gottaknow

I get frustrated sometimes for folks here who have machine problems. If I had the power to reach through the time and space of the internet, I'd fix everyone's machines for them so they could get on with the fun part of sewing... Back to reality..I'm working on some UTube videos to upload the basic settings that would apply to your machine. There are so many 111's, 211's, and their clones out there I think teaching in video form is much more effective than typing. I really hope to begin uploading some in the near future. There is another thread here that went on for quite a while that does have a lot of information that pertains to your machine. If you get bored, it's pretty long. Regards, Eric

I agree with Bob, sure looks like a 16. Your serial number dates it back to the late 1800's. There are more than 50 sub-classes of the 16 machine....yikes. Regards, Eric

From what you describe, your hook timing is retarded, meaning it's getting to the loop taking point too late. When you broke those needles, the hook got "stuck" on them just long enough for the machine to advance itself while the hook stayed in one spot. Simply put, your hook slipped. If you can get your needle bar back to where it was, loosen the hook screws and rotate it clockwise towards your needle to obtain the point of the hook centered in the "scarf" (that little indent in the needle). If your needle bar has timing marks, there will be two of them. The upper most one should be level with the lower needlebar bushing when the bar is at it's lowest point of travel. The mark just below that is used to set the hook. Bring the needle bar all the way down and then raise it until the lower mark is even with the bushing. At this point, the hook should be centered, ready to pick up the loop and form the stitch. If you have no marks on the needle bar, rotate your machine in the operating direction until the bar is at its lowest point. Let it rise about 1/8" or so, though I don't have the exact measurment for your machine, this should get you close. Loosen the screws on the hook and rotate it until the point of the hook meets the needle. Tighten it here. You'll get smaller loops and your machine should sew. I will search my reference material at work to find the exact needle bar rise setting. There is no safety clutch on this machine. If there was, your bottom shaft wouldn't be turning at all. As for your split thread. This is most commonly caused by bad hook timing, a dull or broken hook point. Your hook should be very sharp, not at all flat, with no burrs when your let a finger slide off the point. Hitting a big needle with your hook can damage it. You can use 400-600 grit abrasive paper to clean it up. Your hook has a needle guard that is a curved piece of metal attached to the hook body, below the point. When your hook point is centered on the needle, push your needle towards your hook. If the hook point runs into the needle, bend this guard out with a screwdriver until it prevents the hook point from hitting the needle. This will protect your expensive hook. I've attached a picture of your hook so you can see this. If your feed dawgs are too high, it creates "backfeeding", which will make your material move toward the front of the machine slightly with each stitch. Try lowering your feed dawgs to the point that when they rise above the plate, they are moving straight up or towards the rear of the machine. Never should they move toward the front unless your machine has a reverse. I know this is a lot of information, but it sounds like you need to start somewhere. Have fun!

Opereator ineptitude...heh..that's a new one. In the factory, I've always called that operator error. I'm glad you're getting more comfortable with your machine. Over time, you'll learn that adjusting your tension is almost automatic. When I adjust tension, I go by pulling on the thread before you thread your needle. I have a few machines that are extremely sensative to tension (a keyhole buttonhole machine used in jeans production) that I also use whiteout on. More often than not, I change the tension enough to make something change that I can see. On your particular machine, if you're near the capacity with thickness and thread size, loosening your bobbin tension will allow your needle thread to pull up the stitch tighter, compensating that you could be over capacity some. This is especially true of leather. Wooven fabric not so much. Ok, I'm rambling. Have fun! Regards, Eric

Oh, and your thread breakage is likely related to the fact that you're not setting the stitch. There are loops left over from your previous stitch and the hook is simply coming around for the next stitch and the loop from your previous stitch is still there, so it grabs them both. This is characterized by a definate "snap" of of your top thread. Once you get your tension adjusted and the loops are pulled up properly, your thread will likely quit breaking. Most of all, have fun and don't get discouraged! Regards, Eric

Loosen your bobbin tension, and crank down your top tension. I've edited your pic to show how to rethread the guide before the disk. Also, loosen screw "A" and move the thread guide as close to your tension discs as you can without touching. This will help keep your disks from spitting out your thread, as will the way it's wrapped shown by my red editing. It doesn't show in your picture, but also on the thread guide on top of the machine, wrap your thread in a counter-clockwise manner as well. Regards, Eric

The 153 series are workhorses designed after the Singer 111 and 211's. Difference of course being it's a cylinder machine. Great for hemming a pair of jeans and getting in tight places. You can build a flatbed adapter to make it easier for some stuff, but most people adapt to what they have. Parts are readily available and everyone has copied the design so you know it's good. They do have some offset gears that can introduce some slop, but the nice thing about a verticle hook machine is they'll still sew with a ton of slop if you set them right. The machine should have good resale value as well. Have fun! Regards, Eric

You've come a long way there Dave. It's really nice once you get a clear picture of how everything has to work together. Most rewarding. Regards, Eric

The spring gizmo is a cutter indeed and we still use that style in the factory, usually on chainstitch and coverstitch machines. Most of our lockstitch machines have underbed thread trimmers. From a production standpoint, those cutters are efficient if sharp. Still faster than reaching back with snips. Kind of a neat find on that old Singer. Regards, Eric

If that straight line is on the bottom of your fabric, you need to loosen your bobbin tension. Your bobbin tension should not be maxed out. If it is, then you have no adjustment for your top tension. If when you pull the bobbin tension and it's really tight, loosen it up and readjust the top to balance the stitch. As for the "wandering" in the fabric, you're going to get that with heavy woven fabric such as canvas. The needle is actually jumping back and forth between your warp or weft threads. You can try a larger needle and larger thread. For canvas, 5 stitches per inch looks decent. Same for leather. Generally, the lighter the material, the shorter the stitch length. For denim jeans, we use 8 spi as a starting point. Regards, Eric

Make sure you have enough oil in the pan to submerge the pump intake screen. You'll see it dripping when you tip the machine back. If this machine hasn't been used much recently, the wicks that transport the oil through the head will need some time to saturate. There is no way a dealer by hand oiling the machine can do what the wicks will do. Wiz is right about running the machine at higher rpms to get the pump working. What the dealer should have done was fill the oil pan, remove or lift the presser foot and run the machine at a higher rpm to get the pump going strong. Don't worry about damaging the machine until your oil gets circulated. These pumps will never "gush", but you'll see it in the sight glass easy enough. The bearings in these old Singers are about bulletproof, so no worries. You'll love the versatility of the machine. We bought them originally to run quilt lines on down jackets and vests. They sew nylon, tricot, polyester, lightweight leathers and suedes, cottons, about anything up to 1/4". That's 1/4" woven, not leather. You'll have no trouble sewing wallets and liners though, I've done it. These machines are very adjustable. They will handle thread down to about 27 tex for tricot and netting. We still use these machines to train new operators how to use a clutch motor. They use them for a few weeks until we put them on our 5410's. If you need any help at all, I know these machines really well. Honestly, you've covered most of your needs up to the point you need a walking foot machine. Have fun! Regards, Eric

Glad it work out for you Tom. I'm now wondering if the needle bar I sent was actually for a 300W. In any event, used needle bars make really good leather punches. Just grind the open end sharp, beveling it towards the center, then use a Dremel to cut a slot for cleanout purposes. Oh, and thanks for the coffee! Regards, Eric

Our company produces tactical gear for the DOD as well as private companies. The majority of the machines we use are Juki 5410's. They are a needle feed clone of the sturdy Singer 211 series. We sew heavy webbing without walking feet, but do use an automatic bartack machine for reinforcing. Both of the items in your pics could be easily sewn on the Juki 5410. If you want to spend less, there are a lot of Singer 211's out there. Most have been surplused from factories that have closed. We have about 50 of them. Easy to use and easy to maintain. They are real workhorses. The old model is the Singer 111 series. They are from the 50's. We still use the double needle version, the 112. They go forever. As for supplies, there are a lot of places online to purchase the items you need. If you get a resale permit and register your business, it will open more sources at better prices. We purchase from many sources, but usually the companies we deal with have minimum order quantities, usually more than 500. Google around the net, you'll find lots of sources. If you need something specific, let me know and perhaps I can source it for you. Have fun! Regards, Eric

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The one thing I'd check on this machine is the point on the hook. Slide open the cover plate and rotate the handwheel around until you can get a finger on the hook point. Be sure and do this with the machine off. The hook should be sharp and prick your finger. It's ok if there is a little burr on the end, that's somewhat normal for these vertical hook machines. You can easily keep that cleaned up with some 600 grit emery paper. The tip of the hook should be pointed, not flat. Other than that, if it sews well, I think it's a decent deal. There's nothing wrong with learning how to sew with a standard clutch motor. It's like driving on snow, feather the pedal and in no time you'll be doing fine. At some point you may want a speed reducer (you can build one fairly cheap) or invest in a servo motor. Parts are readily available for that machine and they're easy to maintain and repair. Have fun! Regards, Eric

I live in the Spokane Valley and would be more than willing to take a look at it for you. Send me a private message if you like. Regards, Eric

A couple thing come to mind in regards to your issues. First off, to get your bobbin into your tension, drop your bobbin in so that when you pull on the thread it turns the bobbin counter clockwise. Guide the thread down through the slot and let it sit there. Thread your needle and hold onto it as you rotate the handwheel in the operating direction. Your hook will pick up your needle thread, wrap it around the hook and pick up the bobbin thread. At this point, tuck the bobbin thread down as you pull the needle thread up. After you have the the bobbin thread pulled up, place your finger on the bobbin and give it resistance as you pull on the bobbin thread. This should guide the thread into the tension. It's common on vertical hook machines to have to hold both threads as you begin to sew. As for the the needle thread wrapping around the hook, thread your needle and place some material under the foot, leaving access to the cover plate to the hook. Make some stitches and watch the movement of the needle thread. As the needle decends, the hook will rotate towards it, the point of the hook will go into the loop as the needle just begins to rise. The hook will carry the thread around the hook, wrap around the bobbin case and head for the small tab that sits in the notch of the throat plate. The latch opener pulls that little tab open far enough to allow the needle thread to complete it's travel and set the stitch. If it gets caught, you'll get large loops on the bottom. If that happens, your hook will make a big mess. Adjust the latch opener to make this opening action wider. Too wide and it will cause the tab on the bobbin basket to hit the opposite side of the plate. It's common to have to adjust this setting when moving up in thread size. The other thing that will cause your needle thread to wrap is your hook timing is picking up your needle thread too early and coming around and catching the same loop twice. You should be able to observe which condition you have, perhaps both. Have fun! Regards, Eric

We're currently making jeans in the factory and have made Levi's in the past before they took all their production out of the country. For denim we use polyester core, cotton wrap thread in size 60. Some companies spec size 80, both with be plenty strong. Have fun! Regards, Eric

Cool! Did the tech adjust the motor and belt as well? Regards, Eric

Here you go Steve. The plates are the same size and are both riveted to the casting. I've heard of some folks taking the blue Juki decals off and putting them on clones. I guess another good reason to go through a reputable dealer if you're unsure. Regards, Eric

I'll post a pic tommorow night of each of the country of origin for my two double needle Juki's. Easy enough to compare. Regards, Eric

The 211g151 doesn't have a walking foot. It's a strong compound feed machine, but won't handle what you're looking for. Regards, Eric

I wouldn't invest much if any money into that machine. That being said, free is a really good price! It would be good for sewing very light suede or lining material. Some observations from your pictures. The table is broken down because if you look at the photo of the motor, the belt adjusting nut is not tensioning the belt properly. If it's been that way for a while, the weight of the motor and the pressure increase during operation are responsible for the table breakdown. The table is easy to adjust how the head sits by cutting some shims from masonite and gluing them in the corners under where the machine is sitting below the table. That's pretty cheap. The motor weight should be supported by the lower nut with about 1" deflection of the belt. There should be a nut above the motor mount as well to lock the motor in place. If you want to slow the machine down, get the smallest pulley for the motor you can find. Also, the rod that goes down to the pedal (pittman rod) should be moved out to the end of the lever on the bottom of the motor. This will give you much more control. This would be a good machine to learn to sew with a clutch motor since you don't need the increased torque or decrease in heat from really light leather. The weight of the motor from what your picture shows is putting undue stress on the main top shaft bearing. The rust could also be an indication of lack of oil. I'd use this machine with some minor adjustments and then sell it when you want to upgrade. When things are free, you may as well get some use out of it. In my opinion, if you invested $500 in upgrading the motor, you'd still have a $400 machine. Above all, have fun! Regards, Eric

I can't really speak for the Cobra machines. I have worked on lots of Juki's. I do know that the Juki's made in Japan are superior to the Chinese. Juki has had to contract machines to be made in China due to price point pressure. I have 2 identical models of Juki double needle machines. The older one (6 years) was made in Japan. The one I bought 6 months ago was made in China. At least in our factory setting, with regular maintenance but with 40 hours a week of hard use, the Japan machine will outlive the China one by a long shot. While the Chinese have made strides in their machining abilities, they lag well behind the models made in Japan. The difference shows up in the tolerances of the bearing stays, bushings, the shafts, needle bars and gears. It will translate to excessive play which simply can't be compensated for with adjustment. That aside, for home shop use, the Chinese machines should give good service if taken care of. I personally wouldn't buy a China made machine except from a dealer offering support. Just my 2 cents worth. Regards, Eric

There's a lot to be said for new Steve, especially when there's not that much difference in price. Support is a huge issue. That and you don't know the history of a used machine. New hooks can run $200-$400 depending on generic or original, and that's assuming you can change it yourself. If you buy a used machine from a dealer, you will get some level of support. From a private party, not so much. I know the dealers here seem more than generous with their support as word of mouth means a lot. Regards, Eric