ukfossil

I think you have your thread controler set wrong, try like mine and see if it helps, good luck, mick

Thanks for the info Bob, just what I need. Mick

Hi all, just a quick question, I'm selling my 132b6 (same as 132k6) and have been asked if it can be fitted with a wheel foot and what is the lightest weight leather it can handle, I know its fine with upholstery weight but if it will handle thinner stuff i've no idea. thanks in advance if anyone can give me the info, Mick

Hi, I got a Singer 211U166A last week as I wanted a machine with reverse and fitted my Servo motor from my Singer 132B6. All I can say is I'm over the moon as I can sew 2 layers of 4.5mm (9mm) of dyed through veg with ease though I have to use the knee lift to get it under the foot. I think that any 211's with lower number than the 166 don't have reverse though I may be wrong. My bobbins are regular size though hold a good amount of thread. hope this helps, mick

Hi Again, Malabar, I've sold about 50 of these frogs and the 2 in the pics are the only ones I've had returned as yet but I'm braced for more looking at the state of these, Most of the stuff I sell goes to guys working on Oil refineries or Power plants and do get abuse and are liable to contact with chemicals but I pride myself on my gear being of good quality (one of the reasons I use saddlers rivets instead of tubular as many do) and one of the reasons I need to get to the bottom of my problem. I've seen some of my gear that's in daily use and standing up well. Chuck, Glad to hear from you as I know when it comes to vinagroon your the man. I,m very interested in your comment about Mexican hides and vinagroon, Hopefully this is the problem as I,m not likely to get anymore Mexican. I would like to have another go with Vinagroon but next time I'll do more research and try to get it right on test pieces before jumping in with stuff for sale. I may try moving on to Heavy Chrome, I know that Claytons tanners in Chesterfield, Derbyshire UK (which is only 40 miles from me) do a dyed through black chrome but weather its in my price range or not remains to be seen. Thanks again to everyone for your input and I hope this thread can be of help to others. Mick

Hi, again Art, I think you may have hit the nail on the head as I was just experimenting with the Vinagroon and Didn't neutralize thoroughly so these pieces probably came from that batch, thanks for pointing that out. Joe M and Spinner thanks for your input. Hope you all have a good 2012. Mick

At the moment I'm leaning towards poor finish and abuse in use. I estimate the frog is about 1 year old, the rivets are for strength rather than looks and they soon look grubby but easily clean up if you need to The main thing I'm looking to find out is if anyone has seen leather this bad and the cause thanks again Mick

Hi all I make frogs for scaffolder here in the UK and have always been happy with my stuff. I have recently had some comebacks and with good reason The leather I use is 4mm dyed through double butt veg (yes I know I'd be better using chrome but the guys I sell to Like Black). A while back I got hold of some cheap mexican undyed veg and vinagrooned them, I was happy with the resulting colour but couldn't stand the smell so don't do that now. I didn't keep record of what went where so I don't know if these comebacks are from the Mexican batch. Now have you seen this before? Do you think its as a result of Vinagroon? Do you think its the Mexican hides? Do you think its a problem with finishing? or do you think its a problem with abuse i.e. out in the rain, contact with chemicals, petrochems etc. Thanks in advance if you can help. and I,ll answer everyone as soon as I can, Mick

Hi, I use Letterpress fonts found on ebay and are very cheap, You will be able to get almost any size and font type you need. I use a composing stick to hold the letters and a press. These are made of lead which is a very soft metal but as long as you don't drop them they'll last ages Hope this is of help to you. Mick

OK Fixed it, the timing was out, a loose screw on the clamp had let the needle bar slip. Hope this helps someone else, mick.

Hi all, I recently bought a 45k1 that's been in a garage for years. I've run some thread and a new needle in it, filled a bobbin and turned it over. The machine turns over smooth but the shuttle won't pick up a loop from the needle. I've had a good look through the parts list online and I've checked that the bobbin is wound correctly and inserted ok ( even though these is a fair bit of surface rust) and the thread run is correct as per the instruction manual on bootmakers. The only piece that seems to be missing is the shuttle guard (part number 91048) though it looks like its never had one. Has anyone had my problem? and can give me any idea as to what I'm doing wrong. Also has anyone got one of these flatbeds without the shuttle guard. Thanks if you can help, mick

Thanks for the info Bob, maybe i'm being a bit too ambitious for my machine, Mick

Hi all, I recently got hold of a cop of very heavy thread to try a bit of fancy stitching on my singer 132b6. The thread is metric 5 and the needles I got are 280 ( a bit like nails) but the needles are too big to fit through the hole in the presser foot, I don't want to drill the hole bigger if the machine can't handle this size of thread and needle so i'm wondering if anyone can advise if I'm on a winner or not. Sorry I'm not too good on US sizes Thanks if anyone can help, Mick.