New Seiko STH-8bld-3 - somewhat off topic

[leecopp]

So cutting the story short ...  A Craigs List Find where the owner volunteered a price of $800 to get it out of the house (bad family memories). Please believe me that the lady knew what she was doing, understood the deal she was giving me, and that I did not fast talk some poor widow (also very not poor). Seiko STH 8BLD3 .. much like the more common Consew  206RB5, new table with servo motor and foot operated foot lifter .. 

The machine appears to have been only  partially setup. No oil in the tanks, no rubber feet on the table to protect the pretty tile floor.  She did not know how to thread it. So I did a basic walk through with her, oiled a little , sewed a little and gave her a chance to change her mind.  Nope, she was happy that I would get use of the machine. WOW, sometimes it pays to be friendly.

So I load her up and bring her home, fretting about which treadle machine will be moved to the garage.

In a moment of inspiration I found that it dropped right in the Singer 31-15 table top on top of the old patcher  treadle. After swapping out the handwheel for a spare monster Handwheel from a Singer 42-5 the rig sews great under treadle power.  A quick experiment showed 15 layers of Sunbrella sewed fine under foot power. This would not be able to do heavy duty for leather, but will  do just fine for my heavy cloth sewing (and there is always the power table if I need it).

Thought you guys would like to know .. I understand this is a bit weird .. but it works for  me.

Lee

Edited February 8, 2017 by leecopp
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[bikermutt07]

Sounds like you have too many servo motors and tables..

[Willie0]

I think alot of people will be jealous reading this.

[patria]

Great find man 

Just installed cheap chinese made servo on my seiko STH 8BL, initial thoughts that this machine are built for life, with my current workload i cant see it will break down in my lifetime

[leecopp]

11 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

Sounds like you have too many servo motors and tables..

Hey .. You peek into my garage? Need a powered stand cheap in Florida?

[bikermutt07]

Not in florida, and don't have a head yet.

[Uwe]

That Singer 42-5 hand wheel looks just right on that machine, I think. Sometimes it's the unexpected combinations that work surprisingly well. Nice job and cool setup!

[dikman]

Great deal, that thing looks almost mint in the photo!  Isn't it nice how some of these machines fit Singer tables? If you replace that handwheel with a bigger pulley you'll get even more grunt out of it (albeit a bit slower).

 

You did real well.

[sandyt]

Always wanted to try something like you did. Great job. I like treadle or manual powered sewing machines.

If you replace the big pulley on the table by a heavy one, you can sew everything that seiko can handle. You get more momentum with a heavy wheel.

A bigger pulley on the machines also helps a lot like Dikman said.

Sandy.

[leecopp]

I think it is the rotating mass of the huge handwheel that smooths out the compression resistance of the vibrating foot during the material feed part of the cycle. You can easily feel the resistance change with the lighter handwheels in place.  LIke pushing a dolly that has a wheel with a flat spot, or a light daysailer trying to punch through a short chop.

WIth this rig the treadling is pretty darn smooth. This combination also has good contact on the belt drive surface , so slipping is not a problem.

Lucky to have the spare 42-5 hanging around. I kinda like the multi-generational aspect of the setup, treadle, handwheel , machine, probably near 100 years start to finish! 

I can frequently start sewing no handed and can sew as slow as 2 stitches per second under foot power. looks like 2 stitches per treadle cycle.

Having fun in Florida

Hey Uwe.  Thanks for the stitch gauge pdf. easy to use.  file is at  http://docs.uwe.net/SLG.pdf 

Lee