111w103 question

[Ray100]

Hi I just got a new to me 111w103 and would like to see if the lift can be modify to be like the 111w105 aldo if the stitch length can be made longer than the 5 stitch length that it currently does any help would be appreciated thanks forum members

[brmax]

I have heard of the need before to get more height from the hand raise lever. So with some interest i am curious also.

good day

Floyd

Edited March 19, 2017 by brmax

[dikman]

I couldn't find a manual for this model, but found an earlier post about it -

I assume you want to increase the lift height and clearance under the presser foot? If so, it can be done by tweaking the adjustments for the two feet, but it can take a bit of fiddling to get it right and the feet may not end up touching the feed dog plate. My experience with my 111's has been that it doesn't gain a lot by doing it, plus if you try to run leather through that is too thick for what the machine was designed for you may end up with other issues.

The maximum stitch length is determined by the mechanical design of the particular machine. While theoretically it may be possible to change the stitch length by swapping out parts from another 111 model it's not something I would recommend trying - it's a big job, and not for the faint-hearted. Just enjoy the machine for what it is, the 111's are a wonderful, solid design.

[JimTimber]

I'm not sure how close in design the 111 is to the 211, but the foot pedal lift on my 211G is significantly higher than the hand lever lift is able to do.

[dikman]

Jim, I think you'll find that on most machines (certainly all that I've come across) the foot-operated lift is always higher than the hand lever, otherwise you wouldn't be able to release the raised feet by using the foot pedal. I tweaked my 111 to try and get that extra clearance under the feet but it then meant that the feet didn't touch the feed dog on the down-stroke. This was ok as long as I used thick leather, but this also affected the clearance needed by the feet when moving back and forth. I didn't persevere with it.

[JimTimber]

My thought was maybe to add a foot or knee lift to gain more height without screwing up the presser foot tension.

I have to be mindful about what I'm sewing because the 441 I have will climb over a lot more material without needing to be pushed under the foot than the 211 will.  When you get a big difference in height across a junction (like 2 layers of thicker webbing sewn to a flat piece of 6oz veg tan), the 211 will drop stitches in that transition.  I'm not sure it's a needle deflection issue or a thread tension issue (like the thread getting tugged as the foot slips on the junction so the hook misses it), but it is something I'm becoming aware is a reason to not use the 211 on certain types of projects.

Don't get me wrong here, the 211G will sew to the point of sticking the taper of a #18 needle in the top of the stack and lifting the work as it pulls out and still make a great stitch.  I'm constantly amazed at just how capable that thing is, it's just got some things it doesn't like doing and I need to plan my work accordingly.

[dikman]

Ok, I see what you're talking about. Yep, using a knee/foot lift will let you get thicker stuff under the feet but I think there would still be problems with the feet being able to feed the leather properly. Of course, I could be wrong here as I haven't experimented that much with it, I've learned to keep my machines pretty much within the range they were designed for (I don't need to create any more problems than necessary!!).

Actually, I haven't used my 211 much as I've found that the 111WSV77 has a longer stitch length and seems able to punch through a bit better (although the 211 was a bit smoother to use).