dikman

Started playing with the engraver today, I was printing a test grid on 10mm plywood and thought it was producing a lot of smoke so stopped it and found a few holes burnt through!! Luckily I'd put a sheet of steel on the table first and this was a bit scorched! I also tried a piece of aluminium, it engraved ok but I don't think it will cut through (doesn't matter anyway, engraving only is fine). I'm going to try and cut a maker's stamp, maybe out of hardwood first, to see how it goes (lots of smoke ahead!). I bought a cheap Toshiba i5 laptop some time ago and it's perfect for this, I can leave it down in the shed with the engraver.

A good plywood should be stronger (particularly if you laminate a couple of layers) and I agree with kgg about using metal angle iron underneath to give additional support, given the weight of the head unit. I used the same idea on one of my tables.

Looks good to me! You did a nice job on the rose.

Audio on that video is shocking!!!! They must have some pretty impressive circuitry in the controller to do that and I'm guessing it's got a hefty price tag.

I'm sure you'll love it! The class 4 machines are built like tanks, are almost bulletproof and will sew through almost anything - but they are quite capable of breaking these heavy needles (so don't force thick items through them!!).

Not just America, my friend.

In that case from what I've read on here over the years either dealer should be fine. As JLS said to all intents and purposes they are the same machine.

If it was me I'd clean off as much grease as I could (at least it probably kept things from rusting!) and try and get some oil into the linkages. I doubt if grease would get into all the linkage pivot points as well as a light sewing machine oil could. There's a reason they put those little oil holes on some of the linkages. As for the thread . Perhaps the upholstery company needed a lubricated thread for something they were sewing? If you don't like it just replace the thread, not many on here use (or need) a lubricated thread.

My take is it comes down to price and what is the best value, i.e. do you get any extra goodies thrown in? Either of those will do the same job.

"Reverse cross-draw?" In other words, a canted left-side holster. Good work, though.

Considering it only happens occasionally and your stitching is normally ok that suggests that there's nothing wrong with the way you've threaded it. The only thing I can think of is the check spring sticking in the up position, which would allow slack thread to occur - but I can't see how it would only happen occasionally.

PEU, ignore what I said about the tension assemblies, I got confused (getting old, I guess). I had a look at my 4500 and the assemblies are pretty much like yours in their layout. Varying the number of turns around the last tensioner probably won't help as for some reason you're obviously suddenly getting a lot of slack in the thread between the tensioner and the needle and as the takeup arm comes down that releases the thread around the tensioner, but I can't visualise why this should happen. Does this happen during a stitch run and nothing changes during that run? Stopping or turning or doing something different? The check spring isn't sticking? I'm not trying to be insulting here, just trying to understand at exactly what point it happens. It's hard trying to diagnose things when you're not there at the time.

A bigger hammer!! Just joking, looks like a reasonable tool kit, one thing I find indispensable is one of those head magnifiers - but that's 'cos I'm older than you! Congratulations on the job.

Interesting arrangement of the various tensioners. It looks to me as if tensioners 2 and 3 are in the wrong positions, I would have expected the final tensioner (#3) to have the two tension discs, as it stands now there is nothing to actually grip the thread and stop it coming off the spool if any slack develops as the takeup arm moves up and down.

I doubt if you will find one that is made in the US, as kgg said. You may find one that is made in Japan (?) but so far every one that I have seen comes from China. I've bought 2, via Aliexpress, and they seem fine for what they are.

The W indicates it was made in the US at the Bridgeport plant, G indicates it was made in a Singer plant in Germany (K is Kilbowie in Scotland and U is Japan). As for cleaning and oiling it's pretty straightforward, remove any cover/access plates and remove any dirt, lint etc then lightly oil any parts that are rubbing/sliding/pivoting. Tilt the head back and likewise check underneath. Remove the bobbin and clean out any fluff/lint/bits of thread and add a drop of oil in the bottom of the basket. DO NOT unscrew/loosen any moving parts unless there is a problem. They usually had oiling holes that were painted red to indicate where to oil regularly during use but manually oiling all moving parts is probably a better way to do it.

An interesting idea that reminded me of something else I had seen, it took me a day to remember. I saw a similar device to do engraving on metal rather than using a hammer and engraving bit. It could have its uses, I guess, and would certainly be quicker than the traditional methods but I think you would have to have a delicate touch to compare with manual tooling, it would be very easy to overdo it.

Yeah, you'll pass. Very nice work indeed but I have only one criticism, the square corner by the trigger guard, I reckon holsters always look better with rounded corners, it lets them "flow" visually.

Quite ornate on the outside, impressive work.

That's what I was thinking!

Arrived yesterday so started putting it together, finished today. It was well packed and overall quality is pretty good. Assembly was ok but the instruction books leave a lot to be desired, having watched some youtube vids helped a lot!!! I'll hook up a laptop later too make sure everything is talking properly but I won't be trying it just yet as burning something in the house won't go down too well and it's too bloody hot to do anything outside (it's Autumn here but we're having our first real heat wave, 40*C is no fun outside). Next job is to cut the board to size and make some brackets so I can attach it to the board. The cylinder on the left is a variable speed air supply for the air assist, the other thingy is the roller unit for engraving cylinders, bottles, glasses etc.

kgg, no, I haven't used a CAD programme, I started to learn a couple of times but for some reason I couldn't maintain the interest. The closest I've come is messing around with Photoshop. Lightburn should do everything I'm likely to need without any other programmes so will be worth the effort, it looks like it will be easier than a 3D CAD programme (no shortage of tutorials on youtube). Dwight, if you can use LaserGRBL then I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to step up to Lightburn, don't sell yourself short, but I guess if Laser GRBL is working for you that's all that matters.

I see what you mean! Just a thought, do you have a domestic sewing machine? I started off with an old Singer hand-crank and used it without thread to pre-punch the holes in things like notebook covers, then went over them with an awl and handstitched. This gave me nice evenly-spaced straight stitch lines. Just think how good your next one will be.

Adding an extension would be relatively simple but it then puts the shed into the category of needing council approval and I'd rather not go down that path!!! Bert, don't get me wrong I would have loved a CO2 laser (I'm well aware of their advantages) but it just wasn't practical, unfortunately. I'm currently watching youtube vids trying to learn to use Lightburn (another learning curve, sigh).

Yes, a CO2 will be faster and will cut thicker stuff but the diode has a finer laser "point" and should provide more detail in engraving. Plus this one is significantly cheaper than a CO2 unit (excluding the K40-type units which are generally referred to as a "tinker's delight", to coin a phrase). And the CO2 units are bigger and much heavier, and considering I'm already struggling to find a home for this open-frame unit a CO2 unit is out of the question.