dikman

I have 123D Design, solvespace and FreeCAD, all free programmes. I haven't spent much time on them yet, but I need to figure out which one will do what I want without spending (wasting?) a lot of time on them - if that's possible! I'm also interested in trying to make stamps for tooling. It's a good idea to start printing existing designs first to get familiar with using the beastie. Thingiverse is a good source for all sorts of things. I forgot to ask, are you using a glass bed for printing on?

Now that I have a machine (the W117) that can actually sew through 1/2" of stuff, I started thinking. I had a couple of pairs of old denim jeans, so started cutting discs out of them and punching a 3/8" centre hole. I made a jig that would allow them to rotate under the sewing foot and stuffed as many as I could under the feet, then started sewing concentric circles with #138 thread (#69 probably would have been adequate, but I wanted to see how it performed with the heavier thread - it worked well). I ended up with two wheels. I had a motor (1725 rpm) that I fitted with a burnishing wheel so figured that would work well. I turned a suitable arbor down with a 1/2" shaft, threaded on the end. Only one slight problem (!) due to the direction of rotation the nut tends to unscrew itself! Using two nuts to locknut it fixed that. It actually works well, and I made the arbor long enough that I can fit extra wheels on if I stitch up any more. It also has the advantage that I can now fit any sort of wheel (grinding, buffing etc) on the motor as long as it has a 1/2"bore.

Government bureaucracies are indeed strange animals, totally bereft of logic, reason and commonsense. In the UK handguns are illegal and yet you can own replicas. Here in Oz we can own (some) handguns albeit for club shooting only and under heavy licencing conditions, BUT replicas are treated the same i.e. a full licence is needed to own one! Which can make it difficult when someone asks you to make a holster for a gun you don't own.

PLA should be fine (you can now buy PLA+, which is supposed to be a bit tougher). ABS requires higher temps and a heated bed, my attempts so far at making small items with ABS have been mostly unsuccessful - the item tends to lift from the bed part way through. Bigger items are fine. I use Slic3r, although I have tried Cura. I learned to use it through trial and error and lots of googling! I'm not aware of a simple guide to using them (which doesn't mean it's not out there).

It depends on the shaft diameter, 1/2" is pretty common but you will have to measure it to make sure. Yes, a larger pulley is all you'll need (and a longer belt). There was a recent post from a member who bought a pulley for a Grizzly lathe that fitted his machine. A word of warning, if you tend to handwheel a lot then be very careful as a pulley will put your fingers right next to the belt!

I'm running a 550w on my 335, mind you I have a 45mm pulley on the motor and a 200mm on the head unit! No problems with power, it will go through whatever I can fit under the feet. Personally, I doubt if there's much difference between those two motors, judging by the brochure.

In my opinion metal linings might be of benefit for "fast draw" competitions, but other than that I can't see much need. All of the holsters I have made (I'm talking Western style here) have been made with two layers of leather and once they've been wet-formed they dry almost as hard as wood (as JLS implied) and tend to keep their shape. Making them with a metal liner is just another complication I can do without.

I agree with Constabulary re-#1. A reducer means the needle will move slower for the same effort on the pedal. I have a reducer and/or a larger pulley replacing the handwheel on all my machines.

Depends a bit on the servo as some appear to have better control than others. Regardless, a servo will be an instant improvement, fit a smaller (2") pulley on the motor and give it a try. If it's still not what you want then either fit a larger pulley in place of the handwheel or fit a reducer.

Got a photo?

Strange. I've always used a single pass and never had a problem with it "unravelling", even on long runs around a belt.

Could be something not tightened up.

Try this. I've also got a parts list but it's just over the posting limit. 111w152.pdf

Not just America, our manufacturing industry here in Australia is a mere shadow of what it once was, with no sign that it will ever come back. Once it's gone, it's gone.

Looks really useful - if you sew mattresses!

I think that says it all!

edwelld, what kgg said. I often get that same thing with what appears to be multiple threads coming up from the bobbin area, all I do is handwheel the pulley back and forth a little which releases the thread and it then just pulls out normally.

The Yamata appears to be a clone of the newer Pfaff 335 which means it has higher lift and should handle thicker thread. As it's the head only you will be up for a bit more money for a table, motor etc. Only problem with the Consew is it has a clutch motor (fortunately servo's aren't too expensive).

Don't sweat it, I tried to do the same thing - once.

That linked article is very misleading! It starts off showing a "proper" leather sewing machine and then promptly talks about what are simply domestic machines. The author appears to think that if it has the words "heavy duty" on it then it will work with leather. I wonder how many have been sucked in by this article?

I soon found that none of my spanners would fit in the gap (!!) so I had a thin flat spanner from who-knows-where and I filed out the "jaws" to fit the flats on the pulley. I have used it many times since.

Yep, my first thought too.

For what it's designed for it's not a bad little machine, but as Joe said, be prepared to spend a bit of time getting it to run nicely. They aren't intended to do long stitch runs as the bobbin is very small. If you don't have a patcher then it could be a useful, and cheap, addition but it is not intended to replace a "normal" machine, e.g. a flat bed or cylinder arm machine. It will get into places that they can't.

What type of needle are you using? It's generally recommended that for nylon etc a "standard" round point garment needle is best.

True, but the same thing can happen with a reducer, it's simply a different way to achieve the same result, i.e. slow down the machine.