Singer 16-88 Sewing Machine

[SueGy]

I have an opportunity to purchase a Singer 16-88 and am wondering if this is a good machine for leather. I also need to know if I can get parts since it is over 100 years old. It says it has a 1/3 hp motor. Does that sound right to you?

Thanks,

Sue

[Constabulary]

You can find out out the date of your machine by searching the serial number here:

http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html

[Colt W Knight]

I had a Singer 16-88, and did all the upgrades possible to try to make it a leather sewing machine.

In short - Will it sew leather? Yes, it will, but not very thick, and not very consistently.

The real cons - Stitches are too close together, thread is small, mine wouldnt sew 2 pieces of vegtan leather consistently, because it doens't have a real walking foot it is hard to get thread spacing consistant, and it runs about 100 mph. _ I mostly used mine to sew felt onto the back of a single piece of veg tan leather.

It would be fine for sewing garment leather together or heavy cloth.

Here is one I tried to fix up for leather - http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=54394

[Darren Brosowski]

As the others said.

Not sure that it is 100 years old though. The 16U188 is a later version of the machine and many parts are out there.

This machine is not really much good for anything more than upholstery work

[Twoshot]

Sue, I just received a Singer 16-88 mounted into a metal table. It appears to need some basic parts(belt bobbin case, and possible hook (shutle replacement) and I found this information on Leatherwrker.net:

Bob Kovar
Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine Sales Ltd.
3631 Marine Rd
Toledo,Ohio 43609
1-866-362-7397

I'm also in pursuit of parts, and spoke with Mr. Kovar on this date. He assured me that his company stocks most parts for this machine. He also informed me that this machine was made for canvas work, but also can be used for leather a thickness of 5/16"

I hope this helps...

[Colt W Knight]

Bob is great to deal with. He got me up and running when I bought my first used industrial walking foot machine.

[Twoshot]

Colt, thanks for the input. Yes Bob was very helpful. I plan on purchasing whatever parts that may be needed for the 16-88. Fortunately, i'm located about 40 miles from his store. The Singer 16-88 was a donation from a good friend that owns a metal fab business. He has been storing it in the attic of his shop for many years.

It sounds like you weren't very satisfied with your 16-88. I understand that this machine stitches at light speeds (not good for physically small projects). High speed is good if your sewing canvas for large watercraft, or 300 feet of sail cloth.

I have a 10 amp Variac that I'll be using to control the input voltage to the motor. It should be interesting to see the result. The stitch length is adjustable from the front of the machine.. You indicated that your machine exhibited an extremely short stitch. Do you think this is inherent in it's design or perhaps a problem with a possible solution?

I'm glad that you responded. it's good to find others that have experience with the same equipment.

What kind of walking foot machine did you purchase?

[Colt W Knight]

My machine worked fine within its limits, which just wasn't enough for the leather work I wanted to do. My 66 would only do about 7 spi. New leather machines are expensive, and used ones aren't always available.

After a year of searching, I found used machine locally - Consew 206-rb1

Edited February 28, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[Twoshot]

I watched a youtube demo on this machine. The owner sewed together 10 layers of thick vinyl. He said the machine had been used by the military for sewing bags etc. It's gotta be tops if the military uses it.

I really like your Guitar Straps on Photobucket,

Thanks.

[CowboyBob]

This machine has two places to adjust the stitch length,one is on the front & then there is a screw on the top left that adcust the length the top foot moves,turning this one clockwise is longer.It's probably best to turn the machine slowly by hand & watch how the top foot feeds with the lower feed dog & adjust the top foot to feed the same as the feed dog.

[Twoshot]

Thanks Bob. I won't forget that when I give it a tune-up.