Constabulary

I just finished the installation including the speed reducer. The lowest maximum speed setting is 500rpm but the motor starts at 200rpm regarding the digital display which is absolutely the slowest you can get with the pedal. No matter what the max. speed setting is - even at 3000rpm - you always can crawl at 200rpm and the speed reducer slows this down again. (Motor max. speed is 3000 rpm and not 3500 as I said at above post) Cool thing is that you can turn off the speed reducer permanently. On the backside of the control box it even has a socket for a 5V LED sewing light which is optional available. And I like that the control box is apart from the motor and speed regulator so you don't have to crawl under the table when you want to change settings. And it case something is damaged you don´t have to turn in the entire motor (just for the case). So I´m overall very very please with my purchase but I think I will order a smaller 50mm or 40mm pulley just to have the option to go even slower.

DONE! I ordered all parts from College Sewing, UK. Allparts are great - I have no complaints. Only part that "looked" cheap was the bobbing winder but I took the arm of the original Singer bobbin winder and installed the parts from the new bobbin winder - fits perfect and runs perfect. So I´m good with it. The needle bar glides smoooooooth in the head and for just 25.00 GBP it is quite cheap and it is complete with all parts. Shuttle carrier is nice too. It has a nice finish. Some pictures:

After I had so much trouble with 2 different Servo Motors I was still using my old clutch motor - until today! Now that I needed spare parts for the restoration of my Singer 29K71 I thought I should give the JACK brand Servo Motors from College Sewing in the UK a try. I just got my order today. Ordered on June 11. - delivered June 16. by UPS. I have ordered Jack JK-561A-1 Servo Motor, 220V singe Phase, 750 Watts with needles positioning system. At the first glance the outer finish is very nice, it is well made and does not look cheap (not at all). Installation is very easy and it can be adjusted sideways over a good range so it is quite easy to add a speed reducer later (if desired). Unfortunately College Sewing has not much information on their website. So I did not know what size the pulley has. And they mentioned nothing regarding the highest and lowest speed settings. Anyway - it came with a 3" pulley. Top speed is 3500 rpm - lowest speed is 500rpm (regarding the manual) but this it the top speed at the lowest setting. So even w/o a speed reducer and with a 3" pulley it sews quite slow at the lowest setting and with my Singer 111 I can sew 3 layers of stiff military parachute harness without problem. And yet I don´t even need the speed reducer I recently have made. But I will install it no matter what. Needles positioning system works perfect (I set it to needle down) and them I push the pedal in the other direction the positioning system pulls the needle up - pretty cool feature! So from what I can tell at the moment it is an absolutely outstanding motor. For my purposes it works very well and with 750 Watts it has a lot of power - even without the speed reducer. I will test it a bit and will give more information in the days to come.

I´m looking for old brand snap buttons in Line 20 + Line 24 with ring spring. Doesn´t matter if they have some light oxidation. The brand just matters! I could use old brands like United Carr, Rau, Scovill Stupid huh?

Single cap speedy rivets

Selling a beautiful Singer 211 on Ebay www.ebay.com/itm/331234645018 It has about 14mm foot lift (pedal operated) and a long forward stitch length (about 6-7mm max.), reverse stitch is shorter therefore. Machine standard stitch length is 5mm forward + 5mm reverse (5 SPI). Motor is a nice and good controllable original 220V Pfaff clutch motor. Overall a smooth running and well kept Singer sewing machine. This is a hight quality machine - Made by Singer in Germany. Check the lot of pictures and 3 videos. I will ship this beauty in the whole European Union including Great Britain by a freight forwarding company. Shipping costs depend on destination country. Contact me through Ebay or PM here in the forum.

when it is not picking up the bobbin thread and you have sewn too thick / hard materials it is probably just the needle bar that is out of time and you have to lower it a bit. Remove the needle plate and look where the hook meets the needle. To adjust the needle bar take a look at this thread, http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=56271 Another member had this issue with his Juki 563 which is pretty much the same machine. If the hook its not badly damaged or broken you should be able to sharpen the tip with sandpaper carefully. Can you take some pictures of the hook?

Another idea is that you probably have to adjust a disc in your tension assembly just a tiny bit. This certain disc sits between the tension spring and the tension discs. This disc has a small bar in the middle. This little bar has to be adjusted toward the operator - maybe just a tiny tiny bit (a really tiny bit). I have attached a picture so you know where it sits and how to put together the tension assembly. For explanation: There is a tension disc release pin inside your machine which pushes the lever (#223703) against the small pin (#223704) and this small pin pushes against the bar in the middle of the disc (#204271) and releases the tension discs then you lift the presser foot. If this bar is adjusted too far towards the machine you may have a permanent disc release and so you loose the top thread tension. To try if this is your problem just remove the disc with the bar + small pin, put spring and nut back on and adjust the top tension (it may need a bit more tension because the disc is missing) Then sew and see what happens. The only thing is that your top thread will not be released then you lift the foot. If this solves your problem you have to adjust the small bar as mentioned above. If not put disc + pin back and start again. Don´t loose the small pin (#223704) which sits inside the tension assembly!

Abbey is nice - I ordered some webbing samples from them (they did not even charge me shipping for it) and I will place an order soon. But I can´t say how their thread is and don´t even know the brand. I personally like the Amann Rasant thread very much and Amanns SERAFIL seems to be great too but never tried it. The change of needle + thread is just a guess, I of course cannot promise that this will be the solution of your problem.

I Just noticed the Video so it seems not to be the thread since you tried different thread already but I would still try different and / or larger size needles.

But that does not mean that there can´t be a bad lot of thread or needles. "Cobra" does not procure the machines, threads or needles itself. It is just a brand name they use. Some Cobras may have a different color but most likely all the modern machines such as Cobra, Techsew, Cowboy... you name it... are basically the same and I would assume they come from the same factory in China or somewhere in Asia. No clue where the thread comes from but you can make an educated guess... Don´t get me wrong - all the above mentioned brands sell for sure good machines and products but that does not mean that there isn`t a bad lot. Also, Singer did not produce their own needles (at least in Germany). As far as I know Singer needles came from SFN Needles or Rhein Needles in Germany. I personally figured that SCHMETZ needles work much better (same size with same thread) than the odd brand needles I got with my machine (Singer 111G156 - bought it used and restored it). I have thrown them all away (about 50-60 needles) because I don´t wanted to mix them up with my SCHMETZ Needles. For some repairs I´m even using 40 - 70 years old military cotton thread and with the SCHMETZ needles it works perfect but I had issued with original (!!!) Singer needles or odd Chinese needles like "white egret" or so. BTW - I had needles from white egret and there were different size needles inside the package that mentioned on the label on the outside... so WTF... I no longer buy them. It´s a waste of money in my opinion. Maybe try some thread from www.abbeyengland.com or from another supplier. I thinks its worth to give it a try.

I´d probably try a different thread brand and maybe a thicker needle. What needle brand are you using? SCHMETZ is highly recommended. Do you pull the thread over the little hook in the tension assembly? If not - make sure you do it! Have you tried to give the thread take up spring a bit more tension?

What an awesome old style speed reducer!!! I like it very much!!! But sorry I can´t help.

Most likely it is just the needle bar that has to be adjusted a tiny bit. Thats not a big issue. An other member had such an issue recently. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=56107 Yours could probably be the same problem. The screw should be the same as at the Singer 111. The screw is a bit hidden behind the frame but it is there just turn the hand wheel until you can see the screw head in the gap - see picture. Loosen it and adjust the needle bar the way that the hook meet the needle withing the scarf about 1.6mm above the eye. Most likely this solves the problem.

Some pictures may help.

Well, their shuttle carrier + shuttle hook are actually made by TOWA. They mentioned it in the description so I think the other parts will be of good quality too but you never know as long as they do not mention the manufacturer or you have tried the parts.

I also like to know how it sews when I´m done Well, the machine was a barn find more or less and not very expensive. So it wouldn´t be a big loss if I had ruined it. And I always like to learn what is going on in the machines I´m using so I can help my self (most of the times) when something is wrong with it. Taking it apart was quite easy but I did not dare to remove the upper shaft - "a voice" said don´t do it! Every single part has its place, there is no part that fits somewhere else so it was an quite easy task to reassemble it. It´s really a very simple machine!!! Adjusting it is a different story. I know it is out of time but I have a manual already so I think I can do it. So far the feeding looks good but w/o the needle bar it makes no sense to do adjustments until I have all parts. A friend did the Singer logos for me. They are water slide decals and can be over painted with clear lacquer to protect them. He asked just 5€ for a set of two. They look even better when you have applied a clear lacquer. I ordered a few more just for the case I damage them but they are sturdy and It was easy to apply them. So I have 2 more - if you want them drop me a PN. College Sewing in the UK has all the parts I need for a reasonable price. So I think will order all parts from them, I think. But I will check Ebay too.

The complete + correct procedure should be mentioned in the manual. A quick fix could be just moving the needle bar a little bit up or down (if the hook gears are all tight). The hook should meet the needle withing the scarf about 1.6mm above the eye.

can´t help but thats one reason why I like my old Singer 111 so much - it has a dial with SPI markings.

@ the moderators Thanks for correcting my spelling

I made some progress already but I have to order some parts which are either rusted or just messed up

I finally found a cobbler machine with a short arm - not easy to find over here. Just paid 40€ but it needs a general overhaul but thats what I expected. One of the former owners messed up the needle bar... So here are some pictures of my restoration:

I will keep that in mind - but I will try a servo motor + speed reducer first as I don´t like the idea of a permanently running clutch motor. But always good to see how others have solved their motor problems. Thumbs up!

You are welcome. Historical value is a totally different thing. I like the story - really! Keeping a part of history from a long gone company is always a nice idea. Especially when you personally have worked for that company. I like vintage Singer machines very much. They of course do not have a story like your machine (not that I know of) but for me they have that certain something. And I like to keep hem alive or bring them to live again.

awesome - I like it! Do you have only the roller guide or a straight guide as well?