Machine Oiling

[mamasiren]

Ok, so I have a juki ddl 8700 machine that has an oil pan under it. My husband is an auto mechanic and wants to learn more about sewing machine mechanics, but he refers to this method of "self oiling" as "pressure lubed". I also have several other vintage singers for my leather work. The one I primarily use is a 111w155. It does not have reverse, I have trouble adjusting the stitch length, it does weird things with the lighter weight leather, etc; so I'm thinking of getting a new machine. My husband is convinced that the best way to go is a "pressure lubed" machine. Besides juki and singer I have sewed on adler, consew, and brother and would feel comfortable buying any of these. I don't remember any of the machines I've worked on being "pressure lubed" and it has never been an issue, but in searching, I haven't even found any walking foot machines that are "pressure lubed". Does anyone have any info on this?

And does anyone have any reason as to why an adler, consew or brother would not be as good an idea as a juki or singer?

And is there a place that has a comprehensive list of attachments for singer 111 and their applications?

I have a lot more questions, but I'll stop there.

Thank you,

heather

[Art]

I have never seen a self oiler that oiled everything it needed to, or put the right amount of oil on anything it did oil. Newer production machines have self oilers that do an ok job, but they also usually have techs who are looking at the machines once in a while. Home machines are a different animal, most have "permanently lubricated" bearings, but I still like to oil the hook. I see cheap Bernina (and you all thought they only made expensive machines) machines with frozen hook shafts all the time, they aren't worth fixing, just replace.

Leatherworking machines are run very slow as compared to a production sewing machine that is maybe doing seams all day where it is blasting along, in short bursts or rigged to continuously sew, at mach 5. The pumps in these machines are designed to deliver oil at the top speeds, maybe not so much at lower speeds. Note that there aren't really any leatherworking machines in other than factories, and nothing we could afford anyway. We use machines that are modified by dealers or distributors to service our needs. I guess what I am saying is that I don't trust an automatic oiler to oil. I trust me to make sure everything that needs oil is getting some, because those auto oilers don't necessarily provide oil everywhere. Ford engines (back in my day) ran 90 psi of pressure at idle or speed. But Datsun (I said in my day) engines varied pressure with engine speed. Different designs for the same application, although in the straight six motors, rear main bearing starvation was common in racing apps.

So if designed for slow speed apps, pressure oiling would be fine, but like I said, nobody really makes that type of machine. If you go with the Ford design principal, oiling the sewing parts at continuous pressure, would cause leaks that would fall onto the work. This is often the problem when these systems don't work well. That being said, some machines pressure oil the hook system and let you manually oil the rest of the system, often, these have oil tanks as opposed to sumps (oil pan). These can and often are the walking foot and needle feed machines you are referring to, where some of the shafts run externally from the case. I LIKE red holes I have to put oil into.

The whole purpose in all of this is to eliminate the tech and the associated machine downtime. I guess it works in factories as they are still doing it.

The 111 machines are getting a little hard to find cheap parts for, however, some of the parts from the currently produced clones MAY work.

Adler, Brother, and Consew all make great machines although some of those are made in China, and the clones made in the same factories are very good.

It is all in the numbers. You will find accessories for machines that have millions of users, hell gazillions of users, and it has to be a useful accessory that everyone will want. The 111, 211, 153, etc. just isn't that machine. Feet you can find all day long, binders maybe. Call Gregg at Keystone Sewing in Philly, or Bob at Toledo Industrial to see what's available.

Art

[mamasiren]

Wow, Art,

Thank you, so much, for taking your time to respond. Great information and much appreciated!

-heather

[Wizcrafts]

Also, sump pump oiled machines need to spin at over 2500 rpm to deliver the oil to the extremities. That is the bottom speed required for proper oiling. Most of the time, they are operated at 5000+ rpm.

FYI: A self-oiling machine spinning at just 2500 rpm is sewing at about 40 stitches per second. I doubt that any leather crafter wants to sew that fast! Our machines typically don't exceed 5 stitches per second, or 300 stitches per minute. Anything over 9 or 10 per second causes smoke to happen in anything denser than chap leather.

[Colt W Knight]

I would buy a machine based on its suitability for the size/weight material you want to sew, not on the style of lubrication.