TJ959

I had one experience in dealing with Cowboy Bob's business and I feel I was very fairly treated. I bought an old used Seiko machine but I looked over the Cowboy machines he had in stock. Looking back I wish I had bought a new machine that fit my needs. I have a tendency (obsession) to cheap out and unfortunately I continue to buy almost what I want but cheaper and much older. No experience with Cowboy machines but the dealer is knowledgeable and helpful. Can't hurt to talk to him some more and get those questions answered. Kentwood. The place where old Singers go to die.

You know, you're right. I don't know why I have such an aversion to EBay. I had a bad experience but I guess I can't really blame them. My daughter uses them frequently. Thanks for stating the obvious. The part has been ordered. I was not aware of different parts but my parts list shows this one and the original was destroyed with pieces missing so I can't tell from the picture. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. Thanks again. ....TJ

I have a Singer 211W151 and unfortunately I broke the bobbin case opener. I looked on line and they seem to be hard to find. I ordered a 267351 from sewing parts online. It but they are on backorder with no idea when they are available. I have had bad experiences with ebay so I'm looking for a reputable parts source. I like machines that are as old as I am (Singer 111W155, 211W151, and 66) so this may be an ongoing problem.

So this is the reason I have been nervous about posting on here. Beautiful work!

Great carving. I have tried it a few times and can use a lot more practice on the knife work and the tooling too. It's never too late to start this stuff. I did my first piece several years after I retired. Wish I had started sooner too.

I sold them both on market place

I have been trying to reduce the size of my photos but I must be doing something wrong. The 17-23 may be sold.

I can't get my pictures to load. I will gladly send pictures by phone. I have a Singer 17-23 with a servo motor and speed reduction pulley system ($400.00) and a Seiko STW-8 consew clone with a servo motor and an oversized drive pulley ($500). I would consider delivery to the right location. These machines are located in the Grand Rapids Michigan metro area. 616-204-3257

Gave up and consulted a local tech. Real nice guy. He showed me some stuff and it seems I was mostly correct in my attempts. Now all I have to do is get better at sewing on a machine. Thanks for the replies. It's good to have a resource like this and hopefully I will be of help to someone else down the road.

I have now discovered how to adjust the needle bar but I'm not sure where it should be set at.

It has the original needle system and it seems to me that the needle bar is set a little bit high. Looking at the thing, it isn't obvious how to adjust it. That may also be why it is reluctant to pick up the bobbin thread. It may not be a timing issue at all. I'll go give it a look. Thank you both for the replies.

That is my opinion as well. Im not very experienced with this stuff but it seems to me that I should be using a #16 or #19 needle.

I have just aquired a Singer 17-23. It seems in good shape and I'm pleased with it. I think it needs to be timed and it's shredding the top thread though. It came with #22 needles which according to my chart I should be using 138 thread. The bobbin was loaded with 69. The Singer manual says it will take up to a #25 needle. That would mean it would take up to 277 thread. I didn't think these machines were that heavy duty. Soooo, my question is how do I find out how to time this thing. I'm enjoying messing around with it but the model is new to me and I'm rather new to sewing machines as well. I am fairly mechancal and it seems simple, yet I'm in danger of tearing out my few remaining hairs, without some form of reference material. I'd take it to Bob but he's 160 miles from me and I can't take it there every time I screw it up. I'd include pictures but I can't figure out how to do that on this site. I'd appreciate any input I can get on this machine and any direction toward more info.

I have a Seiko STW 8 Consew clone. I've had it less than a year and somehow I seem to have lost my mojo. When I change the bobbin I,m doing something wrong. It won't pick up under the tension spring unless I take the the bobbin case out. Those little tiny screws are just not a viable option and I've nearly lost one at least twice. I'm having trouble getting competent with this thing as it is. I have an other issue with this when I turn it around to back stitch it cuts the thread. (no reverse) I do a passable saddle stitch so maybe I should be a more hands on stitcher. Is there a video somewhere or should I just sell it and continue sewing by hand?

After a search and much reading on this site, I think I have answered my own question. It won't do what I need it to do. I wish I had found this site a year ago. I probably would have made fewer mistakes.

I'm still very new to sewing machines but I have run into a singer 241-12 for what I think is a good price. It looks like it might be for high speed production work rather than my slow plod along style. I'm also concerned about stitch length and whether or not it will accept very heavy threads and large needles. Anyone familiar with this machine?

Well after a little grinding and fitting the part is installed and the machine is working. The stitches are a little closer together than I had hoped but they will do. Now all I have to do is get more familiar with the machine and learn to sew with it. Thanks again everyone.

Cowboy Bob fixed me up. Thanks Bob.

I checked this out a little further and this is a used part. It seems to me that their 100 year old part is probably not much better than my 100 year old part. Is there any place where I can get the specs on this???

More like $89.95

I have found at least one source for the part. It is rather expensive for a little piece of steel but worth it if it fixes my problem. I thought this thing was 100 years old until I looked up the serial number and found it was 130. I guess it has a right to be a little worn.

I have disassembled the sewing head of the machine and to my inexperienced eye, everything looks good. It was dirty and dry and 133 years old but good. I'm going to order the feed motion bell crank probably tomorrow but I'm wondering if I should replace anything else as long as I'm in there. It seems to work fine except for the stitch length issue but I don't know much about sewing machines. Anyway, so far this has been kinda fun.

Thanks so much for the reply and the links. Looks like I'll be replacing a part or two. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since this machine has been used in a shoe shop and it's 30 years older than me ... and I'm old.

Hi I'm new here and I'm new to sewing machines. Until now, I have been hand sewing my work. I recently picked up a Singer 29-4 sewing machine. After much cleaning an oiling, I tried a little sewing. The thing wants to sew about 11 to 13 stitches per inch. The online manual was not much help and all adjustments made no difference. I'm fairly mechanical but sewing machines seem to be more like black magic. Does anyone know anything about this thing. I tried to download a picture but it wouldn't let me.