suzelle

Hey, nice job so far! Hope you are healing well after your surgery! Sewing machines - good therapy!!!

Curious, what what you consider a real test? lol

Hockeymender, Looks like you scored! I was also curious and looked up the motor, yes they are a bit more expensive than others that look similar. Hope it works for you, keep us posted!

Patria, Thanks so much! Very helpful. Good to know it can handle the v92 threads! I'd be sewing the same type of items you had sewn.

Nice machine there! Sorry it was damaged. I have gotten them that way before! Had one sent to me that was bouncing around in a box with styrofoam peanuts. An old 201k with it's dome shaped wooden carrier. Smashed to smitherines.

Patria, Thank you so much for that information. Okay, I am on the right track. Was also considering a Brother TZ1, as you mentioned. Have no idea regarding how smooth it sews, oh but I do love one that is smooth! Yes, the Pfaff 138 is smooth as you mentioned and the one I had did do only a 4mm wide zig zag. They are available up to 6mm wide, although rare is what I have learned by asking questions here. Patria, if you have a Brother TZ1 b652, can you tell me if it will sew up to v92 weight thread? Also (if you have one) how much does it weigh approx? Looks like a standard home or domestic size machine with Industrial design. Thanks so much!

Thanks Chayse! I think if I cannot find a Singer 20U or clone, I'll probably get another Pfaff 138, or a Chandler or Bernina 217. Both of those will do the zig zag stitch I am after, but they are bigger and heavier so not my first choice. Have had a few opportunities to buy in the $200-$300 range, but couldn't do it when they were available. Someday!

Chayse, thanks for verifying you can easily lift and move your 20U - also, great to know you use the v69 pretty regularly. I have a Customer I sew a lot of cordura for and hoping to use it on that type of fabric as well! Good luck on your truck interior!!! Hope you post pics of that, would love to see what you do as I'm going to do my own truck interior one day. I have a not so old Ford Ranger that just got new transmission. Have owned it since new, my favorite vehicle of all time, I think! It deserves a new interior! LeeCopp- Haha, yes thanks for that advice! Must remember to keep sewing machines away from your toes, and off your nose! I pray each time I pick one up that all my body parts will remain as they were before I picked one up. There is new meaning to Pumping Iron! Dikman, Yeah I think you are right, Most of the walking foots are pretty beefy. But I have to say, I think my most Recent Antique Singer (the 96-10) is as heavy as one of those walking foot machines. It does not have a walking foot, but it would win I ever dropped it or tripped while carrying it. Had to carry it in the rain the other day. Yikes!

Nice looking machine there! The table appears to be in nice condition too!

Chayse, Thank you so much. An approximate is fine, that's about what I was looking for. I had hoped that it weighed about the same as an old Singer 15-91 or 201 domestic. Have never owned one of those, but looking for something fairly light weight that I can lift out of the table and store on shelf until needed for zig zag, v69 thread, uniform alterations, lighter weight leathers and canvas, that type of thing. Again, thank you!

I've been wanting to someday buy a Singer 20U without the table &motor, but wanted to know approx. what the machine would weight. Anyone have a clue? Thank you!

Thanks for sharing this, very helpful!

I was looking at the photos of your machine and I think I see what your talking about. You are very inventive! Very cool that you are fabricating your own part! Can't wait to see what you come up with, please post that and I'll have a look back at the machine you are working on. May the Sewing Gods be with you!

By the way, I'm considering just finding a new home for this machine, and sending if off with table, motor, and all. I had the joy of getting it running again. This really is a hobby for me to get a good old machine running again.

dikman, You got that right! Sewing machine crazies in my family! Myself, I would have used that $1,000.00 to buy some more machines. The trick for me is not to keep them all. Just have fun, fix and learn, and move up. Well good, you got that machine oiled and it is stitching. That's great. With the tension issue, are you talking about a tension assembly? Or just the spring? If so, I bet you could fix that, I've found those parts and repaired before. Don't give up. If you need the whole assembly, there is a little screw (usually) to the right of the tension disk that you would loosen, then you can pull out the whole assembly. Its a bit tricky getting the replacement one in, but with some noodling around, you can do it! However, if you hate the paint and don't care to strip it and/or repaint it now, maybe you can think about it a while and come back to it someday when you feel less disgusted. A new day can change everything! Is the part #44118 ??? If so, there are quite a few on EBAY, found on Amazon too. Would work for a Class 31 machine, and some others. A pretty generic part. Hope that helps. Oh, here is a good Seller I have purchased from in past who has that part, if it is the one you need. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINGER-SEWING-MACHINE-MODEL-31-Class-44-Class-THREAD-TENSION-ASSEMBLY-31-15/291234422412?_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985&_trkparms=aid%3D777003%26algo%3DDISCL.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131230161411%26meid%3D7f96b9c9cbb24c2f87aa2bd7364a7692%26pid%3D100012%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D291972186688 It may be all you need is the spring? I think "beehive" spring, right? Oops, nope, that is probably not beehive spring, but maybe this (same seller) http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SINGER-SEWING-MACHINE-31-15-THREAD-TENSION-CHECK-SPRING-43946-/291680372608?hash=item43e9814780:g:ORYAAOSwzaJX5TkN Above says it is for the 31-15, so I would think for your 31-20 too? In the past, I replaced a tension assembly for a 31-15 and remember it didn't fit in the hole very well on the old machine. All I had to do was sand the inside of the opening a bit with some fine sand paper, then the thing went right in. Worked perfectly. It was a new part, not a used part. Sometimes the new parts don't fit at all, or you can make them work (maybe!). Some of the parts I got new for that machine didn't work, so I paired them with old parts when I could. Lucky I got that one running because it need parts in the bobbin race too - the entire assembly or whatchamacallit.

dikman, Oh goodness, I know what you mean about feeling bad for the poor machine! You know it can be useful and it's such a shame to not give it a useful existence! These old machines are actually pretty easy to fix as long as most of the parts are there and they haven't been too abused. About the color, I do like the classic black machines with the gold decals, but I'm really not opposed to the idea of giving them a different paint job, that is if I had received one that was already painted. I've added some fun decals before and would do that again! So just enjoy the fun of it. My Sis spent $1,000.00 to have a guy paint an old Singer Featherweight RED!!! Actually, it was more like maroon. She loves that thing!

Update: I had oiled the machine when I last posted about it. Then I stuck it on the shelf and waited for the part to come in. At last, the part arrived. Pulled the machine off the shelf and threaded it up with what I could find in the small bag of things that came with it. There were a few bobbins and several packs of needles. I am not sure what thickness the thread was, but it was cotton for sure, felt about the thickness of v92 that I normally use, and I felt it was maybe a bit too thick for the machine, but what previous owner was using. So, I tried it out! She sews!!! However, it feels like it is binding a bit when the needle comes down into the hook area. I After a couple of adjustments though, no loopies, it sews like a good old Singer should! Yay! When I have more time, I will set her in her base and give it a go with the motor and foot pedal. My goal is not to put a lot of money into this machine, but just use it if it works well and it's easy to fix. So far it is! The thread guide (post) in the last photo is kind of funky. It's actually too big for the hole and sinks down into the machine so far you can barely see it. I'll have to fix that, or get the right thread guide for it. I am not sure yet if the machine is a keeper, but I know the table will be!

dikman, great little modification you made on the handwheel!

For light leather & linings, I would think you could get away with a teflon foot on a Pfaff 130?? The zigzag feature would be great for the linings too. That's what I would do anyhow! Or perhaps an older Adler machine, like a 187?

Okay Dikman, Thanks! Okay, the big lever, duh! Got fixeted on the silver button thing, it's cute! Hey, look at this nice table: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINGER-industrial-commercial-sewing-machine-31-15-TABLE-WITH-MOTOR-ONLY-/262867629130?hash=item3d3421b44a:g:qOEAAOSw4DJYfDRs I think it's a steal at just under $100, located in "Mechanicsburg" Pennsylvania. Appropriate! It's a lovely table design, old Commercial iron table, straight leg design. Good thing I don't live there, I'd have to swing on over and pick it up!

Trevor, I have seen these free manuals and used them, but get busy sometimes so you made it very easy for me to find manuals right hear on the leatherworker forum, Yay! It can take a while hunting around, so a real time saver. I just used the 96-10 manual you posted to figure out where a part goes on my newest Old Singer. Thank you!

Brianm, Thanks a bunch! Yeah, I guess that is what I'm going for, waterproof! I know she'll get dirt all over those Chaps and I want her to be able to get them cleaned up again. I'm glad that "neatsfoot" stuff you mentioned adds some hardness to the leather, that is also something I was concerned about, having it too soft and stretchy for chaps. I've examined a few pairs of chaps and have seen everything from soft and smooth to fairly stiff chaps. I have a brother who is a blacksmith and he wears an apron that appears to be made from Nubuck leather. Really appreciate the advice of those more experienced than myself in leather work. Have only altered & repaired leather jackets and other leather items through the years, but have not yet designed and sewn anything of my in leather. I regularly apply leather patches and fabric patches to jackets and things, so I do have the right kind of needles and machine for that anyhow. I'm not uncomfortable sewing on leather, I do quite a few very large embroidery pieces on leather, up to 17" wide for Customers, airplane bulkheads and interiors and car interiors. I charge double for the leather jobs, they just take more time, always on panels supplied by Clients. Some leathers seem very stretch compared to others, I think that is one of my biggest challenges when doing embroidery work with lots of thread coverage. It's very important to make sure you've got a good stabilizer and that the piece does not get over punched, or get wavy in the hoop when you have a lot of fill. That can really throw of your design. There are a lot of other things to watch out for too, problems I don't encounter when embroidering on fabrics. So I've learned some things about leather and how it feels under the machine, be it my commercial embroidery machines, or the big Mama, Pfaff(alina) my 545. LOL! I have a nice assortment of needles for leather that I inherited when I bought the Pfaff. I think that I'm going to enjoy sewing on leather more than I do embroidering on it! Might not be as profitable, but I don't care about that right now. I'm just going to have some fun. Thanks so much for the help!

Stelmackr, Great advice, thank you! That is exactly what I tell people when I teach! I'm not a teacher by profession, but there are those friends and relatives who always ask me to show them how to do something. Got to apply that advice to myself!

Free! Well you have to put a little bit of $ into that one then! The shape of the reverse lever is is different, looks like a silver button. Do you push it in to go reverse, or does it move up and down in a slot? I've seen those in pictures of machines and wondered about how they work.