Darren Brosowski

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

A/ Breathe......... B/ Assuming we are looking at the top thread on the left then there can only be two problems - 1/ There is a binding issue on top and this can be as simple as the thread not coming off the spool properly. As soon as a stitch goes bad then stop and pull the thread off the spool. Check how it runs through the various guides. You go through the top guide once only. - 2/ Is the bobbin thread well wound? loops can cause problems. There is nothing wrong with the "machine" that can cause these issues.

That is my listing LOL The 441 is waay too long to hand crank. The CB3200 is a good option

Serafil is a High Tenacity Polyester and not a bonded thread. It has pros and cons like all threads but I prefer it as it has a nice "feel" and does not wear the thread path as much as bonded nylon. It also has excellent resistance to all sorts of nasties and is often used in applications such as sail making. Bonde Polyester probably has the best UV resistance and the top quality brands have a lovely waxy finish.

Seiko (Consew) did not "clone" anything from Singer CONSEW is just a brand that Seiko used to break into the US market. Many Seiko machines started out when Singer contracted them to build industrial machines as they shut down the various US and UK factories. Naturally the Japanese looked at the Singer machines, shat themselves laughing, and improved them. First on the agenda was reverse and then they dumped the stupid "alternating pressers" in favour of proper walking feet.

I know that supplier and they are very good motors but you need to consider the import costs and lack of warranty.

You are using a sledge hammer to break wallnuts.

Hi mate, Post some pics so we can see what the machine actually is

The current Chinese machines do not have the belt groove on the hand wheel which is a good thing. On the older ones with the groove I put a spacer behind the bobbin winder assembly so the winder tyre runs on the wheel. There is usually a "turnbuckle" arrangement on the rod that drives the shuttle.

The 132k6 was one of the main machines in the Auto upholstery industry and they easily did this job.

Stitch length is adjustable from 0-6mm using a screw in the frame - very simple. I did build a treadle version but as the machine is so rough it wobbles and vibrates too much to be any use.