441 class hand lever extension

[Uwe]

I tried out a concept I had in mind to extend the manual foot lift lever on 441 class machines.

The topic had come up with folks installing a swing-down edge guide on their Cobra Class 4 machines. The offset of the hand lever to the right avoids interference with the edge guide and you can use both at the same time.

My experiment is more of a proof of concept and looks a bit crude, but it works quite well and feels very solid. The gravity based automatic release when you press the foot pedal works too, which is important I think.  My threads are 1/4"-20 which is a bit coarse for this application and wants to work itself loose over time as you operate the lever. A drop of Lock-Tite on the threads might help with that. 

Here's the original hand lever on my Cowboy 4500:

 

Here's the extended version I made. I used a 3/8" connecting rod nut, drilled out one end with 10mm bit to fit the protruding shaft stub and then drilled and tapped holes for the set screw and the ball lever. 

The extension could be executed in a more elegant and polished fashion, but I was on a mission to just try and see if it works at all.

A "proper" version could be made from a 10mm bushing sleeve like this one sold by KarTek for $4.99:

 

or a 10mm sway bar bushing like this sold by IRO for $1.99

Of course if you have a lathe in your garage, you can just make one from scratch. 

 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Uwe

[Wizcrafts]

I may put this idea to work in my shop on my CB4500. Thanks Uwe!

[JimTimber]

Is the drop down guide better than the bed mounted one?

[RockyAussie]

8 hours ago, JimTimber said:

Is the drop down guide better than the bed mounted one?

If it is on the bed mounted like what I currently have it is a pain as it has to be undone at times and the distance has to be reset when putting back into position. The swing down I have put on other machines does not need to be reset.

[JimTimber]

I bet Uwe's extended lever is just plain easier to use even without the guide.   I'll have to check my bits to see if anything's close enough to 10mm.

I got a Keestar 441 yesterday and almost have it ready to sew.

[Uwe]

I made a video that shows the rest of the installation. I'll start a separate topic for that, but it makes sense to include it here as well:

 

[Uwe]

I made a second prototype of the hand lever extension. This one looks a bit more polished, has improved ergonomics and a pretty red dot to aim your thumb at!

I'll probably make a handful of them later in March and see if somebody will buy one.

 

[Wizcrafts]

13 hours ago, Uwe said:

I made a second prototype of the hand lever extension. This one looks a bit more polished, has improved ergonomics and a pretty red dot to aim your thumb at!

I'll probably make a handful of them later in March and see if somebody will buy one.

 

I'll probably buy one from you.

[Techsew Ron]

13 hours ago, Uwe said:

I made a second prototype of the hand lever extension. This one looks a bit more polished, has improved ergonomics and a pretty red dot to aim your thumb at!

I'll probably make a handful of them later in March and see if somebody will buy one.

 

I like the red dot! Seriously though, very nice mod.

Ron