Tension disks on Consew 99 not opening when foot lifted

[DonInReno]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:40 AM, Chelan said:

For the lighter weight leather, do you have a needle size and point style that I should consider?

A lot of upholstery-weight leather is sewn with a common ball point fabric needle and 92 weight thread.  I'd recommend just using what you have until there is a specific need to change the look of the stitches or you get interested in heavier weight leather.

On YouTube, the channel Cechaflo has an extensive selection of automotive upholstery sewing videos that are well worth checking out if you have a specific project.   Just watching the use of brushed on contact adhesive by someone who knows what they are doing will shed a lot of light on how difficult items are wrapped in leather.

If you ever get a chance to go to a well stocked industrial fabric store it's well worth the drive.   The one close to me buys a lot of remnants in random lengths as well as a good stock of the more common fabrics.  There is an automotive carpet section, automotive leathers, upholstery leather, upholstery fabric, industrial synthetics, outdoor synthetics, marine vinyl, upholstery vinyl, foam of all kinds, canvas of all kinds, all sizes of zippers and upholstery related hardware, etc.  and that's just the half I like looking through - the other half of the warehouse is normal clothing fabrics.   These are the places upholstery shops shop at.

Para gear has high quality hardware and sewing supplies - mostly skydiving stuff, but I find something interesting every time I thumb through the catalog!

Para Gear - Skydiving Gear? Parachutes? Shop ParaGear.com!

[Chelan]

Wow!  Just one more benefit of signing up for this forum.   You'd think there would have to be something up here in the Seattle area that would have some of these things.   I have been to the ParaGear website before in my search for harness hardware and they have a ton of great stuff.

 

I am looking forward to this weekend when I can go up to the sail loft (converted hangar) and work with my sewing machine.

 

Be safe and enjoy the holiday weekend!

 

Best regards,

 

Paul

[Chelan]

On 5/24/2021 at 4:39 PM, nylonRigging said:

Also .. It maybe just a 1-minute simple Fix adjustment, so check this 1st .
The whole tension assembly slides inward and outward . There is a small screw hold-down to your tension assembly @ about 3 or 4 o'clock R-side, that screws against the barrel of the assembly holding it secure .
Loosen screw, and slide the Assembly inward just a little bit and re-tighten screw lock . See if this takes-up the gap to the push-pin, to make better contact for tension release.
.

NylonRigging:  You were right on the money with what to look for on my 'non-releasing' tension disks.  I found that small screw that holds the tensioner assembly just to the right of it.  Of course, this was after locating the screw which had been covered up by a tiny pce. of masking tape I used when I was repainting the body of the machine.  Anyway, I pulled the assembly to check the tension release pin and guess what?  No tension release pin.  However, when I purchased the used Consew 99, the previous owner had included a zip lock bag filled with spare bobbins, small screws, another foot or two and other odds 'n ends.  When I examined the contents later, there was this short pin, about the size of an 18 gauge brad nail with one end squashed.  No idea what it was for, but for certain if I threw it away, it would come back to haunt me.  Now, I am not sure if it is/was the tension release pin, but it seems to fit and it works perfectly.  

Also a big thank you to whomever posted the photos of the knee lift arm and how it should be set up.    The main axle of the knee lift assembly was positioned about 1" too far to the right side cut out.  I repositioned it and it seems to be working just fine now.  I had a happy day of sewing yesterday with the improvements.   Thank you all.

[LindanHotAir]

If you have a problem with the tension releasing when sewing thick materials, you can operate without the pin. When you need slack you can grab the thread between the tension and the take up lever and pull the needed slack.