Swing up edge guide Consew 226R

[AEMcClain]

I ordered a 49.99 swing up edge guide thinking it would be a bolt on proposition. I probably should have looked at the back of the machine lol. I finally finished up drilling and tapping this evening. I ended up making an adaptor plate as well. How does it look?

[mikesc]

How does it look?

blurry..( sorry, couldn't resist ) ;)
I presume the darker metallic part nearest to the Foot lifter lever is the "adaptor plate ?"
The thing I don't "grok" about edge guides which use a roller as the actual "edge guide", is that they would be so much more accurate for 90% of what they are used for ( belts and "long" straight runs ) if the part in contact with the "edge" of the work piece was a "flat" ( thus providing an edge guide that is parallel to the direction of the "feed" of the feed dogs ) and not a point on the circumference of a roller..

Unless I'm missing something and they have interchangeable "contact" heads and they do also have flat edge guides that keep the work piece parallel to the direction that the feed dogs are feeding ?..but that they all arrive with the cylinder part pre fitted and that is ( maybe ? ) why people only show pictures of the cylinder revolving edge guide..Whenever I see one , I think , "great for curves", not so good for straight lines ( which is what most people actually use them to stitch )..If I was going to make one ( probably will do , one day, they appear to be easy enough to machine ) , I'd make a "straight edge parallel" guide, and a cylinder end guide, and make them interchangeable ( the cylinder end appears to be attached to the adjusting bar with an Allen key type "grub screw", so maybe they do have "interchangeable heads" ? ) ..never seen one "in the flesh" ( only photos ) so may be mentally re-inventing something that already exists.

Question..apart from allowing easier access to the bobbin ( because the hook/ bobbin cover plate is not obstructed by them ) why do people seem to prefer "swing down" edge guides to fixed to machine bed edge guides, seems "swing down" would get in the way more for the right "feeding hand" when it is being used, and because it is cantilevered away from the body, to be a little less precise and more prone to small lateral movements in relation to the stitching line than something fixed to the machine bed in front of and behind the stitching area.?

[AEMcClain]

Hey Mike,

It does come with an interchangeable flat guide. It is pretty solid side to side. Ilike the idea of being able to flip it up and having a clear bed, time will tell how effective it is. 

[mikesc]

Thanks..:) You saved me a trip to the patent office..( insert "redface*" )..There you go, I mentally reinvented the flat edge guide ( insert second "redface*" )

*embarrassed reface" doesn't seem to be amongst the emoticons available on site..not that I'm a great one for graphical emoticons ( back in my day the internet was all steam and brass and we had to cut our own runic symbols into tiny tablets which we sent by post to websites and BB..hence the term "post", actually we punched holes into cards ) ..surprised nonetheless to not find an "embarrassed redface" amongst the choices on offer..

[JLSleather]

well, close

Those flip-up guides are purdy durn handy.  I can machine 'stuff', but they're so cheap it's just not worth it to make yourself unless you already have all the stuff right there in one place.

 

 

[Northmount]

16 hours ago, AEMcClain said:

I ordered a 49.99 swing up edge guide thinking it would be a bolt on proposition. I probably should have looked at the back of the machine lol. I finally finished up drilling and tapping this evening. I ended up making an adaptor plate as well. How does it look?

 

Where did you order yours from?

Tom

 

[graywolf]

Mike's question answered part of my own questions about these swing down edge guides.

But on bed edge guides are usually either magnetic or held in place by thumb screws, very easy to remove. But, I guess, that the swing down can be lifted without having to reset it when it is again swung down. Is that correct?

The other "but" is that there are edge guide feet. Why not just us those? Now on home machines you only seem to be able to get a 1/4" one for quilts, but I see them available in several sizes from 1/8" on up for 206RB and similar machines.

Now Mr McClain's guide was $50, and seems reasonable. However, see them for $100 most places and that does not seem reasonable to me.

[AEMcClain]

1 hour ago, northmount said:

Where did you order yours from?

Tom

 

I ordered mine from flea bay it was 49.99 and free shipping from China. http://m.ebay.com/itm/Suspended-40-Hanging-41-Edge-Guide-For-Industrial-Walking-Foot-Sewing-Machines-GB-6-/152054068381?txnId=1428696631005 it took about two weeks to get here. It came with flat and roller guides two flat head screws and two Allen keys. I upgraded the attachment bolts to m6 grade 8 Allen head bolts.

[mikesc]

Edge guide feet wouldn't be so good for doing inside ( concave curves ) as the roller head on the guide that AEMCLain has, outside ( convex ) curves  would be "doable" with edge guide feet, but a roller guide would be better, and any kind of compound curve set up ( like say "princess seams or armholes and side seams on fitted items ) or almost all kinds of seams on lingerie would be much easier to do with a roller edge guide than with edge guide feet..I have made magnetic versions of both roller edge guides and flat edge guides for myself..for straight runs, edge guide feet work well, as do flat edge guides, but curves ( if you wnat them to be really precise ) need a roller ( or a small contact area ) or a very steady hand and eye..

At around $50.oo ( plus the postage and the 20% VAT on the total of item cost and postage cost ) I might order one of these just to see if they are useful, at over a $100.oo ( plus postage and 20% on the item cost and again 20% on the postage cost ) I would be loath to do so in case I didn't get the use out of it ..

 

Just noticed, like many Chinese ebay sellers, Free shipping ..will be ordering one to see..Thanks for "the pointer" AEMCLain

Edited August 4, 2016 by mikesc

[Uwe]

I installed a similar type guide (KG-867 by Kwok Hing) on my Consew 225 a while ago. Your installation with the offset bracket definitely has more range to the right. Mine also needs mounting screws with lower profile heads. The straight guide that comes with your set is really a zipper guide, but I'm sure it'll work fine for other applications.  I sell the updated Kwok Hing version of the guide (KG-867) for $70 on my Ebay store. I recently ordered a few things from Kunpeng to check out their quality. 

 

I also cobbled together a straight edge guide mounted to the right slide plate from Kwok Hing parts I had lying around. This approach is handy if you have multiple slide plates that you can quickly swap out. 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2016 by Uwe

[dikman]

Thanks for the excellent site link, Mr. McClain. They have some great feet sets available for my machines, including the Pfaff, and even have a roller foot assembly that will fit my 331! looks like I'll be putting a shopping list together.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

On 8/4/2016 at 3:51 PM, Uwe said:

I also cobbled together a straight edge guide mounted to the right slide plate from Kwok Hing parts I had lying around. This approach is handy if you have multiple slide plates that you can quickly swap out. 

 

 

Pfaff swing guide mounting bracket used to install an edge guide to the slide plate?  Brilliant!  Usually when we mount a slide plate binder, we use a thumb screw to lock the plate in place so it does not slide out while in operation. This is where you have the mounting screw, back corner right side.  Again, if it works and your happy with it, that's what matters.

BTW you are missing the needle bar thread guide. 

Edited August 8, 2016 by Gregg From Keystone Sewing

[JLSleather]

Just FYI - that 867 guide works well on the 441-style too.  

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252204937725?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Edited August 9, 2016 by JLSleather

[AEMcClain]

Thanks for the link JLS, that's next on my list of upgrades for my cb3200. Can you snap a picture of the back of the machine where it mounts?

[JLSleather]

This cobra machine came with two 6mm holes in the back.  You can see 'em in the first 30 seconds of the cheap, low-rent, lame stinkin' video sum dummy dun put there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWd4FlRHv-Q

 

[AEMcClain]

Quote

 

Thanks for the video. Just checked the back of the old cowboy, no holes. I guess I'll be drilling and tapping again. On the bright side, cast iron is way easier to drill and tap than tool steel.

[JLSleather]

If it helps, the holes in the bracket are for 6mm cap screws at 20mm on center.

 

[dikman]

Just got my parts in from Kunpeng, shipping was prompt and not too long, coming from China. Thanks again, Mr. McClain.

1.Edge guide foot set (3/16", but I think I might need the 1/8") for the 111/211. This was the only bit that caused a problem, the inner foot was too tight and would only push halfway up the shaft. I eased out the socket with a grinding bit in a Dremel, that fixed it. Smooth-bottom feet.

2.Standard foot set for 111/211. This came with a split inner foot, which is really what I wanted. I may cut off the right hand toe of the presser foot and convert it to a left-toe type to use with an edge guide. Smooth-bottom feet.

3.Roller wheel assembly for the 331. This came with the needle plate and feed dog (which is just as well as I didn't think of them!). I haven't fitted it yet as I need to raise the presser bar to give more clearance. I don't know if I really need this but it looked nice!!!

4.Standard foot set for the Pfaff 335. As far as I can tell this appears to be identical to the KwokHing set I bought, right down to the cross-hatching on the bottom of the feet. The reason I bought this is that I intend to cut off the right-hand toe so that I can get in closer to the edge guide. Pfaff bits aren't that common so it will be easier to convert this than try to find a left-toe set.

The Pfaff set was a bit cheaper than KwokHing, but not much, but not paying extra for shipping is where the savings come in. All up I'm pretty happy with KunPeng and will probably get some more stuff from them later.

[DavidRM]

OK - these swing down edge guides look very nice to me.  I am not going to drill and tap in my sewing machine.  My sewing machine is not listed as one of those for which they are compatible.  I looked at the back of my sewing machine (Consew 206RB) and there is a hole there -but it seems two holes are required to mount it and the holes on the back of my machine seem too far apart?  The presser foot may hit it but there is slack there so maybe that wouldn't matter?