dikman

Now that is something different for a wedding! I like it! Beautiful work there, something that I'm sure they'll all treasure.

Another cannon!! Nice work.

Bummer, I hate it when that happens and won't do it myself. I recently bought a couple of laptops at a good price, after I'd agreed to buy them someone else offered me two for free. I could have rung the first guy and told him I'd changed my mind but a deal is a deal! They turned out to be pretty good, better than the free ones so I'm glad I did the right thing.

Whilst I can't say categorically that it doesn't use an optical sensor I'd be very surprised if it did. None of the servos (different brands) I've bought over the last few years have used an optical sensor. You do know that you can buy speed reducers ready-to-use? Either the all-in-one big pulley/little pulley or box-type. If you want to make your own then you'll have to buy separate components and put them together.

That's quite a contraption!

Thanks for that video, I just wanted to confirm that you were talking about the "gradient" mod. As Sark said I doubt if you would find any motors using the optical control method these days. Unless you have an older servo it won't work.

I wonder if the monster at the back is for embossing belts? Whatever it is it's a great looking piece of machinery.

You got a link to that video?

I agree - unless you're a masochist and like to punish yourself!

Don't forget to get yourself the narrow plate and feed dog from RockyAussie, it makes the big machine much more versatile. It's arguably the one "must-have" for the big machine. And then have fun.

Impressive piece of work. I had to look up the handgun, and yes, cannon is an apt description!

I did some research a while ago and it indicated that the commonly used oil (Lily White) is a light hydraulic oil, ISO 22 or 32 (seems to depend on the manufacturer). I couldn't find that when I was looking and bought a slightly heavier hydraulic oil but it works fine. Don't get yourself into flap over it, either of those you have will be ok, I doubt if the machine will complain.

Yeah, too slow to be really practical, but I was curious how it would work. I removed the reducer and just used the 8"/2" combination, it's on my Pfaff 335 with a generic 550w motor and it's more than adequate. Don, that wheel will look great when it's finished and cleaned up. Make sure you post a photo.

To be honest I'm not sure that you would notice that much difference between a 550w and 750w motor if you use a speed reducer too. Having said that, if the price difference isn't too great by all means get the 750w. Speed reducers - you can get very slow speed, with gobs of torque, by varying the pulleys in the reducer, but at the expense of top speed. On one of my machines I fitted an 8" pulley in place of the handwheel, a 2'" on the motor and between them a reducer running a 1 3/4" and a 4". A bit extreme, perhaps, but I could get 1 stitch every 2 1/2 seconds! My favourite method, if possible, is to replace the handwheel with a large pulley and a small one on the motor, I find this is a fairly simple method to use.

That's one helluva speed reducer you built!

Nice work indeed. The little knife pouch is particularly neat.

Does it happen when turning by hand? Sometimes turning slowly can help localise a problem to a specific area.

Nice job carr52, looks great. I'm impressed that you did a drawing first, I just make things up as I go!

Bit hard to dog-ear the pages on one.

One way guaranteed to break needles is to "force" the material as it's feeding, or apply sideways pressure when trying to sew curves.

If you want to use heavy thread then you have no choice but to go for the heavy machine (441 class). The 3200 would have been a good choice - until you mentioned holsters, that is the tipping point.

Ahh, the ubiquitous Chinese patcher. They are a "patching machine", basically intended for repair work. It doesn't mean you can't sew new items but you may be disappointed in the results. As for holsters, forget it! There have been plenty of posts about them, and youtube videos. If you insist on getting one you should be able to use common 135x16 needles and #69 thread, be aware that the bobbin is small and won't hold much thread. Some are set up to use standard domestic needles (mine was).

I had a similar motor on a machine I bought, and as an antique it was interesting but as a working motor - no. At that age the wiring would have to be considered highly suspect. As Quade said a 550 watt (3/4 HP) servo motor will be more than adequate. I would seriously consider adding a speed reducer too (you can build your own if you're mechanically inclined) or another option is to remove the handwheel and replace it with a large pulley, this will give much better low speed control.

Only two reasons to get rid of it - you don't have the room for it or you need the money. Otherwise why sell it?

That is very impressive work on the leaves. Having attempted, unsuccessfully, something similar, I can appreciate the skill involved.