New toy Singer 111W155

[pfarber]

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Got this off ebay for $250 (table, head, motor) and it works perfectly. Got a few projects done and this thing sews like a boss. Still trying to slow it down (I really don't need to sew 3000spm.. I'd be happy with 1000 )

Great deal. Guy was 93 and was finally selling off some machines so he could retire... AT 93!!!!

[pfarber]

Got to do a little more with the Singer. Just some minor projects that could have been done with a $99 plastic sewing machine from any department store.

First let me address 'Industrial' vs 'consumer' machines. Industrial machines are identified their design... they do ONE thing, VERY FAST, for long periods of time. Most consumer machines have multitudes of stitch types/patterns and speeds, some even can embroider right out of the box. An industrial machine will not. It will have ONE stitch type (chain, overlock, etc) and do it very quickly. If you ever look at a youtube video like 'how to make blue jeans' you'll see this in action. One person does one part of the process on a specific machine and it goes to the next... typical assembly line stuff. This is opposite of say a tailor who will do a garment from start to finish and need to do many operations requiring different stitches (zig zag here, chain there, add a zipper or a button hole) on the same machine without ever getting up. Some will say that the compound feed is the determining factor.. well, mostly no. There are consumer machines with compound feed.. and when you are trying to sew a seam with 4-8 layers of denim having a compound feed and throat that can handle all that bulk and still do 3000 stitches per minute is simply a good design.. but there are plenty of machines used in shirt, underwear and other lightweight fabric assembly that may not have compound feed.

Servo-vs-Clutch motors... I have not used a servo motor yet, the machine I have has a clutch motor. It can be 'feathered' to control the speed but its really meant for 'all or nothing' unless you fiddle with the linkages and change pulleys to get better control and slower speeds. Most people never need 2000-3000 stitches per minute unless in a mass production setting where you have to get X pieces per day done.. where X is a fairly high number. The local sewing machine shop says a 500W servo motor, complete, is only $110. So for that little money I plan on getting one and keeping the clutch motor as a spare. Most consumer machines have an internal motor of a few 100 watts. The foot pedal makes speed control quite easy... but even full blast you are rarely going to see 1000 stitch per minute consumer machines.

Maintenance - most older machines do not have automatic oilers, and new consumer machines use lots of plastic that is greased once at the factory and never touched again. The Singer I have has about 20 oil points that need to get a drop of oil 'every 8 hours of use'. I basically hit it with oil before I play with it... but there are machines that have automatic oilers wherein you just keep the reservoir full. Parts seem to be easy to get for both types... but if you say 'industrial machine' to any place that sells 'consumer' machines they literally go into deer-in-the-headlights mode. So far I have not had any significant issues with any timing or other issues, but I did use a manual to check the timing and even if it was completely out of wack its not something that an average person could not do and eventually get right. Oddly enough the Singer 111W155 was used by the US Navy in the 50's-70's for aircrew survival equipment repair and some of the best maintenance and repair instructions are in those NAVTRA's. Much better than the thin Singer manual available.

Parts - industrial machines that are not for super specific tasks like the Singer 111(and its 20 plus clones still made today) can be readily available. If you have a very specific machine like a button holer parts may be a bit harder to get without a factory service center. Consumer machines are in the same boat.... repair places carry the popular, common parts, but if you have a goofy model or older one... good luck. Those plastic parts may be hard to find. Since the Singer 111W is the great grand-daddy of most overlock machines parts are cheap and readily found. I purchased a new presser and vibrating foot as well as a feed dog for $21. Welt feet and zipper feet are just as inexpensive.

Reverse - back tacking the start and end of a seam is a way to lock the thread so it does not come undone. This is typically done by sewing a few stitches, pressing the reverse lever, reversing over those initial stitches then sewing forward again to complete the stitch, then do the same procedure at the end. In the original Military Canvas I have seen I don't see this bring done. Its quite easy to recognize, but in the original examples I have the stitching simply goes off the end. And when researching the sewing machines used in the 40's most 'industrial' machines did not have it. So for 'originality' I don't miss reverse... but given the choice of two machines, I would pay extra for a machine with reverse. Simply because 'its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it'. I don't think a modern consumer level machine does not have reverse... its just seems to be a standard feature.

So that's about all I can say about sewing machines.... most of the consumer level machines from the 20s-50s are really almost works of art.. especially the Singers. The japanning and gold leaf/decalcomania make they very cool items to have around unless you are into that ultra clean-room look. And heck, you can actually use them if the need arises.

[pfarber]

So, evidently I did have a timing issue that went unnoticed until I tried to repair a fairly long seam. The hook was slightly out of time. Referring to the NAVTRA's they had a section on how to time, but in traditional Military TM'ese it was one thing to read it, another thing to make the machine do what the text said. The answer is in the illustrations in NAVTRA 14217 and 14218. Make the machine look like the figure... DONE!

Another issue that I discovered in the long seam repair was that the thread controller disc and spring were backwards. Had to flip them. So far at 30 inch seams its all running good. So I'm gonna hold off on the $93/hr repair service till I really have trouble.

On other lesson learned... the parts I got from the local 'Authorized Singer Repair' place were garbage. Original Singer parts are milled from steel and given a black oxide finish. The crap I got was cast and chrome plated. Needless to say whatever child in the Chinese factory that made those pieces of garbage was having an off day. The vibrating presser foot didn't fit the original Singer shaft, and the walking foot had toes that were not parallel... and both were SLATHERED in some shitty chrome like plating. The walking foot's needle hole was an oval shape... at one point it probably was a circle, but the finish they slathered on it clogged part of it. Found a place with actual Singer parts... twice as expensive but if the parts don't fit they could be free and not worth the trouble.