Undeadzombiehunter

I feel your pain, a decent press is worth its weight in gold. I would love a heritage press from weaver but at $700 plus shipping to australia would be too much. I bought an vintage fly press and some dies from the interweb and machined them down to fit and tapped the dies to fit. But I have a lathe. I ended up making some additional dies. Pic attached I doubt you will have any joy using a press on solid copper rivets, they need peening or setting with a tool and hammer. Cheers, Tony

I suggest it needs a service. How hard is the wheel to turn when to notch in the button? It should be quite easy. If it is so hard as to trip the clutch, then you have a seized part. If it is easy to turn the wheel when the button in pressed the the clutch might be the problem. Does the clutch ever open when sewing? Send it to a mech. Tony

Take the 206. That price for a new 206 is good. I would take the Consew any day. Tony

Steve, they look great. Nice and consistent engineering. You are inspiring me to get into the workshop and make a drop down sewing guide. Btw, remember that french swing press i bought. It came up a treat with a cleanup and paint. I bought a set of dies, double cap rivet and a set of four snaps. They all needed the anvil turning down to fit, and the dies all needed shorting, turning down and threading to 5/16 24 tpi. They were all great, all but one which was over hardened in the factory and i could not cut it. So. I just turned up a replacement and they are all setting much better then the old hammer and hope method. Sorry don't plan on hijacking the thread. Tony

I really like the result, nicely done. Just as well you don't have bedazzeller set. That result would have been a bit over the top. Tony

Consew 226

I doubt it. I am sure Sizes don't simply increase in every dimension proportionally. Tony

I would disassemble the jacket and trace them on to paper to make the pattern. Make sure there is plenty of paper around the drawn pattern to allow the re-drafting. If there are panels that are cut up or damaged, simply lay them flat and glue a layer of some stiff fabric over it to give the integrity required. Then using another jacket than fits you, lay the pattern pieces over your fitting jacket and extrapolate the changes by drawing around the pattern those areas that need correction. Most jacket etc, have common pieces, front left, front right, yoke, sleeves etc. Note: be wary of the right and wrong sides, and leave sufficient seam allowance around the actual part size. I have done this once, on a simpler garment and it worked well. Tony

Very nice job. The stitching looks great and the design beautifully executed. The leather selection, design features and stitching color work very nicely together. Are the two dorsal seams a deliberate feature or a necessity due the the size of or shape of the hide? Either way it works. What leather is it? Tony

Very nice, clean and precise work. Hand stitched I assume. I need one of those axe head covers, very tempting. What color dye did you use on the axe head covers? Tony

While I am very happy with my seiko stw-8b (consew 226) i want to keep it that way. In side the machine, and I mean right up inside is a lot of old lint and gunk. I assume it would be a good idea to clean this out, but just cant figure how? It almost needs a hose out. I have heard of older machines being soaked in kero, but not sure about the later models. And know that after whatever i do it would need a good re-oil. I do want to pull the machine apart if it can be avoided. Any ideas. Tony

I love my 226, and as long as you take it easy it can sew #277 thread, just watch the bobbin, as it does not hold a lot of heavy thread so just keep an eye on it with long runs. Since the machine is such a steal, once you are certain all is right with it, I would fit a servo motor. Much easier to control than a clutch, and while you can learn to control a clutch motor, i can get 1/2 stitch level of control. I fit a heavy foot plate and feed dog, which has a larger hole in it which is more forgiving when dealing with leather and the inevitable needle bending. This does however present a blackhole that can suck in very light weight fabric, but this is not a machine for sewing silk. I really like mine as you might have guessed.

Why not use a leather for the hinge? It is strong, flexible and leather.

You misunderstand me, where do you sell your trays? I would love to buy one

Just to lcose tjis out, I did sell the juki, within 24 hours of posting on gumtree, for $600. So,back to one machine and so far so great. Tony