Pintodeluxe

Test them out, a good servo goes a long way to making a machine more controllable. Especially if it has a small 45mm motor pulley.

The main deciding factor is bobbin size. The 145 has a standard "G" size industrial bobbin. The 1245 runs a large "M"style bobbin. Both are high lift machines, and both run the longer 190 system needles. The servo on the 145 would be nice, but you can always add a servo to the 1245 later. In my experience the 1245 integral bobbin winder doesn't do a very good job. No big deal, just make sure to have a $20 bobbin winder mounted to the table. Pictures? Table condition? Table accessories like light, thread stand, knee lift, bobbin winder?

Sometimes mine looses my preference when I power off the servo. Then I have to hit the selector button again for foot up / foot down preference.

Could be electrical or mechanical problems. The most basic mechanical thing to check is the position of the sensor on the handwheel. It needs to stay in a fixed position. If the sensor or the bracket bend out of position, it won't tell the servo when to stop.

So I followed Uwe's advise, and cleaned and lubricated the bobbin opener mechanism. That helped some. Next I rotated the large gear one tooth on the small hook gear. That seemed to make it worse. Then I tried one tooth in the other direction, and that helped to smooth out the lower shaft rotation. I think that fixed it. Sews nice. Seems funny that the hole in the gear wouldn't be centered.

Is the check spring tension and position correct? Do you have a needle bar thread guide on your machine? These are the things I check if I experience upper thread shredding.

Uwe, That makes sense to clean the gears and try rotating the gear one tooth. I was careful to keep the small gear from rotating when I changed out the hook. However, I suspect the former owner might have messed with it. Thanks to all who commented! Very helpful suggestions.

That's a good point. I could see that binding some machines. Mine was binding with or without the bobbin opener installed.

I'm having an issue with a Consew 226. When turning the handwheel there are two sticking points in the rotation. I wanted to determine weather it was friction in the upper shaft or lower shaft, so I slid the timing belt off and found the two sticking points were related to the lower shaft. So I reinstalled the timing belt, making sure to align the arrows under the machine (they were aligned before as well). I had to replace the hook anyway, so I went ahead and swapped that out. I chased the old hook out with a 3/8" dowel to prevent the gear from moving. Machine now sews well, but still has two points where there's more friction somewhere in the lower shaft. - Adjusted for symmetrical foot lift - Adjusted feed dog fore/aft position -Adjusted feed dog height - Made sure rocker bar spacing was 8.5mm @ zero stitch length All of these settings were very close to correct, and didn't seem to improve the friction issue I was having. I can remove the drive belt, thread, needle, and throat plates and feet and still have the two sticking points. Decreasing the foot pressure springs to zero makes a very subtle improvement. I have obviously oiled each point tenaciously, but still have two "sticking points" that occur when the take up lever is approaching top position, and approaching bottom position. Any thoughts?

I'm not familiar with #5 thread, but an online chart compares it to #138 thread size. If that's the case, your needle is too small for the thread you're using. You'd need a size 22 or 23 needle for thread that thick. Once the needle and thread combo is sorted, you may have to adjust your bobbin tension.

Yes, I have used a primer before. Mostly when filler is required to touch up paint chips. They seem to paint up well either with or without primer. You'll get a little greater texturing of the hammered paint if you spray over bare metal. But the look is more consistent if you prime everything first.

Normally they can sew about 3/8" of compressed leather. Yours might be a little different because it doesn't have the "P" in the letter code that describes the sub model. Supposedly that means it wouldn't have 4 motion drop feed. I'm not sure how that affects its maximum capability.

Auto upholstery, large projects or production work. With belts and wallets a small bobbin is just fine.

It's a highly recommended machine if you don't need a big bobbin. I like the top loading bobbin of the 226, and find them durable and easy to keep in service.

My feeling with those type of servos has been the same as yours... almost satisfied. I switched to a simple servo with one manual knob to control the speed, and a box style speed reducer mounted between the table and motor. Steady stitch at a time, with no lurching or jumping. Plus it could probably sew through plywood.

With all things being equal I would get the Pfaff. The only better (older) upholstery class machine in my opinion would be the 545 H4 and the Juki LU-563. Big bobbin top-loaders are hard to beat in my book. You may need to add a servo and/or speed reducer to get it to do what you want, but that's true with any machine.

The reverse mechanism can be limited by two different mechanisms. One is external to the right of the reverse lever. The other is underneath the machine, a stop limiting travel of the block. Make sure neither is limiting travel as you make the adjustment.

Fraying. Whenever I hear the word fraying, I think about two things... 1. Needle bar thread guide. Does your machine have one? Is the thread staying in the needle bar thread guide as you sew? 2. Check spring. Is the check spring controlling slack in the upper thread until the needle enters the material? If not, adjust the position and tension of the spring per the manual. I usually like my check spring to sit fairly horizontal, and exert a light intermittent tension on the thread. It needs enough tension to keep the slack out of the way as you sew. These two points assume you already have the correct needle / thread size combination. I assume you're using 92 weight thread and a #19 or #20 needle? I agree that Uwe's videos are very helpful for timing and machine settings. You can just follow the Consew 225 / 226 videos. Good luck getting it sorted.

I've had a needle and foot set bent that much, which confused me for a bit. Swap out the needle and foot set, just to quickly confirm it isn't that. That was on a Pfaff though, but since the needle was bent and the foot was bent (manufacturing defect), it erroneously looked like the feed dog was to blame.

As always, Uwe offers good comprehensive help. Glad it all worked out.

Try a #19 or #20 needle for that 92 weight thread. You may also have to increase bobbin tension, then re-adjust the top tension for a balanced stitch. These two changes can help lock in your stitches better.

I'd be using a 120-125 size needle (#19-20) for 92 weight thread. Otherwise, there's too much friction as the thread moves through the eye of the needle.

For upholstery work, a unison feed (triple feed) is very helpful. You won't have trouble catching the needle. A small motor pulley will slow it down a little. Enough for upholstery jobs. 550w servo has adequate power.

It's a little hard to tell from the video, but you're probably very close. Would you say the hook passes the middle of the scarf in the needle? That's a good way to eyeball it. It may just be the camera angle, but it looks like the hook passes the eye of the needle. It should really pass the center of the scarf. I also agree with Wizcrafts you're too far from the needle. It should look like the hook is going to hit the needle, but without any deflection. I've had to adjust the needle guard on 563's before. But yours just look like it needs a couple timing and spacing adjustments. Keep at it. Once you get it running well, you'll see it's one of the best upholstery class machines available. I have a servo and speed reducer on my 563 and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I adjusted the needle bar so I could use 190 system needles. Basically you just raise the needle bar to accommodate the longer needle. You won't need to worry about that though.

This is the picture that had me worried. Immediately after you go through one guide hole it doesn't look like the thread is snapped down into the groove. It looks like you need to move the thread back towards the tension assembly plate to find the groove. If you make that one mistake, upper tension will be all over the map, and would explain the erratic stitch formation.