AlZilla

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I've been doing a surface clean and it looks not too bad. I see what you're saying about just adding the pulley. Somewhere I had read that the clutch motors can be grabby but I suppose I should see for myself. Upon getting the front cleaned up, I see that it's a 153 (not 155) so I apparently lose a little lift. But for my present purposes, the extra 1/8" matters not. I'll get after the internals next and see what's going on with the sticking foot control. This may be easier then I anticipated I'm pretty excited...

I'm a new leather crafter and have been given an old Singer 111W155, which will require a lot of elbow grease and love. It appears to be mostly complete, if not all there and everything seems to turn and spin by hand. I could use some guidance as I start going through it. What's obvious on initial inspection: The wiring needs to be reworked The foot control is hung up and rusty Belts are going to be an issue No bobbin winder Surface rust on various parts of the machine Serial Number is obliterated I've downloaded manuals, started looking at Youtube videos and I'm reading through posts here of previous newbie owners. The table has a motor attached and what appears to be a spare older motor/clutch setup. The table top will need to be replaced but it's a homebrew setup anyway. My only request at the moment would be can someone give me a general idea of what to look at first, sort of an order of operations to get started? I've read enough to know that the usual recommendation is to slow these things down with a servo motor and I plan on doing that, once it all appears to be in order. Thank you for any assistance forthcoming!

In my limited experience, practice and very, very sharp blades. I try to use the same blade too long and even try stropping it. Also, I use a guide where ever I can. Multiple passes with minimal pressure seem to give me better control.

I like it. Anybody can buy the same old boring tools and dyes that everybody else has and turn out more of the same old stuff. This took thought and creativity. Lucky sister you have!

"Plasti Dip" might work for you. It's a rubberized product to coat tool handles. You could build a few layers and see what works.