dikman

First thing, motors that old can be dangerous once you start moving them around and/or messing with them. The wiring insulation was generally a rubber compound which, over time, becomes hard and brittle, and when it's moved the insulation breaks and falls off. The switch box may have a large capacitor in it (mine has) for starting the motor and these can also dry out and make the motor difficult to start. I recently bought a 111W117, which came with an old Singer motor (different to yours), I didn't hesitate in junking it. As for servicing, if it's been greased and still spins ok then the only other thing that might be an issue is if the clutch faces need cleaning. If yours is working ok then my advice is don't touch the motor! The servo is a no-brainer, particularly if you want to do leatherwork.

Short answer - yes! As mentioned a 441 or similar (or bigger) 'cos holsters will be the problem. With my assortment of machines I can do pretty well everything EXCEPT holsters , they're just too thick. For your wife, a cylinder arm would probably be more versatile, but a flat bed should cover her needs, any of the 111/211 variants or a Pfaff 335 or clone.

Got one from the sewing place (part #240500, the number I first quoted is defunct). Naturally, it didn't quite line up and needed some judicious bending and re-shaping, but I now have a working tension release! Another functioning machine to add to my (growing) collection. Now for the 31K20.....

Chayse, you beat me to it re- fishing rod guides. The old ones were extremely tough when it came to wear, just a little bit brittle! The modern versions are also tough but not brittle. When I built my own rods many years ago I uses Fuji guides which, of course, come in all sorts of sizes. Could be worth keeping in mind for anyone looking for a thread guide of some sort.

The missing part is the actual internal lever that operates the little push rod to release the tension (it's shaped like a fish-hook!). I'm in the process of making one. It's good that you can move things on, my problem is things come in but don't go out!!!

Hi Melissa, welcome to the forum. That is a post-bed machine with a roller wheel foot. A nice enough machine, but I would think a walking foot is going to be better for your leatherwork (you'll probably find it easier to control and more versatile). A cylinder arm, as you say, is a good starting point, with a servo motor which will be easier to learn to use. Being new to industrial machines, and wanting it for business use, contacting one of the vendors on here would be the smart thing to do. While suitable machines can often be picked up used they will probably require time and effort to sort out. If you talk to the vendors they will not only be able to recommend a suitable machine but you will have one that will work straight away and they will be able to provide advice if you get stuck.

$1000 to paint a sewing machine??? I guess the sewing machine fixation runs strong in your family. I oiled the 31K20 and it spins real easy. Found a bobbin that fitted and handwheeled a few stitches in some leather, which looked reasonable (nothing that some adjusting won't fix) but it's snagging strands of the top thread, which could be the thread as it's some old stuff I got with one of the machines. I have a bigger problem, however, and it's the same as my other machine - no thread tension release!! In this case I found a photo of the missing part, but even in the parts list it's labelled as obsolete!!! Unless I can make a replacement the machine is of little use. If I can make one then I'll repaint it. While most of my other machines are in varying shades of grey and/or grey/silver this particular colour is obnoxious and is a sloppy job that has been applied rather thickly. Something to think about.

Just keep in mind that some of the auto oilers require the machine to be run at high speed to work - usually much faster than we leathersewers like to use.

Looks like you're off to a good start if it's actually sewing! At least yours is the right colour and has the lettering on it. I had a quick look at the 31K20 that came with my treadle, and there's virtually no oil on the moving parts (but no rust either). I've decided to oil it up, fit a bobbin race and see if it sews. If it does then I'll strip the horrible grey paint off it and repaint it black. I don't need this machine but it just looks very sad in its present colour.

Ok, I see what you're talking about. Yep, using a knee/foot lift will let you get thicker stuff under the feet but I think there would still be problems with the feet being able to feed the leather properly. Of course, I could be wrong here as I haven't experimented that much with it, I've learned to keep my machines pretty much within the range they were designed for (I don't need to create any more problems than necessary!!). Actually, I haven't used my 211 much as I've found that the 111WSV77 has a longer stitch length and seems able to punch through a bit better (although the 211 was a bit smoother to use).

I'm not a fan of basketweave, but your stuff is very sharply defined!

Sorry, I guess being a Pom raised in Oz might account for the spelling mistake . (Maybe I was subconsciously thinking of the Purdy shotgun...).

Jim, I think you'll find that on most machines (certainly all that I've come across) the foot-operated lift is always higher than the hand lever, otherwise you wouldn't be able to release the raised feet by using the foot pedal. I tweaked my 111 to try and get that extra clearance under the feet but it then meant that the feet didn't touch the feed dog on the down-stroke. This was ok as long as I used thick leather, but this also affected the clearance needed by the feet when moving back and forth. I didn't persevere with it.

I couldn't find a manual for this model, but found an earlier post about it - I assume you want to increase the lift height and clearance under the presser foot? If so, it can be done by tweaking the adjustments for the two feet, but it can take a bit of fiddling to get it right and the feet may not end up touching the feed dog plate. My experience with my 111's has been that it doesn't gain a lot by doing it, plus if you try to run leather through that is too thick for what the machine was designed for you may end up with other issues. The maximum stitch length is determined by the mechanical design of the particular machine. While theoretically it may be possible to change the stitch length by swapping out parts from another 111 model it's not something I would recommend trying - it's a big job, and not for the faint-hearted. Just enjoy the machine for what it is, the 111's are a wonderful, solid design.

Lots of time on Google has come up with several part numbers for the same thing. Singer 264527 - fits my 117 and 153W103 Singer 240500 - fits 111W154/155 Consew/Seiko 10546 - 206B Juki B-1461-053-0A0 - Lu 562/563 Hopefully the industrial machine place in town can get one of them!

Dorothy, it's obvious that you're starting from scratch regarding industrial machines (that was me a couple of years ago!) and there's a lot to learn. If you haven't done so already, read the stickies above (particularly Wiz's about leather machines) as it might help to understand the terminology a bit. I can only urge you to talk to Rocky, his kind offer to talk to you will save you a lot of time in coming to grips with this subject, and his experience would be hard to put a price on. In short, a clutch motor has always been the "standard" for industrial machines, they are fast (which is what's normally needed for commercial use) and can take a lot of practice to master. Most leatherworkers need the machine to go slow, which can be done with a clutch motor but requires a delicate touch (I couldn't do it!). A servo motor is an electronically controlled replacement motor that allows very slow speed control and requires very little time to learn to use. There is usually no one machine that can sew everything unfortunately. If a machine is designed for heavy (thick) leather it can be tricky to sew lighter stuff. If it can sew light to medium leather then it won't do heavy/thick stuff. This is why it's important to know exactly what it is you want to sew. Another "complication" is thread thickness. If you want to sew similar thread size to that used in hand stitching you need a big, heavy duty machine! You may have to change your ideas slightly about thread thickness if you want to use a machine for your work. The most commonly used thread sizes are #69/Metric 40 and #138/Metric 20. Once you start going bigger you need the bigger machines, plus the bigger threads can be hard to find here in Oz. It might seem a bit daunting at first but don't get discouraged, if you can determine which machine is going to fill your needs it will speed up your production significantly.

The previous owner had fitted a wooden handle to the handwheel (handle was too small and a very rough job of fitting it!). I made a bigger handle and used the vertical mill to get the handle to sit square to the wheel. This at least let me try running some thread through it. I had to drop the needle bar so that the hook could grab the bobbin thread but then worked fine and it ran some stitches in a piece of 5 oz. leather. It's going to need some adjusting though as it wasn't happy with a piece of 8 oz. (Using #69 thread and size 19 needle). I'm now thinking that maybe I'll make a small box frame to fit the base (like the old domestic Singer's had). This will make it a "portable" machine, inasmuch as portable means it can be moved - it's still bloody heavy - but I have to get the thread release sorted, it's pretty hopeless without it!

Now that's different (bit like a modern art design on an olde-style holster). Looks good.

Mighty purty.....(to use a US colloquialism).

There you go, Dorothy, talking to Rocky will be of immense value and could save you from buying the wrong thing and hopefully make sure you get the right machine for your needs.

Sounds a bit on the high side price-wise (to me, at least), given that it's not even a walking foot (probably asking a lot because of its age, I guess). From the little I could find out about this model it should do what you want, but bear in mind it has a clutch motor and for someone new to industrial machines they can be pretty scary, particularly when you want to sew very slow. I wouldn't mind it myself, only for what it is, but there's no way I'd pay that much for it. I think you'd be better off looking around a bit more and perhaps trying to find a walking foot machine, and if it doesn't have a servo motor then allow for that in the budget too. I reckon you should be able to find better value than that. Have a read of the "stickies" at the top of this section, they should help you to understand these machines a bit more.

An interesting story, must have been quite a collection you ended up with. I guess if you ever get bored then sorting and selling them will give you something to do . I should clarify regarding your offer to help me. I've found in the past that some places in the US aren't interested in shipping to Aus, some won't take an Aus credit card (even to ship within the US) and many put ridiculous shipping prices on, presumably to deter buyers. This is why I buy much of my stuff out of China and Hong Kong - prices are good, they take Paypal and Aus credit cards and shipping is generally included, just makes my life easier. This, by the way, is how I got into leatherwork. I needed a particular holster, and I had so much trouble trying to get what I wanted out of the US that I decided to make my own - and now this leatherwork thing is all getting a bit out-of-control!!

You reckon you've got a W117 in your group? Quite a coincidence, as until I asked about it I couldn't find any mention of that model on the forum. They would appear to be somewhat uncommon, and, in my opinion, pretty useless as they come in standard form!!

It's cleaned up fairly well. The gray paint on the base is a fraction lighter in colour but close enough (it came from my modelling stuff - I used to make plastic kits) - and is an old Humbrol paint. My airbrush tip is just a little too fine for something this large but it was better than using a bigger spray gun. The metal plates around the needle area were rubbed down with fine wet and dry paper to remove most of the rust, then rubbed with steel wool and coated with a heavy wax. I figure the chances of getting replacement plates for this slightly weird beastie is probably nil and Buckley's so they'll have to do. Now all I need is the tension release slide mentioned in my other thread. Everything else appears to be in pretty good shape internally. I'm toying with the idea of finding/making a suitable handwheel and fitting a handle to turn it into a handcrank machine. It also looks like it might handle #138 thread - maybe.