Treadle refurb.

[dikman]

It's looking a lot better than the yucky grey that it was painted when I bought it! Still have to get some gold paint for the lettering (local hardware store didn't have any so I'll have to go farther afield). I know it's not necessary picking out the name in gold, but it just seems the right thing to do.

I made a replacement pivot screw for the main wheel axle and re-welded the broken stub onto the footplate. After much tossing around of ideas, I machined a sleeve to fit the stub and welded a square bar to it. The pitman rod has a ball joint at the end and there was no obvious (read:easy) way to adapt it to the square bar so I cut the rod halfway, made a connecting sleeve and made a new lower section with a thread on it, this gives me plenty of adjustment if needed. Bolted it all together and it works great!!! I just have to machine a replacement screw for the front belt guide sometime, as this had been snapped off.

Next thing is a table. I have an old one off another machine, but it has lots of holes and a large belt slot. I'll thinking I'll fill in the belt slot and holes, and then glue a new piece of laminate on top to cover it all. My original intention was to fit the 111W117 that I just bought, but that has a longer base than my other machines so won't fit this treadle assemble without a lot of messing around. The other Singers all have the more normal base size so will be a drop-in fit on the table. As to which machine, I first thought the straight stitch 331K4, but then thought of the 211G166 - I think a walking foot would be nice on it. I had intended to re-fit the clutch/pulley arrangement that came with it, but after thinking about it I can't see any point, I reckon I'll just keep it simple.

[gottaknow]

Nice work. Looks great!

Regards, Eric 

[cdthayer]

That’s a really nice-looking way to make a 2-piece pitman rod.  It’s a lot nicer than the one that I came up with.  Looks good!

But, I’m wondering if operating a Singer 211G166 walking foot machine in this stand will put too much stress on the re-welded stub?

CD in Oklahoma

 

[suzelle]

Hey, you did a great job! Keep posting, it's interesting to see the steps!

[dikman]

cd, I'm not too worried about the weld, BUT I have been wondering if the 166 might be a bit much for the treadle, given the driving wheel is only 12". You have more experience with this sort of thing than me, and my gut feeling now is that yeah, it may not be the best choice. That was why I wanted to fit the 117 as it's a lighter duty walking foot. Thinking about it, if I make new spacers to shift the two upright legs away from the centre section (that holds all the working bits of the treadle) I can widen it enough to fit the longer base of the 117. I'll have to use nuts and bolts through the spacers, as the original bolts will be too short, but that could work, as I only need a bit under 1'' more each side. More measuring required - and lathework.

Anyhow, this is the table top I've got to work with, there's a hinge piece that fits on the left to give more workspace.

[dikman]

After measuring things, I realised that only the left hand leg would have to be moved and would require nearly 3" spacers! I didn't feel comfortable with that, so decided to leave it as is which would give me a choice of five machines which would fit the table. A relative gave me some assorted laminate pieces some time ago, so I dug them out and found a nice imitation granite - unfortunately it must have been very old as everything I tried to cut it with caused cracks/splits/edge chips.There was another piece which seemed to cut ok so I used that. In the photo it looks pinkish, but that's the camera, it's actually an off-white with faint darker random patterning and doesn't look too bad. I have to get a guided router/laminate bit tomorrow, however, as I don't have anything that will let me cut out the curved bits for the machine cutout (it keeps chipping!!). I'll also get the gold paint and some synthetic "belt" to replace the leather stuff.

Trickiest part will be locating where to cut the holes in the table for the belt.

[billybopp]

Put some painters tape on before you cut, rout, or drill.   It will help laminates to chip less.

Bill

[CowboyBob]

I once made up a treadle stand with a 111w100 needlefeed for an Amish customer that wanted it to sew belts & it didn't treadle real easy sewing the belts.Your 211 will have a smaller pulley & might work better.

That stand came out real nice!

Edited March 5, 2017 by CowboyBob

[SARK9]

The "laminate trimmer bits" with a ball bearing guide do an excellent job. The important thing to remember is to carefully inspect the inner edges of the hole which will act as the guide for your cutter, since it will duplicate any defects present. An automotive body filler such as "Bondo" does an excellent job. I much prefer the older plywood from salvaged tables for my own stuff, as there is no comparison between the older higher-density plywood and the pressed rubbish being sold now.

-DC

[dikman]

Not finished yet but I put the 166 on it to try it out. Two things quickly became apparent - I need a lot of practice to get the hang of treadling, and the heavy mechanicals in the 166 might be too much for the treadle (at least until I become much more proficient!). I think I'll put the 331K4 straight stitcher on it for now.