Singer Class 95 Question?

[highnoonhunter]

Hey everyone,

Will a Singer Class 95 handle 138 thread?

There's one here for sale locally and I thought I'd snatch it up if it would.

My old class 15-88 runs 92 thread great, but I need something to use 138 on some items.

[Wizcrafts]

Hey everyone,

Will a Singer Class 95 handle 138 thread?

There's one here for sale locally and I thought I'd snatch it up if it would.

My old class 15-88 runs 92 thread great, but I need something to use 138 on some items.

No. This is a garment class machine. It will not handle/tension #138 thread without great difficulty and inconsistency in the stitches.

[highnoonhunter]

Thanks Wiz!

I was thinking it probably wouldn't, but was unsure. They only want $100 for the machine, table, motor, etc., sewing and ready to go, so I thought it was worth a shot, but Oh well.....................

Are there any of the older Singer industrial class machines that will handle 138?

One pops up for sale here every so often.

[Wizcrafts]

Are there any of the older Singer industrial class machines that will handle 138?

One pops up for sale here every so often.

Are you just looking for old junk? I guess a Singer 111w155 will handle #138 thread, top and bottom. Be aware that they have small bobbins, no reverse and very strange stitch length adjusters.

[DavidL]

singer 45k. can sew through leather. some people get them handed down and are just trying to free up space and are willing to let it go for 100-200 bucks.

[highnoonhunter]

Are you just looking for old junk? I guess a Singer 111w155 will handle #138 thread, top and bottom. Be aware that they have small bobbins, no reverse and very strange stitch length adjusters.

Uhhh......... Well no, I'm not actually looking for junk. But considering I bought a rusted up singer 15 88 and converted it to a hand crank and it sews my wallet innards just fine, and 2 oz overlays on 5 oz oil tanned just fine, I might consider buying junk!!

singer 45k. can sew through leather. some people get them handed down and are just trying to free up space and are willing to let it go for 100-200 bucks.

Thanks David! I'll keep a look out for one.

[Wizcrafts]

I wasn't trying to put down your future machine. Just stating what I have found to be a fact many times over.

If you don't mind fixing up old iron machines, the 111w155 will be one to watch for. A lot of them went to upholstery shops. The sewers in these shops consider time as money. So, they equip their walking foot machines with clutch motors having 4" pulleys. Since many Singer machines also have a 4" pulley (and even smaller), the machines spins at 1:1 with the motor (or faster). For the average 110 volt clutch motor that equals 1725 rpm (hence, spm). Divide that by 60 and you get almost 29 stitches per second! At 5 stitches per inch (typical for a Singer 111), you can sew about 6 inches per second.

In case you were wondering, these machines were built to max out at about 2,000 rpm. Running them at 90% for 20 years or more tends to wear out the moving parts and bearings and the drive belt inside the 111 machines. You may get such a machine for a great cash price, then find it necessary to spend possibly a couple hundred or more to replace worn out parts.

If you do buy a machine with a clutch motor with a big pulley and have trouble controlling it, you'll want to swap it out for new servo motor, which is usually very easy to control at a wide range of speeds. There goes another $125 to $150.

So, if you are able to find a good, used walking foot machine locally, if it comes from an upholstery shop, you'll probably be looking for a servo motor really soon. That has been my experience in buying sewing machines locally.

Have you thought about contacting our member-dealers to see what they can offer you that will sew the thickness and thread size you prefer? It might be a better option.

BTW: I have a 15-91 and consider it to be an expensive toy.

[DavidL]

The singer 201 looks like it would work well if you only sew thin garment, upholstery or canvas, same goes with the 15- 91.

Handcranked or treadles will work fine for leather. My grandma has a 1890- early 1900s singer type treadle machine similar to a 15-91 thats still working perfect only for cloth though so they last a long time (one made for leather may take more abuse). However in real life situation I haven't a clue if a singer 45k will last a long time and you may be buying a singer 45k at the middle of its life span or one thats about to quit working. But even if you pick one up at say 100 and get it fixed if necessary its still less than any industrial machine as they start at 1k and up.

Edited August 4, 2014 by DavidL

[Wizcrafts]

There is a certain fascination about buying an old machine and getting it to work like when it was new. But, unless one is almost broke, one is better off buying something either new or rebuilt professionally.

DavidL;

A typical 45k25 that is not all rusted shut, will continue sewing for a long long time. But, parts will wear out and some of them are either hard to find or are expensive. There are new machines that are clones of the 45k21. One is the Cowboy CB2500. It is a modern build of the old design, which sews 7/16 inches of leather, with #346 thread. Needles, bobbins and a roller foot and an edge guide are available. I think it sells for about $1100 or so, depending on options.

[highnoonhunter]

Sorry about that Wiz.......... forgive me, I did think you were downing me.

I'd love to have a nice machine. My reason for looking at the old singers is out of necessity, rather then just wanting to get kicks from restoring an old machine that is junk, and making it work. For the last few years now, my wife has been ill, and her medications prices put our bills more then we make. So I try to use my leather hobby to make up the difference and it's hard for me to save enough money to buy something better.

The Singer 15-88 has helped with a few things at saving me time from hand stitching everything. But if I could run a machine with 138 thread, it and the 15-88 with 69 or 92 thread would cover about 75% of my stitching for me. Maybe some day I could get a machine to run the really large threads and I'd have nearly all the hand stitching covered.