Big Barb - The Consew! (255 RB2 - I think!)

[suzelle]

6 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

Either use an anti-backlash spring under the bobbin, or insert the bobbin against the direction of rotation of the shuttle. This means the bobbin thread will make a sharp turn off the bobbin to the slot and stay under the spring better. It does add a tish more bobbin tension which may need to be counteracted by backing off 1/2 turn on the bobbin tension screw.

Negatory. Mine is manually oiled.

 

Everybody calls me Wiz. That's who and what I am!

Okay Wiz, THANKs again!!!

I will go and find one of those anti-backlash springs I put away! LOL. I'm already threading the bobbin case the way you suggested, so hopefully backlash spring will help.

Yeah, I figured yours probably didn't have the self-oiling. It's not that hard to oil them. My industrial embroidery machines have oil reservoirs too, but I still have to regularly oil many points on the machines, and grease a few gears once in a while. Just part of regular maintenance.

My Sewing Machine Man told me to just use a nail or something in as an oil gauge, works the same. No biggie.

Have a great rest of the weekend Wiz!

[SARK9]

Many would suggest that obsolete "clutch motor" is not worth the bother or the time needed for the necessary learning curve....  unless you plan on working in a garment factory doing a quota of by-the-piece work with no say over the equipment provided, or just wish to collect another skillset with ever diminishing real-world value.

I recently did a shop clean-out and had a full pallet of clutch motor "take-offs" I had shoved out of the way....all were originally installed on the various used industrial machines I had purchased over the years. I listed them on the usual sales sites like FB MKT and Craigs list, priced at $15 each or a cheaper price for all. Several looked like new.  I had ZERO takers for a couple of months time, and finally gave the whole batch to a neighbor's grandson to tinker with for his non-sewing projects. They really seem to have zero market value these da ys.

 These old industrial motors originally became commonplace with "individuals" as the typical installed component available on the surplus second hand sewing machines sold off and replaced by factories, and in past times there was little else available as a power source for these bargain priced cast-offs. There are now several styles of "servo motors" available which are much more pleasant to use either in a high-production factory OR a small shop/home shop, and their popularity is a result of many factors. Mine are capable of 3500/4000 RPM and will definitely rock if you need to rock, but are much less temperamental and predictable for very slow detailed work. Most all of them DO require the RPM to get up into the "power band" for sewing hard to penetrate or sticky materials, and adding a speed reducer (torque multiplier) is a quick fix that is pretty palatable for most. 

The anti-backlash "feature" was provided to counteract the rotating inertia of a bobbin spinning nearly as fast as the machine could drive it on repeat patterned parts (as in the above ACTUAL industrial factory or shop), then coming to frequent abrupt stops.... it would unwind a couple of revs and produce a good birdnest frequently. If your style of sewing is often required to do long runs as fast as possible as some upholstery shops encounter, then including the backlash washer will benefit you and its not really going to bother anything. The actual problem is most likely that clutch motor's awful behaviors.  

The machines with a "vertical axis" bobbin (like the Juki LU563, Singer 111W and similar)  tend to be completely intolerant of just starting out stitching without hanging on the the needle thread for a couple of stitches. If you have a top-loading bobbin, figure on hanging on to the thread tails. As others here have mentioned recently, I also use a strong magnet to anchor that thread when I have to have both hands on the work. I think the issue is a design that allows the first stitch to "prefer" pulling the loose thread tail rather than pull the needle thread through the whole tension assembly when it begins. That safety clutch is there for a reason!

My Consew 206RB5 (horizontal axis bobbin) actually makes a marketing feature out of its ability to simply change bobbins and start sewing without so much as pulling the bobbin thread up through the feed dog first as was always the usual practice, but I do tend to hold back the needle thread out of habit anyway.....

 

-DC

Edited March 13, 2022 by SARK9

[suzelle]

1 hour ago, SARK9 said:

The anti-backlash "feature" was provided to counteract the rotating inertia of a bobbin spinning nearly as fast as the machine could drive it on repeat patterned parts (as in the above ACTUAL industrial factory or shop), then coming to frequent abrupt stops.... it would unwind a couple of revs and produce a good birdnest frequently. If your style of sewing is often required to do long runs as fast as possible as some upholstery shops encounter, then including the backlash washer will benefit you and its not really going to bother anything. The actual problem is most likely that clutch motor's awful behaviors.  

-DC

Hi Sark,

Thanks so much for your thoughts! I no longer care too much for clutch motors, although my Pfaff ran just fine on the one that came with the machine. I had sewn on a lot of clutch motor machines when I used to make aircraft covers. We did sew long stretches of fabric, wing covers, engine covers, entire canopy covers, and smaller parts too like intake and outake plugs. Not just one cover at a time, but many of the same pattern. Those machines were a pain in the butt though, when we did the smaller pieces. I used to wish I had a servo on my own machines at home and got one. It was one of the earlier models and I don't think I got even a year out of it. So I stayed away from them for a while. I hear they are much improved over the earlier models and certainly plan to use them again. For now though, using what I have to make some $, then will invest in the clutch motor. That 3450 RPM motor that came with my $400 Consew 255 - it went straight to the dumpster. Not trying to sell, I couldn't even give the thing away! LOL. A controllable clutch motor I feel is a useful thing, if I can put it on a machine and sew with no issues, and I didn't have to pay extra to get it. But if I have to buy new motors, they will be the new Servo motors and I'll be buying one in a few weeks or months for sure. I have dumped a few bucks into parts (screws, feet, other little things that add up) for both my Pfaff and the new to me Consew.

I do have a question about parts... I have bought parts from Ebay and have also gotten them from Certified Dealers of the machine brands I have. I am wondering if I should focus on parts being sold by certain manufacturers that may be of higher quality than others? Some say OEM, some say they are aftermarket. Some don't say what they are. Do you or anyone reading this see a difference in quality? Just curious. I have in the past bought an after market Hook (entire assembly) for an old Singer 31-15 that had parts that flat out would not fit. I ended up being able to use some of the parts from that assembly but had to keep some of the parts with it that were OEM and on the machine already. It worked out, but I was disapointed that all the parts of the assembly didn't fit. Couldn't return it as a whole because I'd used some of the parts. Even still, I got the job done and got the machine running very well. It was kiind of an easy machine to fix, not complicated.

As I am buying parts for my old Consew, I'm just wanting to get the highest quality I can find. Thankfully, Consew is still making this machine. So I am hopeful I can find most of the parts from them. Pfaff machine, can't find every part, but so far I've been lucky to get what I really needed and have taken some parts off another machine or two.

Although I've done very little Auto Upholstery work and some Aircraft interior work (like Auto Upholstery but FAA approved materials), I have much more to learn. Always learning and I'd consider myself really more of a beginner in this field. I have a lot more experience with furniture upholstery which can be done with a domestic machine or semi-industrial machine.

I appreciate all your comments (advice) and will go back and read again when I'm changing out the small parts and the motors on these machines. Thank you Thank you!

[suzelle]

Weird but this Works!

After having lots of problems with loops and thread jams, I had determined that the bobbins I got with my machine were too small. So I ordered some new ones on Ebay only to find they are the same exact bobbins that came with the machine! They are U/Large but they don't fit! They are larger than an M, but slightly too small for a Consew 255/ U. Ordering bobbins again, this time from a Company called Diamond Needle Corp. They look different than the others, hope they work! I ordered a bunch of parts for my Consew and a few parts for my Pfaff. Close to $130 I think is what I spent. This Company had decent prices and good Customer Service. Very friendly on the phone, but you have to order on-line.

While I wait, I was really tempted to try and make Big Barb sew without loops and jams before my next order of new bobbins got here! Geesh.

So, I read about all the tips and tricks I can find and come across one where somebody suggested cutting a disc the size of my bobbin out of sandpaper, also cut a hole in the center so I can drop it into the base of the bobbin case. I try that and whallah! She is now sewing, almost perfect! I decide that there is still quite a bit of space between the wall top of the bobbin and the slide plate and make one more sandpaper disc and drop it in. Then I sew again. Now I have a perfect forward stitch!!!! Even going over lumps and bumps, several layers of vinyl and foam, and seems too!

I actually got some sewing done on a real upholstery job yesterday. The only problem is, when back-tacking, I'm getting a little tangle in bottom thread, but not big enough to be a jamming problem. If I hand-wheel it when back-tacking, that's a little better and can start and finish a line of sewing. Gotta figure out what's going on with the back tacking, but I'm going to get the right size bobbins in the machine first before I figure out that issue. I also have some new backlash springs coming (star shaped) and quite a few other parts like screws and other springs I plan to install.

I'm hoping I have a good hook. I called a Consew Dealer this morning to get ready what that may cost.

So this is just an update. I'll probably add some photos of how the stitch looks when I am at the machine again. So stay tuned.

Thanks everyone for reading and also for your help/commeents and suggestions. So helpful!

Edited March 17, 2022 by suzelle