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I've got a few different servo motors from the cheaper end of what's commonly available. However, as impressive as most of them may be, and as perfectly fine for garment machines as I'm sure they are, they all seem to be lacking something or several things, for my purposes. Mostly these are a limited pedal speed range and/or an excessive starting speed. I understand that these are pretty much par for the course with cheap servo motors. I've gone down the speed reducing pulley route before and the results are impressive. However I want to be able to use a needle positioner/synchroniser and would prefer to not have the bulk under the table. It doesn't help that I am in the UK so a lot of options are simply not options (we use 230ish volts @ 50Hz mains). The Ho Hsing G60 servo has been recommended by several posters on here as having good low-speed performance. At £200ish including tax and shipping it's nearly double what the cheapest servos cost and the synchoniser is extra so I'm a little hesitant about pressing the trigger until I'm fairly convinced it's the right option. Specifically I'm looking to power my Seiko LCW-8 (very similar to the Consew 226) and want to be able to run it from under 100SPM to over 1000SPM without adjusting any settings (a wide pedal range with lots of discrete steps along the slope). (Another thing other than price I'm not too keen on with the G60 is that it's a 2-button interface. I find them tricky to navigate, and would it really kill the manufacturers to put on a speed knob and a few toggle switches for commonly changed settings? I'd love a nice robust 3-way toggle for the synchroniser, and maybe a "safety" that disables the motor for making adjustments around the needle without fear of putting a Schmetz #160 through my finger without having to turn the power off? But I digress...) Am I asking too much for a bottom-end servo motor? Is there a better option, hopefully for fewer beer tokens? I really don't think I could stretch to an Efka... Should I just give in and build my own PLC-controlled direct-drive stepper setup?

Having got my machine completely apart last week, and the alterations done to the stand, I spent the weekend painting said stand parts. I realized it was a lot easier to put the stand back together upside down. I have cut down the main table top as it was too long. This meant a tight fit for the Ho Hsing motor, gubbins tray, and start switch. Again, rather than fit the motor after putting the head back on, I thought it would be much easier to do the job with the stand upside down. This proved to be the case. Then came the job of getting the head back on the table- all 65 kg of it, on my own. I have a little helper in the shape of a small manually operated fork truck, which I bought for moving 40kg sacks of fertilizer. See photos.In order to do the job safely, there has to be something to support the cylinder arm whilst moving the base and getting the bolts in. Having the Efka means I can just bolt on the Ho Hsing parts to the flywheel without having to make any brackets- everything fits. And works, too. There is oil EVERYWHERE! Most of it came from the air operated foot lift and reverse. Next weeks task is doing the head cleaning. While the machine was running, I checked to see if I had forward and reverse stitch holes in the same place- no such luck. Also there is SOME play in both the needle bar and inner presser foot bar-particularly in the fore and aft direction.College sewing have the needle bar listed, so presumably that is a frequent replacement item.

The durkopp Adler 205/370 I am buying has an old Efka Variostop motor and controller. The controller is a type 6F62AV. I have absolutely no experience of these, and would like to know how they compare to a Ho Hsing motor, which I currently have fitted to my Adler 105/64. I do not have the money to spend on an up to date Efka.The variostop seems awful complicated. Is there any point using it if I do not use the pneumatic features, because I cannot stand the noise of a compressor?(Assuming my small compressor will do the job). I am not doing production work, and nothing in any quantity. There is also the problem of getting the 3 phase motor working on single phase- what is the best way of doing that?