[strutcases]

I just bought a new (used) Consew 226. It's a sweet machine, very clean, runs well. My concern is that the timing belt is showing some age. Seems a little dry and has a good number of cracks. I want to replace it but need to know if this is something I should attempt myself or hand it over to a mechanic. What am I getting into here? Thanks in advance.

[Qwerty27807]

The belt synchronizes the top and bottom of the machine. If you do it wrong, you can have needle hits on your hook, which will cause all sorts of stitching problems.

Since it's not a bad idea to have a mechanic look at any new (to you) machine, I wouldn't mess with it myself.

[DanTwoLakes]

Take the sewing machine to an industrial sewing machine mechanic and have it gone over for worn parts and also to time the machine and set the tensions correctly. It will be the best $100 you ever spent.

If you got any old thread with the machine, throw it away and buy new thread. Why? because it would be silly to sew something together and have the thread fail because it was old and on the brink of failure. This is especially important if there are no labels on the thread cones to identify what the thread is.

[strutcases]

Thanks, both of you for the reply. You saved me a lot of time trying to figure out that I'm over my head. I'll take your advice.

[DanTwoLakes]

BTW, that timing belt should be fine, even if it does look a little frayed. You are never going to use the machine fast enough or hard enough to break it.

[strutcases]

Good to know. I'll oil it up today and see how it feels. It sounds great and stitches fine, no skips, just tension issues. The previous owner was running "button thread" on the bobbin and 92 on the top and it was still stitching pretty well. So I'm anxious to see what happens when I get it properly rigged. Remarkably clean machine. It was advertised as a 225 but when I saw the picture I saw the reverse lever.... Made it worth the hour and a half drive to get it. Yes, I'm a little excited. 2 sizes welting feet, plus regular feet. Table, clutch motor and head and I'm almost ashamed to say I only paid $300. So I don't feel bad putting a little into it. It'll do everything I want for a long time. 1000D Cordura, Some web straps with leather/neoprene. I was reading some of your posts on servo motors, good stuff. You do a nice job on the info side. I'm sure I'm not alone in expressing appreciation.

[DanTwoLakes]

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. Make sure you only use sewing machine oil on your machine, if you don't, other type oils can get gummy and/or stain fabric.

[strutcases]

Will do. Thanks!