111W155 Lives!

[teched]

First of all I want to thank of you for your guidance in choosing a machine. I finally got it into my upstairs sewing room and all set up. I rethreaded the machine and reinstalled the bobbin (just to practice). I fired up the clutch motor and I was off to the "RACES" Holy !@#$ this thing is fast! I attempted to get a feel for the clutch and ended up throwing a block of wood under the pedal to keep it from hitting Mach 1. I made some test passes in 3 layers of light weight canvas. Worked pretty good. I am having some bunching of thread on the bottom side upon start. I applied tension to the bobbin thread upon takeoff and that seamed to help some. After more research it looks like I should have applied the tension to the needle thread or even both. Its only the first three or so stiches that are balling up on the bottom of the material. Another thing is the bobbin. The bobbin thread in the machine right now is not in a bobbin, it seams just be tightly wound. Its a little like magic... I have no idea how it holds it shape and doesn't unravel. Can you buy pre-wound bobbins?(That are not in Bobbins) Thanks -Ed

[TomG]

I have the same machine. I never did develop the "touch" with the clutch motor. I wound up buying a servo motor, modifying it to give better control and installing that. MUCH better.

As for the bird's nests at startup, I pull some slight tension on the threads and it eliminated the problem. You may need to adjust the bobbin tension, but read up on how to do it before you start. And make SMALL adjustments.. like 1/8 of a turn on the tension screw.

Yes, you can buy prewound bobbins. They come in plastic, cardboard sides, and sideless, which is what it sounds like you have. They also have ones with magnetic cores but I'm not sure those would work in the 155. It's a pretty light thread - mainly sized for machine embroidery and light fabric weight threads. But I use them exclusively for those jobs.I do have some 138 I think that are sideless. But I think they are "M" sized and don;t fit my machine. Someone gave them to me to use the thread to adjust the 155 when I was setting it up for leather.

So a search through the sewing machine forums and you will find a virtual wealth of information on this machine and the servo motor issues.

Good luck

[teched]

Thanks going to try running some marine grade vinyl tonight. Bobbins are pretty cool. No think I'm going to buy some more real bobbins and try winding them on the machine.n

[dikman]

It's great that it worked first time, makes life a lot easier when you don't have to fault-find. I would think that bobbins would be the best way to go, then you can wind whatever colour/size thread you want. As for the speed, yep, I think most of us newbies (to industrial machines) probably got the same shock the first time that we pressed the pedal with a clutch motor!! I know that some can develop fine control with them, but I decided I wasn't going to waste time and replaced all three of mine with servo motors - so much better for what I want to do.

I find that I definitely have to hold both threads tightly when starting, with the Singer 166 it needs to be held for several stitches, but with the Pfaff only for the first couple (I'm beginning to think these machines all have their own individual, and unique, character. If I'm not careful I'll be giving them names soon!).

[teched]

Pulled on both the threads before I started stitching some light Vinyl tonight. Worked much better. Little better with the clutch but still have to figure out the "finess" with back stitching. I broke the thread trying to back it up to lock the stitch.

[TomG]

Ummm..You are not trying to turn the hand wheel backwards are you? That will jumble your thread in a hurry.

To back stitch, either lift the pressor foot and pull it back 2 or 3 stitches, or when the needle goes down and then just starts back up, lift the pressor foot slightly, spin the leather 180 degress, drop the foot and sew the 2 or 3 stitches over the top of the originals.

My only real compliant on the 155's

[dikman]

Don't feel bad, I broke two needles in succession yesterday!!

[teched]

I could have used the 180 flip method since I was sewing a small piece, but have grand ideas of doing a large piece and will have to learn the lift/ pull back technique. I think the problem is that I lifted the foot too high with my knee, which took the tension off and then had to control the speed of the clutch motor. Its like playing the piano . I will continue to practice. I do have a very important question though. I am using the thread that came with the machine. There is not much left. I found a tag on the bottom of the spool. QTC "High-Spec" B69 4oz 510603 745Q Beaver Bonded Nylon. I have 135x17 Needle and I am sewing 2 layer Marine Vinyl with Welt. I will need to buy some thread is this correct for this material?

[SARK9]

Your thread choice depends on how strong it has to be and/or how the appearance fits your application. I tend to think the B69/T70 thread is a tad too small for most of the stuff I would do with that material, but that is specific to its use. One thing though: If you are going to use your marine vinyl in an actual marine environment, or even in an outdoor setting where the stitching is fully exposed, then nylon isn't the best choice for UV resistance. Polyester threads (Dabond, SunGuard etc.) are better for outdoor use, with the even more inert and MUCH pricier options (like Tenara) or other PTFE threads used in especially severe settings.

-DC

[teched]

^{Thanks for the info.}

[CowboyBob]

We have a customer using the long-arm 2-machines w/o reverse & they have a foot pedal lifter they lift the foot & pull the tarp towards them while sewing.It sure wouldn't look pretty in leather though.

[teched]

^{https://youtu.be/71DPLtqpRds I found this video and at the 8 minute mark he shows a 4 ways of locking the stitch. I like the start sewing with the foot up slightly to stop the material from moving, then drop the foot and take off.}