Hard To Turn Consew 206 By Hand.

[Ferg]

i am including in this post information Wiz gave me when I first obtained my Consew. I am sure he won't mind my inclusion.

Quote:

When you get your new Consew 206RB set-up, rotate the hand wheel towards you (CCW direction) from the top and watch the action of the pressor feet very closely. If the machine has been properly adjusted by the shipper or seller, you will notice that as the inside foot and needle come down, just as the needle reaches the plane of the feed dog, the inside foot makes intimate contact with the top center of the feeder. As you continue to rotate the wheel (slowly), the feeder will move backwards, as will the inside foot and needle. When the feeder reaches the end of its travel, as determined by the stitch length setting, the needle and inside foot will begin to lift up. At this moment, the feed dog moves under the throat plate surface and is brought forward, to begin the next cycle.

If the feed dog is lowered to avoid marking the bottom of the leather, the inside foot will push the leather down into the now basically evacuated, rectangular slot in the throat plate. The leather will tend to stick down into this gap and will fight the action of the needle and inside foot. This will either result in broken needles, or stitches that vary in length. You will immediately lose a good portion of the preset stitch length, due to drag.

Further, since the leather will give at the bottom, when the inside foot comes down under pressure, the timing of the lifting will be thrown off. The inside foot may not lift when it reaches the back of the preset stitch length; it may in fact lift late, and less than normal. You see, the inside foot depends on the solid bottom provided by the steel feed dog to perform its lift and move action.

If the inside foot stays on the material too long, the outside foot will also stay down too long. This will further reduce your available stitch length, due to pronounced drag of the double sprung pressor feet.

Lastly, you will lose any semblance of an equal reverse stitching action, as the timing of the lifting and lowering of the alternating pressor feet are tied to the feed dog being at the correct height, at the necessary time in the cycle.

If the teeth on the feed dog present a problem for critical jobs, I would recommend purchasing another dog and have the top milled or ground flat, then polished. Then, raise the height of the feeder to match the original setting above the throat plate. This will give you the bottom feed and support needed to both move the material and actuate the alternating pressor feet. This assumes that there is enough material inside the feed dog to grind off the teeth and not cut through to the underside of the oblong hole, enlarging it to a ludicrous size.

End Quote:

ferg

[chris989]

I think from your video the feed dogs are too high in relationship to the presser feet. I definitely would not continue to force the rotation of the the machine until this is properly adjusted.

BTW: The man telling you this is normal is full of it.

You can actually adjust the dogs until they are not above the throat plate at all without doing any harm. Do this adjustment then test until it is correct for your material. You can easily return adjustment to original position.

There are several other things to try. I feel more info is needed to keep you from doing something to the machine.

ferg

The feed dog appears to be < 1mm above the surface. I turned the presser foot adjustment out one more turn. I will test sew some scrap i have. I sew mostly heavy fabric not leather.

[Wizcrafts]

At this point in the adventure, I recommend removing the face cover plate from the front left end of the machine. Do this with the thread removed, top and bottom.

With the face plate off and feet lowered, slowly rotate the hand wheel towards you (always rotate counterclockwise). When you feel the unusual resistance, look inside the head. Pay particular attention to the position of the crank arm that connects to the outer presser foot, where it is inside the head. See if it is making contact with the shaft for the inside presser foot. If not, see if the arm is hitting the top edge of the cutout on the back of the head.

Report back here if you find that the presser foot crank is hitting something inside the head. This must be rectified or the machine will be destroyed in a short time.

[chris989]

Wiz,

I forgot to mention one other issue. The tolerance to install or remove the bobbin is a few thousandth. maybe more but i find it almost impossible to remove the bobbin let alone install it. I have yet to get the bobbin in with the head down, I have to lift it and visually install it.. It is so close to the feed dog arm it takes incredible finesse to slip it in or out.

Could the feed dog lever be bent or a poor casting causing both of my issues? Or is the 206 bobbin super finicky?

Thanks again for helping me, I wish i could just take it to a shop but where i live that is like playing russian roulette.

[SARK9]

If your "new" 206 is a 206-RB5, one thing you might try when removing the bobbin case is to match the dot on the handwheel with the dot on the body casting and remove or install it in that position. Some of the 206 manuals have a different set of instructions concerning the position of the needle bar and feed dogs.

This position seems to make it easier for mine.

-DC

[SARK9]

Quick diagnosis for your hard to turn issue: Remove both presser feet and rotate handwheel; report back.

-DC

[chris989]

Thanks Sark,

I am not sure of that exact mark now as I have made my new Ghetto wheel. When i find what works best i will mark my wheel. But is certainly has a sweet spot or there is no way to get it in. I guess i will get more use to it in time.

As for the binding, As of now I can not find anything visually. It is much easier to turn with the foot pressure lessened. With the feet up there is zero binding. I will see if it sews better when i get thread this week. All i have now is 207 and 22 needles.

Here is my hand wheel for everyone's amusement. With the 10 inch hand wheel it turns effortless

[JLSleather]

It actually sounds like (and looks from teh vid) either the dogs are riding too high, or the pressure is cranked too low. It's only hitting in that spot, like eccentric circles ...

[SARK9]

I couldn't play the video, but from your photos it looks like you have a 4L belt on the machine's add-on pulley, going to the 3L groove on your speed reducer's small pulley. This may not end well LOL. The servo plus the speed reducer alone should provide all the torque and speed reduction for anything I can think of, and when you get the hard turning part corrected, the machine will be very easy to turn by hand using only the original pulley on the machine. If you have the right belts to swap stuff still laying around, I'd consider whether there was a *need* for the wooden wheel and its pulley. 4L belts generate a bunch more flexing tension and friction loss.

-DC

[Wizcrafts]

Just curious if the speed reducer turns freely with the belts disconnected?

Back off the presser foot pressure screw until it pops out. See if there is still any binding with zero foot pressure. If not, reinstall the adjuster and turn it down enough to keep it from popping out, then tighten the locknut.. Also, back off the screw over the inside foot, if you have such an adjuster.