sewing machines

[artzend]

Courtney

If you are using light materials, first check your needle size, you don't need a large needle and the hole may be too big so there is no tension on the thread to throw a loop.

If your needle is ok, moving the wheel closer but not so close it cuts the thread is also an option, and also tightening the pressure on the wheel.

Try putting some tissue paper under the work if the material is really light like pigskin. Newspaper is ok too. Sew through everything and then tear the paper away later.

Tim

[tmattimore]

Just make sure you lift the foot when you roll your bobbins.
Tom

[amuckart]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any information on the Pfaff 34-series machines? They're flat bed roller foot drop feed machines.

I'm being offered one as an alternative to a Singer 31-48 . The Pfaff has reverse, which could be handy but otherwise seems like a pretty similar machine.

I can't find a manual for one anywhere either, so if anyone has one they can share I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

[corporallane]

Hi Mr. Saguto,

During August 15, 2005, you provided a very insightful correspondence to Kate (another member) on the Singer 29K series and 29-4 patching machines. You expressed that these two machines are good for producing quality leather goods.

Can you provide additional information on these two machines as to how they will perform producing leather goods? I am a new leatherworker and I will be working on small leather goods (handbags, jewelry, belts). I have access to both of these machines.

There are many critics of these two machines who say that the presser foot will damage the grain of leathers. But I was interested in your discourse about filing down the foot and perhaps glueing rubber onto the foot to prevent damage to leather. Any knowledge you can share with us will be of great help.

Thank you for your sharing your experience with us.

Gino

(Message edited by corporallane on February 21, 2010)

[das]

Gino,

Go back over all those posts for details and hints. A Singer 29K class (not the older 29-4 model) can be rebuilt and fine tuned to do decent finished work. A long-arm (vs. short arm) is better for more versatility, and these usually came with a larger shuttle and bobbin so they don't run out of bobbin thread as often as the smaller ones. It's not going to handle heavy veg leather knife sheathes, belts or holsters, nor is it going to do super-fine gloves or 1 oz. garment leathers, but everything in between is well within it's scope.

Feed-feet for these are readily available from Pilgrim Shoe Machines and other sources. Experiment. I took one foot, ground the teeth off and epoxyed textured rubber "TOPY" brand sole protector to it to feed lighter stuff without leaving tooth marks. You'll have to adjust the feeder-foot tension (increase it). For toothed feet you want as little downward pressure as needed to avoid marking the leather but still move the work through.

If buying a used one un-reconditioned, be prepared to spend some $ on new parts. Look for damage and excessive wear like on any old machine. A good test is to cycle the needle to its lowest position, grab the needle clamp and try to move the needle bar up and down. This will reveal wear at the piston-joint, main pivot pin of the driving lever, the cam roller, as well as the eccentric cam race connected to the flywheel. A little looseness is fine, but if you can move the needle clamp and bar up and down 1/8" or 1/4", lots of parts will need to be replaced.

Pop open the shuttle compartment, remove the shuttle and bobbin and test the shuttle carrier for looseness in all positions too. Slop down there will mean skipped stitches as it will not hold any precise timing adjustment. Again, a little gear-lash in the racks and pinions is normal, but if you can wiggle the shuttle carrier back and forth, up and down, etc., it's time for more parts.

[chuck_deats]

Gino,
Al's comments were great encouragement for my 29-4. Don't think I would use it on very fragile finishes, but for everything else the marks bone out easily. Pressure is not much greater than a roller foot. A single foot and a table are very helpful to see where you are stitching. Secure the head rotation or you will sew in circles. Understand the 29K models have a setscrew for this. Use a wedge(suggested on this forum)on the 29-4. The 29 series are about the only machine that will do almost everything.

[amuckart]

Al, your comments about shuttle looseness got me thinking about the 45k I'm working on at the moment. The basic mechanism is tight and there's no slop in the needle bar or anything but the shuttle literally rattles in the shuttle race. I'm not sure if this is because the shuttle is worn or the shuttle carrier is worn.

Do you know what the most likely cause is?

Thanks.

[johnw]

Al

I have a 29K problem that I can't attribute to wear (although I am looking at replacing the carrier, bush and drive pinion on my 29K58).

We have a Singer 29K58 that we (would) use for replacing zips in motorcycle boots.
According to the user manual the leading edge of the shuttle carrier should rotate to 1/3 of the width of the needle slot at it furthest extent of oscillation. Ours rotates further than this - to beyond the needle slot.
This should be adjusted by rotating the excentric at the drive end of the long rack rod (effectively shortening or lengthening it) but ours is adjusted as "short" as it will go. Looking at it, it should be possible to alter the timing range by sliding the cam forwards along the drive shaft (towards the needle end) a little. But the cam is hard up against the drive pinion. Anyone seen this before, or know any way
round this ?

In case I have not been as clear as I might, I have a sketch here...

11046.jpg

[das]

John,

Was this patcher stitching ok for you until recently? If it's new to you, it may have been buggered-up by a previous owner="boat anchor".

Had the rack box been apart and put back together recently? New "wrong" sized parts added? One of the racks may have been put back in out of time by one tooth, or even the driving pinion (following pinion is not registered, doesn't matter how it goes). I've seen some stitching with one rack poking in/out the front of the rack box--this is "bad"

I've tried to time I can't think how many 29Ks according that diagram in the manual as regards the shuttle carrier covering part of the needle slot in the rack box and gave up. If you adjust the eccentric fully all the way around you can see it only moves the shuttle carrier back and forth "this" much. Once you set it right according to the manual, try grabbing the shuttle carrier with your fingers and wiggling/rotating it--it may well be sloppy enough to "lash" past the timing sweet-spot in operation. Before drastic surgery, I'd try just adjusting the eccentric a little, thread it up and test; re-adjust and test, repeat until it starts stitching ok. Take a hard steel scribe and scratch a mark on the rack box as the new "ideal" timing mark.

I've never had to mess with cams or the drive shaft, nor have I seen those slip out of place.

[das]

Alasdair,

Slop and looseness are relative terms. The shuttles/shuttle hooks in machines that run heavy thread are "loose" to allow the thread to pass over, around, and between surfaces to form the lock-stitch. So, if it's stitching ok I would not be alarmed or go trying to tighten things. If your 45K has the oscillating (versus rotating) shuttle with the tip-out hinged bullet-shaped bobbin case, those are notorious for wear and slop, but as long as the "long-beak" hook is not damaged or filed down too short, they should still stitch.

If it has the long-beak oscillating shuttle, pull the retaining ring off to remove the shuttle-hook. If the ring has a deep worn groove or shoulder in it replace (good luck finding). If the ring's ok, but the shuttle-hook has excessive wear, replace that (easier to find).

Like rack boxes on patchers need a certain amount of "gear lash" looseness to operate, other machines were designed to operate "sloppy". These are not Swiss watches, as I learned early on trying to shim and tighten my first 29-4 to precision tine-piece tolerances.

[johnw]

Thanks Al

The long rack ALMOST comes out of the end of the rack box. You can feel it (just) at the end of it's travel. It is actually quite hard to assemble the rack box wrongly as it simply won't oscillate as the drive pinion runs out of teeth.
The machine only turns over with the excentric turned right back. It runs THAT close to disaster. My theory is that someone in the dim & distant past has either had the drive chain apart and put it together with the cam cylinder in the wrong place, or used an "alien" long rack. As long racks are about as easy to get hold of as unicorn horns I think this may be the favorite case. It appears to be out by about the same length as the throw on the excentric.

[das]

John,

It's a mystery then, but Harris at Pilgrim Shoe Machine sells re-built 29K rack boxes complete if you need, just be prepared to dig deep into your wallet.

Otherwise, take heart, you may have just bought a boat anchor or curious lawn ornament. In fact I have the rotting carcass of an old patcher out next to the wife's vegetable garden to scare away the critters (it's not really scaring away many BTW)

[johnw]

Thanks again Al.

Sometimes you just have to bounce some thoughts about with someone who knows what they are talking about, even if you then ignore the excellent advice they give you. (That is probably an engineering axiom or something).

I took the rack box off & measured everything up. The rack travel was about 2 - 3 mm to much. Sheared out the pin that holds #82184 (rack end fitting) to the connecting rod after measuring the rod length. Cleaned & degreased everything and using LOTS of red Locktite tapped it all back together 2.5mm shorter than it came out. Boat anchor times EXACTLY to the book - we can now shift the leading edge right across the needle slot on the excentric - and it sews like....a sewing machine.

All we need to do now is sort out the weird adjustments we had to make so it would sort-of work with the timing so far out. I will still replace the carrier, drive pinion and pinion bush to make sure.

Happy Bunny.

[das]

Ah John,

Now you're really resurrected that wacky patcher--you've made it "yours"

When I get into these exchanges it's always kind of blind--I never know how much mechanical/machinist skill the correspondent has. But it sounds like you're well on top of things there "happy bunny".

Keep your stitches in a row and good luck!

[das]

Just acquired a nice Singer 236G120 post machine, very similar in most cosmetic regards to a 236W100 except the bobbin cover is high and rounded and one of the needle-thread tension springs has been removed.

Anybody have any experience with this model, good/bad/indifferent? Was the "236G" series newer or an improvement over the "236W"? Anybody have a service/owner's manual/parts list for a 236G?

[amuckart]

Here's my latest acquisition. I was away for the weekend when I came across this on an online auction site and realised I'd by driving past it on the way home and I couldn't resist. It's a nice intersection between my old sewing machine interest and my shoemaking interest.

11123.jpg

11124.jpg

11125.jpg

It's not actually what I thought it was when I first saw it. I'd picked it for an early 29 class but it predates that. From what little I can gather it is a "Universal Free Arm" patcher. The serial number dates it to circa 1877 so I think it might be getting on for 'old school' even by Jesse Lee's standards

It came with a treadle stand that had the original wooden pitman rod intact and the little folding wooden table that turns the machine into a flatbed. Shuttle and bobbin are intact but it's going to need some careful TLC and evapo-rust before it'll sew again.

[last_maker]

Alsadiar:

Great looken machine! Nice decals. this is comming from a person who has a feddish for old singers with gold decals! I love them!

hey guys, here is singer 29 series owners manual if you need it.

http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Trade-Literature/Sewing-Machines/NMAHTE X/2672/index.htm

If this isn't it you can get more manuals here: http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Trade-Literature/Sewing-Machines/

I posted yesterday under shoe machines the link for the manuals to these machines. Perhaps the wrong place. But anyway, I hope this link might help.


Marlietta

[last_maker]

the other site I posted from yesterday under shoe machines is for singersewing machine manuals is

http://parts.singerco.com/IPsvcManuals/

some of these have how to repair the machine in back. I know the 29 series manuals do.

[courtney]

I am having some problems with my 31-20,

When sewing the topline across the backstrap the needle seemed to stick in the leather and lift the whole upper off the surface.

I am using 69 nylon thread and 16 schmetz 135x5 needle.

also when sewing the stay stitch its not working but I think thats the padding I put in the tounge because it worked fine on my practice shoes without the padding.

Any ideas on the backstrap needle sticking?

Also how far do you skive the underlay of the vamp and quarters? previously I skived the whole 7/16" but this last time I just skived the edges.

Thanks,
Courtney

[romango]

Courtney,

Check your needle for any residual glue or other sticky stuff. Also, try using talcum powder when sewing.

Also, very thin leather may be lifted by the needle.

That's all I can think of....

- Rick

[courtney]

Do you just dust the powder over the top?

Courtney

[paul]

Courney,

Sometimes a little parrifin wax rubbed on the needle can help too.

I would only lightly powder the top, if I were going to try this approach. You wouldn't want any powder to get under your needle plate in the mechanism. Just last week I was having trouble with tension from my bobbin thread and checked my bobbin spring. There was enough dirt under the spring to mess with it's proper function. (Note to self to keep the bobbin spring clean.) Not powder, but something to think about.

However I'm not so sure it's not a matter of your presser foot/roller pressure. Different thinkness of material need more or less pressure from the foot/roller to hold the material down properly for the lock to form when the needle is in the down position. Your reference to the padding at the stay stitch is a clue that this might be the problem.

Try tightening that and see how that works.

Good luck,
Paul

[relferink]

Courtney,

As Rick sugests, check for glue residue on your needle. Even change out the needle to see if that solves the problem.
If the material "sticks" to the needle when it comes up you may have to bring your walking / rolling foot closer to the needle, check the needle size vs the thread size (don't have my chart handy so I can't comment on your needle size with 69 nylon) and check Paul's suggestion on the foot pressure. Just play around with it a bit and see if it gets better or worse. Make sure you mark you starting position so you can always go back to that.

If all else fails try taking a rag and spray WD40 on it, than rub this along the shaft of the needle. Be careful with this as too much oil will stain the leather, just a little will do. Do not spray directly on the needle as it will make it too wet.

I add 10mm underlay to my vamp at the quarters and skive 7 to 8MM. This to get at least one of my sewing lines in full leather thickness. On very heavy leather I may add a few more MM underlay and not worry a lot about skiving beyond the sewing line as the leather will be strong enough.

Good luck getting the machine to sew correctly.
Rob

[courtney]

Thanks, Rick, Paul, & Robert.

For those who have 31 class singers w/ roller foot,
How high is your presser foot tension adjuster screw on top?

I have mine set up about 1" from the base to the top.

I guess it would matter how big the wheel is.

Mine is about 3/4"

Thanks,
Courtney

[dw]

Courtney,

Mine is screwed right down to the head...on both my 31 class Singers. Might be I need a new spring but I am not experiencing the problems you're having and which I do think is related almost entirely to presserfoot tension. I almost can't imagine a situation where you can have too much presserfoot tension esp. with a roller foot.

Tight Stitches
DWFII--HCC Member