sandmanred

I'd start by increasing the top thread tension, it should help pull the knot up tighter.

If there's a shortage it can't be from them wearing out :-)

One suggestion for your clutch motor speed control is to actually oil the clutch. If you disassemble the clutch and generously wipe the clutch cork with sewing machine oil it will improve low speed control. Just don't oil the brake side cork! I've done this on my last few clutches and it improves low speed control significantly.

Here's examples of the size of thread this machine can run. I think it is well suited to run T-90 to T-350 and maybe one size bigger. Home machine sewing thread pictured for reference.

For sale $900 Saint Paul, MN Singer 132K6 heavy duty industrial straight lock stitch walking foot (kicking foot) sewing machine. Table is 20 x 48 inches. Includes 132K6, knee lift, bobbin winder with original mount, clutch motor, thread stand, original operating manual and reprinted pdf of operating manual. Stitch length adjustable from approximately 10 to 2 stitches per inch or 2 mm to 12 mm. Approximately ½ inch clearance under the presser foot. This machine has very large bobbins and is well suited to thread from T90 to T350. Speed reducer provides improved low speed control and increased torque to penetrate heavy or tough material. Speed from 0 to approximately 500 stitches per minute. This is a heavy duty machine, the head alone weighs 90 pounds! The pictures show a typical home sewing machine needle next to the size needle this machine runs. Accessories include 8 bobbins, original operating manual, many needle sizes for both leather and cloth, extra presser foot set. I have fabric and thread for demonstration or bring your own fabric and thread up to T350. It is currently in a garage where the temperature is about 50 degrees. Link to a short video in operation; https://youtu.be/ddTrJkpMfns Cash only. Delivery negotiable.

After more digging around I think I have the oiler figured out, at least partially. I removed the little cylinder under the shut off valve thinking I might find a seal of some kind. There's nothing under there! The oil well has no outlet under the cylinder. It creates a pumping action by the way it vibrates when the machine runs. I think my leak was coming from the cylinder being set too close the wall of the well, I believe capillary action was drawing oil up to the wick regardless of the valve or whether the machine was running. That was adjustment number one, set the gap between the cylinder and the wall of the well. It's set so the cylinder is roughly concentric with the wall. That stopped the constant leak. Adjustment 2 was to tweak the spring to just suspend the cylinder above the well bottom by a mm or two. This lets it bounce and provide pumping up to wick when the machine runs. video of oiler in action The other problem of the needle bar hitting the presser foot I solved by going to a 190 needle, it's about 4 mm longer and provides the clearance to set the presser as high as possible.

There a little pin in the center of tension discs that is supposed to push the outer disc away when you raise the presser foot. The stud that everything mounts on is hollow and the pin rides in there. The pins are small diameter and have a tendency to get shorter over time. I've found that even brand new ones aren't always the correct length. You should be able to see the outer disc push out a bit as you lift the presser foot, if not that could be part of your problem.

A smaller pulley on the servo and or larger on the handwheel will help too. You can get as small as 45mm pulley for the most common servos. I run a 125 to 130 mm pulley on the hand wheel. When the minimum speed on the servo is 200 rpm that gets me to 60-70 stitches per minute.

I synched mine, I agree with you I don't know it might be useful to have them not synched. I just rolled the hand wheel by hand and iterated until I got it dialed in. It's been a while since I had mine but I think the hook is the same as a 31-15. I also got needle plate from ebay. It's good to know the clones/close models too when you search for parts. I think the Singer 16U is one and Tacsew T188 another. Watch the fit of parts that aren't OEM, they often kind of fit but I have had to modify many of them to make them work right.

I like to see the hook point pass the center line of the needle right in the middle of the scarf (top to bottom). There is normally a spec regarding how much the needle has lifted by the time the hook is supposed to meet the needle centerline. Do they mention that value? If it's machine that runs a typical universal domestic needle it should be pretty close to a Singer 31-15 where the rise of the needle should be 3/32 inch when the hook tip crosses the needle centerline. Hope that helps.

Sorry I misunderstood, 16 and 17 are needle style not size, so your needle size seems to be about right. I don't have enough experience in leather to offer much help other than loops of top thread on the bottom means something is keeping the take up arm from pulling it up all the way. Needle too small or top tension too low or thick/sticky/hard material are typical causes that I know of.

So you are running 138 thread with a #16 or #17 needle? So far most of my experience is with jeans and heavy canvas but I would be running at least #21 for 138 thread and often a #22 or #23 if it's really hard canvas and/or many layers. The reason you get the snaggle of top thread on the bottom is that the top tension needs to be very high for the take up arm to pull the top thread loop up through small needle eye and small hole in the material. If you're tension is maxed out but still not enough the arm can't pull up the loop back up and it gets left on the bottom side. I'd go with a bigger needle and you should be able to back way off on your top tension.

I have a vintage parts and operating manual that covers Singer 111W, 211W, Consew225, 226R1 and Juki 562, 563. For sale for $5 and the cost of mailing.

It looks like all the parts on the machine match the parts in the parts diagram in the oil shut off area so not sure what do there. I'm still wondering if anyone just does manual oiling instead of filling the well?

I had a 78-1 for a while. No service manuals. I disagree with the Singer literature. These are not lightweight machines. Needle size to 25, 1/2 inch under the presser foot, large heavy handwheel, 3 stitches per inch. Simple and reliable yes, light weight no. Have fun with yours!

Do other owners of the Consew 255RB-3 use the semi-automatic oiling system? I filled my reservoirs yesterday and left the little knob on top in the off position. The machine is sitting on a metal workbench. The upper reservoir pretty much emptied itself overnight. There was an oil pad in the drip pan that was saturated when I got the machine. I'm thinking I'd just go to manual oiling but wonder if others have had this problem and what they did about it? The other question is about the presser foot lift. There's lots of literature that quotes it at 9/16 of an inch. I can get close to that at the upper lever position but then my needle bar interferes with the outer foot when the presser foot is up at the low position. To avoid this interference the highest I can go for presser foot height when up is about 11 -12 mm. I just got the timing dialed in to sew well so I don't want to believe my needle bar is too low but that's all I can think of. Any merit in switch over to a 190 needle size to provide clearance. Thoughts? Thanks

I had the Consew 18 for short while but I'm pretty sure it will handle T135 all day long and I think I even tried some T210 with a 24 needle but had a modified needle plate to allow the bigger needle to pass. 92 should be no problem.

Here's a link to a manual. Consew keeps a good library but I also use manualslib.com I had one that I got from a musty basement. Rusted solid when I got it. Brought it back to life and it worked great. I think it runs up to a 23 needle? About 5 stitches per inch max. The needle it specified was not a easy one to find now but a needle bar adjustment let me adapt it to a readily available needle. I think it offered a differential feed, so you could over or underfeed the top layer of fabric relative to the bottom. It didn't do anything for me so I just ran the top and bottom feeds synched up. http://www.consew.com/Files/112347/InstructionManuals/18.pdf

The hook was grabbing the loop as it as it should in both forward and reverse. However, in reverse it snagged the loop that's just about to knot with the bobbin thread on revolution that's it not supposed to grab anything. Most of the time after a few stitches in reverse ehe hook breaks the needle thread and keeps on sewing leaving two ragged tails on the bottom. Other times it breaks it and stops sewing. I did also find a manual for my model. The needle and hook had correct clearance. There were a couple of discrepancies between the Consew and Seiko manuals so in the end I followed the 255RB3 manual. I think my biggest problem was not using anything to estimate the needle rise and the hook to eye distance. I found a 2mm shim to help estimate the distances better. I set it up to the manual and then retarded the hook just a bit, as far as I can tell anyways. Runs good forward and backward across all stitch lengths. Thanks both Uwe and Don for your help!

Thanks. That makes sense. I noticed that the needle position where the hook is supposed to catch the loop shifts a bit towards the operator a bit when you push the reverse bar. I was looking for some adjustment(s) to make the needle position front to back when the hook engages the loop exactly the same in forward and reverse but I can't figure it out. As the needle is a bit closer to me when in reverse I'll time retard the hook a bit from where it is and see how that goes.

I think I have followed all the procedures to get it timed right per the manual. It sews great forward. But the hook is snagging the loop as it closes on the pass that it's not supposed to do anything when in reverse. It will stitch a bit in reverse but doesn't sound as good and usually within a few inches it snags. Suggestions on what to look at?

It kind of looks like the it's a spring issue. It's been a while since the machine was used or oiled. With a little oiling the problem got better, it only bobs occasionally above a stitch length of 9 mm and even then it's sporadic. I can easily hold the lever up and it stitches fine and doesn't make any awful noises.

I just picked up a the machine from a Craigslist ad. It supposedly had just been serviced with a new needle bar, hook and tension assembly. It wouldn't make a stitch when I got there but it helped me make a better deal. I've resolved most of issues that I detected and have it stitching again but there is something not right with the reverse lever. Anytime it makes a stitch anywhere between 7 and 10 mm it bobs down and back up right as the needle approaches top of stroke. I'm getting reasonable close to the correct stitch however it is a bit short. It did not go beyond 7 mm when I got it. I have it going past that now but I must have missed something in the procedure to have the reverse lever bobbing like it does. Any insight on what to check is welcome. Thanks!

I've also noticed that when my Pfaff with a rotary hook was a little out of time it was much more prone to this problem. It is much less prone to it now that I re-timed it. The hook was a little more advanced that it was supposed to be and would just snag the loop from the top as it was being pulled in the revolution that it's not supposed to catch anything.

I've bought bonded nylon and polyester from them. They were willing to send samples when I needed a color match.