Is It Possible To Put A Regular Industrial Sewing Foot (Flat) On Consew 206Rb?

[Lynda2000]

I got a walking foot sewing machine Consew 206rb. But I want to sew clothing on it. Can I use a flat industrial sewing foot instead of walking foot?

Thanks,

[Wizcrafts]

No, straight stitch feet won't fit into the slotted presser bar. Walking foot machine mechanisms are usually too strong for thin garments. You might try buying a wider set of feet, then back off the pressure screw until the adjust is almost all the way up. You can reduce the alternating lift to a minimum ratio by loosening and moving the crank arm coming out the back all the way either up or down (I don't remember which way lowers the lift and I am at home now) in the curved slot that drives the presser feet. The combination of reduced lift and pressure on the feet may allow it to sew cloth.

Also, use the smallest round point needle you can get, with standard cotton or polycore garment thread. A #14 needle will do fine with polycore 40 weight thread, or a #12 needle with regular 50 weight cotton thread. Shorten the stitches to 10 or 12 per inch to reduce puckering and back off the upper tension to try to lower the knots into the cloth. You may or may not also have to reduce the tension on the check spring to get it to move with thin, soft thread.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

Lynda,

Yes, you can, but why or if you should may be a different story, but for sure, yes.

It's not easy, and you have to take your machine apart a bit, and it's not recommend to do this if you wish to go back and forth.

229882 Press foot can be installed, by turning the outside lifting presser foot bar 90 degrees. You should, again, really know what you are doing before you go in to do this; you have to loosen three clamp screws that are on the outside lifting presser bar, and then simply removing the inside, vibrating presser foot. This will now be a needle feed machine.

Again, going from setup to setup, even if you are good and know what you are doing, is time consuming, and not recommended to go back and forth with.

[Uwe]

I'd recommend leaving the walking foot machine set up for the very heavy work and get a lighter duty machine better suited for clothing. If you don't need the walking foot at all, trade it in for these two:

I got a Pfaff 130 for $60 and made it sing with just a good cleaning and some TLC. There's one available on Craigslist almost every time I look. It's an amazingly sturdy little machine that I've used for light curtains to fixing jeans to making sunbrella shades. The zig-zag comes in very handy. I've seen it mounted in a table with a servo motor and it looks right at home there. People also use it as a portable machine to repair sails and such.

My other oldie-but-amazing Craigslist find was a Viking 6570, which can be bought on occasion for very little money (mine was $80), especially if the control knobs are all seized up. This machine cost nearly as much as a new Volkswagen Beetle when it came out! A little cleaning oil and a warm breeze from a hair dryer loosened things up quickly and now it hums along nicely. It has amazing features like a gazillion stitches I'll never use, but most importantly (to me) it has a built-in speed reducer and a REALLY good needle positioning system with a simple Up/Off/Down switch, depending on where you want the needle to stop.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Uwe

[MG513]

No, straight stitch feet won't fit into the slotted presser bar. Walking foot machine mechanisms are usually too strong for thin garments. You might try buying a wider set of feet, then back off the pressure screw until the adjust is almost all the way up. You can reduce the alternating lift to a minimum ratio by loosening and moving the crank arm coming out the back all the way either up or down (I don't remember which way lowers the lift and I am at home now) in the curved slot that drives the presser feet. The combination of reduced lift and pressure on the feet may allow it to sew cloth.

Also, use the smallest round point needle you can get, with standard cotton or polycore garment thread. A #14 needle will do fine with polycore 40 weight thread, or a #12 needle with regular 50 weight cotton thread. Shorten the stitches to 10 or 12 per inch to reduce puckering and back off the upper tension to try to lower the knots into the cloth. You may or may not also have to reduce the tension on the check spring to get it to move with thin, soft thread.

Lynda,

Yes, you can, but why or if you should may be a different story, but for sure, yes.

It's not easy, and you have to take your machine apart a bit, and it's not recommend to do this if you wish to go back and forth.

229882 Press foot can be installed, by turning the outside lifting presser foot bar 90 degrees. You should, again, really know what you are doing before you go in to do this; you have to loosen three clamp screws that are on the outside lifting presser bar, and then simply removing the inside, vibrating presser foot. This will now be a needle feed machine.

Again, going from setup to setup, even if you are good and know what you are doing, is time consuming, and not recommended to go back and forth with.

Thank god I found this thread. I too have a Consew 206 rb and the foot leaves marks on my leather. I can rub it out of the suede, but I can't get it out of the leather. I know some flat beds (like the older singers) can have a roller foot installed, but I have since learned this isn't one of them. About a week ago I went through an online manual and called myself doing exactly as wiz said and attempting to remove some of the pressure on the foot. I'm only assuming that I did the right thing, as I noticed lifting my pressure foot did become a little easier than before, but alas, still making marks. I will be using a mix of garment leathers and leathers up to about 6oz... Right now I'm working on a project that is about a 1 oz veg tan... Can anybody post a photo of what screw I should be loosening so I know I'm doing it right?

I'm currently at work, but I can post photos of what I did unscrew when I get home as well!

Greg I actually called there like 20 mins ago and spoke to a nice lady, she said you guys had feet online so I went to look. I saw a foot listed as a flat presser foot 19412C, will that foot help alleviate the issues I'm having with my current foot??

Thanks!!

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

Greg I actually called there like 20 mins ago and spoke to a nice lady, she said you guys had feet online so I went to look. I saw a foot listed as a flat presser foot 19412C, will that foot help alleviate the issues I'm having with my current foot??

Thanks!!

19412C is the standard factory inside foot with slot in front for threading. This has been the standard 206RB inside presser foot from the beginning.

[MG513]

19412C is the standard factory inside foot with slot in front for threading. This has been the standard 206RB inside presser foot from the beginning.

That's what I thought. So that won't do me any good.

This machine has been around for ages so I'm sure there's a way around this issue...

[MG513]

Ok here is a photo... Is that black screw that I loosened the correct one to relieve the pressure on the press or foot? At one point I had it all the out... Still marking the leather. Suggestions?

Here is a photo of the marks left on the leather... Not very attractive.

[Northmount]

There are separate adjustments for the inside and outside foot. Determine which one is marking the leather first.

Tom

[MG513]

There are separate adjustments for the inside and outside foot. Determine which one is marking the leather first.

Tom

Ok it's the inside foot that's doing the marking. The outside doesn't leave any marks, its the one in the middle that puts the most pressure. What should I be loosening for that?

[Northmount]

The adjustment for the middle foot is the one you were pointing to in your photo. It is vertically above middle presser foot shaft. Maybe it has the wrong spring. Could cut part of it off. Seems to me there was another thread here somewhere about different lengths of springs. You could check with Gregg from Keystone.

Tom

[MG513]

The adjustment for the middle foot is the one you were pointing to in your photo. It is vertically above middle presser foot shaft. Maybe it has the wrong spring. Could cut part of it off. Seems to me there was another thread here somewhere about different lengths of springs. You could check with Gregg from Keystone.

Tom

Thx for trying to help me! I made a separate post about it as I still haven't gotten an answer.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

I forgot about this one, if you can find it. I don't have and called a few suppliers, so stock may be limited.

This is direct bolt on, no mods needed to make this presser foot work.

[MG513]

I forgot about this one, if you can find it. I don't have and called a few suppliers, so stock may be limited.

This is direct bolt on, no mods needed to make this presser foot work.

Ok thanks!! IS that a universal part number? Meaning if they recognize the number than I've found the right thing?

Also Tom suggested something with the spring? If I can't find this foot should doing something to the spring be the next step? Thank you!!

[Uwe]

Old posts seems have lost some images after the recent upgrade, so I'm not sure if this was covered already. In any case, I came across a needle feed conversion foot on ebay today and thought I'd share it. Apologies if it's a duplicate of a previous post. 

 

Edited March 26, 2016 by Uwe

[MG513]

14 hours ago, Uwe said:

Old posts seems have lost some images after the recent upgrade, so I'm not sure if this was covered already. In any case, I came across a needle feed conversion foot on ebay today and thought I'd share it. Apologies if it's a duplicate of a previous post. 

 

Thanks so much!!! Unfortunately somebody bought the last one!! Just my luck! 

Its unbelievable how difficult this foot is to find. You find it and it's gone that quick. Smh. Well. I have taken the advice on how to relieve the pressure and I think it did get much better. I just think I need to stay away from veg tan leathers until this part pops up again, or until I get more comfortable with my machine to try other things. I just finished my first project a few weeks ago but I've been so busy I haven't posted it yet! Thanks for all your help as you've answered so many of my questions!!!

[shoepatcher]

See if you can get us a part # and then we can check with other suppliers!

glenn

[CowboyBob]

The # is 240030