amuckart

I'm familiar with it from domestic sewing machine lists I'm on. I've found one place that sells it in New Zealand, but they wanted darn near as much for a little bottle as I paid for this machine. An 8oz bottle is, what, ten bucks in the US? This place wanted forty-something NZ for one. According to testing carried out by someone on one of the domestic SM lists, a 1:1 mix of power steering fluid and acetone is actually a better penetrant/release agent than Kroil. Not sure I'd use it as a bore cleaner though. Thanks for all the information and assistance. I'll probably wait until the weekend when I can dig my length of rail track out of the garage. That's the closest thing I've got to a bench block. I'm pretty sure I've peened the big pin at least a little bit so I'll have to hunt out my safe-edge file too and take the rim off

Hi Darren, Alas, the one holding the top rocker arm is one of the ones giving me real trouble. I finally managed to get the balance wheel off the front of the machine by deploying a Bigger Wrench which let me lay it down and I managed to get the one holding the thread take-up lever out after following Bob and Biggun Dr's advice. The three remaining ones that are stubbornly stuck are the one holding the rack assembly in, the one holding the rocker arm on the top and the one holding the drive wheel on the main shaft. None of them are shifting so much as a millimetre, even when backed up by a solid thing with a hole for the pin. Of those, the only one I don't really have to shift is the one holding the drive wheel on, but I need to get the other two out to get this machine working properly. It would make life much easier if I could get the drive wheel off too.

Gordon: That's one of the ones I need to shift. I'm also completely failing to get others to move, vis: "Balance wheel shaft pin" Plate 161 part 11663. "Needle Bar Driving Lever Joint Pin" Plate 161 part 8586 (at least I'm assuming the "needle bar driving lever" is the rocker arm thingy on the top of the machine) Biggun Dr: Thanks for your help. I'll take pictures tonight and add them here. I'm sure I've seen an exploded diagram of a 29k clone but I'm darned if I can find one now. I'll poke around on my hard drive when I get home though. It's not mentioned in that parts list but on the k58 there's also a taper pin that's part of what holds the rack assembly onto the arm of the machine and that's refusing to shift either, and that's the one pin I can (albeit awkwardly) back up with a bit of wood wi' a hole in. There's all sorts of frozen stuff on this machine. I had to resort to an impact driver to get the rack assembly screws to move. I couldn't even get them to turn with the impact bit in a socket wrench. It's difficult to get the needle bar driving lever joint pin backed up with anything because I can't get the @$!#$!@!! balance wheel off the side of the machine. All the grub screws shift really easily but there's a big ol' screw in the middle of it that I simply cannot get to shift either. I'm not real keen on going after that one with an impact driver. Cheers. Thanks Bob, that makes sense, even if it does sound like an operation that requires about five arms :-) I'll give it a go.

http://parts.singerc...%20TO%20K33.pdf Right, that one worked in preview, if it don't work after posting I don't know what will. Click it, don't copy and paste, the forum software obfuscates it in the posting.

Thanks Bob, that makes sense. I'll give that a go tonight.

Gah! For some reason the board software obfuscates hyperlink text. The correct link is here If I do get to the point of having to drill it out I don't mind doing that, I'll just have to order another one since I'm no machinist, but if the hole needs to be bored out, presumably that needs to be done with a special bit/reamer that matches the taper on the pin? I'm pretty sure they don't go a different way in NZ, they're all made in Scotland

I'm pretty sure they're taper pins, and I'm fairly sure I'm trying to tap 'em out in the right direction. Singer seems to be pretty consistent about that sort of thing and the other ones on that axis came out back-to-front. I don't have a parts chart for the k58 specifically, but I've got two k13s and a parts chart for that from http://parts.singerco.com/IPpartCharts/29K1_4_10_12_18_23_30 TO K33.pdf The taper pins on the k13s come out back-to-front and shift with a sharp tap, I'm not seeing anything materially different in the construction of the k58, except that the damn things won't shift, even after soaking in penetrant. There's no set screws holding them in, I've cleaned off the gunk around them to check. I'm reluctant to apply heat because the finish on the machine is still pretty good (under the accumulated gunk of 20 years in a shed). Thanks.

Hi all, I'm disassembling a 29k58 to overhaul it and there are a couple of taper pins giving me grief. The first is the one holding the thread take-up lever into the arm on the top of the machine, and the second is the one holding that arm onto the head. As near as I can tell, both should be driven out from the rear of the machine towards the operator, but neither will shift. Both are a little flattened on the small end, but not mushroomed, which makes me wonder if a tool steel pin punch is the right tool to remove them or if I should be using a brass rod or something. Can anyone offer advice on shifting stubborn taper pins like these? Cheers.

I suspect you mean UFA, they only become UFOs when the owners get really frustrated with them As far as I know, yes, they take the same needles as other 29-class machines.

I'm almost certainly wrong about this, but there are aspects of that, like the way the base fits the table, and the shape of the flywheel that are quite reminiscent of an A1. I wonder if it's a Pearson or BUSM machine. I'm almost certainly wrong about this, but there are aspects of that, like the way the base fits the table, and the shape of the flywheel that are quite reminiscent of an A1. I wonder if it's a Pearson or BUSM machine.

Hi Mike, The thread shouldn't intersect with the channel knife at all. Did you re-thread it? I've emailed you a URL for the instruction manual.

It looks like it'll work Ok in the condition it's in. If you wanted to clean off the rust you're looking at something like evaporust - most other things will blow all the rest of the nickel off. As well as the red marked oiling points there are several covered oil holes that go down into axles etc, they have little flip-top covers on them. I'd go after the cogs with a decent oil as well. What I did with my Gritzner was liberally oiled every moving surface I could see with CRC Syntex, but I don't know if you can get that in the UK. I think you do have it threaded wrong. Take the thread out of the wax pot, through the channel in the post, around the tension wheel, up through the eye in the wire arm and straight into the takeup lever instead of going through the bits on the side like you have it. The holes in those are probably spannering points rather than thread path. If it keeps breaking thread after that, take a little tension off the thread spool - that's the main point the upper tension gets set in these machines. You should also either use prewaxed thread or have some oil in the wax pot, I put pure neatsfoot oil in mine for now until I can get some sellari's liquid wax. The other thing to do is polish the heck out of every point in the thread path. Hope that helps.

Hi Mike, This might be something for a new topic altogether. That's entirely recognisable as what turned into the Frobana Gritzner stitcher. Interesting to see what's the same and what's changed. It could probably be treadle driven with a big enough flywheel. I've got a manual for the Gritzner, just haven't had time to get it online sorry. I'll try and do that this weekend. It doesn't look all that bad really. My Gritzner looked terrible when I got my hands on it. I went after it with a spray bottle of undiluted industrial citrus cleaner and a waterblaster and now it looks great. Still drops the occasional stitch though :/ If that were mine I'd remove it from the wood and thoroughly clean it then scrub the lightly rusted bits with oil and grey scotch brite. The nickel plating is probably compromised where rust has gotten under it but that shouldn't affect the mechanics of the machine. When it comes to old stitchers the up side of this machine is that you can still get needles for it. The down side is that they cost about 8-euro each but when they work they work very nicely.

G'day HS, I think the technical term for that machine in this part of the world is "rooted". I wouldn't bother if I were you. I've got 29k13's in better condition than that. That color of rust usually indicates serious neglect that has completely stuffed the internals as well as just the internals.

I just went and looked at the website and saw that the adjustment on these is via eccentricity in the roller which means it'll be a bit harder to get back to a "zero" point each time. What you need are two marks, one on the top edges of the uprights for the edge of the blade - which will get slightly shorter every time you sharpen it; and one inside the uprights for the height of the roller, which could get trickier to see. There would be better ways of doing it but they'd require high-precision markings and a slight rework of the way the roller is mounted.

Go here: http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/ If what' you've got is like the pictures above it's basically a small plane blade and can be sharpened in exactly the same way. With a little practice, the system Brent lays out there will produce edges better than anything else out there. They are terrifyingly sharp. It takes a bit of investment in the setup, and some practice to get right but once you've done that it's quick, simple and it works, very very well. Scribe a set of lines in the top of the sides using a machinists square. That way you can get back to the same thickness again by putting the edge up to the line you used last time.

Did you heat-treat the steel? Drill rod should be plenty hard for awl blades.

Thanks Tony, I'll let you know what I work out.

Anyone? I'm trying to get the thing apart and am stuck trying to get the bell off. I'd really like to work out if the feet and drive stones are interchangeable with available parts so I can set it up to do veg tan with. Cheers.

I'm wondering if 45k clones like the Techsew GA-5 are close enough to the original 45ks they're clones of that I could use parts like the main shaft out of one in a 45k. Anyone know, or should I look for someone who's got a parted-out 45k? Cheers.

Junkers have rarity and an odd collectiability going for them. You can get 'em for less than that if you're willing to put a bit of work into getting them going again. I don't know how thick a sole the Junker can do, I've never tried feeding something through that might stop it. It's designed specifically for soling shoes and boots though. I'd get a square awl from Dick Anderson at Thornapple River Boots. He makes some of the nicest bootmaking awls out there. You use a square awl by hand. Pricking irons are used to clean out the wax from between the stitches and make everything look neat. What specifically are you wanting to make? It sounds like you'd be well served to sign up to Crispin Colloquy at http://www.thehcc.org and chat to people there. It's a specialist boot/shoemaker's forum and the people there are plenty friendly.

It's a knob that clamps to a steering wheel to allow you to turn it more easily. You see them on big trucks sometimes. They spin on the mounting so you can hold the knob and turn the wheel real fast. Much of the weight in these machines is in the motor and the pedestal mounting but even if you're not going to power it you'll want that to hold the machine at the right height etc. They're designed to sit on the pedestal and aren't trivially mountable on something else. People-powering one of these would be darn near impossible unless you rigged up some sort of treadmill and had a spare child or something to power it. You generally need both hands to steer the work through the machine. I'm not saying it'd be impossible to do single-handed but it'd take a hell of a lot of practice! I wouldn't think a Boss would be much good for outsoling shoes. If you want a hand-cranked machine specifically for that job you're looking at a Junker & Ruh SD.28/Pedersen 308, or a Frobana Gritzner. Both are good machines, but both are near impossible to get needles and parts for. The Junker can be a little tempremental if worn, and refurbished ones run to US$600ish plus god-only knows for needles. Gritzners are things you luck into, they're not terribly common outside of Europe. You can still get needles for the Gritzner, if you're prepared to pay 8-9Euro/needle. Alternatively you could buy a square awl and pricking irons and do it by hand.It doesn't take that long with practice :D

That looks like an American Straight Needle stitcher, though I couldn't tell you if it's all there. They're good machines but a bit different to use than a curved-needle stitcher like a Landis model 12. You can use one of these for sewing soles on boots and shoes. They're apparently great for side-seams on boots too. Have you seen it running?

It worked for medieval people I've had a pewter-buckled belt for about 8 years now, and it's just fine. Of course, it was made from decent britannia metal, not recycled thrift store tankards.

Hi Ray, There are two quite different topics here. Pewter is easy to cast and melts at a low temperature requiring little in the way of safety equipment. Brass, bronze etc are very different beasts requiring serious heat and safety kit to do. You can cast pewter in high-temperature RTV, which is the easiest way. The medieval way is to use soapstone, which carves easily and burnishes smooth. You can use plaster of paris, but whatever you use it has to be completely dry. Pewter casts at a temperature that causes water to flash into steam which can blow your mold up, spraying hot metal everywhere. If you use RTV you can sculpt a model and use it to build the mold, if you use soapstone you have to carve the negative, which takes a fair bit of practice. The single most important bit of advice I've heard regarding pewter casting is to make sure your work surface tilts slightly away from you so that if you accidentally dump an entire crucible of metal it doesn't run off into your lap You can melt pewter (britannia metal) on a stovetop, or in a metal ladle with an LPG torch. Safety kit wise a face shield and welding gloves are sufficient, but a good apron is also a good plan. This may be useful: http://chestofbooks....ing-Pewter.html I presume you have Dress Accessories and The Medieval Household?