Post your sewing machines! (posted in MISCellaneous!)

here is one tip: i wondered once if using monofilament fishing line to sew clothes would be better.
answer NO for many reasons
mainly it will destroy any nearby cotton or polyester thread or fabric
and it does not stretch at all

Years ago I bought some underwear. The damn stuff was sewn with monofilament.
Chewed through the fabric.
It abrasive as hell on skin too. Ended up pitching all of it.
All the Best,
Jeff

The wife is surprised this thread would show up on a flashlight forum.

My wife's 1949 Singer.

The wife's sewing/quilting area with Bernina 635 sewing machine.

A couple of her many quilts.

can;t see pix

Temporary problem with hosting provider.

Can you see the photos now?

no

not here or in the original post
wle

Saw the pics all the time

Strange, I've checked the photos from other computers, all is OK.

pics not showing.

Here ya go! It’s a real piece of sh*t. Of coarse anyone who knows anything about sewing is probably just face palming. Every time my girlfriend uses it she wants to go office space on it:

Was using a different hosting provider, which seems to cause problems for some web browsers. I've gone back to my original hosting provider. Everything is working now.

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Here it is for you.
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goshdogit,
I took a look at the Sailrite shop. I’ve looked at their machines in the past. Watching the videos, it looks like the Fabricator machines are the only ones they sell that are true 3 motion walking foot machines. That is the needle moves along with the top feed dog.
The lesser machines and the leather machine sure look like the needle is stationary and only the top and bottom dogs move.
Might be wrong, but that’s what it looks like.

Anyway, this might be a consideration to ahhh… consider when looking at the different models.

Their servo seems to be a better unit that anything that comes on the clones or even the “real” machines.
What do you call a clone of a clone?
Nice that they have parts listed and available. That’s a real plus instead of depending on an unknown supply.

I’m holding out for a cylinder bed machine. Just seems like that would be more versatile for what I want to do.
But boy, are they expensive…

I’ve got a Featherweight too. Came to us from my wife’s Aunt. Didn’t know what we had until I looked at what they are selling for. Really nifty for light duty sewing. Surprising too see so many of them here.

After giving the 66 I got last week a lube and workout, I’ve started a more in depth cleanup and lube.
The needle is slightly off center in the bobbin hole. The only adjustment is to loosen the three screws that hold the head to the base of the frame. Then try to tweak it into position.
That’s a little frightening. If I screw that up, well, it won’t be pretty.
I made a shim for the needle holder that gets it lined up - and it works. But my OCD brain half wants it perfect.

All the Best,
Jeff

You’re correct. They use the terms ‘walking foot’ and ‘compound walking foot’ to specify whether the machine has needle feed.

Sailrite’s page here has excellent demonstrations of the different types of feed mechanisms. I wish I’d seen it before I posted my explanations for zoulas earlier in this thread. :slight_smile:

Sailrite also has a great YouTube channel with lots of lengthy tutorials on many different types of sewing projects. Their videos are very well done.

Thanks CNCman. I’m still working on it . Got it to work once. Still not totally sure how I did it though.

You guys are amazing. Hats off!

got it like 5 years used prbly twice as many times since

my mother gave it to me when it threw the dog gear, the repair shop told her it was too expensive to fix, not worth it, throw it away, when i was at her home, i took a look, plastic dog gear broke apart, i looked up online, the part was 15 bucks, i always knew how sewing machines work, and were made, but i never actually took one apart before, it took me no more than 2 hours, to fix, clean, adjust, and clean up the mess i made while doing all that
how long would it take an experienced repair guy to do it? prbly half an hour? why wouldn’t they take it, and make money? it was not expensive at all, oh well their loss, now i got the machine, and know how to fix, adjust one,

the same way i learned how to groom dogs, 10-12 years ago the groomer i used stopped doing it, so at first i trimmed my dog a bit, next time a bit more, looked at few YouTube videos, and now, i’ll will never need to take my dog to a groomer

That’s a singer 491. A very serious industrial sewing machine.
Take a peek and see if you can see where it was built.

These things came with a clutch motor and could run at 5000! stitches per minute.
Think sweat shop with 50 of these things screaming out at once. Churning out garments at a fast rate.

It should be able to sew through most any garment - jean weight fabric.
Think a home type machine, all metal, on steroids. It’s not really designed for leather of heavy thread.

If yours is not beat to heck, parts should be readily available. But mostly these were rode hard and put up wet…
Looks to be missing the pressure foot and the dingus that holds the needle. And some stuff that sits on top to control the thread.

For mere mortals, getting a variable speed servo motor makes it controllable at slower speeds. Cost $140-$150 ish for the servo control.
Depending where in Texas you are, there might be a repair shop that could take a look at it for you.

I’m sure you could make or modify a table to mount it.
Get it working and it would be a fun toy that will last home type users forever.
All the Best,
Jeff

all the motions inside have to be synchronized, the needle can go up and down, and yet 10 or 12 other movements inside the machine are off-timed , and it will not sew til you set all that

that lever on the left has to go up and down too, but it may be connected directly to the needle part

you will have to figure out the exact threading process

plus -which way the needle faces )if it still does not sew(

it seems to have no stitch length control, or reverse
those are pretty handy

not sure where the thread spool goes either

may not have a light

wle

Those clutch type motors that the industrial machines run are scary fast and not easy to control.

That’s why mere mortals replace them with the servo type that can run at a slow speed.
For example:
servo motor on Amazon

Even if someone in the know thinks it’s a boat anchor, you could still give it away on Craigs list to someone who could use it for parts.
I’d like to have it just to take it apart and see what’s inside.

I was one of those kids where nothing was safe if I could get it apart.
Unfortunately, the gett’en apart is easier than the putt’en back together. But it set me up for a lifetime of tinkering fun.
All the Best,
Jeff