Consew 206-RB4 oiling mechanism and sewing speed?

[suzelle]

10 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

What you described is the method used on lockstitch sewing machines when one wants a bold top thread appearance, but there is insufficient thickness to hide the knots if the same size thread is used in the bobbin. A thinner bobbin thread bends tighter and won't cause noticeable bumps along the folded down and topstitched seams.

I sometimes use this technique when a customer asks to have a belt edge stitched for appearance, but the leather is too thin to hide the knots formed by #138 or #207 thread. Using a thinner bobbin thread lets the knots stay low down, but not sticking out the bottom.

Know that anytime you use a thinner bobbin thread, the strength of each stitch is that of the weaker thread.

Thanks for explaining Wiz! Glad to know!

[sojourner999]

New question on the same topic of oiling.

Many of the oiling ports, the red paint has partially wore off.  I would like to touch up those areas with some type of red paint.  Does anyone have recommendations on what paint to use and the procedure for painting those oil ports?  Or a reason why I should not do that OR an alternative to red paint?
 

thx!

Edited March 10, 2022 by sojourner999

[Wizcrafts]

5 hours ago, sojourner999 said:

New question on the same topic of oiling.

Many of the oiling ports, the red paint has partially wore off.  I would like to touch up those areas with some type of red paint.  Does anyone have recommendations on what paint to use and the procedure for painting those oil ports?  Or a reason why I should not do that OR an alternative to red paint?
 

thx!

Red nail polish using the little brush in the bottle.

[sojourner999]

9 minutes ago, Wizcrafts said:

Red nail polish using the little brush in the bottle.

Thanks Wizcrafts!  I never even thought if that.  Now to ask my wife for some red nail polish.

[sojourner999]

I started the work on the 206RB-4.  I took the upper tension assembly apart for cleaning.  I found both tension discs has deep grooves where the thread goes through.  I figure I would order the discs and a spring too.

i went to sewingpartsonline.com, they had discs and a spring, but are on back order.  I did a search and could not find individual tension discs.  I did find units on Amazon, but the bad reviews made me leery of ordering a complete unit.

Any recommendations on a vendor that has quality parts like tension discs and tension spring?  Or is this something where I may have to order an entire unit?  If so, where to get as close to OEM quality as possible?

Much appreciated.

[sojourner999]

11 hours ago, sojourner999 said:

I started the work on the 206RB-4.  I took the upper tension assembly apart for cleaning.  I found both tension discs has deep grooves where the thread goes through.  I figure I would order the discs and a spring too.

i went to sewingpartsonline.com, they had discs and a spring, but are on back order.  I did a search and could not find individual tension discs.  I did find units on Amazon, but the bad reviews made me leery of ordering a complete unit.

Any recommendations on a vendor that has quality parts like tension discs and tension spring?  Or is this something where I may have to order an entire unit?  If so, where to get as close to OEM quality as possible?

Much appreciated.

I found diamondneedle.com.   They sure do seem to have a plethora of parts, including the ones i need.  There is a minimum $30 order.   Does anyone have any input, either positive or negative, of ordering from diamondnedle.com ?

 

hx

[garypl]

12 hours ago, sojourner999 said:

I started the work on the 206RB-4.  I took the upper tension assembly apart for cleaning.  I found both tension discs has deep grooves where the thread goes through.  I figure I would order the discs and a spring too.

i went to sewingpartsonline.com, they had discs and a spring, but are on back order.  I did a search and could not find individual tension discs.  I did find units on Amazon, but the bad reviews made me leery of ordering a complete unit.

Any recommendations on a vendor that has quality parts like tension discs and tension spring?  Or is this something where I may have to order an entire unit?  If so, where to get as close to OEM quality as possible?

Much appreciated.

Buy them on eBay - I bought a complete tensioner assembly for @$16 a year or so ago.  Probably a bit more now due to inflation.

[Jhunter13]

On 3/8/2022 at 9:59 PM, suzelle said:

Thanks for explaining Wiz! Glad to know!

Thanks for the response.  Makes sense.  

[suzelle]

10 hours ago, sojourner999 said:

I found diamondneedle.com.   They sure do seem to have a plethora of parts, including the ones i need.  There is a minimum $30 order.   Does anyone have any input, either positive or negative, of ordering from diamondnedle.com ?

 

hx

sojourner, I just found that site too, https://www.diamondneedle.com/

I'm going to place an order too, was excited that it appears they have lots of Pfaff parts too!

[sojourner999]

1 hour ago, suzelle said:

sojourner, I just found that site too, https://www.diamondneedle.com/

I'm going to place an order too, was excited that it appears they have lots of Pfaff parts too!

Awesome!  The place is a little over an hour away from me, but it does not look like they have a retail presence.  Also, minimum $30 order.   I am going to call them tomorrow to check on availability of parts I need.

 

good luck!

[suzelle]

On 3/13/2022 at 6:05 PM, sojourner999 said:

Awesome!  The place is a little over an hour away from me, but it does not look like they have a retail presence.  Also, minimum $30 order.   I am going to call them tomorrow to check on availability of parts I need.

 

good luck!

Sojourner, did you order parts yet? I ordered, should be here tomorrow. They even had a dip stick (oil gauge) for my old Consew! Hope you find the parts you need too. How's it going? What size bobbins does your machine take? Asking because today I was told that my the Consew 255RB-2 and the 206RB-3 take the same size bobbin. I didn't know that. I have what is called their "Large" bobbin, equivalent to a "Style U" and the ones I bought on Ebay were close, but not exact. Jacksew/Sun Coast Sewing told me the ones they had on Ebay were not the same as the ones that come with the new 255RB-3 machines. They said make sure to call them and tell one of the Reps I want the ones that come with the new machines. They said something about the ones on Ebay being cheaper bobbins and agreed with me that they don't fit so good. Hmmm. Something to be aware of. I did order some from Diamond Needle already that look right, they come tomorrow. The Ebay ones are going back.

Edited March 17, 2022 by suzelle

[sojourner999]

31 minutes ago, suzelle said:

Sojourner, did you order parts yet? I ordered, should be here tomorrow. They even had a dip stick (oil gauge) for my old Consew! Hope you find the parts you need too. How's it going? What size bobbins does your machine take? Asking because today I was told that my the Consew 255RB-2 and the 206RB-3 take the same size bobbin. I didn't know that. I have what is called their "Large" bobbin, equivalent to a "Style U" and the ones I bought on Ebay were close, but not exact. Jacksew/Sun Coast Sewing told me the ones they had on Ebay were not the same as the ones that come with the new 255RB-3 machines. They said make sure to call them and tell one of the Reps I want the ones that come with the new machines. They said something about the ones on Ebay being cheaper bobbins and agreed with me that they don't fit so good. Hmmm. Something to be aware of. I did order some from Diamond Needle already that look right, they come tomorrow. The Ebay ones are going back.

I did not order parts yet.  I came down with a virus that set me back a few days.  I plan on getting the machine set up in my work area this weekend before ordering.  The bobbin winder looks like I might need to replace it too.  And maybe a couple other small parts to have as backup.  I want to find all I need before making an order.

the 206RB4 takes M bobbins.  I think, from smaller to larger, the bobbins are G, M and U.   @Jhunter13  has a juki LU-563 clone that takes U bobbins.  He may have input for you with his experience on sourcing U bobbins.
 

I did order M bobbins and a set of presser feet from Amazon.  The bobbins fit and do not bind when I am hand turning the machine.  I have not sewed with them yet.  From the seller, it looks like he liked the pre wound bobbin thread.
 

I try to stay away from eBay and sometimes Amazon when it comes to these parts.  I wanted to order from sewingpartsonline, but they had some parts back ordered.  And with them, it is a guessing game as to when parts will come in.

please let me know how your order from diamond needle goes.  I’ll be putting an order in soon.

[suzelle]

2 hours ago, sojourner999 said:

I did not order parts yet.  I came down with a virus that set me back a few days.  I plan on getting the machine set up in my work area this weekend before ordering.  The bobbin winder looks like I might need to replace it too.  And maybe a couple other small parts to have as backup.  I want to find all I need before making an order.

Oh goodness, well you get better quick! You have something to look forward to, fixing that machine up. So fun and sometimes frustrating all at the same time! Bobbin winders are pretty cheap, so that won't set you back too bad. Good idea about ordering all at same time, that's what I try to do too. Diamond Needle was $22 approx. to ship it, I think they had lots of options for shipping which was nice. Yeah, I'll let you know how it goes. Looks like they have been in business a long time. They said they do not sell the machines, just parts. But you know that. I know of I have some of their needles around here someplace. LOL. Okay, get some sleep and have some chicken soup and some comfort food and spoil yourself.

[sojourner999]

I finally was able to order a bunch of parts for the machine from diamondneedle.com. They had all the parts.  I called and spoke with someone there a few hours ago with my order. She confirmed that they were there and they put the order through on a Friday afternoon.  Should be here early next week.  I am only about 1.5 hours away from their actual place of business.  

I am going to change the grease in the two "grease boxes" tonight or tomorrow, not sure of the technical name, but that is what I'll call them for now.  I watched a youtube from Alexander Dyer https://youtu.be/O254enp8xWs and he goes into replacing the grease, but did not use any grease gun to totally fill the grease box.

I have two resized pictures of the "grease boxes".

I cannot help but to think that those 2 holes were put there so some type of grease gun could be used to fill with grease.

So, my latest question is this, once I change the grease, should I be "squirting" grease into those ports with a "grease gun" to ensure complete filling of the grease boxes?

FYI, I plan on using tri-flow clear synthetic grease.  And my final question for this post, are there any reason NOT to use tri-flow clear synthetic grease?

[suzelle]

Found this from 2015

[sojourner999]

1 hour ago, suzelle said:

Found this from 2015

Thanks @suzelle!  I have and use tri-flow oil and grease in my vintage domestics.

I refilled my lower grease box with tri-flow grease.  Going to actually open the top grease box and re-fill with tri-flow grease today. I found the right screws to open it up.

I am leaning to just using regular Lily White sewing machine oil for the consew.  It has been good for others for years and I am reluctant to put some other liquid into where it will go through the wicks.  I am not sure how the wicks would react to that.  It may be much ado about nothing, but nevertheless, I won’t have to worry about any wick issues with lily white.

[suzelle]

1 hour ago, sojourner999 said:

I am leaning to just using regular Lily White sewing machine oil for the consew.  It has been good for others for years and I am reluctant to put some other liquid into where it will go through the wicks.  I am not sure how the wicks would react to that.  It may be much ado about nothing, but nevertheless, I won’t have to worry about any wick issues with lily white.

Well some oil or grease where you need it is better than none, right? You can always clean it up and put another type in there. I use grease from my big embroidery machines in my sewing machines, and the oil too. I don't know if the oil is "Lily White" but it's clear for sure. Have had Lily White, also there is another brand that the zoom spout oilers have in them, also clear. I'd use the TriFlow grease too on gears if I had it on hand. Have read lots of good about that stuff. Oh, and a few years ago I tried something else.... a Reddish oil used in Auto Industry called "Marvel Mystery Oil"... I mixed it with my Lily White oil. I try different stuff, not afraid to experiment. One thing I won't do though, WD-40.

Edited April 2, 2022 by suzelle

[sojourner999]

On 4/2/2022 at 1:21 PM, suzelle said:

Well some oil or grease where you need it is better than none, right? You can always clean it up and put another type in there. I use grease from my big embroidery machines in my sewing machines, and the oil too. I don't know if the oil is "Lily White" but it's clear for sure. Have had Lily White, also there is another brand that the zoom spout oilers have in them, also clear. I'd use the TriFlow grease too on gears if I had it on hand. Have read lots of good about that stuff. Oh, and a few years ago I tried something else.... a Reddish oil used in Auto Industry called "Marvel Mystery Oil"... I mixed it with my Lily White oil. I try different stuff, not afraid to experiment. One thing I won't do though, WD-40.

Thanks @suzelle!  The tri-flow clear synthetic in both bottom and top gear casings.  No problems so far, but I am now in the stages of timing machine and replacing some wear parts.  So no real sewing per se, just running the machine a little to disburse the oil and grease.  
 

I am following  2 - two hour YouTube’s from MTRC Crane on maintaining/setting up the machine.  Got stuck earlier today with a stuck screw and @Jhunter13 helped me out with advice to unstick it.   So I am back on track.  His videos have 18 steps, I am on step 4 now.

[suzelle]

You are very thorough! Great plan to learn how to time the machine before you get to sewing. There is always more to learn, right? By the way, all my parts came from Diamond, great Company!