How To "test Drive" A Used Industrial Machine.

[gottaknow]

Eric;

I'd like to put my name in for that machine if they decide to retire it!

You got it! It consumed 500 yards of binding in 4 days. A lot of times you'll find these with the goofy stitch length dial that's part of the hand wheel stripped out. There's any easy work around. The key to running these at high speed is knowing where your real hook timing is due to the gears. I also adjust the safety clutch super loose and the operator oils the bobbin basket with ever change. I rebuilt this particular machine 20 years ago, so it's about due.

Regards, Eric

[Wizcrafts]

I have a long body Singer 139w109, which is basically a stretched out 111w153. I have a Family Sew FS-550s motor with a 50mm pulley feeding the machine. Sometimes I have to sew as slow as she can go. Other times I have a long straight run and I'll crank up the speed and floor it. There's a certain excitement sitting behind a 60 or 70 year old walking foot machine that is roaring down the tracks making 90 miles an hour (actually, about 30 stitches per second), with smoke coming off the titanium coated needle!

I oil the machine every day, plus the bobbin case every bobbin change.

[dikman]

Eric, thank you for that, fascinating stuff. For those like me, who struggle along trying to keep things slow and manageable, it's awesome watching (and hearing) what a walking foot can actually do! An amazing piece of engineering when you think about all those shafts, gears, eccentrics etc. hammering away at high speed!

Wiz, adds new meaning to the term "smokin'!".

[gottaknow]

This video was taken when we were making internment flags for the VA. The machine is a double needle chain stitch. We full-felled the stripes together 100 yards at a time. It takes 10 minutes to join 100 yards. The machine is powered by a clutch motor with an air cylinder actuating the clutch lever and holding it in the run position. The puller on the back is a Zero Max variable speed puller. The ghetto fan cooler kept the puller at a safe temp. This machine is a drop feed, so the machine can't feed the weight of the material. The video starts underneath where there are two loopers, each with a thread. You can then see the folder doing its thing and finally the puller. These Union Special machines have the best oil system I've seen. Enclosed splash system. If a bearing loses oil for a minute, it will seize. I monitored the oil temp to tell me when it was time for an oil change or if something was getting too hot. Machines like this is why there are anti foaming agents in sewing machine oil. Trust me, when these aren't set very precise, you know it immediately.

Regards, Eric

[gottaknow]

I have a long body Singer 139w109, which is basically a stretched out 111w153. I have a Family Sew FS-550s motor with a 50mm pulley feeding the machine. Sometimes I have to sew as slow as she can go. Other times I have a long straight run and I'll crank up the speed and floor it. There's a certain excitement sitting behind a 60 or 70 year old walking foot machine that is roaring down the tracks making 90 miles an hour (actually, about 30 stitches per second), with smoke coming off the titanium coated needle!

I oil the machine every day, plus the bobbin case every bobbin change.

I've not seen one of those. It never ceases to amaze me the number of different machines Singer has produced. No wonder the most frequently asked question here is what machine to buy!

Regards, Eric

[TZBrown]

gottaknow those machine run videos are great. Just amazing how fast they can pull fabric through and continue to humm

[Darren Brosowski]

Simple things to look at when test driving a machine?

The obvious signs of rust and needle bar wobble have been covered.

- Always work on the basis of putting a new servo motor on at some stage. If it is a black Singer motor then sooner rather than later for safety.

- pull the top tension apart and look at the condition of the discs and thread surface. Often they are scored by coarse threads and a new assembly is required.

- Assume that the bobbin case needs replacing.

- With an open frame shuttle take off the tension spring and check for scoring and rust. Light rust can be polished out but heavy marking means a new shuttle

- Tilt the machine head back and check for movement in the shuttle drive shaft. Excessive wear of the gears could lead to lots of movement.

- Check the play in the two shafts (front and back) for the feed dog. Excessive movement suggests poor servicing.

- Grab the balance wheel and see if there is any end-to-end movement. Once again, this tells you about service history.

None of these things say "DO NOT BUY" but give you a position to negotiate a reasonable price.

[nascenta]

Just to give some closure to this, i took my screwdriver, some leather to sew and a flashlight to check out this 31-47. It was 1-1/2 hours away. The seller didn't even have thread to demonstrate with! He did have some full bobbins though, so i put one up top and tried it out.The leather drive belt immediately broke. The seller really turned me off at that point. I offered him $200, He wanted $300 and wouldn't budge, so I left.

At any rate, this thread helped me to feel prepared. I'll be looking at a techsew 563 on Saturday. Hopefully that "test drive" will go better.

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

Edited March 16, 2016 by nascenta

[Wizcrafts]

Just to give some closure to this, i took my screwdriver, some leather to sew and a flashlight to check out this 31-47. It was 1-1/2 hours away. The seller didn't even have thread to demonstrate with! He did have some full bobbins though, so i put one up top and tried it out.The leather drive belt immediately broke. The seller really turned me off at that point. I offered him $200, He wanted $300 and wouldn't budge, so I left.

At any rate, this thread helped me to feel prepared. I'll be looking at a techsew 563 on Saturday. Hopefully that "test drive" will go better.

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

You probably saved yourself a hundred dollars or more in repairs or replacement parts. As for the Techsew 563, I can't find any mention of it on the interwebs, or the Techsew website. Are you sure about the make and model?

[Darren Brosowski]

There are thousands of machines out there any the 31 was probably only worth $100 to you as a leather belt suggests a very old motor.