211G155 Do I Have The Wrong Machine

[miaoreo]

Well after all my tension and needle woes I thought I had it all worked out. New needles (longer), new tension disks and spring, all the little missing thread guides in place. Take a old pair of denim jeans, double them, and the machine walks thru 4 layers of denim like butter... as long as you can keep the upper thread between the disks, it does seem to want to "jump" out.

Now what I really want to sew is Navajo blanket and soft garment leather... 4 layers thick, two layers of each... It barely fits under the raised walking foot. NO DICE, the thread either breaks at the needle or it skips stiches badly... So, do I have the wrong machine for the job? or am I still doing something wrong?

Any advice is appreciated... I have now invested a lot of time into this machine and want it to work.

Mia

[dirtclod]

How thick is what you want to sew total ?

[tnawrot2]

Are you pulling the thread down into the tension disc? And if you are barely getting the material under the pressure foot, you are sewing the max, I would of used a 7 class machine for sewing your combination of leather and wool.

[Wizcrafts]

Hmmm. I had a similar problem with my National 300N walking foot machine. Not the thickness part, but the thread rising out of the disks part. Some thread, especially black nylon thread, is springy and tends to twist over itself, or the guides or disks. After suffering with this for a couple of years, on a happens today but not tomorrow basis, I too measures to stop it, once and for all.

If you look closely at the tension disks on a Consew, Chandler, Juki, National, Seiko, or Singer walking foot machine, you'll notice that there is a thin steel post on the right side of the disks. It keeps them aligned in a notch on both disks. I simply pulled the top thread under the little post, then sharply up and around the center of the disks. This has eliminated the problem of the top thread twisting out of those disks. I had to compensate for the added tension of the sharp turn by backing off the spring a turn or two. Try it.

Since threading top thread around that alignment pin is a bit of a hassle, when changing color or size, I now cut the thread near the thread stand, then tie a knot onto the new thread. I remove the thread from the needle, raise the feet with the knee lever to release the disks, then pull the new thread through, until about a foot is visible after the needle bar guide. Cut it off, thread the eye, and keep on keeping on!

Edited April 22, 2013 by Wizcrafts

[Wizcrafts]

As for part two of the question, a standard walking foot machine setup will clear more than it can sew. The cranks inside the head need room to move as the feet alternate. The higher the lift of the feet, the more likely you are to hit something solid when you try to sew anything beyond 3/8 inch. This can be counteracted somewhat by moving the lift lever all the way down in the curved slot on the back of the machine. It may gain you 1/16" more sewing capacity. That would place the new limit at 7/16 inches.

However, when you sew 7/16" of material, there is a danger that the needle bar thread guide will hit the inside left edge of the presser foot. To counteract this I changed to system 190 Pfaff needles, and reset the position of the needle bar up by about 3/16 of an inch. This is about the difference in length and position of the eyes between system 135x16 (& 17) and system 190 Pfaff needles. With the longer needles, which have the same shank diameter and hit the center of the hole in the feeder, I can sew almost 1/2 inch of material.

But, the cranks on the back were hitting the body near the top cutout, when sewing 7/16".. A little time with a rat tail file opened up the clearance at the place that the crank was touching the back of the head and she now sews thick stuff without self-destructing.

I find that even though I modded my machine in this fashion, it still is less than reliable at 7/16 inches. This really shows up when I install 1/2 inch piping feet and try to use it to sew that size of a welt. Unless I lower the lift ratio to minimum, it will hit the body or presser bar inside the head. That is why I got a Cowboy CB4500, which sews over 3/4 inches.

Note: Even though my walking foot machine walks higher, it still doesn't do so well with #207 or thicker thread. Again, I have a 441 clone that does a great job with #138 and thicker, so why ruin my little bitty walker?

Edited April 22, 2013 by Wizcrafts

[miaoreo]

How thick is what you want to sew total ?

The total thickness is only about 3/8 not compressed.

Hmmm. I had a similar problem with my National 300N walking foot machine. Not the thickness part, but the thread rising out of the disks part. Some thread, especially black nylon thread, is springy and tends to twist over itself, or the guides or disks. After suffering with this for a couple of years, on a happens today but not tomorrow basis, I too measures to stop it, once and for all.

If you look closely at the tension disks on a Consew, Chandler, Juki, National, Seiko, or Singer walking foot machine, you'll notice that there is a thin steel post on the right side of the disks. It keeps them aligned in a notch on both disks. I simply pulled the top thread under the little post, then sharply up and around the center of the disks. This has eliminated the problem of the top thread twisting out of those disks. I had to compensate for the added tension of the sharp turn by backing off the spring a turn or two. Try it.

Since threading top thread around that alignment pin is a bit of a hassle, when changing color or size, I now cut the thread near the thread stand, then tie a knot onto the new thread. I remove the thread from the needle, raise the feet with the knee lever to release the disks, then pull the new thread through, until about a foot is visible after the needle bar guide. Cut it off, thread the eye, and keep on keeping on!

Thank you for the tip Wiz.... but I may have bigger issues I find. I cannot see or feel that raising the feet with the knee lever releases the disks or changes the tension at all.... I am afraid something is not right in there.

I really didn't think I was going to have to disassemble this machine to be able to sew....

And I am already using 190 needles, they were the ones that were long enough to pick up the bobbin thread. And since what I am sewing is only about 3/8" I would think the machine should sew it without modifications (?) I am trying to use 69 or 92 thread only. (and the black worked better than the tan)

Edited April 22, 2013 by miaoreo

[J Hayes]

Well after all my tension and needle woes I thought I had it all worked out. New needles (longer), new tension disks and spring, all the little missing thread guides in place. Take a old pair of denim jeans, double them, and the machine walks thru 4 layers of denim like butter... as long as you can keep the upper thread between the disks, it does seem to want to "jump" out.

Can you post a picture of how its threaded? Seems odd that the thread wants to jump out of the tension discs

[miaoreo]

Can you post a picture of how its threaded? Seems odd that the thread wants to jump out of the tension discs

Question, I have not taken it apart, but behind the black Y shaped piece of metal that the disks are attached to there is some sort of lever. Is it supposed to move or do anything? Mine does not.

Thanks for any help.

Mia

[CowboyBob]

Question, I have not taken it apart, but behind the black Y shaped piece of metal that the disks are attached to there is some sort of lever. Is it supposed to move or do anything? Mine does not.

That is for the tension release,it is supposed to open the tension discs when you pickup the foot so the thread pulls out easier.

If your thread is jumping out of the tension,try when you thread it & go down on the left,underneath,go up the rightside & over the top of the pin sticking out @ the 3 0 clock position.

[miaoreo]

OK... I am learning.. I watched this video on youtube very carefully, and you can see the disks "open" when the foot is raised...

Mine does not do that... I didn't know. Now the question is, or are, Why not? and How to fix it?