cdthayer

"Frog-Trimming Knife"? CD in Oklahoma

Is something keeping the thread tight and preventing a loop from forming? CD in Oklahoma

What do you plan to use to shim it out "into the field of play", so to speak? Won't it have to come out a long way? CD in Oklahoma

> Wouldn't grease be better than sewing machine oil on that pulley/bolt configuration? Good point. Grease would be a good choice, if the setup had a grease cavity for the extra grease to reside and feed into the movement. There’s no channel for reserve grease in this connection, so it seems to me that once the initial grease is forced out, it would need to be disassembled, re-greased, and re-assembled. It seems to me that oil will wick into the movement better than grease if applied from each end of the brass sleeve, but then there’s not much space for reserve oil either, so I may end up with a dry joint unless it gets oiled frequently. The washers at each end of the sleeve will provide a tiny bit of reserve space, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough. Oil will sling off of the assembly more than grease too, so over-oiling could be worse than too little. There’s no drip pan under/around the SR, and that has me a little concerned. And too much oil could migrate up onto the outer surface of the pulleys, eventually getting to the belt grooves, so that’s even a greater concern. I don’t know. I’m open to ideas. Maybe grind a grease channel into the bolt at the mid-way point of the brass sleeve and switch to grease? This contraption is not intended for full production activity. It wouldn’t hold up under continuous use, but I’m hoping to make it adequate for the part-time User. Thanks. CD in Oklahoma

I got my home-made “mini” Speed Reducer mounted. I got a bracket made at the local welding shop. I may have asked for a little too thin of metal, but we’ll see. It doesn’t wiggle while running, and the thinness actually does help when removing and replacing the belting on the balance wheel. Like the only other Speed Reducer that I’ve used, tipping the head back no longer loosens the belt, and doing so actually makes the belt tighter. This thin bracket does flex a little when I roll the belting on or off, so maybe it will relieve a little pressure on the belt clip for that operation. The SR slowed the machine down about as much as I had hoped. The machine runs about 1/2 speed now. I’m able to control the stitch fairly well, and that should improve with practice. I favor my treadle Singer 31-15 for slow stitching, so that’s probably what I’m mentally comparing it to for control. There is some vibration at the SR that probably won’t hurt anything, but it’s distracting. It’s caused by the rather large belt clips going around the small pulleys. I probably should have used smaller clips. If the clips become an issue, they can be removed and the belts sewn together to eliminate that condition. When I checked for belt slippage by restricting the balance wheel, I quickly got a hot spot on the palm of my hand, so the belts are pulling well. I have about $57 invested in the SR. If it continues to function as planned and does the job that it’s intended to do, I’m good with the cost. If I’d had any of the components on-hand already or could have made them myself, the cost would be even lower, and should fit into even the most cash-strapped budget (like mine). I think that my Basket-Case Singer 31-15 is ready to go back to work. CD in Oklahoma

Hi Ferg, thanks. I see what you're talking about with the threads, but actually, the full-length of the brass sleeve is on the uncut portion of the bolt. I've had to add a washer to each side to take up the extra bolt where there are no threads. I plan to set the inside nut to allow the bushing to turn easily, but without too much extra slack, and then tighten the outside nut like a jam nut with the bracket sandwiched between. CD in Oklahoma

The marks that you can see in my second photo are from the feeddog. That side was down. CD in Oklahoma

I may have listed the wrong parts then. I gave Bob the serial number, so maybe he can save my bacon if I did get it wrong. CD in Oklahoma

I came up with a basket-case Singer 31-15 the first of January 2014 that I’ve been bringing back from the dead for the past few weeks. The first time that I laid eyes on it, it was laying on the ground in a farm lot in north Texas. Rusted and frozen solid, it took several weeks of soaking in sewing machine oil, and some major persuasion, to get it loosened up, moving, and sewing again. I swapped the balance wheel out for the smaller one since this machine was going into a power stand and I needed the large wheel for a treadle application on another machine that I’m working on. I put it in a Glaco Power Stand that I found stored unused in the backroom of a Cleaner’s Shop, and now I’m playing with putting a home-made Speed Reducer together to slow the 1725 RPM Clutch Motor down a little bit. I don’t need to slow it down too much, but a little slower would be good. I bought a step pulley from an auction site that has 5” and 2.75” pulleys pressed together onto a brass bushing having a 1/2” ID. I believe that someone put it together for a lathe application and then didn’t use it. I’m planning on running the bushing on a soft 1/2” bolt as a shaft, with sewing machine oil as the lubricant. I have to get someone to weld me a bracket together to mount it under the top of the stand, and plan on using 5/16” leather drive belting. The pulley grooves are kind of wide, but I think they will grip the sides of the belting. If not, I may try to line the grooves with rubber to see if that will work. It’s amazing to me how much abuse some old machines can take, and still be brought back to life, even if just for limited use. CD in Oklahoma

A compound feed machine will mark your leather if it has teeth on its feet. Here’s a broken work belt that I repaired with a Consew 225. Marking wasn’t a concern on this one. Just sewing an old belt back together to get a few more miles out of it. CD in Oklahoma

Here are some photos of the hook on my Adler 205-64. The spring inside of the bobbin case is one that I found in my parts bin, and may not work properly, but I might give it a try until I get the correct one. I’m going to have to modify the temporary needle clamp that I thought might work in a pinch, before it actually can work. I hope I can find something else before I go to the trouble though.... CD in Oklahoma

Thanks Trox. I’ll take a look at a steering wheel spinner knob (a PeterBilt that I drove years ago had one), but I think I want something that sticks out about 3-times as far, so I won’t be hanging my wrist on the center hub. I’m still wanting to go clamp-on though, but I may have to make my own. Thanks Constabulary. Bob Kovar is looking into parts for me. I dug around in my parts bin and found a temporary needle clamp that shouldn’t hurt the needle bar until I get something else. Most of the other parts have to do with the automatic tension release, so if they’re not available, I’ll rig up a manual tension release on it. I don’t think any of the missing/damaged parts will prevent the tension assemblies from working properly. I’ll get a photo of my hook assembly and post it so you can help me determine which hook this one has for sure. I still have to put it all back together. CD in Oklahoma

I got my list of parts that I need. Some of them are available new, and some will no doubt have to come from a donor machine. Parts needed for Adler 205-64: Qty) Part Number Description 1) 005 00 231 3 Needle Clamp (bis 1991) (Nadelhalter) 1) 992 00 426 0 Needle Clamp Screw (slot) (Zyl. Schraube) 2) 020 00 201 0 Bobbin (Spule) 1) 367 15 027 0 Bobbin Spring (Kegelfeder) 1) 105 11 004 0 Tension Release Pin (Bolzen) 1) 105 13 008 3 Shaft (w/cam?) (Lufterhebel) 1) 204 13 001 0 Plate (Auslosehebel) 1) 893 99 149 0 Shoulder Bolt (Fl. Kopfschr. M4x5) Also, does 277 thread work well top and bottom in this machine? CD in Oklahoma

Wiz, see if you can post a link to another thread, and label it "For Eric". It won't let me do it anymore. CD in Oklahoma

I'm having the same problem on my PC, Eric. Something has changed. CD in Oklahoma

Hi Geneva, Thanks for the information on your home-made Speed Reducer. I happened to stumble onto an 8.5:2 SR off of an Adler 205-64 and mounted it on my Consew 225. My wife and I are loving it since all we do is repairs with that machine. It's shown in a thread called Adding A Speed Reducer To A Flatbed. There is another home-made SR shown there too. http://leatherworker...+speed +reducer I've had a hobbyists or two come around in the past couple of years looking for an old Singer 31-15 or equivalent. They're wanting to sew billfold interiors and such. I found a basket-case 31-15 and brought it back to life, and a Glaco H-leg power stand not being used at a laundry, that I'm trying to marry up into a hobby machine. It's got a 1725 RPM clutch motor with a 2-inch pulley, but it's still fairly fast. I've been thinking about some kind of home-made Speed Reducer to put on it, so I like hearing how others have done theirs. I'm thinking a 4:2 may be all it needs. Thanks. CD in Oklahoma

What do you mean by “rock back”? I’ve never heard that term. I had a problem with thread being shredded on a Consew 225. It turned out to be a new foot that had a thread channel made in it, but when the needle hole had been drilled, the burr wasn’t cleaned out of the thread groove. Probably not your problem, but I thought I would mention it. CD in Oklahoma

Thanks, but I'm planning on keeping this machine and I like the "scars" that old well-used machines seem to have. I worked hard to get my own "weathered look"and figure the machines did too or they would still look like new. CD in Oklahoma

A great day in the bikeshop yesterday! The rusted-up, bound-up Adler 205-64 broke free! After having had only a tiny bit of movement while turning the balance wheel back and forth each way since back in November, I had been giving it a gentle tug on the balance wheel every few days as I let it set soaking up sewing machine oil. Every once in a while, I would give it another shot of oil. I was fiddling with it again yesterday, trying to decide where to disassemble it to separate the upper and lower shaft assemblies and get serious about freeing the machine up. And since I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it just one more brisk tug on the wheel before taking parts loose, I gave it my best. Suddenly, I felt it give a little and there was about a quarter of an inch of movement. With increased excitement and vigor at rotating the wheel back and forth, the movement increased to an inch, then a couple of inches, and then after about an hour of it spitting out rusty oil and drinking more fresh oil, the big boy was turning over smoothly full-travel! The reverse mechanism is also moving full-travel. Yea!!! It was quite a workout for both of us (as my triceps are reminding as I type this), and I'm just thrilled to pieces to have it moving freely. I wound down the afternoon session by cleaning and replacing the few parts that I had removed to get oil inside of the mechanisms. I still need to put the hook and race back together, but I'm leaving it off for a while to spin the machine more and be able to clean out the end of the cylinder arm if it burps out any more rusty oil. With the machine now freed up, I can turn my attention to drilling the broken lever out of the foot lift assembly and start ordering parts and supplies. I need to replace the needle clamp and get some bobbins and thread coming for it. I haven't cleaned up the tension assemblies yet, so I don't know what I'll need there. Anyway, maybe it won't be long now before I can do a test-sew with it. CD in Oklahoma

Good ideas jkbuzzbee and pcox. I’m sure there are a lot of us out here with older machines that need to be slowed down a little bit. I like the factory-built speed reducer on my Consew 225 (that I just got rigged up) well enough that now I’m starting to think about what I can do with my Singers 111W153 and 111G156 to tame them down a little. I don’t have another factory-built speed reducer, so thanks for the suggestions. CD in Oklahoma

It sounds like you’re pressing the Safety Clutch reset button instead of the Stitch Length button on the deck......? CD in Oklahoma

Hi Jody, welcome to Leatherworker.net If you don't already have a Speed Reducer, or are not going to cobble together your own, then probably your best course of action to slow your 225 down is to contact one of the Dealers here at the forum. They will probably recommend that you consider a motor change to a servo. The cost savings of a SR instead of a servo would not be practical, if you have to buy everything new, IMO. In my case, I had the SR on-hand from an Adler machine. If you purchase either a servo or SR new, mounting instructions should be included to help you. CD in Oklahoma

I like the idea of using the stand frame for attachment points. It helps avoid the congestion at the underside of the top surface, and opens up the possibility of using larger pulleys when making your own speed reducer assembly. Thanks for posting photos. I hope others will do the same. Mine seems to be working just fine so far. CD in Oklahoma

I used small hex-head lag screws, whatever size diameter that went through the mounting holes, and I think they were 1 1/2” long. I got them at the local hardware store. CD in Oklahoma

Knowing me, I'll probably pick a handsewn style to make..... CD in Oklahoma