kgg

I think first off you need to up the budget up a fair bit to at least to the $1000 mark. For holster type work a cylinder bed would probably be your best purchase. As you are a first time buyer I would recommend that you buy preferably new or good used from a real brick and mortar store for service /support/ warranty unless you able to do repairs yourself. Yes, there are sometimes good second hand deals out here but you need to know what you are looking at with regards to overall condition, availability of accessories and replacement parts. Keep in mind that all machines at some point are going to need to be repaired. Buy Once, Cry Once. kgg

A little more info would help with your problem. What size thread are you using, what size of needle are you using, what are you trying to sew and pictures of the top thread path. Some simple checks: Do you have the needle installed correctly (long groove on the needle should face the left hand side not towards the machine pulley) and thread going from the left through the needle? Are you sure that you have the thread coming off the bobbin correctly (counter clockwise), tensioned properly for the bobbin thread size and installed correctly? What things are not adding up? The machine should have a thread range up to v138 thread, 135x17 for fabric or 135x16 for leather. Once you get the problems straighten out the Singer 211G155 is a nice machine and differs from the 211G156 in that it doesn't have reverse. This machine I think will do good on upholstery weight leather but will be seriously lacking for doing knife holsters. Could be that the actual clutch needs adjustment, is seized open or worn out. kgg

If you assume the servo can turn at the 100 rpm setting under load then the 5" pulley will turn at 40 rpm, 6" pulley would turn at 33 rpm, 4" pulley would turn at 50 rpm. A more realistic servo motor setting would be at least 200 rpm which would change the numbers to: 4" pulley would turn at 100 rpm 5" pulley will turn at 80 rpm 6" pulley will turn at 66 rpm Extending the clutch engagement lever will give you better speed control, be a bit more forgiving and make feathering easier but nothing for speed reduction. For speed reduction you would need to install a speed reducer pulley between the clutch motor pulley and the sewing machine pulley. kgg

Nice Kelpie looks energetic, evenly marked giving a very pleasing expression. I like the collar, nice and wide around the throat area it will help protect the throat from a pulling / lunging injury. The nylon lead wouldn't be my choice. A leather lead made from good horse harness weight leather will be stiff for a while but will last for years. I have some good leather leads that are at least 20 yrs old. The nylon kennel lead style leads last about 3 years. If you do decide to go leather for the lead part make sure it fits comfortably in your hand, to small will feel like it is cutting into your hand and to large feels like you can't close your hand. I like 3/4" width and the wife likes 3/8" on the same dog. If you feel comfortable the dog will sense this down the lead, if you are fiddling around with the lead the dog will be unsettled. kgg

What I would do is go back to basis. Start from scratch remove all thread, top and bobbin. Re-thread top, re-thread another bobbin, check to see if there is something amiss in or around the bobbin case, install a new needle of the correct size for the thread size and reinstall the bobbin making sure the thread is coming off in the right direction. Then hand wheel through and see what happens. From your post I get the impression that you are completely removing the top thread before installing new / different thread, if so why? Even through I don't own this type of machine, when I change thread on my Juki 1541S because of size, type, colour or running out for the top thread I just lock the presser foot up to release the tension on the top thread tensioner, cut the thread at the old spool, tie the end of the old thread to the end of the new spool thread, hall the thread out of the needle and pull the end of the old thread dangling alongside the needle, install a new needle if necessary and thread needle. Basically, once I threaded the machine correctly I haven't needed to go over the thread path since. kgg

What did you come up with as to availability, cost etc.? kgg

There was discussion on the Singer 97-10 a while back such as "Singer 97-10 Users? Questions ". Just do a search in the search at the top and you should get some good info. kgg

I had my hearing damaged enough that I had to get hearing aids, nasty things, hate hate them. Lost mine due to shooting rifles and hand guns for extended periods of time with no ear protection. But on the other side of the coin the ones I have shut off fast enough that I don't need to wear ear protection when shooting. A side benefit is that the wife says put in those damn hearing aids but never says to put the batteries in. Blissfully Quiet kgg

All sound related to normal living can and does have an effect on ones hearing later in life. What effects one person may not be a problem for most depends on the individuals sensitivity. Unless you are in a tiny space, using 20 lb hammer or power actuated equipment for prolonged periods of time there shouldn't be a problem. I think California is just trying to scare the hell out of it's people that everything is harmful and putting them in the bubble wrap mentality. Surprised there isn't a warning on beds about waking up from a sleep that the sudden shock of awareness to reality may be hazardous to ones health. kgg

Hi Matt Coats is a damn good thread I use mostly Coats Dabond Bonded Polyester myself. The V138 (Tkt 20) and the V69 (Tkt 40) are both 8 oz (250g) spools are I think considered a small spool on this side of the pond even though I have seen 4 oz spools. So the price is fairly comparable. kgg

I couldn't find any servo motor made by Juki on Amazon, could you provide a link to the servo motor. kgg

I am not sure I understand the difference between the Techsew 2600 and Phaff 335 (maybe the 0.55 inches vs 3/8) and their pros and cons so that probably means I need to research a lot more. Different machines all together other then being cylinder machines. To add to the mix depends on whether you are looking at a new Pfaff 335 which I think max's out at V69 thread or an older version. kgg

What thread are you using for £10 for 1lb (500g) spool which should have 3000 yds on the spool. I spoke to American & Efird last week and a 1lb (500g) spool, which should have 4200 yds on the spool, of Anefil Bonded Polyester or Nylon in V92 (T90,Tkt30) is going to cost $42 CA ($31.25 US / £24.56). They also said they are not supplying 8 oz(250g) thread anymore for general information. Totally agree as I do like to know what I am buying rather then I will take some thread in colour AA in spool size XX and thread size YY. Some retailers / importers don't even bother to add their own label, the spool just has whatever the "real" manufacturer has labelled it as. Totally agree. I agree when on 1 lb spools but the smaller 8 oz spools other things can and does happen particularly with "less then" quality (probably cheap Chinese) thread. kgg

Ya the good old days, I use to design & build substations and sequential controls for about 25 years. kgg

You should get some good use from that surface area. Very nice, the drafting table brings back some good memories from my previous life. Now you well be able to get the angles correct easier every time when marking / cutting. Does the table have the ability to move from almost straight up to down flat? kgg

JC2019, since this is going to your first and main machine, I would strongly advise you to decide on whether it is going to be a cylinder bed or flatbed machine for your stuff. Then decide on a firm price you can afford which will help in deciding whether it is going to be new or used. Finally since it is going to be an expensive investment take a road trip to at least one brick and mortar vendor that has more then one manufacturers machines in stock. Bring along some of what you what to sew and compare not only the results but how the machine sounds and looks. My requirement was the machine had to do a great stitch, run smooth as silk, be flawless and look great right out of the box along with a good detailed readable "English" manual for future reference. Buying a new or used machine online can be a great experience from a dollar saving perspective for the experienced user or the ultimate nightmare or boat anchor. That is going to depend on the vendor and whether it is purchased from a site like Amazon. Amazon has a great return policy in comparison to some others should there be a problem. Some new clone machines that I looked at when I was looking for a new machine I do admit their price was enticing, they did sew and that was about it for me. Their look / finish / feel for the price was what you would expect from an old Russian Lada car as well as some did the shake, rattle and roll. Some clones looked OK but sounded like a bucket of bolts banging around in a 45 gallon drum. Makes one pause to wonder about internal quality of parts and their longevity. It is going to be hard to beat the quality of machines like Juki, Pfaff, Alder and some others. A quality machine will have a better resale value down the road then a similar class of clone. Expect to pay more for a quality machine either new or used. Buy Once, Cry Once. kgg

I know what you meant to convey in that by putting a 2" pulley on the drive motor it would cause the sewing machine pulley to run slower not that the drive motor runs slower by putting a 2" pulley on it. kgg

Oh the fun of thread. You didn't mention if the thread you were using was on 1 lb spools or 8 oz spools and if they come of the spool in the same direction. I find black bonded nylon to have a tendency of feeling a little thicker and usually stiffer due to the dying / drying process. Thread can and does vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer and their individual specifications for the thread. Cowboy maybe getting their thread from manufacturer A and Weaver getting theirs from manufacturer B both tuned slightly different. It could be as simple as a difficult spool of red thread that may be older. A lot of good quality thread manufacturers will list the date of manufacture. I find a lot of the cheap 8oz stuff from China mostly lists just the size, some in Tkt and some in V. Depending on the manufacturer I find that if I go from white to black I may have to adjust my tensions in both top thread as well as the bobbin. If I go from 1 lb to 8 oz I have to mount the spool horizontally or it is just going to create problems. For a lot of reasons I predominately use 1 lb spools of bonded polyester. kgg

Darren for now is not available as indicated in the topic "I bought an ABLE290 manual for my Chinese Shoe Patcher from Darren Brosowski." Singermania indicated this in a post dated March 21. " Darren and I are friends, though he is not answering communication at present. He admitted himself that he messed up pretty badly and we and others have been trying to help those that did not receive machines, did not get machines that worked, did not get machines back that were in for service, did not get their full orders and so on. I'm guessing you will not see him here or anywhere else until the creditors disappear. It is an awkward situation, a lot of accusations and threats have been made. As a veteran of many years in business and a couple of recessions I know it can happen to anyone. " kgg

I would put a servo motor with the highest HP that I could find. I would be looking at digital speed controller rather then the turn the knob speed controller having the lowest start-up speed and the highest startup torque. Some servo motors claim to have a start-up speed of 100rpm, others at 300rpm and others don't readily list it. Finding the start-up torque may also take some research as suppliers generally don't list the value but a general rule of thumb would be the higher the HP the greater the available torque. I would also prefer a brush-less servo motor over one with brushes. Most suppliers rate their motors in watts (1HP is approximately 745 watts). My top two choices if I were in the market for another servo motor would be: 1. Brushless Digital 12-coil DC Servo motor Sewquiet 6000sm from Reliable (550 watt, costing $169 US or $232 Canadian) 2. Brushless Digital ??-coil D.C. Servo Motor from the Leather Machine Company (600watt, cost ??) kgg

Damn that's expensive, that works out to $2225 US or $2988 Canadian plus the cost of a compressor. kgg

From reading an older post "Artisan Toro 3000 vs Aerostitch vs Adler 205" back in 2009 from Henry Veenhoven who was a dealer in Toronto, Canada. " As to why they were discontinued, they made 1000 of them originally and then were going to redesign the machine with a longer cylinder. But the sales numbers did not warrant ordering another 1000 castings because the sales just did not justify the investment. They were selling hundreds of BOSS machines a month so it didn't make sense to put out so much money for castings when they could barely keep up with the BOSS production. " This was in a post "Artisan Toro 3000 vs Aerostitch vs Adler 205" back in 2009. Personally I would have not considered the machine not from a performance point or cost point of view but rather the associated vibrations / noise of having to have a compressor running in the room. kgg

Ah, it's getting bad when I cann't read my own writing, must be the long Victoria Day weekend. Yes, it should have been American & Efird. When I checked the spool the funny thing is the label indicates it was made in Canada and dyed in the USA. So from that the dying process occurs after the thread is manufactured. The thread was a 1lb spool of Anefil Nylon T135 (V138,Tkt20) black bonded nylon. kgg

I guess we all need to be more conscious of thread / stitching problems when they occur and eventually they will. We need to not only suspect the normal culprits but the direction of how the thread twists as it is spooled off. This can affect tension not only for the top thread but the bobbin thread particularly nearing the end of what is left on the bobbin and when we are pushing any machine to it's normal sewing limits or beyond. It would be nice to know who the manufacture(s) of the thread, the thread sizes and type were. kgg

Nice clean design, like it. kgg