dikman

I was just looking at the outer foot and realised that the screw clamp is at 90 degrees to that on my 111 (which is the same as my 211).

G'day banjo, all of mine are two button controllers, other than the four button ones displaying a bit more info on the control panel there's not much difference that I can see. I found that the first two parameters, N1 (startup speed) and N2 (max speed) were the only ones that really had any effect. If you fit the needle position device and turn it on then other settings become active, but other than that you can't change much. I set both of these to 10, I assumed this meant 100 rpm for N1 and 1000 rpm for N2, even though they refer to "spm" in the description part of the table. From what I noticed if you set the max speed lower then the slowest speed is also lower, i.e. it will crawl along slower. Of course, having a speed reducer fitted also affects things, as 1000rpm on mine will be a lot slower at the needle than on your mates if he has a direct drive.

Looks very similar to my 111WSV77 (which as far as I can tell is the same as a 111W153), only differences I can see are mine's black (!) and yours has an extra sliding plate in front of the needle.

Pretty good for a first effort. We all have to start somewhere, and it's not until you actually make something that you learn what works and what doesn't. Each one you make will be better than the previous one.

Ralf, I have two of those and am very happy with them (I did buy the needle positioner with one, as it seemed like a good idea at the time, but after trying it out I took it off as at the slow speeds I work with it's not really needed).

Nice work, I particularly like the last one, simple and elegant.

Glad it worked out ok, banjo. I found even the 3/4 hp has plenty of grunt, particularly when used with a speed reducer pulley set or a larger pulley in place of the handwheel.

Info on the G model seems a bit rare, I could only find the 111W116 (I was curious what it was).

As far as I know the "footprint" for mounting an industrial sewing machine motor is fairly standard (at least for every one that I've seen), i.e. 3 bolts in a triangular shape. If you have this configuration then a servo motor should be a straight swap, although you may need a different size belt too. This is the link to the manual for the Singer - http://www.manualslib.com/manual/522893/Singer-236w.html - should help with the oiling.

I've made belts using the same weight leather as you use (minus the suede) but I find them too stiff for my needs. Because I use a cross-draw rig the strong side (right hand, in my case) holster I tend to sit lower so that the belt is angled down across my body. The cross-draw holster is sitting higher, of course, but that doesn't matter. If the belt is too stiff it won't stay put where I want it! My holsters are also hard and the guns slide out easily - as long as I don't catch the front sight, but I'm learning! On the subject of suede, I originally intended to use it as you do, but after discussing it with the chap where I buy my leather I decided against it. I don't know if our suede is made different to yours, but he said it's pre-coloured (as it doesn't accept dyes) and the colour has a tendency to bleed out if it gets sweaty. Still, I might use it sometime just to try it out. The biggest problem I have is that I don't make them for sale, and there's only so many holsters I can make for myself .

Sorry goertzen, I can't help as I'm referring to a revolver holster (as used in The Magnificent Seven).

Darren, if you're referring to me my wife asked me if had enough machines when I brought the last one home (the free one). I said I really only need one more, something for doing really thick stuff! I don't think she was too impressed. Maybe one day, if the right deal turns up......

Just tried the braided #138 on the Singer G166 and it works fine on that machine. I had a feeling that it might like the vertical shuttle design better.

The (almost) finished product. Taking the photos against the green has made it look lighter than it is. This whole exercise was partly an experiment to see how the leather would look "natural". Although it doesn't show on the photos, the neatsfoot oil application came out a little patchy, something to watch out for in future. The belt is only a single layer of 8-9 oz veg (the thickest I had) because I didn't want a stiff belt, I wanted something that would tend to mold to the body and I wanted the rough side in to give a little friction. Only problem I think I can see is with the tongue, it may be a little thin for the overall weight of the rig. I may glue a piece of Kangaroo onto the inside of the tongue to reinforce it, as the Kangaroo is very thin but extremely tough for it's weight. The belt only has a single line of stitching around the edge for now, as I'm not sure what I want to do with it. I may stitch a pattern on it or just run a second line of stitching around it. Still thinking.

I watched the movement carefully under a magnifier and there's no sign of the material being moved backwards. Everything seems to be functioning correctly, so I figure I've got it as good as it's going to be. My 111WSV77 will do 4 1/2 spi, but it doesn't have reverse (which I've gotten used to!) and the 166 just feels a bit smoother overall. The 77 also has a left-toe-only foot, and I just found out it will fit the 166, so now I'll be able to get a bit closer to the edge on belts. Oh, one other thing, I also have a long-slot feed dog for the 166 - when would you use this?

Interesting point. The dog is set according to the manual, but I'll check with the magnifier again. I might as well have a play with the height as it's about the only thing I haven't adjusted yet!

Taking Eric's advice I started examining the feed dog area (it wouldn't have occurred to me to check that otherwise) and have got it down to 6spi. I don't think I can get any better. When the needle entered the feed dog it was centred ok, but I noticed, under a magnifier, that as the needle came out it was being pushed against the front edge of the dog! I re-adjusted the dog, but there was always a point where it wasn't centred! Much scratching of my bald head and I finally saw that as the centre foot was at the rearmost position, foot down, it was actually being pushed forward slightly by the outer foot which caused the needle/bar to also move. It was very, very slight, but it obviously didn't need much movement to be a problem. This machine came fitted with a large, thick left-toe-only outer presser and I left it on because it meant I could get closer to the right edge of the material when using an edge guide. It also came with a couple of spare feet, one of which is a "standard-type" foot (wide left toe/narrow right toe) so I fitted this. Result, down to 6spi and no more rubbing of the inner/outer feet. I ground off the "high" part of the offending foot to stop it binding, but I'll probably leave the other foot on for now. Eric, the feed dog doesn't show any movement back towards me. I watched it very carefully with a magnifier and couldn't see anything untoward. I just ran a line of stitching around the edge of a gunbelt and it worked fine, so I think 6spi is as good as I'll get. Thanks again, mate, if you hadn't pointed me to the feed dog I wouldn't have found it and I could have had wear problems further down the track.

That makes sense, it certainly hasn't been drilled and if someone had actually knocked it out I would expect there to be lots more damage because it's cast material.

This is one for the experts, 'cos I'm stumped. The manual states that the 166 can do down to 5 spi - the best mine can do is 7spi. I've pulled the stitch length regulator mechanism apart and it's working fine. When it's doing 7spi there is no more adjustment left in the regulator, so I can't see how I can get it to 5spi. So I'm puzzled. What am I missing here?

I only mentioned it because until I came across that list yesterday I hadn't found anything to indicate how many 111WSV models there may have been (I only knew of a couple). I know that there are/were quite a lot of KSV models, and I think I saw mention of GSV models somewhere. There may very well be old Singer books somewhere with info on the SV models, but unless people put it on the 'net it's almost impossible to find out much about them.

As it's in the 111 class, there's bound to be similarities - overall size, body shape, thread tensioner, feet etc. The trick is to match what you do have to other models (the W100 appears to have the stitch length adjuster in the end of the handwheel, for instance, whereas the W151-155 is adjusted by turning the handwheel itself). Darren made a good point about the W100 being the first one listed in the 111 class, whereas this site - http://www.strima.com/needle?page=255 - lists needles for WSV model numbers from 36 to 88!! Unlikely to be prototypes, I would think, with so many models, but who knows?? All very perplexing......

While it looks like it's now working ok, I'll take your and Bob's advice and re-check the timing and give the shuttle area another (closer) once over - just to make sure.

Sounds like a visit there could be as fascinating as the firearms museum in Cody! I smiled when I saw Seiko on the shaft in the second photo.

Slight mistake in my previous post, it is called a compound feed, i.e. needle and feed dog feed the material together. This is a manual for a 111W100, which looks like it might be the same machine? http://www.manualslib.com/manual/364307/Singer-111w100.html Looks like it's meant for material, oilskins and possibly very light garment leather - doubtful if you'll be doing holsters on it! If you search you may find parts lists too.

Old or new machine? The info I have is to set the feed regulator to 3 on a "new" model and 0 on the old ones.