banjo48

Had a look at this machine this am, and bought it ! little old lady had had it from new in 1982, only home use and a heap of extras including a box full of different feet, needles, full ring bound manual and two original oil cans, all in original case. It's on an industrial table with clutch motor. Did some googling and it appears their main achilles heal is the cam cluster gear which is the only nylon part, but still available from the UK for $30 if needed, might get one just in case. They still fetch silly money here in Oz so couldn't let this go, if I don't use it much will put it back up for sale.

Hi Guys I know it's not a leather sewing machine but wondered if anyone has any knowledge or info regarding the above machine. I can pick one up fairly cheap locally and it may come in handy, it's in immaculate home use only condition. I've already got a Seiko STH-8BLD for the heavier stuff I play with. But I also do a bit of clothing repair and jeans shortening etc. currently on an ancient Singer 201K. This one comes on a commercial table with heaps of bits and pieces thrown in, but only a clutch motor. I know we have a wealth of knowledge on here so thanks in advance.

Got yourself a great bargain there Richard, same machine as mine, and I thought I did well for $500 ! mine wasn't stitching at all when I bought it, but found some silly person had put the needle in back to front, corrected and sews like a dream. You wont regret it these are a fantastic machine.

After reading on here and help from a fellow Aussie, dikman, I bought two servo motors, one for my Seiko machine and one for a friends Consew 206RB-3, best thing I've done to my machine I think. My friend just loves his machine too now, he's a 76 year old so the old clutch motor frightened him to death, he now sews with confidence and has made heaps of canvas items on it, every time I see him he thanks me again for getting the servo and fitting it. Highly recommend a servo motor, even the el cheapo Chinese, ones, which mine are, and both came with the additional 2" smaller pulleys.

Well for me the servo motor is a delight, I tried clutch motors that came with my machines and hey yes for long straight runs great, but for delicate work slow is best IMO. I don't use my machines for big earnings, but for the pleasure of making something myself and enjoying doing so.

Constabulary I did wonder about the motor, it is a fairly new Chinese origin cheapy servo, so could be a dry bearing, will give that a whirl next time. I'm half an hour away so only visit him a couple of times a week. Thanks again for the input.

Had another play today, it's not the feed dogs and throat plate, and no binding at all, everything is swimming in oil and still the squeak is there ! Even sprayed some aerosol gun lube in hard to see places but it still persists, so mate is carrying on and hopefully it will either clear or become obvious what is running dry, but with the amount of lube we have thrown at it, well I'm just stumped.

Thanks guys for the suggestions, will be visiting again tomorrow so will give your suggestions a go, never thought of the feed dogs and throat plate, not checked that, will report back.

My good mate has a Consew 206RB-3 in pretty good condition but was in storage for a couple of years by previous owner, It's in excellent condition and well oiled but since fitting a new servo motor, he's being driven mad by a canary squeak at very low speed. He asked me to have a look as he was stumped. Dead easy to sort I thought, but after spending nearly half a day I'm no further finding it. As a clue I've managed to isolate it by pushing up on the foot lift pressure bar (the bar that can be adjusted to give more pressure on the lift foot, under the head arm) when I apply upwards pressure to this bar the squeak stops, but after taking it off, oiling everything in near sight it still squeaks. I've removed the foot pressure screw and it's not that. Any ideas ?

I've got a Seiko STH-8BLD-3 and it is a superb machine, my mate has the consew 206RB-3, both machines side by side are identical and some parts on the consew are stamped Seiko ! Both come out of Japan as far as I know. The latest Consew 206RB-5, I am now lead to believe, are now made in China. but the machines are still basically the same.

I've got one of these "clones" mine came from the Impex factory in china I think, it is no comparison to my "real" walking foot Seiko STH-8BLD-3 ! But after a bit of tuning by me it does now stitch ok, would I buy another, no, you get what you pay for in this game. As for only being serviced by a Sailrite dealer, well it's a sewing machine, can't see why any service person could not do it but hey, maybe they just don't like working on cheap Asian imports ? Mine had a strange "knock" when doing a Zig-zag stitch, so I investigated and found a casting was catching, a quick Dremel and it was ok. I use mine on the road when traveling in our RV so it suits that purpose fine, but for a work horse I'd go for a second hand Consew 206RB or the Seiko equivalent like mine, (I've fitted a cheap servo motor on my seiko and now it is far more manageable weight wise, but no good for portability) hence why I hang onto the Impex. I live in Oz by the way.

Had another play on mates Consew 206RB-4 today and found I can slow the machine even more now, the Skyrit chingalese instructions were a little vague and I seem to have the 4 button controller not the simpler 2 button one, for programming, but after a bit of frustration I sussed it out, I have the max speed set at 1000rpm, but by feathering the pedal I can hit perfect single stitches every time, and if I need a burst of higher rpm I just hit the + button and can ramp it up to whatever up to 3000rpm in 25rpm increments. I made the mistake of holding the head pulley wheel as you do with the clutch motor, and boy does this thing have some torque ! Will repeat yet again I am super pleased with this little servo motor.

As a follow up to this thread and thanks to member dikman, I ordered my new servo motor direct from China, Castle sewing in the UK wanted 90 pounds sterling to freight too Australia ! making their motor uneconomical at over $400au ! Motor was delivered in maybe 10 days from placing order on AlieExpress and I fitted it to a mates Consew 206RB this morning, got the 45mm pulley too and very impressed, I can do single stitches by tapping the pedal or super slow by just gently placing my foot on it. Super powerful even at the slowest speed setting. Only problem was we found the machine had a "canary" squeak when running so slow, took ages to find it but was in the walking foot height adjustment arm thing at the back of the head, think it may not have been getting oil to one bearing, but all good now, I've today ordered a second servo motor for my own machine a Seiko sth-8bld, didn't want to chance ordering two in case it didn't do the job. The model was a Skyrit one HP 220v brushless servo but didn't bother with needle positioner. $240au delivered by Toll courier.

Vinculus As they say a picture is worth a thousand words ! that speed would be fine for my requirements, so that's just the Jack motor with the 40mm pulley, just to clarify. No reducer ?

dikman Thanks mate, do you have a link to the Ali-express supplier ? probably easier than shipping from the UK. and cheaper freight.