Singer 51W55, any feedback..??

[patineto]

Sorry I search but did not find anything on the site..

 

Tall Pedestal, rolling foot..

 

Thanks

 

ricky

[Uwe]

Well, the LW let-me-google-that-for-you service (me) says it's a drop feed post bed with roller foot and edge trimmer for sewing leather and gloves. Apparently made in the late 30's and 40's, perhaps longer. I'm sure it's great if you want to sew gloves, not so great for saddles and holsters. Relatively small stitches at 8 per inch. No reverse. It's not a very common machine, since today is the first time I've ever heard of it.

 

 

There's one for sale for $950:

 

 

[patineto]

Thanks senor Uwe, the google part i got even a PDF of the parts, but what I want was you last words "I never hear of it"

[Wizcrafts]

I used to have two Singer post machines looking this this one, that had black bodies and roller feet. I was able to get a little longer than 6 to the inch; almost 5, using no more than #69 bonded thread. I made leather biker caps on them. They also had the end knob on a tapered shaft to change stitch length. Probably a different model or sub-class

[patineto]

1 hour ago, Wizcrafts said:

I used to have two Singer post machines looking this this one, that had black bodies and roller feet. I was able to get a little longer than 6 to the inch; almost 5, using no more than #69 bonded thread. I made leather biker caps on them. They also had the end knob on a tapered shaft to change stitch length. Probably a different model or sub-class

You guys just save me a bunch of money, thanks..

[dikman]

I was given a 51W59, similar but had a cutter next to the post to undercut the leather as it went. I took off the cutter (not needed) and persevered with it for some time before coming to the conclusion it wasn't suited to what I wanted to do. Broke a few needles in the process! It was my first industrial machine and got me started down the slippery slope of industrial (leather) sewing machines.

Edited January 21, 2018 by dikman

[patineto]

2 hours ago, dikman said:

I was given a 51W59, similar but had a cutter next to the post to undercut the leather as it went. I took off the cutter (not needed) and persevered with it for some time before coming to the conclusion it wasn't suited to what I wanted to do. Broke a few needles in the process! It was my first industrial machine and got me started down the slippery slope of industrial (leather) sewing machines.

I grow up with the Pfaff "Codo Derecho" (the beam type) produccion and prototyping all kinds of Bicycle, camping equipment and camera gear, not until I start to sew Kevlar I got into walking foot's, but never had a Post or a beam with a walking foot..

In any case the use will be mostly for a few layers of heavy Cordura and tubular webbing but needs to be able to saw it with out difficulty..

Time to keep saving and looking for toys..

[Uwe]

If you're sewing Kevlar thread, you'll definitely need a machine that you can still get parts for. That Singer 51W55 is not one of those machines. Kevlar thread is hard on machinery and will wear through metal parts over time.

In  the vintage post bed category,  I'd recommend looking into machines like Durkopp Adler 168 or 268, or Pfaff 595 or 1295. In the cylinder arm (beam) category, the Durkopp Adler 269, and Juki LS-341 class machines are candidates, as are the heavy duty Adler 205 and Juki TSC-441 class of machines. Some of these machines have modern aftermarket clones. I have some used and new candidates in that category, just in case you're interested.

I built a binding workstation around an Adler 205 cylinder arm machine once to sew laptop fire containment bags (for airplanes) with Kevlar thread. It's holding up nicely in a demanding production environment.

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by Uwe

[patineto]

17 minutes ago, Uwe said:

If you're sewing Kevlar thread, you'll definitely need a machine that you can still get parts for. That Singer 51W55 is not one of those machines. Kevlar thread is hard on machinery and will wear through metal parts over time.

In  the vintage post bed category,  I'd recommend looking into machines like Durkopp Adler 168 or 268, or Pfaff 595 or 1295. In the cylinder arm (beam) category, the Durkopp Adler 269, and Juki LS-341 class machines are candidates, as are the heavy duty Adler 205 and Juki TSC-441 class of machines. Some of these machines have modern aftermarket clones. I have some used and new candidates in that category, just in case you're interested.

I built a binding workstation around an Adler 205 cylinder arm machine once to sew laptop fire containment bags (for airplanes) with Kevlar thread. It's holding up nicely in a demanding production environment.

 

No we where sewing Aramid like crazy (Spectra and Boron too), the idea was to fold it in a "Origami" shape so they where no weak ends/edges (work great on test and on the field too)..

 

Growing up in Colombia was pretty dangerous but if you where on the right place you got to play with a bunch of cool toys (we got a whole shipment of Adler's with tons of spare parts and a open book DHL account from Germany) but seldom use the Kevlar treads (don't ask me why, recommended by Trevira and the other suppliers)