Treadle Power

[friquant]

Found a nice-looking working treadle on marketplace for $50. Bolted a piece of plywood to the top and am trying it out under an industrial machine.

I used a hole saw to make the pathways for the 6mm PU belt. The table top is 72cm high (28.5in), and the machine bed is 82cm (32.5in) high

280mm (11-in) stock pulley connected to the pitman arm. 155mm (6-in) 3D printed pulley on the machine head. The machine head turns 1.9 times for every one rotation of the treadle mechanism.

 

If you get both feet involved, you can drive it like a tricycle. That is, push the far end of the treadle with one foot, then push the near end with the other foot, repeat. Since the gear ratio is approximately 1:2 you get about one stitch per push.

 

 

The Treadle in its Former Glory:

 

[alfredleatherworks]

That’s a pretty fun conversion! I like it! 

[friquant]

15 minutes ago, alfredleatherworks said:

That’s a pretty fun conversion! I like it! 

Still noodling on how to build a supportive skirt around the machine bed. Mostly so it's more stable / difficult to topple.

I love that the machine is up higher than usual. Otherwise I have to hunch over to see the needle area.

I'm surprised that the weight of the treadle flywheel feels adequate for pushing a large machine. (Not that this machine head is all that resistant to spinning.) I do notice a difference in feel when swapping from 1-needle to 2-needle use. That's when I realized I needed more belt tension actually, the first time I tried the treadle with two needles in The belt just slipped when the needles hit the material. PU belt is convenient for resizing though 🙂

[friquant]

 Getting better at driving the treadle 🚄 Sometimes I can stop and go (in the correct direction) hands free 🚦

Stitched a couple of luge hats on it from a pattern I was working on last year. This denim one turned out better than the one in faux fur.