Singer 111G156 saved from landfill

[johnnysingerfan]

Hello everyone. This is John from Norfolk England. I've just bought this rather sad looking Singer 111G156. It was from a house clearance company who sold it to me on ebay. As you can see it is rather rusty and dirty.

I already have a new Hightex cylinder arm machine, I was looking for an old Singer flatbed to compliment the cylinder arm, especially when working on larger items like car interiors etc.

I am relatively new to leather sewing and it is my hobby, not my job. I have used your site a lot for hints and tips. So I thought I would share my sewing machine rebuild in case it helps someone else like me in the future. My machine is finished now and I just have the table edge to complete next. 

I'll see if I can post some more photographs of the build. I replaced the hook, the timing belt, the motor was seized, so I now have a new servo motor. Everything was out of adjustment and needed lots of cleaning and polishing. The final machine has been sprayed with 2k epoxy paint, so it should be quite hardwearing for many years to come. 

The original serial number has been ground off and was painted over with the original grey paint, so it must have happened when the machine was made? It means I can't possibly date this machine but never mind. All the parts were original Simanco numbered parts, I don't think it had had much service history! It's been a fun project, as I'm more used to working on old cars, or making high tech parts for industry. 

[johnnysingerfan]

As you can see it hadn't been used for a very long time.....

[johnnysingerfan]

It didn't look too bad on the ebay photo. Note that the material under the foot is covering up the rust. 

The next photograph shows the machine ready to be sprayed

[johnnysingerfan]

So here is the singer and parts in 2k epoxy primer ready for the colour coats......

[johnnysingerfan]

Ok, so not original colours I know.........

I thought that as the machine was pretty much a lost cause, it wouldn't hurt to spray it a different colour. After all the machine is for me and not to sell on.

The machine has been slowed down to 1 stitch per second using homemade speed reducer pulleys and a servo motor. I added a synchroniser.

The singer logo was made from the photographs of what was left on the machine, it was supposed to be gold but turned almost black when applied to the red paint, so I won't worry about that.

As for sewing, I have been through 4mm thick veg tan using 20tkt thread without a problem. 

Next up is to replace the edge of the sewing table (wish I had an original Singer industrial table but never mind!) and to start using it in the evenings.

Good luck with all your sewing projects, I hope my little rebuild pics might inspire someone else to save a machine from the skip.

[kgg]

1 hour ago, johnnysingerfan said:

Ok, so not original colours I know.........

Very nice rebuild.

kgg

[ksteers]

Noice!

[dikman]

Very good job on the rebuild. Yeah, the colour's a bit "in your face" but hey, as you said it's your machine to do with as you wish.

Given the rust on it I'm surprised the table top hadn't suffered water damage.

[Wizcrafts]

There are aftermarket reproductions of Singer decals. I've seen them and they look as good as the originals.

[Handstitched]

19 hours ago, johnnysingerfan said:

Ok, so not original colours I know..

You're a bloody legend    I'm of the " restore , rebuild ,  fix up & re-use, make the old work again " ilk .   I quite like the red , it really is quite good  ( even when blue is my fave colour) 

Hope you have so much joy from it !!! 

HS

[johnnysingerfan]

8 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

There are aftermarket reproductions of Singer decals. I've seen them and they look as good as the originals.

Thanks, I wanted them to be the same as the industrial ones but could only find the more ornate Singer home ones online.

[johnnysingerfan]

10 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

You're a bloody legend    I'm of the " restore , rebuild ,  fix up & re-use, make the old work again " ilk .   I quite like the red , it really is quite good  ( even when blue is my fave colour) 

Hope you have so much joy from it !!! 

HS

Thanks! I couldn't let this one go into the skip. It was just about to if I hadn't bought it..... The red is much darker in real life, the camera makes it look really bright. 

The great thing is all the cool stuff you can make with one of these lovely walking foot machines.

[johnnysingerfan]

12 hours ago, dikman said:

Very good job on the rebuild. Yeah, the colour's a bit "in your face" but hey, as you said it's your machine to do with as you wish.

Given the rust on it I'm surprised the table top hadn't suffered water damage.

Thanks, the table will be saved but I wish I had an old cast iron industrial Singer table for it. The red is actually so much darker in real life, it's RAL 3003 I think. The main thing is that it works very well, in fact it sews through thicker leather better than my brand new Hightex machine. Amazing considering the age and abuse this poor machine has had.

[johnnysingerfan]

18 hours ago, kgg said:

Very nice rebuild.

kgg

Thank you!

[Wyowally]

I did get aftermarket decals. Not exactly original, but close enough for me.

[Garyak]

Wait a minute there buddy! Nice job… I got my eBay steal of a deal for 175$. Sat for 30 years, and wasn’t froze up completely, the fly wheel would turn, but nothing else moved.  It was full of brown recluse spiders and about 6-7 big egg sacks. Had a dead, dried up mouse down in the timing belt area for a bonus…  didn’t bother me, with the help of a few fellas from this group, and some spray paint I got it better than new again. I was going to sell it, but once everything was right, no way I’d let it go. Nice score man. I dig the paint too, makes look like fast…..

[dikman]

Ahhh, I forgot red things go faster!

If you wait long enough, and keep looking, I'm sure one of the old cast iron frames will come up, but from a practical using perspective the setup you've got is probably better.

[shoepatcher]

Nice job on the rebuild.

glenn

[johnnysingerfan]

17 hours ago, Garyak said:

Wait a minute there buddy! Nice job… I got my eBay steal of a deal for 175$. Sat for 30 years, and wasn’t froze up completely, the fly wheel would turn, but nothing else moved.  It was full of brown recluse spiders and about 6-7 big egg sacks. Had a dead, dried up mouse down in the timing belt area for a bonus…  didn’t bother me, with the help of a few fellas from this group, and some spray paint I got it better than new again. I was going to sell it, but once everything was right, no way I’d let it go. Nice score man. I dig the paint too, makes look like fast…..

Love that long arm machine! Quite a rare beast I think, I haven't seen any of those come up for sale. Love that you saved it and that you use it. Great size comparison against the small sized home machine.

[johnnysingerfan]

9 hours ago, dikman said:

Ahhh, I forgot red things go faster!

If you wait long enough, and keep looking, I'm sure one of the old cast iron frames will come up, but from a practical using perspective the setup you've got is probably better.

Yes, you're right about the bench, the old ones just look better though

 

8 hours ago, shoepatcher said:

Nice job on the rebuild.

glenn

Cheers!

[CowboyBob]

Great job,came out nice!The 111w156 is a great workhorse of a machine.

[johnnysingerfan]

9 hours ago, CowboyBob said:

Great job,came out nice!The 111w156 is a great workhorse of a machine.

Thank you! I can't believe how smooth they sew.

On 4/13/2023 at 3:28 PM, Wyowally said:

I did get aftermarket decals. Not exactly original, but close enough for me.

Looks brilliant! 

[dikman]

I had an old industrial frame that I was determined to use so made up a table for my Pfaff 335. Naturally, it's heavy and the only way to fit castors was to weld them to the bottom of the legs! This raises the whole thing up, including the foot pedal, and consequently I need a taller chair because the frame's not height adjustable, of course. I also had to add a piece of bungee cord to the back of the pedal for extra support due to its weight. This machine doesn't get used a lot but I'm not sure how comfortable the setup would be for extended use.

 

[johnnysingerfan]

23 hours ago, dikman said:

I had an old industrial frame that I was determined to use so made up a table for my Pfaff 335. Naturally, it's heavy and the only way to fit castors was to weld them to the bottom of the legs! This raises the whole thing up, including the foot pedal, and consequently I need a taller chair because the frame's not height adjustable, of course. I also had to add a piece of bungee cord to the back of the pedal for extra support due to its weight. This machine doesn't get used a lot but I'm not sure how comfortable the setup would be for extended use.

 

Wow, I love it. A fantastic machine on a wonderful old bench. 

I have the Hightex clone copy of the 335, it was the first machine I bought. I made the leather interior for my Fiat 600 Multipla with it and the convertible roof for my Fiat 500d, plus a few other projects. I made a flat bed aluminium table for it because I didn't want to buy two expensive new machines. 

It's much cheaper to restore an old quality machine than to buy a new clone. Although a brand new machine is easier to learn on I think.