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cdthayer

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Posts posted by cdthayer

  2. Posted · Edited by cdthayer · Report reply

    18 hours ago, SissipahawLeatherCo said:

    I also sew lighter weight upholstery and garment leather and suedes but I use a Juki manufactured Econosew Walking Foot. I've only been trying to use the machine for a few months and currently have size 22 needle and 138 thread which does NOT seem to work for my lightweight leather. What needle and thread size/type would you suggest?

    I don’t know the age of your machine, or if this could have anything to do with your problem, but I’ve got an old Singer 111G156 walking foot machine that doesn’t sew thin or soft leathers well at all (Tex92 thread).  It causes the material to pucker like the tension is too tight, but I got to studying it closely while hand cranking it, and could finally see what the problem was. 

    The inside foot begins its forward motion just a bit before the foot is completely clear of the material, dragging the top layer of material with it just a tiny bit.  I hadn’t ever noticed this when sewing wovens, and I haven’t really used the machine much at all since obtaining it.  It was a basket case when I got it, so I may have something out of adjustment in the feed, but excess movement front to back of the inside foot when just clear of the material (push/pull with thumb and finger) makes me think that it’s wear in the mechanism.

    CD in Oklahoma

    PS - My wife and I like the Taos area too.  We rode our motorcycles across US Hwy 64 from Cimarron to TA several times over the years.  Great ride!

  3. Posted · Edited by cdthayer · Report reply

    I don't know anything about the sewing machines ... but I LOVE that seat in your picture, CD!!

    Bill

    Thanks Bill. I bought that motorcycle seat stool for my wife about ten years ago for Christmas while we were deep into motorcycles. We each rode our own. I thought she’d like it, but she hardly ever used it. I used it more than she did. (But I’m the kind of guy that bought her a coffee maker when we got married, and she doesn’t drink coffee. I do drink coffee, and thought that she would appreciate having a nice coffee maker to make coffee for me with, but no. I still haven’t heard the end of that, after 45 years of marriage.)

    The lift cylinder crapped out after a couple of years, so I strapped blocks of wood to the cylinder to make it rigid. Since I only use one foot on all of my treadles, I can get by with wheels under my stools. It doesn’t work as well for 2-foot treadle operation, as a person tends to “migrate” a tad without an “anchor foot” planted on the floor. With the way that the seat is built, just don’t bend over frontwards in it to pick something up off of the floor...you’ll be the first one to know why.....

    CD in Oklahoma

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I agree with Wiz that a Singer 31-15 with a roller foot should do your projects well. I really like mine for the thin materials. The only part that I differ from Wiz on, is that I’m using T92 bonded thread in mine with no problems

    I ran into problems trying to put the small roller foot on my Singer 96-40. The bottom thread guide on the needle bar interfered with the roller, so I’d have to remove the guide to keep it from hitting and breaking something. I turned that machine into a darning machine for thinner thread, and put my roller back onto my 31-15 treadle.

    CD in Oklahoma

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  5. Posted · Report reply

    I'm astonished by the responses in here...

    If you are serious about this as a business, expand!

    Expanding a small 1-horse operation is not always the best thing to do. I’ve seen small businesses go under trying to add another horse to their hitch. Some of the reasons to stay small could be:

    - Keeping stress at a manageable level. Expanding can bring additional stress.

    - Some folks are great crafters, but not good people managers.

    - Expanding when times are good can mean trouble if/when things slow down again.

    - Some folks need to keep their income at a low level for various reasons.

    CD in Oklahoma

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I can give you some information on my experience with testing my Singer 111W153 in a common Singer Industrial Treadle Stand. I have a clutch motor power stand for the 111W153, but mounted it in place of my Singer 31-15 in a stripped-down Singer industrial treadle stand (top cut shorter for handling during storage and transport to remote venues). I made no changes to the treadle stand at all. It’s the common Singer industrial treadle with a 16” flywheel in excellent condition.

    Most of my sewing is on woven materials and vinyls, and the compound feed will function well enough for those applications, but when I put a couple of thicknesses of 6-8 oz oak-tanned leather under the needle, I didn’t like the results. My machine head turns very freely for a compound feed, but even then, the force needed on the treadle foot pedal to maintain the momentum to sew the leather was more than I wanted to risk. I feared breaking the cast iron pedal.

    You mentioned that you will be doing upholstery with the machine, so you may find treadle operation satisfactory, as long as you avoid any hides that don’t come from a nauga. :) Most of my sewing is repair work, and even on wovens and vinyls, I found that the time spent with my hand on the balance wheel (starting and multiple layers) was substantial. With that thought in mind, I put a steering wheel spinner knob on my Singer 111G156 and simply handcrank all of the stitches and not mess with the treadle at all. I put my 31-15 back in the treadle before I broke something.

    Some of the earlier walking foot machines may have been used in the Singer Industrial Treadle Stands, but I doubt that the stand was ever intended to power the later 111-series of compound feed machines. A 111 treadle is kind of a novelty just for fun, but not really very practical in my opinion. If you’re absolutely needing to use the 111 without electricity, I would recommend the clamp-on spinner knob.

    CD in Oklahoma

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  9. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks silverbullet and Wizcrafts for your help.

    Evidently, there aren’t many surplus feet lying around unused, and that’s kind of what I suspected. I’ll just keep going with the one that I have, and maybe bump this thread up again in a few months to see if anything has become available. My machine is working great for nearly all of the repair tasks that I’ve needed it for, with the exception of getting in really close in an area or two.

    CD in Oklahoma

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I’m still looking for feedback on narrower feet for this Adler 205-64. Something that I can sew up next to the 90-degree area of a wet-molded leather case. Was there a narrow foot or anything similar to zipper feet (left & right) ever made for the Adler 205-64 jump-foot machine? If so, do they require matching feed dogs? Are there any other brand of feet that are compatible?

    CD in Oklahoma

  11. Posted · Edited by cdthayer · Report reply

    Most of the serial numbers beginning with PB were issued to machines coming out of the Karlsruhe Germany factory in the late 50s and early 60s. Most of those numbers that I’ve seen only have 6 numbers following the PB (PBxxxxxx), while yours has 7. I also think that most of those similar PB machines were 111G models, instead of 111W. It’s interesting that you have a PB machine that has a 111W155 tag as well.

    I have machine number PB157568, a Singer 111G156, that I have dated to 1959. I’m not sure how accurate my dating might be.

    CD in Oklahoma

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I dont care to live off-grid, but I know that the grid can always leave me, so I gather up people-powered things. I dont know why a fishing reel wouldnt work. It would probably be cheaper than what I have in my cranks. I picked up a second one recently to have as a back-up, just in case something happens to my favorite one. Being cast iron, one trip to the floor could do either of them in.

    This second one has a gear drive and a three-step tapered shaft, but I don't like it as well as my belt-driven one. It's sort of noisy. The 31-15 bobbin fits snuggly on the third step, but the 205-64 bobbin won't go onto the third step and is loose on the second step. I may be able to apply a wrap or two of self-bonding vinyl tape to the second step to use it, or just keep a tapered tooth-pick handy. Trouble is, I'm running out of teeth, so I don't keep tooth picks around as much as I used to....

    CD in Oklahoma

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  13. Posted · Report reply

    A stand-alone bobbin winder that will accommodate multiple sizes of bobbins for industrial sewing machines is a valuable shop tool. Im glad to see the work on various designs here in the LW threads.

    But since I hand crank both my Adler 205-64 and my portable Singer 31-15, and treadle my main Singer 31-15, I couldnt see any reason to waste electricity winding bobbins. I found a hand crank bobbin winder that works for both of my different bobbin sizes. Im not sure what it was originally made for, but the tapered end drives the 31-15 bobbins just fine, and by adding a small piece of vacuum hose to the pin-sized opposite end of the shaft, my 205-64 bobbins fit snuggly onto it and wind just fine as well. Since learning how to wind bobbins by hand cranking and applying hand-tension and direction to the thread on my Singer 29K70 machine bobbin winders, hand-winding works fine for me.

    CD in Oklahoma

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  16. Posted · Report reply

    Since I’ve posted before about my Singer 95-40 and 96-40 machines, I guess I should explain why I can’t help you with the noise question.

    I use my 95-40 with a hand crank knob. It’s my back-up machine for hemming jeans pant legs. I don’t get up enough speed to hear the gears.

    I have used my 96-40 for a brief attempt at quilting fabrics using a hopping foot. I haven’t ran it very much, and then only slowly trying to learn how to Free Motion Quilt with it. The hopping foot that I had didn’t work out, so the project has been on hold for a long time.

    It’s nice to see you bringing a nice old Singer back into service. Good luck with it.

    CD in Oklahoma

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I like bartering, but not haggling so much. I see them as two different things completely. To me, bartering is a simple trade of this for that, where each person assigns a value to both items for themselves with no discussion on values, whereas, haggling is the discussion between buyer and seller to arrive at a value.

    While I barter when I can, I seldom make an offer when an item is not priced. I think it’s up to the seller to decide what they have to have for the item. And when the seller answers what they want for it with “I don’t know, what’s it worth”, the dealing is usually over for me. I find it absurd to expect the buyer to furnish a free appraisal before purchasing. Tell me how much you want for it, and I’ll tell you if I want to buy it or not.

    Which reminds me, what does the term “$100 OBO” (or best offer) mean? Does it mean that if two people want to buy it for $100, that the one that makes the highest offer above $100 gets it, or does it mean that when nobody wants to give $100 for it, they’ll take the highest offer below $100? I’ve always wondered about that....

    CD in Oklahoma

  18. Posted · Report reply

    About any old rugged straight stitch household sewing machine should work for your application for embroidered patches ironed onto denim or twill. A good machine would be Singer Model 15 or similar flatbed using Tex40 or smaller cotton-covered polyester thread in a size 14 or 16 universal point needle. If your testing indicates that the ironed adhesive holds fairly well during multiple washings, the stitch will basically serve to keep the edges from coming loose and the small thread should work fine for that.

    If you want the look or strength of larger thread like Tex70 or Tex90, you might want to use an industrial machine. A Singer 31-15 with a size 18 universal needle would be an example. I would use cotton-covered polyester or polyester thread.

    I like and use old Singer Iron machines, but other brands will work as well.

    CD in Oklahoma

  22. Posted · Report reply

    [Ouote: I honestly don´t think that 23 or 24 size needles can successfully be used in machines of these classes.]

    Don’t forget that these machines were used for other materials than just leather. Woven fabrics like burlap and duck sometimes needed a large thread for some applications, so the larger needle could work just fine for them.

    A smaller thread may have been required in the bobbin, but the upper thread could be large enough to require the large needle sizes.

    Just my 2 cents.

    CD in Oklahoma

  23. Posted · Report reply

    I’m a big fan of “old iron” sewing machines, especially Singers. It will be nice to hear about you getting it back to sewing again. That will put a smile on my face.

    I have an 1894 Singer UFA that I haven’t ever done anything with except staying latched onto it for some reason. It’s rusty and has got an obviously bent upper shaft, probably from being dropped, so it will take some work to get it going again. Maybe more work than I want to do. And, since I have a couple of 29K70 machines to play with, I haven’t had the urge to get the UFA going at all. I just look at it and wonder where it’s been and what it sewed.

    CD in Oklahoma

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