How To Slow It Down...

[Wizcrafts]

When I made the video of me zipping around the rifle slings at 15 stitches per second, I was using an edge guide, had lots of practice and was doing it on a piece work basis in my "free time" after working in my friend's leather shop all day. When I sew anything requiring precise stitch lines, I go fairly slow, mainly around curves, slots, gun shapes, etc. Belts get pressed against the edge guide, the dial gets spun to full speed and I floor the pedal. The heat helps melt the knots inside the leather.

[JLSleather]

That video was down-right inspirational, Wiz   And exactly my point... git'er done.  I go slow enough ( and JUST slow enough) to ensure the quality of the finished project.  

I understand that won't be the same speed to everyone.  Without even looking for them, I'd been shown SO many videos of click... et...... tey.... clak..... click.... 

When I saw your video, I was this guy...   

Truth is, what the next guy does - or does not -- is not my business.  But that simple little video was memorable and worthwhile (thanks  )

 

[LumpenDoodle2]

Can't deny, learning to sew while trying to control a clutch motor is a great learning experience.    If you can sew with a clutch motor, you can sew with anything.

I'm one of the few folk here who use the needle positioner with their servo motor.   It sews slow/fast enough for me, and when I hit a tricky bit, I just pedal one stitch at a time, letting the positioner cycle the stitch.

Works for me.

[banjo48]

Well for me the servo motor is a delight, I tried clutch motors that came with my machines and hey yes for long straight runs great, but for delicate work slow is best IMO.

I don't use my machines for big earnings, but for the pleasure of making something myself and enjoying doing so.

 

[MADMAX22]

In my experience my 211G155 clutch motor was great for wide open and was very touchy for slower operations, the punching power was ok for very thin stuff. By just changing to a adjustable speed servo motor the control at slower speeds was greatly increased. The slow speed punching power is now adequate and it will still fly right along for the longer runs, just as fast as the clutch motor that was on it previously.

I had to do a couple of MC seats on the 4500 due to the 211 being out of commission and it was a test of patience as far as time was concerned. Not that I am a speed demon by any means. Not to mention getting a free hand straight run of stitches is actually more difficult at really slow speeds. It takes a little bit of speed to get those straight runs to come out right and obviously the more experienced you are the faster they can be accomplished. I am still at the slower end of that.  

[SARK9]

The Parable of the Clutch Motor:

You'll probably never see steam tractor buffs recommending their personal darlings to an aspiring youngster who actually wants to take up farming.

 

-DC

 

[TinkerTailor]

2 hours ago, MADMAX22 said:

In my experience my 211G155 clutch motor was great for wide open and was very touchy for slower operations, the punching power was ok for very thin stuff. By just changing to a adjustable speed servo motor the control at slower speeds was greatly increased. The slow speed punching power is now adequate and it will still fly right along for the longer runs, just as fast as the clutch motor that was on it previously.

I had to do a couple of MC seats on the 4500 due to the 211 being out of commission and it was a test of patience as far as time was concerned. Not that I am a speed demon by any means. Not to mention getting a free hand straight run of stitches is actually more difficult at really slow speeds. It takes a little bit of speed to get those straight runs to come out right and obviously the more experienced you are the faster they can be accomplished. I am still at the slower end of that.  

This. I have had my 441 clone set up on both the middle pulley and the slow one. On the middle, it would slow down but the motor was notchy seeming to change speeds in steps and it lacked torque at low speed. The motor was not happy.  On the slow pulley, due to the increased motor rpm, I can get smoother, more powerful slow speed, and still get more than enough speed to getter done with an edge guide. I turned up the motor to max on the slow pulley and got it fast enough smell burning leather from the hot needle in 8oz of veg. Now i leave set up for stitch by stitch all the way up to 3-4 stitches a second. On a small detailed project, or one that is really thick and dense, I will just turn the motor down a few notches to limit my top speed just in case the cat steps on the pedal while I am sewing. It actually happened.  I was sewing 3/4 inch of dry veg tan for these "brick of leather" keychains i sometimes make, and the cat stepped on the pedal while it was set for really high speed. Needle did not like the mach 9 through concrete sewing and exploded into shards flying at me. That reminds me, were safety glasses with these machines....

Go slow at the machine and speed up all of the other operations first. You probably wasted more time walking back and forth in the shop to get stuff while making a project than you will ever save sewing faster.  The sewing time on a project, even slowly, is a small part of it.

Working as a contract sewer and basically getting paid by the stitch is not what most on here use their machines for and is a different story. That story will be available as a pdf on this site in 2017, and will be titled "Life of a Seamster, The Wizcraft Autobiography"..

[oldfarmboy]

On ‎9‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:33 AM, northmount said:

Servo motors are variable speed control.  No clutch.  You can also slow your machine down by installing a pulley speed reducer set and by decreasing the size of your motor pulley, or increasing the size of your machine pulley.  Sewing leather with a hard temper and / or a thick stack of leather requires a lot of torque,  So even with a servo motor, you may still need to use a pulley speed reducer set.  Torque in general varies inversely with motor speed.  You can do a search here and find lots of threads and posts about servo motors.

Tom

I stopped by a local store that has a Reliable 3200SN on display. Didn't talk to sales as everyone was too busy but it was powered up with a piece of material on the bed so I tested it. Only checked at slow speed and it gave nice control. There must be some sort of control inside the end of the servo. Do all servos have that already built in or is this a specially built unit?

BTW, I just acquired a Singer 307G2 and it's control is far superior to the Pfaff. Not near as frightening to run. Even had the clutch assembly off the Pfaff to inspect. It did have some sort of old grease on the disc. Cleaned it all off as best as I could using acetone and sandpapered the metal disc. Hard to tell if there was any improvement. Looking like a speed reduction system is an upcoming project

[mikesc]

Quote

Do all servos have that already built in or is this a specially built unit?

What is in the inside depends on the manufacturer, some are controlled by a photocell ( there are some threads here on "how to mod" those, so that they have a less steep "initial bite" ) some are controlled entirely from the seperate "box" , some have a gearing system inside ( wiz has posted about those, one of the dealers here sells them )..I run a speed reducer ( that  I built, a 5:1 ) on a 211U166A , at the slowest speed that gives around one stitch every 5 seconds, allows one to "draw" using stitches in leather with it..love that control

Edited September 14, 2016 by mikesc

[Yetibelle]

The Servo motors have power settings - slow to fast 300-5000 stitch per inch just turn it up or down from the motor.