Melrose Report post Posted March 9, 2021 Hi all. I’m located in Australia and recently picked up a nice old Singer 17-16 that might come in handy with my bag making. (Light leathers). My husband and I installed a generic servo and needle positioner on my Protex 0618 without any issues and am hoping it will be as straight forward with the Singer. I’m thinking the needle positioner won’t fit, so won’t get one. Currently it has what looks like a ‘normal’ motor and separate clutch set up. It’s pretty easy to control but noisy in the house, and I have to heel down to brake, which I tend to forget after coming off my other machine, lol. I’ll replace the table top with a new one with a cut out under the arm and I’m thinking I’ll need to pull off the whole shooting match under the table and just install the servo with belt going directly up to the machine. Would this be the way to go? Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Constabulary Report post Posted March 9, 2021 (edited) The Class 17 has a fairly small pulley on the hand wheel. So when installing a servo you should install a 40-50mm pulley (the smaller the better) on the motor shaft and I would even consider a speed reducer. Most servos start at 200rpm and when you have a 50mm pulley on the servo and lets say a 70mm pulley (I guess) on the hand wheel your machine still runs at approx 140rpm at slowest speed. Ant it would be even more the larger the motor pulley is. Thats why I would consider a speed reducer (DIY or bought off the shelf). If it was my machine I would install the speed reducer where the clutch system is mounted and the servo where the current motor is mounted. I would even keep the original table plate cause it looks quite nice. I would clean it or grind off the surface and either oil it or apply a clear varnish. My 2 cents Edited March 9, 2021 by Constabulary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Melrose Report post Posted March 9, 2021 Ah, yes, the machines pulley wheel is quite small so I see what you mean about a speed reducer. I’m not sure we have the ready made ones readily available here in Aus but seems to be plenty of info about making them. The table top is very lovely with a nice patina which is why I’m hesitant to cut a piece out and perhaps ruin it. I need more air under the arm, though. I don’t think the table is the original for this machine looking at the cutout and oil tray underneath. Maybe I can find another machine to fit it....;) Thanks for that, the pulley size issue would not have occurred to me until we found the machine still ran too fast! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dikman Report post Posted March 9, 2021 Hi Melrose, I don't suppose you happen to be in Melrose, in SA? Or is the name just co-incidence? Yep, get rid of all the machinery underneath the table! Small pulleys (45mm) can be bought off ebay, as can speed reducers, although they might have to come from China. Another possibility is to replace the handwheel with a large pulley, which will give the same effect as a reducer. Some don't like it because it doesn't "look" right. If the table is basically in good condition I'd clean it using steel wool, which should retain some of the patina, and give it a coat of varnish. MY 2c worth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Melrose Report post Posted March 16, 2021 Sorry, for the late reply, I didn’t get a notification. No, not SA, we are farmers in NSW and Melrose is our property name. Yep, I got my last servo from eBay and it came with two pulleys and one was really small, but I think it was 50mm. I did see smaller ones on there, though. We’re a bit time poor so it would be better to get a reducer ready to go, I’ll check out eBay for those, too. Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
