CustomDoug

haha, I think I'll pass on the union special for now, thanks ya'll.

Hey guys does anyone know of a website to look up serial numbers for Union Special sewing machines? Or... know of where I can explain to a seller where to look, on the machine, to find the model number ? Also, are there good walking foot ones to look out for... or are they generally avoided for some reason, like parts being difficult to get, etc ? Thanks..

Congrats on the new aquisition, these machines a wonderful. I'm sure someone will give true restoration advice but if that was mine, I'd saturate the treadle base stand and table down with WD40, and "clean' the head itself with sewing machine oil. The oil will not destroy the decals. Wipe off the excess with paper towels after being allowed to sit for a good long while to soak in. I just did a cosmetic restoration on a singer 31-15 which included a re-paint but I wouldn't go there without atleast giving the above a try... you might be surprised at how well it turns out, and there is something to be said for the patina that you see on the old ones. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

..100 on order, wonder what they go for.. any idea? it could be useful I'm sure.

Wiz, that's good info right there! Yea so a double needle machine that can be run w/ one needle is going to be in my future. Unfortunately, the "eventually" parts is going to keep me from it for just a bit. In the mean time, I suppose I'll need to physically mark my leather for the second row, if doing something that calls for it. I'm sure I've seen the pen/markers that work with leathers and is erasable, but not sure where... anyone know what they're officially called, or a source off the top of your head?

It seems there's a never ending list of reasons to want another machine. I've been kind of thinking about eventually getting a double needle machine... eventually. I was wondering, are there any folks that regularly machine stitche double lines with a single needle machine ? I suppose if one did it enough you could become good at it. Are there any tricks to it? What are a good second hand (walking foot) double needle machine to keep an eye out for? ...and can all/most double needle machines be used with just one needle?

hey I really like that touch up sprayer, think I'll get one myself. Thanks for the tip. I need a compressor too, is there one that would be ideal for this size sprayer and the somewhat minimal use that it'll get and be good too for an airbrush later? .. and is not too expensive ?

I can only find the singer oil local to me, in the little smallish tubes - and I go through them pretty quickly. I don't need to buy gallons or anything but is there an on-line source for larger containers of it? Or perhaps a common source that I'm not thinking of... I was wondering about places like harbour freight but haven't explored it yet.

two quick questions: 1) is the 31-15 considered a low shank, high shank, or slant ? 2) can someone explain how to thread the "thread retainer" after the thread leaves the spool ? (my machine has no oil cup on top of the machine and also my 'thread retainer' is in a horizontal configuration... unlike what is shown in the manual). thanks as always.

Slide plates and needle plates : I want to replace the rusty needle plate on this 31-15, what are my options? I mean will I need to choose a hole size for each needle size I plan to use or should I just go with the largest hole size available. I will need to sew anything from muslin to the thickest leather that this machine will take. Also I'd like to get a needle plate that has the guide marks on it if possible, got a source? As for the slide plate... the one I have would work if it will polish up, but there is a little light rust... anyone had success hand polishing these? Actually I'd want to do the same for some of the other nickel items too. suggestions ?

Wow, now you've got that thing looking great. I agree about the color, hope you don't mind if I still the idea? Thanks for posting that, gives me something to aim for... not that mine will ever look that good but I can certainly try.

Hi Rev and welcome, I'm newish here too. But listen to wizcrafts, he's been a big help to me with my sewing machine questions - he's the man and definatly knows what he's talking about. These patcher machines are so cool, I love 'em. As for the stand thing... I'm in the same boat as you, my 29K62 did not come with one either. So what I did was to get a regular size singer treadle base and build top for it. I built it with a step-up raised area that the head sits on to mimick the design of the original stand - but that is not really necessary, would be just fine with a simple flat top. Bob Tovar (referenced above) provided a custom length leather treadle belt among other items. Look down the forum page to my thread "my patcher needs a table top", I added pics recently. BTW, I do like the idea of motorizing the machine. Let us know what you come up with.

Here's some pics of the machine and base I bought, got it all for $40... I know it's rough but like I said atleast it did seem to sew when plugged in, so there is hope. I'd get a great bit of satisfaction from fixing it's appearance and making it a regularly used machine. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Then I decided I'd make myself a flat table attachment, so as to make it a little more flexible : Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

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I can't figure out how to post a picture directly from Flickr but here's a link to the table I made using my regular (smallish) singer treadle base - mounted a very big 29K62 on it. You'll note I had to build a shelf for the head to sit on, to get a similar distance from the end of the arm to the table's top. I also had to buy an 8ft leather belt. http://www.flickr.com/photos/18508120@N07/5252465457/

Hey guys, I picked up a Singer 31-15 this afternoon for a song. Not only the head but it came with a pretty descent traditional treadle base (no wheel though), big old oak top and an electric motor,knee lever, bobbin winder, and large double thread cone holder. The guy I bought it from plugged it in and it ran, though I didn't sew anything with it as it had an old rusty slightly bent needle. It has a 6 spoke hand wheel too, I think some came with a 5 spoke one - but I don't know the difference. Anyway, I plan to use it if possible and to tell you the truth it looks like crap. I'd like to do some cosmetic stuff to it, if it's even worth trouble. Basically I'd want to DIY a paint job at minimum and resurface the wood top, maybe paint the treadle stand (or maybe not). The head is crusty looking, that is to say the paint is cracked looking and kind of chipped. Anyone ever given one of these old machines a facelift ? I'm not going for perfection my any means but I do have a pretty good eye for this kind of stuff (done old cars, houses) and don't mind a project on the side. Any help would be appreciated. I'll try to post a couple of pics if I can figure out how to do it on my new Mac, the learning curve sucks.

Yea guitar strap buttonhole is what I was thinking of but could not remember.. pippin' punch huh? I need to search for them but like you aluded to, I may have to have one custom made, or several. I can't weld yet, though learning has been on my to-do list for some time.

Yea that's a great idea wizcrafts! I did think of it too before posting the thread, but figured I might save myself some running around if someone else had some experience doing this and wanted to share. Some of the "poor man's workaround' ideas I had included glueing the two pieces of garment leather together with rubber cement of other flexible glue before attempting to start the buttonholes, and useing baby powder sprinkled on the plate and under the foot (on the leather), which I've read helps when sewing leather on a standard home machine. As for why I would want to sew edged buttonholes like this on a leather garment, well I can think of lots of instances where it would be an interesting design detail, something that you're not seeing from others, unique... button fly pants, wind flaps, blazers, pockets, shoulder appueletts (sp?), decorative and functional straps, etc etc. You'll have to use your imagination for more. But you (amuckart) bring up another subject that I'd been wanting to explore too. That is the making of buttonholes with a punch or dye or whatever it would be called. Does anyone know of a maker of these that might sell a keyhole shaped one? I know some things use a similar, if not much smaller one... like a "Sam Browne" military belt and straping on vintage kit, rucksacks etc. ?

Just so everyone understands I'm not starting a second thread on the subject - you and I discussed this subject via PM, and I appreciate the time you took to talk to me about it. During that short time we also came across a specialized machine or two that were far from $5000. Although used, they were under 1K , IIRC. I would buy one of those and I might yet. But basically I'm not convenced that an older HD Singer wouldn't work for what I need. What are the typical models that are often mentioned in this forum, the 15-91,201,401 etc,etc (there may be more appropriate models). Well it's accepted that some of those machines can handle light weight leathers very effectively (or is that a myth). I admittedly have not used them personally. There were a couple of types of buttonhole attachments : one utilized the zigzag feature of your machine and the other type actually created the zigging and zagging (I also think this type gripped the material like you were saying need to be done). I think and I could be wrong, that most of the older singer mechanical machines were capable of using the attachments (high,low,slant shanks). So that's why I keep coming back to this idea, an old HD machine with a descent keyhole attachment, sewing leather that's basically a little thicker than your average lambskin...or heavy denim for that matter - doesn't sound that far fetched to me. Though you are the expert not me and I certainly respect your opinion. Before I visit any bank manager, I'd almost be willing to risk the nominal monitary investment to see if this would work. Besides I find it hard to believe that everyone who sews a buttonhole in leather or denim has to spend 5K+ first. There has to be a cheap man's workaround. I mean even the modern Singer that I sighted (Heavy Duty #4411) has built in buttonhole settings, though they are not the shape I'm looking for. I have to think garment leather was in the mind of the designers as a possibility of materials to be used with this machine, no?

Hey folks, I need help choosing a second machine for sewing leather garments. I have a patcher and love it but realistically it's not great for all the sewing that I need to do. Besides being faster than the patcher and more of a production machine - I have a need for a machine that will sew buttonholes in fairly thin garment leather (2-3oz.). Also I need them to be KEYHOLE buttonholes if at all possible. I need the machine to match the needle/thread size of the patcher too if possible (mostly 20-22 size needle). I guess a good strong home based machine should suffice. I could go with an older iron zig-zag machine that uses attachments for buttonholes or a modern machine would be ok if it comes with a good recommendation from one of you guys. I know the old machines used buttonhole attachments that were capable of doing the keyhole button but I do not know about the modern ones. I saw one modern Singer that I liked alot, it's called a Singer Heavy Duty model #4411 etc, but the built in buttonholes were just squared off looking. The salesperson did not know if there were any attachments that could be added to make them like I want. BTW, the old attachment were seperated amongst low shank, high shank, or slant shank... I'm not sure what this new Singer would be considered. Here's a link to one like I saw : http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item43a39de4f1. Any thoughts ?

Yep, the color of these shoes in particular change a huge amount depending on what light you're seeing them in. That flash brings out the red in them but it's not near as detectable all the time. The thing is though that these shoes were contract made for the military and several different manufacturers produced them but the color was almost always identicle, a brown with redish tones. The point is that this color must have been very common if not easy to come by and produce items in constistancy. So these older Dye producers should still be using the same formulas is my assumption.... not sure which companies are still in operation though. I will call W&C tomorrow and get some samples, thanks for sharing. I have looked at their site and was dissapointed that they aren't much by way of pics. I saw the page with liitle squares photographed but it's not much help via my monitor unfortunately.

Thanks you guys... Luke, that link did not work for me, can you check that the spelling is right (I tried several variations). Troop, are you saying that the fiebing's light brown pro oil dye matches the color in the picture I posted OR that it matches the russet leather that you buy pre-dyed? Do you have a source for leather that matches the color of the shoes I posted ? I could use both veg tan (like the shoes above) and/or chrome as well for other projects. Thanks ya'll!

Here's a picture of the color I want to duplicate.. It's a basic russet color that was everywhere during the 40s & 50s (the old army 'brown shoes') but that you never see on anything much now. I love it and want to know what dye you guys suggest I buy to get as close to this color as possible. I'm wanting to do several items with it, from small pieces to large hides.... which brings me to my second question: what set up would be good for spraying large hides (covering a ratan loveseat, etc). Maybe an airbrush.. but that seams too small.... maybe an automotive sprayer, but that seems too big. What do ya'll think? Uploaded with ImageShack.us Thanks!!

Larger pulley on the head... and the only wheel that the treadle has, which is around 12" or so. The action of the treadle foot was really smooth before the belt. Could the long span (8ft) be effecting the action? I have now taken the belt off and physically stretched it with my hand,back and feet. What I'm getting now is that it's quite looser and slips some, but also the foot pedal seams to get stuck in the up or down position really easily.