Recondition ? , a 29-4 Bell Crank Lever .

[nylonRigging]

hey as Metal and welding not my forte, 'Question'  ? , 
Have you, or anyone you know ? . Welded a Bead to the surface on the ( both top and bottom side ) , of ( worn/flattened ) , radius tip of the Bell crank Lever ? .  To then just resurface back to Spec. roundness again .

I bought an aftermarket Bell feed Lever replacement part . I got it all working and getting a solid 6-SPI threw 5-stack of 1000 den. nylon . And that not bad for a 105 year old 29-4 .
The 'generic' aftermarket Bell Lever that is sold , ( did need some resurfacing on the outside of Round Loop )  at bottom of the forks , as the loops wall thickness was bigger than old factory part, to get it to 'rock back and forth' and align correct . Also was needed for the 2 factory mount screws, to pass-by outside wall of the loop to remount it  .

I got the aftermarket part functioning great in the machine , BUT ... I Really want to keep and replace back, the original 'factory #'s part '  Bell Lever back into the old 29 again if possible . So if I can get an opinion as to weld bead to the old metal part, that would be great .

.....thanks
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Edited November 22, 2019 by nylonRigging

[dikman]

I haven't done that particular part but I don't see any reason that it couldn't be done.

[RockyAussie]

I did once have a old friend build one up for me using the brazing method and it held up well for years. Machining was just a file and fine wet and dry by hand and eye.

[nylonRigging]

1 hour ago, RockyAussie said:

I did once have a old friend build one up for me using the brazing method and it held up well for years. Machining was just a file and fine wet and dry by hand and eye.

I really want to get it done good . The old factory parts had a good hard surface tempering to last, so that was my concern about Brazing  . sounds like Brazing might work OK also if it hard enough surface and bond to last .

Welding Rod and Wire can be had in different hardness, but laying down a tiny clean precision bead is where i need to find a real craftsman . the area to build-on is small and no place to be practicing skills.
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[dikman]

Ahh, but that's the beauty of doing something like that as, within reason, it doesn't have to be a perfect, neat job because it's going to be ground down. Someone broke an extractor lug off my Uberti 1866 while (helpfully) removing a stuck boolit so not knowing any better () I built up a blob of weld and slowly ground and filed it until it was a good fit. Still working and saved me a heap of $.

[Wizcrafts]

I've bronze brazed to build up the worn puck on a 29-?, then used files and Emory cloth to bring it down to the best fit in the ring, then polished it on a buffer with green buffing compound. It lasted for a few years and never lost its stitch length (5/inch) as long as I owned it. That was a long time ago, in a land far far away.

[chrisash]

I found this file a couple of years ago that may well assist you though for a K13 http://needlebar.org/main/restoration/Singer29K13.doc

[Gunnarsson]

There's a few pictures of someone building the wear back up with silver brazing on Facebook. Not sure if you need to be logged on or member of the right group to see it, but give it a try, interesting pics anyway. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.1612557675430105&type=3 

Silver brazing may wear faster than the original steel, but on the other hand when that happens it can just be built back up again when you have the tools for it. Old machines require some maintainance anyway.
I know there has been bronze brazing rods meant for wear protection available, i.e. brazing bronze that resists wear very good. Not sure if there's any of that around any more, or if everyone has gone for hardfacing by welding instead. Another minimum wear version could be silver brazing pieces of high speed steel onto the worn area and grinding that to the correct shape. HSS retains it hardness after reaching welding/brazing temperatures, unlike ordinary carbon steel (that may become too hard and brittle, or quite soft, depending on temperature reached and cooldown rate).

[CowboyBob]

We have always brazed them with bronze rod & they holdup for a long time.

[jimi]

Yes, can be done but takes a lot of filing and fitting, easier to get a new one because your motion ring will probably be worn also. So when you eventually get it in and working you might get 5 spi in a spot where it has less wear but when you turn it towards you normally that is where the ring is worn most, your stitches might drop again??

[shoepatcher]

You weld each side of the end section of the bell crank and then go to work on the weld to profile it with a sanding drum on a Dremel.  I have 28 bell cranks to rebuild.

glenn

[nylonRigging]

13 minutes ago, shoepatcher said:

You weld each side of the end section of the bell crank and then go to work on the weld to profile it with a sanding drum on a Dremel.  I have 28 bell cranks to rebuild.

glenn

wow ..  28 of them to do. that's a lot of listening to that Dremel screaming in your ear .. LOL . . I called one of buddies who lives about an hour from me and he is pretty good and current with welding small items, and I pretty good with a Dremel. so I should be GTG and get it done pretty easy .

.

[Constabulary]

Why not sticking with the new one? Or is it just for historical reasons? I have 1 or 2 brazed tip BCL´s as well but honestly I would rather buy a new one instead of reconditioning an old one. One day I figured that one of the used BCL has a different angle than the other ones - why that - bent? I have no idea and I do not recall where it came from (drawer find?). Maybe I can post pictures later. So since then when ever I have to replace a BCL (well, not too often really) I better buy a new one so I'm sure it is straight. They are not too expensive in comparisons with the time you spent for brazing and filing (measuring, filing... measuring, filing....). And you can be sure the tip is symmetric. BTW - tip diameter is 5mm.

My 2 cents.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Constabulary

[nylonRigging]

The aftermarket part is working satisfactory (after working it over) and nothing to really bitch about . But ya, just think it the right thing to do is keep it all original #'s parts because of the age and condition . I am into it now for a lot of my time on the head and also put a couple hundred+$ into stripping Treadle and powdercoat . It is handy machine but No Doubt it not practical with time and energy put into it to get it respectable to sit in my sew room . really it will sit with a cover over it more than it will ever be used sewing .

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[Constabulary]

Okay got it.   So it depends on the point of view.

However - I just wanted to show how "bad" a BCL can look like and even brazing would not make it useable. Bend it back? Yeah, could work but will it? Will you hit the right angle? You would not even notice this if you don´t have a  BCL to compare with. I´d rather buy a new BCL before bitching with worn out parts. Just wanted to show this. Right one is the bent one. Left one is an almost perfect BCL.

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Constabulary

[dikman]

Nothing a big hammer won't fix!

[shoepatcher]

Constabulary,

Two things.  1).The bell crank for the 29-4 no longer made and no new ones available.  2.) A few are Adler bell cranks and you know want  what a new one costs.  3. The only things that really wears on a bell crank is the 2 lobes at the end.  You weld, profile and even make the lobes a little bigger than  original and stitch gets even longer.  Singer made some long stitch versions that I know of,  the  29K52 and 54 are two of them.  I would like to see the bell crank on those.

glenn

[Constabulary]

Glenn - I modified a BCL for a 29K71 for a 29K1 - worked w/o problem, NilonRigging did the same here.

Kick me but I´m sure I once put a Singer 29K71 BCL in a Adler 30-1 a while ago. And if I recall correctly beside some moderate grinding I just needed the 2 Singer screws for attaching it (Adler 30 BCL have a different threading). When ever a 30 class crosses my way I will try it again and report back.

But yes - Adler 30 part prices are nuts!

[nylonRigging]

15 hours ago, Constabulary said:

Okay got it.   So it depends on the point of view.

However - I just wanted to show how "bad" a BCL can look like and even brazing would not make it useable. Bend it back? Yeah, could work but will it? Will you hit the right angle? You would not even notice this if you don´t have a  BCL to compare with. I´d rather buy a new BCL before bitching with worn out parts. Just wanted to show this. Right one is the bent one. Left one is an almost perfect BCL.

 

 

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ya i hear ya on the new generic BCL's and really no reason not to keep it working in the bell . The new BCL part sells really cheap-$ and will bring new life to your 29-4 stitch length .
( The new-sold 'generic' BCL's ) , that will 'Not' just Drop-in to a 29-4 and work .. Now that I figured out what to remove/grind resurface on the 1st one I bought . I could could modify another one a lot easy and faster . It really not that hard .
I surprised a lot more people not doing it . On those aftermarket china BCL's . all you need is a couple hours with a small Vice , Dremel , File and a magnifying loop to do a good job to getting it to fit-in and running good on your old machine .

thanks ... for the ( bent angle Pic. ) , the original BCL that I took out still looks and sits at straight angle . So I will get my buddy to braze and I will resurface .
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[chrisash]

My 29K53 looks like it has part number 8559, but do not seem to find that part anywhere after google search, can you use otherBCL's or is there something special about the 8559

[Constabulary]

I described the small difference between 29K1 (and later) and 29K71 BCL here (follow the thread)

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/60554-29k1-pre-christmas-barn-find/?do=findComment&comment=390874

The 29K5x and 29K7x class have an almost identical head - the difference I recall is a pinned (+ set screw) "lifting lever shaft lever" (82081) on the 29K5x series whereas the 29K71 lever ( 82154) is just clamped an therefore adjustable so a higher foot lift can be achieved.

I´m pretty confident that you can use the 29K7x BCL (82167) probably w/o any modification in you 29K53.

Edited November 25, 2019 by Constabulary

[chrisash]

Thanks constabulary, don't need one right now but think i may buy one for reserve as the machine will no doubt need one at some time and at those prices £13 from college sewing not a big deal and never know when they will disappear

[shtyrec]

i find BCL in aliexpress, anybody to know how is quality? Thanks!

 

[Constabulary]

these parts are usually not branded so no one knows who made them and therefore its hardly possible to tell if the quality is good or not but since the parts are rather cheap (price wise) - why not giving it a try. Not much you can loose.

or try ebay - same sellers I guess

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162385595622

Edited November 27, 2019 by Constabulary