Singer 111W155 skipping stitches Help!

[paqman]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a well used Singer 111W155 locally. Came with an old singer table, GE motor and Singer Clutch. I transplanted it into a more modern table.

It was sewing fine but seemed to be skipping stitches. So i went shopping for new parts.

So far i replaced the Timing belt (Was not broken but seemed about to), Hook (The basket was loose), New Tension Disk set,  new bobbins, new needles.

I cleaned it and lubricated it, Timed it and it is still skipping stitches. I tried everything... new needles, different thread different material and feed speed and still no luck. It seems to work fine for a while then every once in a while, it skips a stitch, sometimes 2 or 3 then goes back to normal. This can happen consistently on test pieces with about 3 inches of stitch so its pretty bad.

The machine is quite worn and the feed dogs and throat plate seems worn also. The foot is a narrow foot set and also seems to be worn.
I suspect what is happening is that the hook is able to get the loop most of the time but due to the slop in the foot or dogs or throat plate, the needle deflects and its just enough to miss that loop. I keep playing with the hook adjustment to get it close to the needle scarf and it seems every time i look at it, its in a different position (Either too far or touching the needle).

I thought about the worst, too much wear in the needle bar bushings or even worst a bent needle bar but im really thinking it needs new feet, a new throat plate and feed dog. Before i drive myself crazy and spend more money on parts, can anyone think of what i missed?

Thank you!!!!

Andre

 

 

[Northmount]

Presser foot pressure too low so the leather lifts a bit at times, loosing the loop so the hook can't grab it?  How thick is the leather, hard or soft, thread and needle size?

Tom

 

[paqman]

Hi Northmount,

Thanks for the reply,

Using Tex 70 with a 125 needle. using soft leather and some rubbery material. Played with the presser foot tension as you suggested and still i have issues. Did a bunch of tests with different thread and for a bit it was working fine but again, it started skipping. Put leather in there and again and its even worst...

It was working better than that a few days ago... could my timing be slipping?

Andre

 

[ljk]

Your close,  make sure the hook guard is not pushing the needle away from hook.  You

can bend the guard.  Make sure the feed dog needle hole is polished, Mitchell # 52 cord

can be your machines best friend.  Is the belt tight,  worn sprockets can affect timing

(has to be really sloppy to be a issue) Try this formula for hook timing radius (hook to

bobbin case center) x2 x  .10x .90 = height of needle bar from bottom position.  The

hook should be passing the needle scarf at that point. Then adjust needle bar so

hook is in the scarf slightly above the needle.  Make sure bobbin case allows proper thread

path with no restriction.  Your at the point you are very close.  

[Handstitched]

I have a similar machine and I've always use  Schmetz 130 size 21 needle with 40 thread, mostly on rip stop horse rugs, but medium leather also . Not saying that will fix it though, might  even make it worse. But does sound like worn parts may be the culprit.   It'll get there I'm sure   

HS

[RockyAussie]

Is your thread take up spring over tight. The thread should just start to slacken as the needle hits the leather. The needle does look like an LR I think and the orientation looks good but just try turning the needle a wee bit so that the slice is closer to to an 11 oclock rather than 10 and see if it improves. With the rubbery back stuff you may need to give the top of the leather a little pre polish or silicone spray if you have some. This helps to keep the needle and thread from gripping as much and the resulting mis stitching. How high does the dog foot raise above the needle plate?

[Pintodeluxe]

If a worn part was the issue, I would suspect it would sew ok at slow speeds and skip stitches at higher speeds.

I would go back to your timing setup and go through it in a meticulous way.  I recommend watching Uwe Grosse's video series on the 

Consew 225.  These timing procedures will apply to your machine.  I cannot explain the timing procedure better that Ewe.  In fact his videos are

amazing.  They are available here or on Youtube.  Check hook timing and spacing, and needle bar height.  Set the walking foot timing while you're at it.

The simplest fix I ever had for skipped stitches was a bent needle!  My wife bless her heart cleaned up my machine for me and wiped down the table.  Her glove caught on the tip of the needle and apparently bent the needle.  The next time I sat down to work, it was skipping stitches like crazy.  

Sounds like you've checked a lot of the important things.  Have another look at the timing.   

 

[Pintodeluxe]

A 125 / 20 is a pretty huge needle for 70 weight thread.  I don't think that alone would fix your problem, but I would use a 110 / 18 needle for tex 70 thread.  

Try a new 110 /18 needle that's 135 x 17 (135 x 16 for leather) as you re-check the timing.

Good luck with it.   

[paqman]

All, thanks for all the great replies, Tried all of the above and i checked timing again. I think it was off.

Still not working great so, for my own sanity, i took out the new hook and put in the old one and now its working as it should and not skipping.

Full disclosure, i think i was sold the wrong hook. It fits but does not have a notch on the shaft so i had to eyeball it for timing and just slip it left or right to make it work. The shaft seems the same otherwise but has a weird reverse screw on the bottom and no notch, and the hook and basket also seems the same except for the hook gib has a hook on it where the old one dosent.

I suspect its slipping a little because of the lack of a locating notch or i still had the timing wrong. The one i was sold is a Hirose HSH-12-15MTR and i was told it would fit my machine and was labelled to fit a Juki Lu563 but looking into it, it seems its meant for a MITSUBISHI LT2-230M,2230M. No reason why i could not make it work with the proper timing but i just cant seem to be able to time it correctly.

I was told mine needed to be replaced because the basket is a little lose but the hook looked in good shape otherwise. Should i even replace it?

I will return the new hook regardless as its a lot of money for something that only sort of works.

As mentioned above, it should work ok at slow speed and all of my missed stitches were at slow speed. I have a servo motor set pretty low and still it was skipping with the new Hook. I could not make it skip if i turn it by hand.

As for the sizing of the needle and thread, 125 is the smallest i had so i used them. I have 120's for leather and 130 and 140 for the big stuff. I tried multiple needles as i thought it was a bent needle as well and still issues with brand new needles.

Lastly, when putting it back together, i faced some of the pieces with a stone especially the Dog surface as it was worn sideways a bit and it seems to fit better now.

Sorry for all the questions. This is my first walking foot machine (Besides the 29K) and i am slowly but surely getting familiar with how they work. Seems they are really Picky with Thread tension and Timing ETC..

Andre

[Ole South]

HONEYSEW HOOK+BOBBIN CASE - THICK SHAFT 240558 10655 For SINGER 111W155 CONSEW 224 225 226 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LCWD4QG/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_SkqAEb19FVC86

This is proper Hirose hook for 111w155, I just replaced one earlier this month... First set screw (turning hook cw, handwheel toward you) goes into notch. Mine had a rounded set screw and a ball bearing instead of a pointed set screw.

[paqman]

Thank you Ole South!

That is a looooot less than what i spend on the other hook even with the conversion rate (Im in Canada). So i just purchased it.

Still dont know if i can return the other one but i need a hook regardless.

Andre