Happy Hooligan

I bought a new servo motor to replace my clutch one for my 111w, and it seems the motor has three bolt holes, while my old GE motor had four. It won't fit on that singer plate the GE was on... Am I missing something? Do I need to drill holes through the table top? I hope not.... What have you guys used to fix this?

I think my leather is just on the edge of being too thick. I think I might have been able to fix it for now, by tapping the end of the post for the male piece so it's a a little fatter than it was and then when I pound the male piece over it it seems to hold. Is there another snap option that might work better? I like the line 24 style of snap because they're both seated with the inside post punched down around it. are these Sigma (sp?) snaps like that? I want something smaller than the 24 as it's just too big for what I'm making...

So I'm using Glove Snaps for the first time. I've used the line 24 size fine... but I need something smaller and got some of these glove snaps 10mm from tandy... The bottom female one seems to fit fine and holds but the top male end doesn't stay no matter how hard you hit it... Is there a trick to this? Is there a better thing out there than the tandy about that size? I really want to use this size but they're not working....

I put this in the tool section but it should probably be here... Well the little stitching pony I made works great for smaller projects but anything big or that bends it has a some issues. So I wanted a bigger one to use and was going to make one, but thought about checking out ebay. I found this old head to a stitching horse probably from the mid to late 1800's. I got cheaper than if I made one but it need restored. The gap didn't touch so I added two piece of oak to complete the clamp but discovered one side was a little warped over over the years so I added a wedge (all oak) to straighten it out. Just finished it last night with a coat of oil. I think it's made of American Chestnut as I don't recognize the wood. It uses that hand level to push the sides away and they naturally clamp. I'll add some leather over the clamp parts to protect the leather. I added the stand so I can use it on the floor or between my legs on a chair. I'm pretty happy so far with it, although I've not used it yet, but hope to this week.

Well the little stitching pony I made works great for smaller projects but anything big or that bends it has a some issues. So I wanted a bigger one to use and was going to make one, but thought about checking out ebay. I found this old head to a stitching horse probably from the mid to late 1800's. I got cheaper than if I made one but it need restored. The gap didn't touch so I added two piece of oak to complete the clamp but discovered one side was a little warped over over the years so I added a wedge (all oak) to straighten it out. Just finished it last night with a coat of oil. I think it's made of American Chestnut as I don't recognize the wood. It uses that hand level to push the sides away and they naturally clamp. I'll add some leather over the clamp parts to protect the leather. I added the stand so I can use it on the floor or between my legs on a chair. I'm pretty happy so far with it, although I've not used it yet, but hope to this week.

You've used the same one for five years? That's great. Is the detail very fine or do you have a pic of the final product on leather? It's about half the price of a steel one. I don't make a lot of stuff, but I want a quality professional mark. Thanks

I'm on the market for a custom stamp and was going to go steel. but has anyone used the black Delrin type stamps? do they hold up? I assume steel is the better choice, but thought I'd ask.

well to start the violin rosin I got was pretty small. About the size of a two bit-o-honeys... so I crunched it up and put it in the bottom of a soda can in boiling water. After a while the rosin melted to a liquid. I added the wax and let it melt. I stirred it together then poured it into a bucket of water. I squished it till it was not burning hot and took it out and tried to start to pull it like taffy, but it never "stretched" it just pulled like chunky dough. so i needed it a bit then rolled it into balls. I think it will work, but it's just got chunks in it...

So I made some this weekend. My Rosin didn't seem to blend with the beeswax that well as the final ball of the stuff I have has little chunks of Rosin in it.. I did a 2 to one mix... wax to rosin. Although the rosin was liquid when I added the beeswax. Also I coundn't do the taffy thing with mine. It was more like dough then taffy.... did I do it wrong? It's stiff sticky stuff though...

thanks everyone.. I ordered some of the violin rosin since it's super cheap to give it a go. I don't figure I need that much anyway since I make small projects, but I wanted to do it right and make it myself.

I'm going to start waxing my own linen thread and have read about mixing Beeswax and Rosin together. The only Rosin I've been able to find is made for Violins and such... anyone using this? Also it comes in light to dark... I assume the light would be the way to go as dark would make the wax darker... correct?

actually, if you bump up your budget to $75.00 that seems to be the magic number for a lot of older machines if you read craigslist every day.... They might need a little TLC....

ah... you may be right... again, I've never used one before so I'll see how this one is to work with. If it's too tall too, I can must move my side pieces down... I have room to work with...

Hey guys, I just finished this stitching pony this week as I felt I needed one. It's my own design for the most part, recycled oak... I'll give it a go this weekend. I thought a taller one would be easier to see than the lower ones tandy makes. What do you think? I've never used one, so if you see any possible flaws let me know.... I have more pics on my blog

that thing is huge! What does it weigh? I love it by the way.... how thick of a material can that sew through?

If anyone has one, I'm interested.

I moved out my old 110w125 and put in my 111w155. The main difference is the belt is the old leather one and not the rubber, because I like the look of the old wood table and it just has two holes for the belt and not a slot.. But it has an antique GE motor, that still works... any thoughts on anything I should do for maintenance on that? I'll be selling the old roller 110W if anyone is interested, and standard green table. And I'm going to get into sewing some caps, and found (online) an old Singer 107-2. Made I guess for sewing caps. Is there others out there? Anyone use one of these? Its a chain stitch machine which would be cool to own.

thanks, I did try that but it seemed the thread was pinched a little at the top going through that spring loaded piece then a sharp bend to left around the tension disc... I'll give it a go tonight and see if it's just how it is....

Anyone know the right way to thread this machine? I thread it through the top pieces and then through a spring at the top but I think I'm having trouble through the tension... anyone know? thanks!

yes, exactly!

I've been playing with mine for the past few days and loving everything this machine can do. I think I have the treadle down now. I do wish those bobbins were a tad bigger though. I'm playing with stitch length and thread size.... I love the sound they make.

thanks for all the help everyone. Success on the 29-4... just cleaned it up a bit, oiled it and finally figured out how to thread that bobbin... and Success! Almost, just need to adjust the tension, but not bad results from a machine from 1898! I'll work on the other two machines in the coming weeks...

what is still available? I'm interested in the strap punches

does that size limit go for the 29-4 also?

Thank you, that's great information. I'll spend some time on these today and clean them up a bit. Looks like I have some researching to do....