gottaknow

First, a word about the gears on the hook and lower shaft. Even with brand new gears on both, you'll get a little play. The gear obviously on the lower shaft is a bigger challenge to change, the one on the hook shaft is easy. However. If you have moved the gear on the lower shaft left and right to change the timing slightly, the gear would much rather be centered in relation to the hook gear. Too much either way, and you get a bind or excess slop. I very much doubt those gears are causing an issue. When I set hook timing, I push the hook counter-clockwise. That's the position where your hook timing will actually be while sewing. It doesn't matter if the hook moves 1/8" clockwise, set your timing with the play taken out in the counter-clockwise position. As for your safety clutch. Those can be adjusted. I'll bring one home tommorow and go over the adjustment with you here. A word about the aftermarket timing belts. For the most part, they suck. I purchased 6 belts for my Singer 300W's. (a beastly chainstich machine) They were sloppier than the belts I was replacing. To determine where the most play is, clamp a pair of vise grips on the lower shaft anywhere it's clear, with the needle bar up. I use a shop towell to pad the shaft. With the machine tipped back, hold the vise grips against the bottom edge of the casting. By rocking the handwheel back and forth, this will tell you how much of your play is in the belt and the safety clutch/lower timing belt gear. With the vise grips in place, grab your hook and rotate it back and forth. This will isolate the play so you can make a wise choice if either one's excessive. The more you become familiar with the various components, the easier it is to trouble shoot. As a note, your safety clutch shouldn't have much play if any. Pay close attention to that while holding the vise grips and rocking the handwheel. Regards, Eric

A worn timing belt will create play in the hook. Regards, Eric

Color me crazy, but in my experience, when your needle thread is slack or tight at the wrong time, your top and bottom shaft timing could be off 1 tooth. Even different thread shouldn't produce what I understand you're saying is happening. If I get time at work tommorow, I'll take a video of the relationship between the take up lever, the path of the thread, the latch opener etc. Having apprenticed several mechanics over the years, they all hit a wall (or several) on a machine. I would always tell them that "The machine you're looking at has the ability to sew correctly. It's like a puzzle. If you have a piece in the wrong place, even though it seems to fit at the time, when you get to the end of putting the puzzle together, it won't fit." You can have certain things off a bit, and the machine will sew somewhat. It won't be consistent however and will be "touchy". On an industrial machine in a factory, a machine like I've described gets taken out of service and replaced with a back-up until the correct adjustments are made. You've made a tremendous amount of progress in your knowledge of the machine. If you were my apprentice, I'd sit you in the shop with the machine and have you start from the beginning, Everytime you take a machine apart, you learn something. I still do. The bottom line is this Dave. If you can't get your machine working to your satisfaction, you can ship it to me, paying the freight both ways. I'll take it to my shop, put it in a table and set the entire machine. I will take pictures and videos as I go and make them available to this forum. I won't charge anything for my time as it will help kick off my project of providing training material. The freight both ways will likely be less than if you take it to be repaired somewhere. Just throwing the offer out there. As for hijacking this thread, I think there are so many 111 and 211 clones out there that your trials are well worth the bandwidth and may help others. Regards, Eric

You need to back up some Dave and set your hook timing back to what I call neutral. When the needle bar has risen 3/32", the point of the hook should be centered on the needle. I usually set the hook centered into the "scarf" of the needle, the very center of the dreppression. If your machine was 180 degrees out it wouldn't sew. Once you get your timing back to neutral, double check your latch opener. Remember, you want it to pull the basket just far enough open to allow the thread to pass the little tab without pinching. The felt for the bobbin runs up the center of the hook shaft. Don't worry too much about because you still have to oil the basket each time you use the machine of if it's been sitting for a while. Oh, and if your throat plate is worn out, the tab of the basket will jump out. Also, turn your material with your needle all the way down. Remember way back in this thread when I said to always keep in mind what your loop is doing. When your needle is all the way down, there is no loop. You turn your fabric, the needle bar starts to rise, forming the loop for the hook. If your needle bar has already began to rise, you can move your loop sideways, twist it around the needle, have the needle descend through the loop, breaking your thread and so on. Regards, Eric

Hi Mike, and welcome. The 211G151 is one of the best machines Singer built. It's basic design has been the footprint for many clones (copycats). It is a compound feed machine, meaning the needle bar and feed dogs move together to help feed heavier fabrics through the machine. It will sew light and less dense medium weight leather. Keep in mind this particular 211 doesn't have a walking foot that would help with the heavier leathers. These machines are from the 60's and were widely used in factories. Parts are readily available. The heads and tables are available for cheap, most will need a 120 volt motor conversion unless it's already been changed. You can certainly use a new servo motor and speed reducer. I would pay no more than $250 for one that was in good shape and sewing. More if the the motor had been changed from the original Singer 220 3 phase unit. I have 50 211's in storage in the factory, and we still use them for specific tasks. Regards, Eric

Have you oiled the bobbin basket since you began sewing? If not, I'd start with that. The bobbin basket needs lubed on the side where the hook rotates around it. If not, it will drag and make your latch opener adjustment ineffective. It needs just one drop each day you sew. Set the tip of your oil can anywhere along the flat curved piece with the 3 tiny screws in it that retains the basket. That way you can't miss. I'd start with that. Regards, Eric

Exactly. For seam sewing, I use a mounted edge guide or an adjustable drop guide. The exception is when we do GoreTex and we join using a 1/4" seam which is narrower than normal since we go back and seam seal it with 1" tape. They do however make whatever topstitching you may do look very nice. Regards, Eric

I think the dealers here are very generous with their information. I don't have a "dog in the fight" so to speak since I'm not a dealer. I think their willingness to help is a great asset to this site. In return of course, there can be financial gain for them. That's the great thing about a free site that is supported by sponsors. As consumers, we're free to choose who to do business with based on good information that's presented. I have bought some products from a sponsor here and been very satisfied. I've seen some sites where the sponsors openly argue in the forums. Not cool. I've only seen a few subtle hints here and reminders to give all the sponsors a look see. If I were in the market for a machine, there's easily enough information here to make a good choice. Since most people don't have ready access to a journeyman mechanic, you can't beat a dealer with good support. I simply love helping people with their machines and despise so called industrial mechanics who charge money and don't solve problems. I have during my career apprenticed several mechanics. It takes five years in a factory setting. As Darren pointed out, there's not many of us factory guys around anymore. My long term goal is to consolidate my teaching experience and provide it to people in a manner they can apply to their machines. When I retire from the factory setting, I'd like to tour this great country with my wife in a motorhome. It's very likely I'll supplement my income with machine repair. Regards, Eric

We use them extensively in the factory. They work well for following an edge between 1/16" and 1/4" for topstitching. They come in right side and left side. You order them according to what side of the the foot you want the guide on. For example an 1/8R refers to an 1/8" guide that will give you straight topstitching on the right side of your foot. The measurement is from the center of your needle. If you order them for a compound feed machine (the 111), get the style that has the slot cut all the way out the front of the foot or you'll need to do it with a Dremel. You can get hinged and non-hinged guide feet. I prefer the hinged ones as they'll walk over seams easier. If the guide is fixed, bear in mind it extends below the main part of the foot. On thick material, this is fine, however if you topstitch thinner material, you may get some material "flagging" from the material not being held firmly to the feed dogs and plate. This causes poor feeding and skipped stitches. Regards, Eric

I appreciate your point of view Bill. There are certainly times when the constant bombardment of advertising is wearing. It's at those times I personally retreat and take a grown up time out from all things electronic. On the other hand, I find the ads here to be appropriate for this forum. The sponsors aren't trying to sell us pharmacy products or other goods unrelated to this site. I have already purchased goods from a vendor here and have been very satisfied. Love your rant though. Regards, Eric

The 212G140 is a double needle compound feed. It doesn't have a walking foot. The 211G is the single needle version. So much so that many of the parts are interchangeable. The earlier series (I have one of each) 111 and 112 are black from the 50's. The machine feeds decent with the compound feed, but you'll want a walking foot for upholstery. You can certainly use the machine for a single needle, use the right needle because using left twist thread is the most common. The hook on the left actually untwists the thread a bit. The gauge sets are still available, I use them from 3/16 to 1 1/4". Regards, Eric

Ok, that's pretty funny. It could have been his head. Regards, Eric

When you start sewing, you'll want to hold the threads behind the foot as you begin to sew. You can let go after a few stitches have formed. This keeps your tail threads from getting sewn back into the stitch or making a mess. It sounds like you're really close. Regards, Eric

Nicely done Tom! You'll now be able to remove your material easily by releasing your tension. Your walking foot motion looks great as near as I can tell too. Nice bit of progress, and pies too! Happy Thanksgiving as well! Regards, Eric

I have to do something with 33 years of turning screwdrivers.

Not unusual. There's a spot on the thread path that's catching as it goes around the hook. Run a finger around the entire thread path. I use 1500 grit paper to polish. Check the little screws that are in various locations on the hook. You're getting closer! Regards, Eric

Factory starts sewing at 7am. I need a few hours of coffee drinking before I walk in the door and start turning screwdrivers.

You can clean up the hook in the machine starting with some 400 and then some 600. Fold a small piece of the emery in half several times and place it under the hook, pulling it towards the point of the hook. Do the same on the top. Do this with the 400 until the burr is gone, then polish a bit with the 600. The play you're likely feeling is the play in the bobbin basket, not the shaft of the hook. There's a sealed bearing that shaft goes through on the top of the hook saddle. They usually have very little play in them, even on older machines. I posted a video on another thread showing this play on a two needle machine. I'll post it here so you can see if this is where your play is at. Adjusting the lift of your foot is pretty straight forward and yeah, it's not lifting near enough to activate your tension release. Regards, Eric http://youtu.be/KMx2uIrYcSE

You can also go through just one hole on the very top vertical thread guide. Make sure there are no wraps anywhere from the cone to the top thread guide. You want your thread coming right off the center of the cone, straight up to the guide hole, then down to the first guide on the top of your machine. To remove your fabric, turn the handwheel until the takeup lever reaches the top and just begins to descend. Lift your foot all the way to release the tension, pull straight back. If your tension doesn't release, check the adjustment. There's a small pin that runs through the tension post, and releases your tension when your foots lifted. I can also tell from your still pic that your feed dogs and needle bar are going to have to be adjusted towards what I call the front of the machine, where the operator sits. That should resolve your issue. Regards, Eric

I edited your pic again Tom to correct my poor photoshop. You'll see that thread inside the guide now. I don't want to throw someone else off. I also show that it's ok to use only two hole going into your tension disks. Sometimes with stiff thread, you create too much back tension with too many guide holes and it doesn't allow you to adjust your tension the way you want. Almost every manual I've ever read will instruct you to set your needle and bobbin tension just tight enough to set a balanced stitch. If you start too tight, you've no where to go to pull up your stitches correctly, usually because you can't tighten the bobbin tension tight enough. I always start with my tensions loose and adjust from there. Regards, Eric

We'll get that resolved Tom. The process is pretty straight forward. You set your stitch length to zero, and measure between your needle bar and presser bar. There's a reference measurement you take to get it set. There's a clamp I showed earlier that allows you to move your needle bar back and forth, as well as centering the bar with the feed dogs which I think I showed earlier. You have to do this adjustment with the stitch length set on zero. I'm guessing you'll be moving both your needle bar and feed dogs towards the front of the machine in order to get the measurement you need so when you set your stitch length where you want it, it will clear. Regards, Eric

You've missed the guide on the way down to your needle. It's likely pinching where the guide's mounted. I reattched your pic so you could see it. My red line should go inside that guide, but I think you get the idea. Regards, Eric

...ok, aside from the advanced timing and your latch opener being too tight, your needle could be a bit small for your thread. You can increase your needle tension a bit and balance your bobbin tension accordingly. I would re-check your latch opener adjustment. You can open it wider as long as it doesn't hit the other side of the notch in the throat plate. After doing that and it's still breaking even with a larger needle, I'd say your hook timing is advanced too far. As I said earlier, I usually retard the timing on vertical hook machines. They seem to run with less issues. As for Tom's thread, this should all be applicable to his machine when the time comes. I'm sure he doesn't mind. Regards, Eric

The check spring isn't for pulling up the thread. Your timing may be advanced too much or you need to increase the latch opener, or both more later...

You're usually ok with plates and dogs, but things like hooks I get original. Seiko hooks are good, but nothing from China. With things like plates and dogs, I inspect each part and usually do some hand polishing. The thread path has to be smooth. Regards, Eric