Basket-Case Singer 31-15

[cdthayer]

I came up with a basket-case Singer 31-15 the first of January 2014 that I’ve been bringing back from the dead for the past few weeks. The first time that I laid eyes on it, it was laying on the ground in a farm lot in north Texas. Rusted and frozen solid, it took several weeks of soaking in sewing machine oil, and some major persuasion, to get it loosened up, moving, and sewing again. I swapped the balance wheel out for the smaller one since this machine was going into a power stand and I needed the large wheel for a treadle application on another machine that I’m working on.

I put it in a Glaco Power Stand that I found stored unused in the backroom of a Cleaner’s Shop, and now I’m playing with putting a home-made Speed Reducer together to slow the 1725 RPM Clutch Motor down a little bit. I don’t need to slow it down too much, but a little slower would be good.

I bought a step pulley from an auction site that has 5” and 2.75” pulleys pressed together onto a brass bushing having a 1/2” ID. I believe that someone put it together for a lathe application and then didn’t use it. I’m planning on running the bushing on a soft 1/2” bolt as a shaft, with sewing machine oil as the lubricant. I have to get someone to weld me a bracket together to mount it under the top of the stand, and plan on using 5/16” leather drive belting. The pulley grooves are kind of wide, but I think they will grip the sides of the belting. If not, I may try to line the grooves with rubber to see if that will work.

It’s amazing to me how much abuse some old machines can take, and still be brought back to life, even if just for limited use.

CD in Oklahoma

[Ferg]

You will likely want to put those reducer pulleys on a shaft. The bolt will cause wobble pretty quickly since the thread surface is what they will turn on.

ferg

[cdthayer]

Hi Ferg, thanks. I see what you're talking about with the threads, but actually, the full-length of the brass sleeve is on the uncut portion of the bolt. I've had to add a washer to each side to take up the extra bolt where there are no threads. I plan to set the inside nut to allow the bushing to turn easily, but without too much extra slack, and then tighten the outside nut like a jam nut with the bracket sandwiched between.

CD in Oklahoma

[cdthayer]

I got my home-made “mini” Speed Reducer mounted. I got a bracket made at the local welding shop. I may have asked for a little too thin of metal, but we’ll see. It doesn’t wiggle while running, and the thinness actually does help when removing and replacing the belting on the balance wheel. Like the only other Speed Reducer that I’ve used, tipping the head back no longer loosens the belt, and doing so actually makes the belt tighter. This thin bracket does flex a little when I roll the belting on or off, so maybe it will relieve a little pressure on the belt clip for that operation.

The SR slowed the machine down about as much as I had hoped. The machine runs about 1/2 speed now. I’m able to control the stitch fairly well, and that should improve with practice. I favor my treadle Singer 31-15 for slow stitching, so that’s probably what I’m mentally comparing it to for control. There is some vibration at the SR that probably won’t hurt anything, but it’s distracting. It’s caused by the rather large belt clips going around the small pulleys. I probably should have used smaller clips. If the clips become an issue, they can be removed and the belts sewn together to eliminate that condition. When I checked for belt slippage by restricting the balance wheel, I quickly got a hot spot on the palm of my hand, so the belts are pulling well.

I have about $57 invested in the SR. If it continues to function as planned and does the job that it’s intended to do, I’m good with the cost. If I’d had any of the components on-hand already or could have made them myself, the cost would be even lower, and should fit into even the most cash-strapped budget (like mine).

I think that my Basket-Case Singer 31-15 is ready to go back to work.

CD in Oklahoma

[mlapaglia]

Looks good. One question. Wouldn't grease be better than sewing machine oil on that pulley/bolt configuration?

[cdthayer]

> Wouldn't grease be better than sewing machine oil on that pulley/bolt configuration?

Good point. Grease would be a good choice, if the setup had a grease cavity for the extra grease to reside and feed into the movement. There’s no channel for reserve grease in this connection, so it seems to me that once the initial grease is forced out, it would need to be disassembled, re-greased, and re-assembled.

It seems to me that oil will wick into the movement better than grease if applied from each end of the brass sleeve, but then there’s not much space for reserve oil either, so I may end up with a dry joint unless it gets oiled frequently. The washers at each end of the sleeve will provide a tiny bit of reserve space, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough.

Oil will sling off of the assembly more than grease too, so over-oiling could be worse than too little. There’s no drip pan under/around the SR, and that has me a little concerned. And too much oil could migrate up onto the outer surface of the pulleys, eventually getting to the belt grooves, so that’s even a greater concern. I don’t know. I’m open to ideas. Maybe grind a grease channel into the bolt at the mid-way point of the brass sleeve and switch to grease?

This contraption is not intended for full production activity. It wouldn’t hold up under continuous use, but I’m hoping to make it adequate for the part-time User.

Thanks.

CD in Oklahoma

[mlapaglia]

> Wouldn't grease be better than sewing machine oil on that pulley/bolt configuration?

Good point. Grease would be a good choice, if the setup had a grease cavity for the extra grease to reside and feed into the movement. There’s no channel for reserve grease in this connection, so it seems to me that once the initial grease is forced out, it would need to be disassembled, re-greased, and re-assembled.

It seems to me that oil will wick into the movement better than grease if applied from each end of the brass sleeve, but then there’s not much space for reserve oil either, so I may end up with a dry joint unless it gets oiled frequently. The washers at each end of the sleeve will provide a tiny bit of reserve space, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough.

Oil will sling off of the assembly more than grease too, so over-oiling could be worse than too little. There’s no drip pan under/around the SR, and that has me a little concerned. And too much oil could migrate up onto the outer surface of the pulleys, eventually getting to the belt grooves, so that’s even a greater concern. I don’t know. I’m open to ideas. Maybe grind a grease channel into the bolt at the mid-way point of the brass sleeve and switch to grease?

This contraption is not intended for full production activity. It wouldn’t hold up under continuous use, but I’m hoping to make it adequate for the part-time User.

Thanks.

CD in Oklahoma

Get yourself some Slide-Glide Its designed to stay put on gun slides and I have used it on other things as well. Id suggest the medium or normal version. The heavymay drag down the pulley. All you need is the .5 oz tube. Its worth a try. It's good stuff. I would avoid oil at all costs for the reasons you mentioned.

Michael

[Cascabel]

Ya know...... The best overall solution to the lubrication issue would be to find a friend with tools and a minimum amount of skill to drill a hole down the middle of the bolt from the head end, to about the center of the bearing area, and then to cross-drill another hole to meet that channel, and then simply install a grease fitting in the head of the bolt. Then all you need is an occasional squirt with a grease gun. Just pump in enough grease until it BARELY extrudes around the bolt, and you're done......