Darren Brosowski

Don't get me wrong folks, I provide a lot of advice gratis and think nothing of it. The "problem" is when someone pretty much demads free help with their machine. I have had the odd email from customers of the guys mentioned above so of course I suggest they go back to the supplier as I know they will help. As Gregg suggested it is more likely that they bought something on ebay etc that looks like a Cowboy/Techsew/Whatever and think that as we sell something that loks like it we should provide endless help. The big killer is when they ask "You have this part on eBay - do you know where I can get it cheaper?". Two word answer to that question and one of the words starts with .........

Straight sewer with the most rediculus take up lever system EVER

These are repair machines which is why they are called patchers. For making shoes I would suggest the Singer 17/18, Seiko TE/TF, Pfaff 23/24 etc

The Seiko built 227 is probably the best quality as it was originally built but then it could be up to 30 years old and has been run to death in industry Between the Cowboy and Techsew it is more a matter of who is closest to offer ongoing support. Both are good dealers

The JUki i a standard straight sewer and not worth much. There are so many straight sewers around that $100 is all they are worth The 211g is a good machine. A late model Singer patcher is a great investment if you are going to do repairs or want to put patches on vests or jackets.

There is a needle plate for the 441 that does not use the feed dog. It would not be hard to do but nobody would pay the price - which is why Luberto went out of business

???? The motors originally asked about in this thread use a 15MM bore with 6mm key. China tends to use one standard and they do not do low volume specials

The Luberto is a modified needle feed machine. He took a very complicated method of building this machine

First question is inner or outer presser foot bar? In both cases you need to look for build up of old, hardened, oil that can cause issues. The outer presser foot has multiple linkages so pull the lot apart and clean them out. Look for any scoring of the metal and when you have it apart test the rotation of each part. I have found with some older machines that bolts have come loose and cross threaded. This causes parts to be out of alignment and jam up. The problem can be less than 0.25mm or 0.0020" but is enough to cause grief. Do not be scared of pulling it apart as it does not work now so you cannot make it any worse.

In theory most machines can do it The benefit of a 132k6 or 7 class is the pure rotating mass but it is only going to be of benefit with a larger diameter needle that has minimal deflection. In most production of car trim they used very light plywood so in most cases a 111 or 211 would do the job. It was only with heavier materials that a 132 or 144 was required.

Despite being based in Australia I get a few questions from members in North America and in most cases I point people to guys like Gregg, Bob, Steve or Ronnie that I think can help them out at a more reasonable cost. I also get lots of parts orders on eBay from the US and I a sure that quite a few are from members here so you have my thanks for helping to pay my rent. Over the last couple of weeks I have had some really dumb, nasty replies from people that I believe are members here so a few of points; 1/ I am a Cowboy dealer in Australia but that doeas not make me responsible for issues you are having with your machine. I try to help as a courtesy as the problems are user, not machine, related. 2/ If I refer you to a US or Canadian supplier it is because the shipping cost out of Australia is not worth the effort. When you buy a machine from a local supplier then they are your technical and warranty support. When you import a machine - by law - you own the warranty. 3/ Please do not whine about the support you are getting from the guy who sold you the machine. If it was from a dealer here then I have no doubt that they will bend over backwards to help. Your lack of sewing knowledge is not their problem BUT they will support you as much as they can. Abusing someone half a world away for not making your machine do what you want is just childish. 4/ If you buy a machine direct from China then I will get it going at my quoted hourly rate. 5/ If it is a GB2972 then I will not touch it and no further correxpondence will be entered into Sorry, rant over

To confuse things the 211G is different to most of the rest of the 211 class and has a striking resemblance to the PFAFF version Most dealers have some sort of "boneyard" as we know it is the only way to have that one part that turns a doorstop into a sewing machine. Some of the newer people in the business don't and I will not criticize them for it. Holding old machines is space, time and money so if it is not a focus of your business then there is no point.

Amen brother

Seiko were initially contracted to build the machines as per the Singer drawings. Later they modified the machines but in some cases kept building the Singer version as that appeared to be what the market wanted. If you look at the parts lists you will see that Seiko/Consew use Singer part numbers.

Between the 15-91 and a walking foot is the pure needle feed machine. They are built on the same frame an industrial straight sewer and can pretty much handle all the work of one but they have a much more delicate touch that a walking foot machine. In a perfect world everyone would have 10 different machines on tables but always remember than many machine heads fit in the same hole.....

I do all of my electrolysis outdoors so no problems. Usually the parts with fine tolerances such as bearing surfaces are protected by oil and are not damaged by electrolysis.

I recently fixed up a 545 for a customer (Presidend of the Australian Saddlers Association - but I won't mention that LOL) and while it was a beautiful piece of machinery that mostly worked beautifully it was an ex industrial machine that had done a million miles. In normal stitching it was beautiful but due to wear and a huge amount of backlash that could not be adjusted out it just did not do well in reverse and cut the thread after two or three stitches. Being an old school saddler he grew up on machines with no reverse so did not care. Also his opinion was that he only needed to do two back stitches anyway so he could not see a problem if the machine cut the thread after that. To bring the machine back to "as new" condition would have cost many hundreds of dollars just in parts. Before spending your hard earned money you need to know exactly what you want from a machine. If you think one machine is all you need then you need to learn a bit more as it is equivalent to having one screwdriver in your toolbox and expecting to fix everything. I got lost somewhere along the way here but I think I am trying to tell you to start out by deciding what your sewing priorities are, setting a realistic budget and then testing machines until you get one that will do what you need.

If you want to make buffing wheels there is a spiral stitch attachment available from your friendly Cowboy dealer.

Wot Constabulary and Lumpen said! Electrolysis for two or three days will get the machine to the point where it can be much more easily disassembled. Some parts may need more time in the bath with a new sacrificial anode. Wash, dry and oil parts when they are done in the bath as the clean metal will quickly rust up again. It is easy to clean the oil off again for painting.

Pretty sure it is an ADLER 20 as the Singer presser foot spring is much flatter. What do you want to sew is the big question as this is a heavy canvas machine and pretty ordinary for leather. Plenty of us can supply parts for a Singer but it is difficult with the ADLERS

When we talk about marking of leather there are two different meanings. - A bottom feed only will always leave marks on the bottom and some of those will be scores in the leather that cannot be removed. - Compound machines will usually leave "pressure" marks that are not usually considered a problem and can often be worked out bu hand. My personal opinion is that they highlight the stitching. From experience I usually see that most customers run way too much presser foot tension. When it comes to servo motors I think a lot comes down to marketing as most motors are very similar.We run 750W motors on our Cowboy machines with a 35mm root diameter pulley. Speed and starting torque is not a problem. Recently I sold a motor to a customer for her GC0618 flat bed. This motor is worth about $US1500 and is a work of art. You can delicately touch the pedal and the needle mooves up and down at a rate of millimeters per second. You gets what you pays for.

Steve I have run a 441 style machine on #69 and yes it can do it. For someone who is going to run 69 or 138 on a regular basis then I really think they should look at having a seperate machine set up for the job. I treat sewing machines like any other tool. Yes, one hammer will do any job but a range of hammers is more versatile.

Often the machines at auction are the dead rubbish that the factory is finished with

It is rough but if you REALLY want to restore it then it can be done. Bobbin winder is easy to find (says he who sells them) but the presser foot tension spring is harder to find - I have made some but they are expensive. The presser foot lift adjuster is easier to make. These types of jobs are never impossible as long as you want to do it and are not so worried about the true cost.

No standard machine will work properly with waxed thread. A linen equivalent to 69 or maybe 92 should work