RWL2

This was a brand new needle and didn't look bent when I inserted it. I can't address the foot since I only have the one set of presser feet but they didn't look bent.

I loosened and reseated the stud just to be sure and there was no play there, and the rock frame was not loose behind the bracket D at the lower end.

Thanks for the suggestion. That was a good thought, but loosening the needle set screw doesn't allow the needle to be wiggled at all. The hole in the needle bar is not worn eccentrically. The needle is pretty well centered in the vibrating foot, but not the feed dog. The machine does sew (powered by hand at this point so I haven't done extensive testing) but I see the fabric pulling down on the right side as the needle passes through because of the needle being pretty far to the left.

I went down in the shop and looked with a flashlight. I cannot see a part number on it although the side closer to the casting isn't as well seen. It is indeed an old model 226. There is no R after the model number on the badge. This bar is symmetric end to end. The little hole at the upper end is connected to the return spring that holds the reverse in the up position. The protruding bottom end of the bar has the same hole at its distal end. It looks like the bar could be flipped end for end and used no matter which end was installed up. Is there some purpose for the extension with the hole on the bottom end, or was this just how the manufacturer made it for assembly convenience? A fuzzy parts diagram I found suggests that this is part number 10841 - Bell crank connecting rod.

In the short term I'll use it on a table top like a portable machine. I'm in the process of completing a small hand crank for it so I can use it as is. In theory I could put the machine up on blocks another inch higher, but then the machine is that much higher off the table and even less convenient to use. If / when I run across an industrial machine table I may buy it. I'm running out of space in my shop and most of my sewing is handled by my domestic machines although the Consew will make sewing tie down straps, canvas and denim much easier. This was an inexpensive completely frozen machine I acquired at a yard sale as an interesting project because it would make a couple of sewing tasks easier. Is there a known reason for the bar being that long and having an extra hole at the bottom in the Consews (and possibly Singers and Jukis since they're all pretty similar). I'm trying to figure out why it's there. If there's no good reason for it, it can be altered.

As you can see in the photo below. The needle is noticeably off center to the left side of the hole in the feed dog. I'm aware of Uwe's video showing how to center the needle front to back, but not how to center it side to side. My guess is that you have to loosen the three socket head screws that hold the upper casting to the table and moving the upper casting a smidge to the right. Have any of you done this before?

What's the purpose of the extension of the connecting link for the reverse mechanism? It's much longer than it needs to be. The screw driver points to the extension on the bottom of the machine in the photo below. Was this for a knee or foot controlled reverse mechanism from the table? The main reason I ask is that I don't have a dedicated sewing table for this head yet and when I push down the reverse lever, the extension of the connecting bar/rod hits the table top so that I can't fully reverse the stitch. I was thinking of cutting it off, but don't want to alter the machine if this is going to remove some feature that I don't know about.

Just some minor follow up for anyone who might have to remove the upper arm shaft like I did. When reassembling it, the lower set screw of the eccentric appears in the window in the rear of the casting when the needle crank points to about the 9:00 position as you look at the end of the machine. The rotation of that eccentric on the shaft is what controls the presser feet and getting them timed took a lot of trial and error. You may have to rotate eccentric a few degrees before or after 9:00 on the shaft to get the walking middle presser foot to touch the material at the same time that the needle touches the material.

Follow up. In the end, I moved the "top" set screw of the feed eccentric, marked with the "S" to the bottom groove and left the top set screw of the index collar on the right in the groove. The feed dog feeds normally now.

I flipped the lift eccentric but there was no change in the feed. I pulled out the set screws and more closely examined them. There are domed and flat set screws, with one of each in the feed eccentric. Same combination of one flat and one domed in the index collar to the right .....But why would Consew take the time to machine two grooves in the lower arm shaft for the feed eccentric if only one set screw was supposed to be in a groove? In my tinkering, with both set screws of the feed eccentric in grooves, I believe there was one orientation of the set screws in the index collar that led to the machine feeding in reverse without the reverse lever being pressed. It did occur to me that it might be possible to adjust the reverse mechanism so that it fed forward but I didn't want to fool with the reverse feed mechanism because that had been untouched.

Your thought of flipping the feed lifting eccentric 180º is a good thought. When I installed it I couldn't see a difference in how it should be oriented, but maybe it's subtle. I'll try that. I don't recall any of the set screws along that shaft having domed or pointed ends but I will go back and look at all of them.

I uploaded a video of the motion of the feed dog and presser feet. It should be available at this link: When I orient the feed eccentric with both set screws in grooves and with the "bottom" set screw of the timing collar in the groove, this is the action that is produced. The main problem to my eye is that the feed dog comes up at an angle rather than up, back and down. The effect is that the 'fabric' is fed to the rear and then slid in reverse toward the front, leading to short stitches. If I orient the feed eccentric so that its "top" set screw is in the bottom groove and its lower set screw is on the rounded part of the shaft, and the "lower" set screw of the timing collar is in the groove, the motion appears correct to my eye and material feeds normally. This latter setup doesn't seem correct though - why would there be two grooves for the feed eccentric if only one of them were in a groove? What adjustment should be made?

Uwe, thanks for tackling this problem. I've never made a video to upload, so it may take a little longer, but I'd appreciate your expertise after watching how my machine operates. I looked back at the photos I took before I disassembled the machine and noted that the feed eccentric wasn't in the same orientation when the timing marks were aligned. I loosened the set screws for the feed eccentric and rotated the "top" set screw down to the "bottom" groove in the arm shaft and the lower set screw of the feed eccentric now rests on a round part of the shaft. This mostly corrected the motion of the feed dog. I used your previous video on adjusting the Juki LU-563 to adjust the location of the presser feet. I'm not sure if I have the eccentric on the upper arm shaft oriented in the best position for the timing of the presser feet, but at least the vibrating foot goes down when the needle goes down and moves the test fabric back in the correct direction at this point. Video to come.

The 'fabric' (actually a piece of cardboard) moves back and forth but doesn't progress in either direction. The needle just goes through the same hole. This was a completely frozen machine and needed a near complete disassembly. About the only things I didn't take apart were the middle shaft for the reverse on the bottom of the machine and the shaft on the bottom that controls the feed dog, and the rock shaft in the upper arm part of the casting. I have no idea if it was working properly before I took it apart. The needle comes down and passes through the vibrating foot and fabric when it's in a rear position and moving forward. The needle lifts and the vibrating foot follows the feed dog and pulls the fabric back. Here is how I assembled it. What do I have out of time and how do I fix that? Do you need other photos to diagnose the problem? The "front" set screw of the timing collar on the right is in the groove of the lower shaft. Which set screw should be in the groove? I slid the feed eccentric back to show that both of its set screws had been in the grooves. The two timing marks on the right are aligned and the thread takeup arm was in its highest position The set screw of the feed dog's eccentric was in the groove.

Picture of the eccentric and connecting arm with roller bearing. I agree wholeheartedly. Varnished dried oil often seems to responds to fresh lubricant / solvent, but not rust. I needed to tap on the shafts to free seized components that I needed to remove for service / cleaning. As I mentioned in my post above, I was impressed by how soft the steel is in these shafts. Despite using a brass bar as an intermediary on the lower main shaft and an aluminum bar for the upper arm shaft, the ends of both shafts expanded slightly, making it difficult to slide components over the enlarged ends. I measured this enlargement at about 0.001" on the lower shaft where I used the brass drift and a few tenths on the upper arm shaft where I used the aluminum rod as a drift. I "stoned" the enlarged areas back to size with a fine beartex wheel on my polishing head.

I made progress today and got the eccentric and connecting arm out of the machine where I was able to free it up. The first discovery was that one of the set screws in the toothed belt pulley has an extension that mates with a hole going through the shaft, locking it in place. Once that was removed I could slide the pulley easily on the shaft. An interesting aside is that although this a Japanese made machine, the screws are all SAE fasteners (inch sizes), albeit in a special fine thread pitch. I was able to get a right angle screwdriver onto the 2nd set screw of the eccentric, freeing that from the shaft. The metal of the shafts throughout this machine deforms easily, even when using a brass rod as the intermediary, so I tapped on an aluminum rod to push the upper arm shaft out. I pushed it out from the pulley end because the needle crank at the opposite end is not easy to remove, plus there was a solid stop at the needle end of the casting for the eccentric to bear against, unlike the open casting going to the pulley end. Once the eccentric and connecting arm were out I could see that the connecting arm was cocked on the eccentric. After pushing them together so that the arm rode correctly on the eccentric, the roller bearing would turn. It eventually freed up enough that the eccentric and connecting arm could be easilly taken apart and cleaned. Despite an initially gritty feel, with cleaning the bearing now turns freely without grittiness. I lubricated it with Tri-Flow. Since I had the arm shaft out it seemed like a good time to take the needle crank off and clean up that end. Like the drive pulley, the needle crank has one set screw with an extension that fits into a hole in the arm shaft and fixes it / orients it in position. Photos below. Although this was for my Consew 226, it should apply equally to many Singer 111w class machines and possibly the Seiko STW-8b

Exactly. It's the way it came to me. It was one of the set screws on the lower pulley though that was the culprit so somebody was messing with that before it was taken out of service. I've got the set screws loosened on the upper pulley hoping to slide the entire shaft to the right or left and remove the offending eccentric, but the upper cog's stuck on the shaft. I've seen that odd belt appearance in occasional photos on the net and wondered why it had those punched out looking areas. Now I know.

This is the continuing saga of my Consew 226 which top, bottom and head was completely frozen. I've got most everything else apart, but the eccentric on the top shaft is stuck and has not responded to Kroil, paint thinner and Ed's Red and heat - so far, about a week and a half's time. The eccentric hub is turning on the shaft. It's possible that if I could get the hub to hold on the shaft that I could get the eccentric to turn in the crank and eventually get it loosened. Thinking that I might be able to remove the eccentric and deal with it outside the machine, I was able to loosen one set screw on the eccentric's hub, but not the other. It slides more easily on the shaft now. I can push the handwheel end of the shaft toward the head fairly easily, but the toothed pulley is stuck, preventing further sliding of the shaft despite loosening the two set screws in the pulley. I'm pondering what to do next and looking for ideas. Is there a groove in the shaft in the area where the eccentric is located? If so, I can turn the shaft a little at a time until the set screw finds its groove and then I can fix at least the one set screw in place. After getting the hub secure, I could try rocking the handwheel back and forth to tap the eccentric's "arm". Have any of you had to deal with this before?

This is for my Consew 226, but could equally be from a Singer 111w class machine or a Seiko STW 8b. The spring loaded extension was stuck in the vibrating presser bar. It had been drenched in Kroil, paint thinner and Ed's Red for a week without noticeable effect. I tapped the free end with a brass mallet, but I didn't want to whale on it too hard because I didn't know whether the extension was already as deep as it would go and hitting it harder was likely only to bend the extension or bugger up the end of the vibrating presser bar. There was no simple way to grab it with pliers to twist it without marring the surface of the extension. I really didn't want to grab the larger diameter part near the end because I could see that it was pinned in place. Holding that would succeed only in shearing the pin. I tried grabbing the exposed end between wood blocks in my vise, but it just turned in the wood. I decided to make some collet blocks to more forcefully grab the extension. I selected two pieces of scrap aluminum, each approximately 1/2 x 3/8 in cross section from my junk box because aluminum is "grabby" when it's pressed against steel. I could have used steel, but aluminum grabs better and drills more easily. Brass would have worked well, but I don't know if I had any scraps of square section brass around and brass is expensive. I measured the diameter of the extension as 0.144" which is identical to the diameter of a #27 wire drill. I clamped the two pieces of aluminum in the vise with a piece of thin cardboard between them and drilled the hole. The cardboard was used so that when they were clamped together on the extension there would be a small gap between the two pieces of aluminum allowing pressure to be applied to the presser foot extension. I slid the spring back and clamped the extension between the two blocks in my bench vise and wiggled the square part of the vibrating presser bar back and forth until it released. The oil had made its way to the end of the presser bar, but this was partially rusted in place. I used a soft wire wheel to remove the rust on the extension. When I inserted the cleaned extension into the presser bar, there was resistance from residual rust and dried oil. I started with the #27 drill and twisted that in the bore and then used successively larger drills to clean out the bore. Photos of the process below. I hope this helps someone else in the future. Two more pictures so that the uninitiated know what the complete assembly looks like.

Thanks for your vote of confidence on paint thinner. This is my first thoroughly frozen sewing machine. I've also been dripping paint thinner on some of the joints as well. I have resisted putting a torch to anything for fear of annealing any hardened metal parts but I may try a hair dryer or cautiously a heat gun. I'm thinking that limonene (Citrus strip / xylene substitute) might be worth trying. That stuff ate the O rings on our tissue processor that had been designed for exposure to xylene, which dissolves wax (and a host of other old organic materials). What I really wish I could use is spray on Easy Off oven cleaner but I don't want that in any moving parts since it's water based which will cause rust. When I get greasy metal working machines and motors, oven cleaner has proven to be the easiest way to degrease them, including old dried on oil. Oven cleaner has worked better than kerosene, paint thinner, lacquer thinner, gasoline, or xylene. Leave it on for about 5 minutes and wipe the old oil off. Leave oven cleaner on too long and it will soften and remove some paints. Although some are partial to WD-40 as a penetrating oil, I'm not a fan because it leaves an oily film that becomes sticky / gummy over time.

Lets just say below market. Frozen and rusted machines aren't worth much unless you're interested in reselling parts and I'm not in that business. I think the machine had been out at the seller's yard sale last year and my guess is that he got tired of moving it - it's heavy! Check your message folder.

I forgot to add the photos that may be helpful to the next person to need help with the feed eccentric and lower shaft.

Thanks for all of your comments. After three days of soaking with Ed's Red and Kroil I was finally able to tap out the lower drive shaft and get to the feed eccentric. A little tapping on it with a brass mallet and it separated into parts that I could clean. The spring loaded collar seems to regulate how difficult or easy the eccentric is to change rather than the tightness of the dovetail's gib, per one of the pages in either the army or the navy repair manual. I also discovered the value of good allen wrenches vs the Harbor Freight kind. I tried the wrench that fit from both the SAE and metric sets and both were a little loose in the hex head. I tried it anyway and the wrench just spun in the head. Thinking that maybe the hex screws were an odd size, I checked around in my little collection of unorganized allen wrenches and found a few candidates, one of which fit substantially tighter in the hex heads and I easily turned them out so I could get the gib out and clean the dovetails. Afterwards I measured across the flats of the allen wrench to see what size it was compared to the Harbor Freight one and discovered that they were all legitimately 1/16" wrenches, but the one that fit/worked was .063" and the Harbor Freight one was .060". That .003 of an inch difference in size made all the difference in the world. It's not as important on bigger sized allen screws, but having had this experience I need to find a good set. The bottom of the machine is pretty well under control - until I eventually put it all back together and the timing is off, but I'll start a separate message about that if I can't find what I'm looking for here in the previous messages. Now on to the top part of the machine, which is still solidly frozen despite an equal number of days soaking in the penetrating oils.

You're right about the acetone evaporating very quickly, but Ed's Red is equal parts Dexron transmission oil, Clear Kerosene, Paint thinner, and acetone so there are other solvents that hang around a little longer, particularly the kerosene.

I have a completely frozen Consew 226 I picked up at a yard sale. Neither the top shaft or the main lower shaft can be turned. I removed the belt so it's not just one shaft holding the other back. The freezing is a combination of dried lubricant and rust, although so far, no rust on shafts in areas encased in a journal / bushing / bearing. The lower shaft is bound by the stitch length regulator which will not rotate to create the eccentric movement it should. Although I have liberally soaked it in both Kroil and Ed's Red I can see no way to free this without further disassembly. I have not tried heat because my limited experience with other projects is that you almost have to heat things to red to make any difference, and I don't want to soften any heat treated parts. It's possible I might be able to free it if I could loosen the small collar that holds a spring against the regulator. If I release the collar and spring tension, what am I up against in getting this back in proper position? It is probable that I may need to completely disassemble the machine and reinstall things component by component. Getting the feed dog eccentric and the large hook gear off this shaft is the next problem.