My darling significant other bought a nice little Wittenstein 75 series 7:1 planetary gear reduction unit as a birthday present! To be honest I have no idea if this will somehow work in place of big pulleys and extra belts let alone be a better solution, but it's cool and in my hands so we're gonna try!
Nothing in any google searches comes up regarding planetary reduction and sewing machines of any kind, but doesn't it seem reasonable that something like this could make a cleaner way to sl