LewSchiller

Yeah - probably not a good idea

It does reduce the voltage...and my short test was not done under any significant load.

After reading as much as I could about machines and how to select the right one for the job and why one shouldn't buy anything that isn't correct for the task and working properly at that I did what, apparently, a lot of people do...I bought the least expensive walking foot machine I could find on Craigslist. Now, like most, apparently, I'll try to make it do what I want to get done. Hopefully I haven't gone too far astray. That machine is an Artisan 797-2 AB that has timing problems - per the seller - and upon my sitting down at it didn't want to go into reverse. Not that I knew exactly how to do that. The seller bought it from an Uncle who had used it since new in an upholstery business. I'm going on faith that this provenance is true - I have no reason to think it's not. I have the owners manual which does address issues like timing. Should I attempt repair myself or pack it off to my local commercial machine shop? (Ralph's in Denver) I'm reasonably mechanically adept but sewing machines are new to me. Are timing issues relatively straightforward or would this have an end result somewhat akin to my taking dad's watch apart when I was 11 years old - if you know what I mean? My reason for wanting to do it myself is to learn the machine and to reduce the end out cost of the machine. If it does what I want it to do I'd rather spend the money on a servo motor. The reason for taking it in is that it would not only be repaired but also "tuned" and set-up to best possible for my projects. I only paid $200 for it so it's hard for me to imagine that I'll be upside down in either case.

I did a search and didn't come up with anything so thought I'd ask. I have a Variac and just now tried it out on a clutch motor machine. The Variac was able to reduce the motor speed and in turn that reduced the machine speed at the lowest point of operation with the foot control. I found it interesting that there aren't any threads or comments on the subject. Is there a reason why this method wouldn't work in practice? This would be for home production - not heavy shop use. One concern could be that the cooling fan on the motor would be reduced in speed...but then the motor shouldn't be generating as much heat. Thanks! Lew