leecopp

Interesting stitch length, would like to see the xray view of that mechanism! Looks easier to adjust than on the 111w155. Nice table. I have one from the same factory. Very solid. My family is from Reading Pa where it was made .. Dad worked on the Reading Railroad and Mom and GrandMom worked in the clothing factories. Make sure not to oil the linked belt. Probably more sturdy than the horsehide belts on the 95-1. Happy Day

I have a couple fairly large (about 2" long) strong, guide magnets I got on the auction site. You could put one on each side of the "stack" and let the guide foot do its job for keeping things pretty. I did something very similar when I wanted to sew together two layers of mule tape ( crazy strong woven tape used to pull in pulling lines for electrical wire in conduit (i work for an electrical utility, and sometimes the spools get damaged and they just get tossed out)).

Hey Guys, my 20u weighs right around 40 pounds (I just weighed it, the bathroom scale groaned). most of my cast iron heads are in the 50-60# range. The squared edges of the 20u make the grip a little tougher for me to carry with one hand. Please lift safely, lots of stories about busted toes from machines that slip. I can see a day where doing the head swap won't be so trivial for me. Perhaps an Alton Brown Fried Turkey style derrick ? Best of luck. Lee in Florida .

Here is another option for squeezing an industrial size machine onto an domestic treadle. Photos and idea with permission of Bruce Day. Simple axle and sheeves move the drive outside of the the frame More Pictures at https://sites.google.com/site/oldironmachines/home/bruce-days-treadle-mod Sorry about the huge pictures ... Lee

The 3/16 -32 mounting hole mr greg identified above accepted a #10 -32 on my seiko stk 8bld3 . Seemed like a very nice fit. Equivalent.. dont know. Easier to find for me.

Hi All, Getting my timing reset from previous owner was indeed tedious. I was also impeded by contact issue. Ultimately resolved after much fussing about. Thanks Uwe for the clarifying photos. Lee

The treadle plate looks to have been made for a wooden pitman. It is pretty easy to make a hybrid. e-friend bernie describes the process at : http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachineshop/hybridpitman/hybridpitman.html I personally have taken a two part motor control rod (pitman?) and clamped onto the stub a shortened treadle pitman and bent a loop to fit over the treadle plate stub. Not pretty, but it worked well and only required a hammer and a vice. Lee

Cool find. Here is a shot of the motor clutch that came on my 21w180. It is a Wheeler Wilson Clutch with a 1890s patent.. Looks like the harp from a domestic machine attached to a wooden frame. .

lots of bobbin winder tips from weavers on youtube like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vNEcI6c1B8 lots of interesting details

Ok, I tried both... spooled off a bit, then rewound some on some kind of factory spool from the antique mall up in georgia (looks like a shuttle bobbin?). Used a wooden dowel in a power drill. I have to be more careful to keep it from puddling at the bottom. Looks like it working fine, sewing with no dropped stitches. thanks guys

Whoops, just put on a different spool and everything is good. Ok, tossing the junky full spool. Thanks for comments. Lee

Funny you mention that .. The label has "Old Heavy " penciled in ..

Hey Guys, still having fun with my Seiko STH 8BLD3. I have a couple 16 oz spools of v92 poly of on my vintage stand which is about 2' tall. I have not used V92 much in the past and only on 4 or 8 oz spools. The black bonded poly (full, came with the Seiko) appears to be recent vintage and and does not unspool easily. The thread is fairly stiff and feels like it is breaking loose as it comes off, and drags quite a bit as it comes over the shoulder of the thread. It causes a crazy high "pre-tension". My first working solution was to improvise a thread guide another foot above thread stand. This reduced the angle of the pull off the spool and yields a much reduced pull tension. Seems to be working. Any thoughts? Junky thread (I had been using dabond)? Lee in Florida

Hey CD Welcome to the 78 Club .. I now have a 78-1 and 78-3 and cannot tell any difference between (just visual side by side, not detail examination). Mine works well with the standard 31-15 knee lift mechanism.. It dropped right into a 31-15 treadle-power-treadle table. I have done a lot of piecing with mine and it works great. Very capable machine. I have not found a live source for the feet. Yes, it does handle heaver thread than the 31-15. What is the metal cylindrical chunk above the stitch length adjuster? Thread lube pot? Where did you find your replacement shuttle. I found replacement needle plate on the online auction site. I wonder what the little cutter under the needle plate is meant to do? Got some pictures of my 78-1 at: https://sites.google.com/site/oldironmachines/home/singer-78-1 Happy Day Lee

I think it is the rotating mass of the huge handwheel that smooths out the compression resistance of the vibrating foot during the material feed part of the cycle. You can easily feel the resistance change with the lighter handwheels in place. LIke pushing a dolly that has a wheel with a flat spot, or a light daysailer trying to punch through a short chop. WIth this rig the treadling is pretty darn smooth. This combination also has good contact on the belt drive surface , so slipping is not a problem. Lucky to have the spare 42-5 hanging around. I kinda like the multi-generational aspect of the setup, treadle, handwheel , machine, probably near 100 years start to finish! I can frequently start sewing no handed and can sew as slow as 2 stitches per second under foot power. looks like 2 stitches per treadle cycle. Having fun in Florida Hey Uwe. Thanks for the stitch gauge pdf. easy to use. file is at http://docs.uwe.net/SLG.pdf Lee

Colt, those are some fine looking bags. Lee

Hey .. You peek into my garage? Need a powered stand cheap in Florida?

So cutting the story short ... A Craigs List Find where the owner volunteered a price of $800 to get it out of the house (bad family memories). Please believe me that the lady knew what she was doing, understood the deal she was giving me, and that I did not fast talk some poor widow (also very not poor). Seiko STH 8BLD3 .. much like the more common Consew 206RB5, new table with servo motor and foot operated foot lifter .. The machine appears to have been only partially setup. No oil in the tanks, no rubber feet on the table to protect the pretty tile floor. She did not know how to thread it. So I did a basic walk through with her, oiled a little , sewed a little and gave her a chance to change her mind. Nope, she was happy that I would get use of the machine. WOW, sometimes it pays to be friendly. So I load her up and bring her home, fretting about which treadle machine will be moved to the garage. In a moment of inspiration I found that it dropped right in the Singer 31-15 table top on top of the old patcher treadle. After swapping out the handwheel for a spare monster Handwheel from a Singer 42-5 the rig sews great under treadle power. A quick experiment showed 15 layers of Sunbrella sewed fine under foot power. This would not be able to do heavy duty for leather, but will do just fine for my heavy cloth sewing (and there is always the power table if I need it). Thought you guys would like to know .. I understand this is a bit weird .. but it works for me. Lee

So cutting the story short ... A Craigs List Find where the owner volunteered a price of $800 to get it out of the house (bad family memories). Please believe me that the lady knew what she was doing, understood the deal she was giving me, and that I did not fast talk some poor widow (also very not poor). Seiko STH 8BLD3 .. much like the more common Consew 206RB5, new table with servo motor and foot operated foot lifter .. The machine appears to have been only partially setup. No oil in the tanks, no rubber feet on the table to protect the pretty tile floor. She did not know how to thread it. So I did a basic walk through with her, oiled a little , sewed a little and gave her a chance to change her mind. Nope, she was happy that I would get use of the machine. WOW, sometimes it pays to be friendly. So I load her up and bring her home, fretting about which treadle machine will be moved to the garage. In a moment of inspiration I found that it dropped right in the Singer 31-15 table top on top of the old patcher treadle. After swapping out the handwheel for a spare monster Handwheel from a Singer 42-5 the rig sews great under treadle power. A quick experiment showed 15 layers of Sunbrella sewed fine under foot power. This would not be able to do heavy duty for leather, but will do just fine for my heavy cloth sewing (and there is always the power table if I need it). Thought you guys would like to know .. I understand this is a bit weird .. but it works for me. Lee

Hey forestar1485. That is a formidable table TinkerTailor, as usual, I like the way you think. Happy day Lee in florida

Great Lubrication Tips Guys .. Some of mine see only sporadic use, so oiling at the end of the session would be a good idea. Needle down is also a good tip as I often see a drop of oil at the end of the needle when I startup (Hi , My name is Lee and I over-oil .. hi Lee). Greetings from Central Florida where temperatures are finally getting temperate again. Last lawn mowing of the year is coming up . Of course I have been sewing polar fleece sleeping socks for the family, having reached that cold feet age and stage myself. Lee

Hey CD, I have a Singer 78-1 model running very nicely. Great for wovens, probably light leather as you noted. Very capable sewer, but very few feet available in modern times. There is a Consew 28 which appears very similar. It is of my standard herd of 4 .. 78-1, 42-5, 31-15, Anker RZ. Here is a fun youtube link:

Hey CD, (extending secret treadle-on handshake) It looks shockingly similar to the Singer 42-5 that I have on a treadle. Pictures are at https://sites.google.com/site/oldironmachines/home/singer-42-5 No jumping out bits on mine, but a more complicated movement than I expected. I have seen notes about modifying a Singer 16 stomping foot for the 42-5. I note that it has the same odd rounded base plate (and flat hinges?) as my old 16-33 and the 42-5. It will probably be a nice tool in your arsenal. It should spin quite a bit easier than the triple-feed 111w155 . Happy days .. first taste of Fall in central Florida, Temperatures in the high 70s. Lee

I rigged a spare industrial table top to a two speed xwide, two speed patcher treadle base. I tried treadling my 111w155 and felt like there was just too much machine resistance. I freely admit that while the machine sews well under power, I am not convinced that it is operating to spec as I had never used another. I guess I need to try one more time with the smaller drive wheel and get things settled in my mind. The machine is a heavy beastie. I am using the above treadle on my 42-5 with good success. I am also using an orphan 29k band wheel for my 78-1 just to slow things down some from the 16" industrial bandwheel. I have recently switched to 1/4 hollow poly tubing which seems to slip a little less and can be easily adjusted.

Ms Dani asked what the machine was designed for .. My research showed it is a general purpose garment sewing machine targeted at the artesian environment (small shop, no dedicated sewing machine technician). There are relatively few possible adjustments compared to the factory rated 96 series. The design dates back at least to 1904 (b serial numbers), and feels like it improves on the 16 series with a similar hook/bobbin configuration but an improved upper thread mechanism. I have owned several that were originally treadle powered and later converted to power. Many accessory feet and attachments are readily available. Many machines top out at size 69 thread but YMMV. A very solid/flexible machine. They were very popular and inspired other manufacturers. Lee in Hot Florida my active herd includes, Singers 31-15, 78-1, 42-5 and an Anker Rz (when you gotta sew on a button). All are treadle powered.