Anne Bonnys Locker

Some of these motors are set up to run both but not all. Considering power factor and losses in the conversion process it would be much cheaper to get yourself a new motor. If this is for production use then stick to an Efka or the Chinese Panasonic product as the Hohsing motors just are not great.

The Seiko CW/LSC, consew 227, Pfaff 335 techsew 2700 or cb227 are all in the same family and will nail this sort of work. Ideally it comes down to the location of a dealer who will give you ongoing technical support. Ronnie at Techsew, Steve at Cobra or Bob at Toledo have a vested interest in happy customers because if they let you down you can come here and complain about it. Keeping mind of course that most of us here know the difference between poor service and a poor customer

What I think the wonderful Wiz is trying to tell you is that there is no one all 'round perfect machine for everything. You need to look at what work is most important to you right now and what can bring the money in to expand your machine family. Most serous letherworkers own at least three or four machines because they all do different things.

Spot on. These machines take the basic concept and have made it more portable. It is essentially built for the third world but will work in the west as long as the seller makes the necessary adjustments and modifications.

In Australia where postage costs 20 - 60 the machine makes sense. If you want to fix shoes then buy a 29k but if you want to put a patch in a 200kg tarpaulin then the 10kg ABLE290 is much easier to take to the job than dragging the job to the machine. Horses for courses.

Karina, I cannot see why you would chose anything but the Singer 29k as long is it is a 29k58 or later. The Canadian seller stole my pictures of Fliker for his ebay ad and sells the machines as they arrive from China. I have dealt with them and roughly 1 in 3 works properly out of the box. I am the ebay seller in Australia and I think you would be mad to pay $200 freight. TBH I would rather you bought the machine direct from China then bought a support package from me.

There is a massive difference between polyester, High Tenacity Polyester and bonded Polyester. My personal belief is that high tenacity poly is the best all round thread. I have seen too many machines damaged by long term use of bonded nylon and it has nowhere near the UV resistance of HT Poly

Outsole stitching is through leather but it is a chain stitch. The Puritan machines can make light work of 3/4" of leather and are a needle and awl chain stitch.

The 331 is essentially a 31 class with a "modernised" body and while not ideal for leather are one of the better straight sewers for light leather.

One of the most difficult aspects of selling machines is to get people to really define what they want to do. You want a heavy stitcher? How about this lovely Puritan OSXL?

I suppose the question has now been answered. What is this machine worth? NOTHING

A couple of 45's I've played with have a small problem with the tension assembly. Keep in mind that the 45k tension is completely different to most other machines in that the thread is wrapped around the tension wheel which spins to feed the thread and the tension spring retards the motion of the wheel. Pull the tension apart, polish all of the mating surfaces with ultra fine steel wool and then apply a light coat of oil before reassembling.

I have never seen an 11 in the flesh! Would you mind posting some pics?

The above posts are correct but it might help to know why! The needle comes down and when it starts to rise a loop is formed which is there to be caught by the hook. If you turn the work before the hook catches the loop then the loop twists out of position so the hook misses it. Tilt the machine back and run through the process by slowly turning the hand wheel so as to get a good idea of when the hook has secured the loop. You can use the position of the take up lever as your marker.

I prefer to call these "even feed" attachments and they probably work well enough for quilting but that is all they are good for.

Cheryl, I think that a servo on a 27 is way too much investment. Firstly I am a bit confused as a treadle should run at very low speed with practice. I specialise in treadle machines and find the speed control to be brilliant. If your 27 has a threaded hole below the balance (hand) wheel then it could be fitted with a standard domestic motor or a hand crank. My biggest concern is that the vibrating shuttle in a model 27 was never designed for heavy thread.

Bob, I am glad that I am not the only guy around who makes liberal use of his angle grinder. When it comes to obsolete parts or horrendously expensive ones I usually look for something close and then grind it to fit.

This is both good and bad! Normally the tension release is set so that the tension will not release at the maximum sewing thickness and without this function there is not the warning that you are pushing the machine too hard. The good part of using a 42 class is that I don't think you could break it no matter how much you abuse it and that is not something I would say about most machines. The 42 class is one of the very few machines where I would say that if you can get the work under the foot and the thread through the needle then it will probably sew it.

Glad you have found yourself one of the classic machines. No need to touch the adjustment at the top of the needle bar. Do not forget to lift the machine head up and oil the points underneath. With any machine a drop of oil every now and then on any part where metal rubs on metal will make things run smoother and reduce wear. While you have the head up grab the bars that run along the front and back of the bed and see if they have any transverse movement. The one at the rear is most important as it locates the feed dogs. Undo the nuts at each end then GENTLY tighten the screws until the feed dogs sit in the middle of their slot in the needle plate. Then tighten the nuts up but turn the handwheel to ensure that the machine still turns easily. Position of the front bar is not so critical but not binding up the machine is very important with any adjustment.

Bob, I thought the Chinese DD1 shuttle was the same? I have used them in a 45k with no problem.

Price is very subjective Jason. It all depends on where you are and how many other people might be interested. Adding reverse might be possible but expensive. Also there are many subclasses with different feed types

Courtney, A small number of parts do fit. I believe the needle plate, feed dogs, shuttle and tension assembly are identical and as they are the only parts that ever really wear then you are ok. At some stage I will be looking at the GA5 parts so I can make anything not quite right. I have original needle plates and feed dogs in stock.

Steve has more vintage cast iron that your local museum!

The best thing to do is talk to the sponsoring dealer closest to you. I have no commercial interest with these guys but you can see just by looking through posts on this site how helpful they are even when people buy a machine elsewhere. The brand of machine is not as important as talking to someone who gives good advice, sets the machine up for your needs and then follows up with after sales support. The machine dealers here live or die by the backup they give and feedback they get so they have a vested interest in selling you the best machine for your needs.

I am saying this more for others that you Brian because I am sure Bob would have mentioned it but the 44 class is just the short arm version of the Singer 31. This is no bad thing as the 31/44 class are real workhorses and many people would consider them the king of straight stitchers.