Moderator Wizcrafts Posted February 23, 2015 Moderator Report Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks Sark & Wiz, exactly the info I was lacking. I do short /intricate/stop-start runs (bags/purses etc...) do you think a servo will provide enough low end torque through 4-6oz leather? (chrome/veg). I've used sewing machines all my life but sewing leather brings a whole new dimension to the craft. The Family Sew FS-550, fitted with a 50mm (2") pulley will do that easily. You can get even more punching power by adding a speed reducer between the motor and machine. They are sold by industrial sewing machine dealers whose ad banners appear on top of the pages on LW.N. Quote Posted IMHO, by Wiz My current crop of sewing machines: Cowboy CB4500, Singer 107w3, Singer 139w109, Singer 168G101, Singer 29k71, Singer 31-15, Singer 111w103, Singer 211G156, Adler 30-7 on power stand, Techsew 2700, Fortuna power skiver and a Pfaff 4 thread 2 needle serger.
Members Darren Brosowski Posted February 23, 2015 Members Report Posted February 23, 2015 LOL Wiz, Australia is a "metric" country but belts are still sold in inch designations. The main difference seems to be that the standard sewing machine belt is an "M" classification which is what the Chinese also use Quote
Members Ole South Posted March 1, 2015 Author Members Report Posted March 1, 2015 Well.... the issue wasn't/isn't the pulley I made. It matches the hand-wheel and original Consew flange profile exactly. I think the problem is that since this machine is a clone of a 78-3 that it was probably designed for a round leather belt like the treadle machines (most likely a 5/16ths round belt). Remember the original clutch and motor has no tensioning mechanism on this unit either. A standard 3Lxxx belt rides almost halfway up out of the hand-wheel as well as the SR and/or clutch drive pulley. A segmented (cogged) belt rides slightly lower and handles the tight radii of small pulleys better. I've learned a lot about V-belts this past week. The biggest thing I learned is that we don't have the selection of belting we had 30 years ago! I don't know where the stapled belt stock came from that was fitted on the machine when I bought it from the original owner's grandson but it is definitely 5/16ths / 8mm top 1/4" thick with a 30deg angle(15deg chamfer each side).and fits perfectly (top of belt flush with pulley flanges, circa 1970 maybe??). Results: After installing a speed reducer I got a cogged 3L360 since it doesn't fatten as much going the pulleys as the solid v-belts and rides lower in the pulleys. I re-installed the original 3.5" clutch pulley, re-positioned the clutch and motor assembly and use a vinyl round belt for the bottom end (still not sure where the SR will end up if I get a servo motor) as I can make them up on the fly until everything settles out. I took a suggestion from a forum brother drilled a couple holes and moved the foot pedal linkage to the side of the treadle and I now have a decent top speed and hopefully acceptable low speed/torque punch power. Now if I can just find some presser feet for it. Quote
Members catskin Posted March 1, 2015 Members Report Posted March 1, 2015 Here is what I did to slow down my Singer 78-3 I had a fly wheel from a little old air compresser I lathed it out to fit on the hub of the original pulley while doing that trimmed the fins to fit on top of the hand wheel made it a gentle tap on fit put in the set screw and a longer belt and it runs just fine I didn't have to move the motor or enlarge the belt groove in the table. It even tips up for servicing like it always did. With the bigger pulley it make for less chance for the belt to slip since the original pulley is 4 inches and this one is 8. And my cost was 1 hour of time. Quote
Members Ole South Posted March 1, 2015 Author Members Report Posted March 1, 2015 More than one way to "skin a cat" huh? Am I reading your post correctly?!!? Your Handwheel pulley is 8" now??? Or your clutch pulley? Doing some research on the Singer 78 series and it seems there were about 13 or 14 variations of lifter and feed foot sets but so far I've only found 2 types available. I got a 5/16th's cording/piping set (no p/n) and what appears to be a canvas set (Seiko p/n 8021/8022) with my Consew. Both leave noticeable marks on veg-tan tho the canvas set is considerably lighter. Extrapolating the Singer parts lists; the 78-2/3 was primarily intended as a binder and upholstery machine tho there are fittings for binding leather shoe uppers and binding 2 layers of leather with another thinner piece that speak to us as leather workers. Quote
Members catskin Posted March 2, 2015 Members Report Posted March 2, 2015 In effect I now have an 8 inch hand wheel, the factory hand wheel is still there to put it back to factory state all it would take it loosening the set screw and pulling of the fly wheel. The only damage would be scuffed paint on the hub. The added weight of the compresser flywheel helps keep the machine turning steady at the slower speeds which doesn't hurt. I am inclined to believe mine was set up for upholstery since it sewed straight ahead with no changing of anything. My wife ,who has years of sewing in a garment factory says we should look into some other feet. The way it is the first job we did was sew a zipper into split leather chaps and it did it perfectly . My machine came with the left toe foot and of course the center foot that moves with the needle. There could very well be lots of other attachments that we still haven't learned exist. Quote
Members Ole South Posted March 2, 2015 Author Members Report Posted March 2, 2015 I have a list started but no luck finding any feet yet.. Look at the Consew(Seiko) 8021 and 8022 foot set I think you can still get them off ebay. Quote
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