Cascabel

All too often on ebay, you see home machines listed as "Industrial Strength". There is no such thing !!! Just because a machine is made of cast iron, and painted black does NOT make it an industrial machine. Prior to the 1960's ALL machines were made of cast iron and painted black. They started making them in colors to add eye-appeal. Regardless of color, the simplest way to tell is that home machines have a motor about the size of a man's fist attached to the back of the machine, whereas REAL industrials have a motor about the size of your head mounted underneath the table. Another thing I see a lot in ebay ads is listings saying the machine is made of "metal". That is not the same as cast iron. Many so-called "metal" machines are made of zinc die cast, and are only one step better than the all plastic bodied modern machines. Do a bit of research before spending your hard-earned dollars !!!

Bear in mind that many sewing machine screws are non-standard threads. Singer is notorious for using their own proprietary thread system on all their screws, so you can't just get them through ordinary channels. Not sure about other manufacturers, but something to keep in mind. I have custom made replacement screws from time to time, but if somebody has forced a wrong screw into a threaded hole and ruined the original threads, then all bets are off !!!

Thanks, Wiz. Being that it is a tapered pin which must be driven out, it would be helpful to know in which direction to drive it !! I don't want to drive it in the wrong direction and just make it tighter. Do you consider bronze material to be sufficiently wear resistant, or might steel be better ? I can do either. I have several other projects in the works right now, so I won't get to it right away.

Can anybody tell me how to dismantle a Singer 29-4 far enough to get to the feed cams for repair or replacement ? I have welding and machine shop capabilities, and I think I can probably build up the worn areas, and re-shape them back to close to the original contours. I just need to know how to gain access to the parts. I believe it would involve taking apart the cylindrical part that the needle bar goes down through. I need to know if there are any particular problems in disassembly/re-assembly that I need to consider in the project. The machine still functions quite smoothly and reliably, it just won't give the stitch length it sould be capable of.

Thanks, Bob, that snugged it up nicely !!

When selecting reverse on my new CB4500, the lever will not stay put. It falls back down on it's own if I do not hold it up. Sometimes when I do repair work, I need to support the work with one hand, and guide it with the other, with no way to hold the lever up for the couple of stitches needed to lock the stitching. Is there a way to add a bit of friction to the lever so that it stays up until I want it back down in the forward stitching position ?

Another advantage to these 42 Class machines is the large heavy flywheel, which helps it to punch the needle through heavy materials without difficulty.

Bobbins can be had from a decent industrial sewing machine shop. It's a good idea to have several. I believe they are common to several different machines. I have also seen them on ebay. If you go to a shop, bring your original bobbin for comparison, as the shop may not have a parts catalog for these older machines, even though they may have suitable bobbins. As a side note, the 42 class bobbin winder will work nicely to wind 441 bobbins if you also have one of those machines. It is a lot faster than winding bobbins on the 441's winder when they are slowed down by a servo motor.

Well........ Can it be done ? Yes. Is it practical ? Not really. The big 441 clones need too much fiddling to get them to work well with the thinner materials. And then you will have to re-adjust for heavy materials. You will do far better with two separate machines. There are lots of good condition used machines out there that are suitable for upholstery work at decent prices. Not so much with the heavy leather stitchers.

Ya know...... The best overall solution to the lubrication issue would be to find a friend with tools and a minimum amount of skill to drill a hole down the middle of the bolt from the head end, to about the center of the bearing area, and then to cross-drill another hole to meet that channel, and then simply install a grease fitting in the head of the bolt. Then all you need is an occasional squirt with a grease gun. Just pump in enough grease until it BARELY extrudes around the bolt, and you're done......

I found one of the huge heavy hand wheels from a Singer 29 at an industrial sewing machine dealer here in Atlanta for a friend to put on his 42-5 because somebody had changed it to a small wheel for some reason. No 42-5 wheels were available, so I did a bit of lathe work, and adapted the 29 wheel. Check with the dealers in your area. Some of them have a pretty good "junk pile" of old parts. The larger wheels were common on some of the more popular older machines. A friend with a lathe can make almost anything fit !!

Try loosening the screw. I had a friend come to me with a similar issue on a 42-5 bobbin case. Seems that the screw had been tightened down hard all the way, and actually caused the spring tension to loosen it's grip on the thread. I backed off the screw about a half turn, and proper tension was restored. Apparently somebody thought the screw should be tight, and didn't know it was intended to be an adjustment. A quarter turn in either direction can make lots of difference !!

I was thinking of a simple list where all the important info would be in one spot, and easy to find, rather than people having to hunt for it. Searching the Archives can be a bit of a chore when all you want is a small piece of information, especially for a newbie that really doesn't know quite how to ask the question in order to get the answer he needs.

.......Ya know, it probably would be a good thing to pin a list of "Sewing Machine Tips for Newbies" at the top of this forum. There are a tremendous number of new folks showing up here with little or no experience with sewing machines of any type, and having lots of problems caused by simply not knowing some of the basic stuff that us "old hands" do without even thinking about it. Things like which way the needle is installed in the machine. "The scarf goes which way ??" "What the heck is a "scarf" ?? A much better explanation would be to say that the thread enters the needle from the side with the long groove. Or how about always stopping the machine with the take up arm in the up position, so that when starting to sew a new line of stitching, the thread does not get snatched back out of the needle on the first downstroke. And the importance of always holding on to the tails of the thread when starting to sew. How to turn a corner by leaving the needle in the work and pivoting around it as if it was an hinge pin. All this stuff applies to all sewing machines, even domestics. These are all I can think of at the moment, but you see what I mean about things we do without having to think about it that the poor newbies may not know, and will cause them problems.

Finally some useful info on these accessory items !!! This probably needs to be pinned for easy reference.

I would also like to know under exactly what circumstances the accessory items are used. Some accurate info would be most helpful, and prevent wasting of time and expensive leather. Perhaps Wiz can enlighten us with examples or some sort of tutorial with pictures ?? So far I have only done simple projects, but I would love to be able to make use of the accessory items, if I knew how to use them.

If it's anything like a Singer, the screw threads are non-standard, also known as proprietary threads. You may have to go to the manufacturer or authorized dealer for a replacement screw, or you can get one made by somebody with a lathe. I have made several Singer screws in the past.

..........and the price is ???

Money spent on quality equipment is never wasted !! Always buy more machine than you actually need right now so that you don't have to upgrade later.....

Almost sounds like something has fallen loose inside, and gets caught in the works sometimes. Could also be a foreign object like a coin dropped inside by "Little Johnny" jamming up the works. Next time it happens, tip the machine up where you can see the movements of the parts, and open any access covers to expose the moving parts before rocking the wheel back and forth. You may be able to see what is jamming it up, or something may fall out. Could be a loose screw has fallen out, and rides around until it jams against something. If it stitches normally otherwise, it is probably something simple.

I have one of them, and I use it for nearly everything, up to leather 1/4" thick. Great for canvas or upholstery fabrics too. Bobbins are available. Use commonly available series 135x16 and 135x17 needles. I mostly use 69 and 138 thread in mine, because I have plenty on hand. I'm not sure if it would handle heavier thread or not, because I never tried it. For the seriously heavy stuff, I have my big Cowboy machine. As Cowboy Bob says, it's great if you don't need parts. In my experience, worn or damaged parts can be repaired, screws re-made, etc. I have fixed a lot of old parts made of "Unobtanium", because I have machining and welding capabilities. The real problem would be if something is missing, rather than worn or broken.

I just give the knee lifter a quick bump if it has trouble climbing over a seam. Fix-a heem no problem !!

Great video !!! This shows why the old timers are far better and longer lasting than today's "Plastic Wonders" !!

For convenience, I simply wind my Cowboy bobbins on my 42-5 machine, which sits right beside my Cowboy. The winder fits the cowboy bobbins nicely. It only takes a few seconds to fully wind one, so what is the point of worrying about automatic dis-engage features ? I just guide the thread by hand to keep it even, and stop winding when the bobbin is full. You could do it just as well with an electric drill and a wooden dowel. My Cowboy has a built-in winder, which will wind while sewing, and automatically dis-engage, but it is much slower, so I don't bother with it. Keep it simple, folks !!!

Apparently you read my posting wrong....... I only pull it down between the top tension discs, I do NOT wrap it around the top tension discs. I DO wrap it around the bottom tensioner per the instructions.