Cletonius

Thank you Eric. I managed to get the thread out and reinstall the bobbin case without much issue. I downloaded a pdf of the service book. Having better drawings of the assembly helped me a lot. I took advantage of having everything apart and oiled everything before reassembly. I still have to put the feed dogs, feet, and needle back together to before I find out if it works again. Thanks again for all the help guys!

Hi Steve, the gib screws are the ones inside the bobbin case? (At 12:00 in the pic)

That's the lock the holds the bobbin in the case, I left it up after removing the bobbin.

No, the thread was wrapped around it. I removed a few inches already, that little tag is stuck really well though. Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Hello, I have a singer 211g166 and it jammed up last night. It was my fault, my thread end got taken down into the bobbin works. I managed to remove most of the stuck thread but have one piece stuck under the bobbin case I can't get to. I also noticed that now the ear on the rotating part of the bobbin works gets stuck on the finger thing in the foreground. I got up and walked away last night because I didn't want to haphazardly remove pieces and break something. I would appreciate any points in the right direction, help identifying the names of he parts, and a good exploded diagram of the machine. I've heard there are good service manuals on the web, is there a preferred place to get them? Here's the pic:

Picked up the 211g166, thanks everyone for the help!

PM sent

I came across a gently used singer 211g166 with table, servo motor, and a big box of feet/bobbins for $1000 picked up. Was serviced before being put up for sale. I think its a pretty good deal, and was planning to offer somewhere around $800. Seems like most other machines in this range go for about $750 freshly refurbished. What's something like this worth?

Can you actually drink from that cup? Water only?

Ok, thank you. I may end up with a consew just based on parts cost/availability

What about the Pfaff 145? I found one locally in working order with a clutch motor for $750. I have arranged to check it out because I've read that this is a good machine. However I have also read that parts are prohibitively expensive. Is this true? Should I avoid it or would this be preferable to any of the others mentioned?

Great, thanks! Anything I should be on the lookout for when checking these out? If I get one from a dealer I know it'll work but it would be nice to save a few bucks and go private party, I just don't want to get burned. I haven't ever used one of these so I don't known how to set it up or what to check.

Edit: Of the choices I mentioned in the OP, is there a compelling reason to choose or not choose a specific machine? I would really like the consew 206 but have found numerous 226 and 255 models on Craigslist in the $500-700 range. What differences are there besides bobbin loading? Would the nakjima 280L be comparable? Sorry to ask so many questions, I feel like I'm going cross eyed reading all the specification lists.

Sounds like I would be better off just using a smaller thread. Will 210 be suitable for topstitching details into seats? I don't want to get something suited for only large threads and limit the type of work I can do.

First post, sorry to go through this for the millionth time but I need some help. I am starting out in upholstery and will be working with leather for automotive applications. I am considering the consew 206rb, 226, 255, singer 111, chandler 406, and the tech sew 106. They all look to be roughly equivalent, and since there isn't a review website for industrial equipment... All of these machines say that they support thread sizes up to about 210. I would like to use a 270 bonded nylon for top stitching, will these machines handle it? They all state up to a size 24 needle so I'm thinking maybe, but I dont want to break anything. I have the thread and have been hand sewing with it because my commercial machine won't do it. I want to be sure the machine I buy will do what I need. I have about $1k to spend and have found a bunch of these machines within a 2 hour drive on Craigslist in the $500-$900 range. I'm in Chicago and have no preference dealer/private party. Sorry if this is long winded, I would really appreciate any help I can get. Thanks in advance!