full push; if you make a slow or partial pedal actuation the machine reacts slowly and without the necessary force or speed to make a firm stitch.

The problem with the amount of pedal travel is how far off the floor your toes are when the pedal is full up. Basic Human Factors dictates that the operators ankle angle should be no less than 85 degrees; or the ball of foot should be no more than 5 degrees off the floor as measured from the heel.

Very simply I attached a 2 x 4 to a 5/8" piece of plywood. I will adjust the shape and size of things if necessary in the future as I gain more time on it but the results so far are much better. You need a hole to allow the foot pedals to pass the plywood.

With your left foot extended as high as it needs to be (without the foot pad) you are almost standing on one foot, which doesn't help you stitch concentration at all! Stitching is such a concentrated effort and so pressing the pedal needs to be as effortless as possible. All of your thoughts should be on the next stitch and not on how cramped your left foot is.

In classic automotive occupant packaging the drivers foot is shown at 85 degrees of flexion. We place the accelerator pedal so that when the car is at idle with no pedal deflection (waiting at a traffic light or stop and go traffic) the ankle angle is no more than 5 degrees from perpendicular to the lower leg.


Also I forgot to add this YouTube that helped more than just about anything: Instructional: McKay Stitcher

Thanks to grahamsshoeservice


Update 11.07.16
Foot pedal foot rest fine tuning; I added a slope to the end of the 2x4 making it easier to tip my toe down while leaving my heel engaged

AND I wanted a dust cover over the thread so I waited for the right plastic container to come along and voila!

11.11.18
Added another riser to the foot pedal board
Now that I'm running the machine entirely by hand (having given up on making it work with electricity!)

So now my right foot is on level with the left foot, but you need space for your presser foot action in between the two risers.

Champion 77 Thread Lube Pot Liner

I am getting much more comfortable and skilled at using the 77, I have two pair of sandals completed so far.
However, I am and most likely will continue to use it about once a month and after cleaning and restoring the thread lube pot I realized that I simply will not leave the lube in the pot for weeks or months at a time. The lube drys slowly, thickens up to a syrup, and leaves a film all over everything.

I have been sucking out the unused lube with an ear syringe then cleaning and drying the pot but I thought that a liner would be the correct answer. It turned out to be an easy one day project that came out the 1st try.

I have a DIY vacuum form set up which is the ideal process to make this part.

1st I needed a pattern and decided to make a cast of the inside of the pot.
Two problems:

1. Casting directly into the pot would require a release
2. The pattern needs to be undersized to leave room for the plastic thickness.

I used an old die makers method of lining the mold (pot) with wax sheet which I happened to have from my plastic model making days. Its called Parafilm "M". By its self it is too thin 0.005" but that was OK because I could layer it and using the heat gun was able to get a nice thick lining, I was shooting for 0.030"

Next I mixed up some Bondo poured it in.

It popped out without hardly any effort! (I was shocked and worried)

I had to sand and put a finish coat of Bondo on it and then took it strait to the vacuum table without any finish or release on it.

Used some clear plastic from some packaging I scavenged and it came out perfect the 1st try (when does that ever happen?)

Yes it is fine, and yes I am obsessive compulsive!