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Is this machine any good??

16K views 51 replies 5 participants last post by  DanTwoLakes 
#1 ·
I'm looking at at doing my own interiors as I seem to have been tossed out of the upholstery shops for being too demanding as well as a few unprintable descriptions.

I ran across this machine on the net and it seems like it would be ok for my stuff.

Maybe it's the streetbeast of sewing machines....what do you experts think??
There is a bit higher end one on their site too. I've not seen a used one.

http://www.sailrite.com/Ultrafeed-LS-1-Sewing-Machine-Straight-Stitch-Walking-Foot

Thanks
 
#2 ·
What you want is a compound feed walking foot machime such as a Singer 111W155 or Consew 225. Their are tons of clones out their for these machines but this particular machine from Sailrite is not one of them. The compound feed walking foot machine feeds the material 2 ways. It's got the usual feed dogs on the bottom and additionally, the needle itself also pulls the material through. This Sailrite that you are looking for is just a walking foot. Watch this video : Walking Foot
 
#3 · (Edited)
It would be the Streetbeast of home sewing machines, but it is not even close to an industrial sewing machine.

The biggest drawback to this machine is that it's a portable machine with only a 1/10th hp motor. It needs to be geared down dramatically to come close to the power of an industrial sewing machine. That means it would have to run at about 700RPMs to be comparable in power to an industrial. A normal industrial runs at over 3000 RPMs. The other problem with this machine is that it's foot lift is only 3/8". If you're going to sew pieces of fabric with sew foam together, you'll have a tough time getting two layers of 1/2" sew foam and fabric to go under the foot, much less have it sew the two together. Add to that the fact that it is only drop feed with no needle feed.

It would work fine sewing 3 or 4 layers of fabric together, but it couldn't handle all the things you'd need it to do to sew car interiors.

It is a quality machine, but not for what you want to do with it. I also think it's pretty pricey. You could almost buy a new Tacsew complete with table and motor for what you'd have to give for this one. Their Sailrite 111 would be what you would want, but it's $700 with no motor or table.

Also...........don't fall for their MC-SCR speed controller. That technology (silicon controlled rectifier) is older than the hills and has been completely replaced by servo motors in the industrial sewing machine world.
 
#4 ·
Thanks Dan. It's nice to get good information here from those that know.

I'm just getting ready to tackle the interior of my car as well as a couple or other projects.

I missed a Consew 205 RB last week. A guy that does a lot of lettering and story boards has another that I'm hoping he will let go for a good price.

Also looking at the Tacsew T111-155.
 
#5 ·
Sailrite would probably tell you that their machine can handle what you want to do - but don't believe them. When I was a "rookie" looking for a machine, I believed all those guys on eBay selling Singer 66's, 15-91's and 201's that said the machine can handle auto interior work. One guy even shows the machine sewing a tin can onto thin leather. Maybe some minor thing - like making a welt, but sewfoam? No way! Been there and found out the hard way what it's all about. Those machines are built like tanks and will last forever. But for the most part, they are curtain and dress makers.
 
#7 ·
Well tomorrow I'm going to go look at something "Consew" He doesn't know anything about it other than it was used in a restoration of a classic car with leather upholstery. It may be close to new as this is all it ever was used for. If it is anything like you guys recommend it will be the steal of my life. Let's hope.

Here is another Consew that competes with the Sailrite I think. What is the opinion of this??

http://singersewingsandiego.com/cocppowafoss.html
 
#8 ·
The new Consew 206's like the one in your link are now made in China and would be something to avoid. This is according to what my sewing machine mechanic told me. This one is also a portable, also a reason to avoid. If the Consew you are going to see is a 226R, a 255 of any kind, or an older 206 you will be in luck. If it has reverse it will be a bonus.
 
#9 ·
bentwings said:
Well tomorrow I'm going to go look at something "Consew" He doesn't know anything about it other than it was used in a restoration of a classic car with leather upholstery. It may be close to new as this is all it ever was used for. If it is anything like you guys recommend it will be the steal of my life. Let's hope.

Here is another Consew that competes with the Sailrite I think. What is the opinion of this??

http://singersewingsandiego.com/cocppowafoss.html
Is this machine compound feed?
 
#13 ·
No, you are not allowed to post an item for sale in the tech forums. There is a classified section that would be the place to put it. Look up at the top of the page and classified is in the menu. I am going to delete your post.

You are right that the Pfaff 545 is a great machine, as are Adler
machines.
 
#14 ·
Ok, I just went and looked at this machine.
It's a Consew 226 on the tag. I didn't see an 'R'. It does have a lever on the right side that wraps around the 'column'. It goes up and down. I think this is the reverse. We couldn't plug it in as the dog chewed the plug off.... leave it to the dog. haha She said she tried it out about a month ago and showed me the sample. Looked ok to me.

I did turn it over and it operates very smoothly. The walking foot and needle move together and the lift lever works both from behind and from a knee lift. Both operate like they are well lubed. Looks like it could use a new belt but it is not cracked or checked. The machine comes with 6 big spools of thread, a number of attchments, a big box of filled bobbins, about a dozen new needles,the original manual, some oil and a few other items.

It has a nice standard sewing machine stand or table that it is mounted in, no chips or scratches or gouges....very smooth. The table has to weigh over a hundred pounds. There is a big motor mounted under the table with a 'treadle??' Looks like a clutch and maybe not a servo motor. I don't know the visual difference. Boy am I dumb. . There is an on/ off switch. I think she will give me a big box of scraps of material including some leathers.

Over all it looks pretty good. If it was a lathe or mill I would be comfortable calling it next to new except for the non use dust for a year. According to her, the husband only used it for one big car job (leather) and several car covers and a large awning. They all looked pretty good to me. He was not an upholster by trade either.

I can't note the cost as I will be banned for just being an outright thief and taking unfair advantage of people. haha

Anyway I think this might be a score...what do you think??
 
#15 ·
It has reverse, that's what the lever is for. That will be a perfect machine for you..... run don't walk and pay the lady. I have the same machine, and I use it for 90% of all the sewing I do.

If you can hear the motor running all the time when the switch is turned on, it is a clutch motor. If it has a clutch motor, take some of the money you saved and get a servo, you will be glad you did.
 
#16 ·
The absolute best 2 pieces of advice I ever got when I got my sewing machine came from Dan when he told me to take the machine down to a sewing machine service center that works on industrial machines and have it gone over, and to throw away any thread and pre-filled bobbins that were over a year old.

I took my Juki in and had it serviced ($90) and it works great. They took it apart and cleaned it, checked bearings and bushings for excessive wear, lubed everything up, set the timing, and a few other things. I dropped it off on a Monday and picked it up that Friday. It hums right along.

When you go to pick the machine up, ask to talk to the tech who worked on your machine. That's the time to ask him (her) to show you exactly where to oil it and how often. Also ask if there is anything special you need to know about maintenance of that particular machine. I did that when I picked up my machine, and he gave me some great advice for keeping it in good running condition. His first piece of advice was to make a cover for it to keep dust and schmutz out of it when you're not using it (a great first project, BTW...)

I doubted Dan's advice to toss all the thread and bobbins until I got a new spool of thread for a project, and boy did it make a huge difference in how smooth the machine runs. If you absolutely know that the thread and bobbins are fairly new, you might be okay, but if you aren't sure or have reason to believe they're old, toss 'em and get new thread. It really DOES make a big difference.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the heads up.

I told her I would take the machine and all the extra stuff. I'm going to be gone all week so I will pick it up a week from Monday.

I'll go thru the 'stuff' and like you say just toss the thread. I had planned on that anyway. All the bobbins are in a plastic bag as are the attachments. There are a bunch of service centers here in the twin Cities so that won't be a problem.

I did run across some info on the servo motor so I think I'll use what is there to start with then upgrade. Liken it going from a 'head shaker' welding helmet to and auto dark.

I was thinking of a first project today and the cover idea came up so that will be first on the list. I've got my big generator to make a cover for as well as maybe a car cover. I was looking closely at one of the car covers in the shop today and the first thing I need to learn after figuring out how to start and stop the thing is to make it 'gather'....make the bottom of the cover stretchy.

I know you guys are just giggling like crazy at this newbee engineer but I just ask you to tread lightly as I do have background in the textile industry. I did machine design on opening equipment thru spinning. Mostly cotton. I'll try to learn the terminology as quickly as possible.

Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.

Dan, I may take a cruise up to visit you later this summer. I'm more from MN but have been to many places in Wisc.
 
#19 ·
When you get the machine, be prepared for 2 things:

1) It's HEAVY! The head on my Juki weighs close to 70lbs. I swear it's made out of cast iron or something! Add a table and motor, and - well, you see where this is going. Take along a buddy to help you load and unload. You won't do it yourself.

2) It's most likely set up to run very fast. Most industrial machines are set up to be used for hours on end, and time is money. I posted instructions on how I slowed my machine down for less than $20 here:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/how-slow-down-your-sewing-machine-192835.html

It involves swapping out the motor pulley and belt on a clutch motor, and it does work like a charm.

Good luck, and practice, practice, practice.
 
#20 · (Edited)
bentwings said:
I was thinking of a first project today and the cover idea came up so that will be first on the list. I've got my big generator to make a cover for as well as maybe a car cover. I was looking closely at one of the car covers in the shop today and the first thing I need to learn after figuring out how to start and stop the thing is to make it 'gather'....make the bottom of the cover stretchy.
There are two ways to gather the bottom of the car cover. One way is to sew elastic shock cord (usually 1/4" in diameter) into a pocket at the bottom. The other way is to sew the bottom of the cover to wide elastic while stretching the elastic as you go. Of the two ways, the shock cord way is much easier, and easier to adjust to a final fit.
 
#21 ·
I went and looked at the 2 car covers again at the shop today. Both are low buck unlined of different material. Neither of them are particularly soft considering they are on classic cars. I did look closer at the gathering. I don't think there is any elastic or stretch material in either one. The gather is across the front and across the back of both covers. The material is not very heavy...maybe like the weight of a light sweat shirt. It looks like it was bunched somehow at sewing. The stitch is very small...2 rows, like a double needle or some other machine for this.

I looked at a bunch of clothes at home and the closest I can describe is that it looks like the hem at the bottom of the legs of a well worn pair of jeans except that it is more stretchy. The material gives a little but I wouldn't call it stretchy. I also pulled up the fitted sheet on our bed...It definitely has elastic sewn into it. My wife commented that it is hard enough to get me to help make the bed and now I rip it up just to check out the fitted sheet. :spank:

Anyway, is that really correct....1.00" dia ??? that sounds pretty large. I do like the idea of the shock cord. I saw some on a spool at Tractor Supply. It was really light, much lighter than bungee cords.

There is so much to learn...how am I ever going to do this?? :sweat:
 
#22 ·
If it does not stretch and it is gathered, then it was shirred by a dedicated shirring machine. Sorry about that, the diameter of the shock cord is 1/4", not 1". I edited my post to correct that error.
 
#23 ·
Well, I picked up the machine and accessories. (Consew 226) :D :thumbup: The first thing I did was fix the plug. No big deal just loose wires. I did plug it in and cleared everything and just let it turn over slowly. It's quiet and smooth. Nice. I think I can "drive the clutch" pretty easy so I'll leave the speed alone for now.

Now for the trip home. Smart me thinks that the head is easily removable. So I tip it back then see the hinges need something more than just unhitching. Then...oh no oil all over the floor and the pedal. The pan..drip pan??? under the machine is full of oil. There is only a 1/4 inch lip on the end over the pedal and as soon as we lifted the machine oil ran all over the place. Good thing it was in the garage and not my house carpet. I mopped it up the best I could however when I got home my wife saw it and said "You get one, just one drop of that slime on the carpet and you, that machine and that dually are going to be found in the river " (it's in near record flood ) :spank: So it's now wrapped in plastic and a couple of old towels. Sure hope it doesn't leak. :pain:

So do I just take this out and clean it??? Looks like it needs a taller lip on the left side. I did get a nice stainless steel oil can full of fresh sewing oil so I can oil the machine. I'll get another can of oil tomorrow.

There is an original instruction book. Pretty skimpy. I'd really like a picture of how to thread this machine ( Consew 226) The manual says Consew 225.
There are 3 large spools of thread, both new in packing. There is a full pack of needles 135 x 17 x 17 also marked 8210. There are 10 other loose needles of unknown size. How do I determine what needle sizes are there?? There are about 200 bobbins (Conso disc bobbins) of red and a light tan new in the box size HB 69. There is a box with a couple attachments. They each have a tunnel in them, one about 3/16 dia the other looks to be about 5/16 dia. These look to be new or very slightly used. I'll take pictures tomorrow.

One last question for now. What is the difference between the 225, 226 and the various letter designators????

Thanks
 
#24 · (Edited)
It sounds like your machine is set up to be self oiling, a machine without that feature would not have that much oil in it. You don't have to use that feature, you can just oil it by hand if you want to, just don't re-fill the oil reservoir.
The difference between the 225 and 226 is that I don't think the 225 has reverse, and the 225 will sew 3 1/2 to 4 stitches per inch while the 226 has a 5 stitch per inch maximum stitch size.
There's no way to determine what the loose needles are, the difference is in the thickness of the shaft so just toss them out, they are probably used anyway. For how to thread the machine look at post #4 in this thread: CLICK HERE
 
#26 ·
I guess I missed the manual posted. It's much better than mine. My machine must be a 226 as it has a reverse but no belt guard. The pictures are almost exactly like my machine. The threading pictures will surely help.

I think I can get new oil today but needles and thread may have to wait until tomorrow as I'll probably have to go to the other side of town to the industrial fabric store. What should I get for needles and thread.???

I'm going to clean up the oil pan and underside before I start. I need to make absolutely sure no oil gets anywhere but where it is supposed to be.

The table cleaned up nicely. There is even a metal tray that slips under the table in a couple channels. Looks original and in good shape.

This machine sat for at least a year and a half after the owner passed away. He only used it to do one large car restoration. The car is ready to go back together and looks very nice. Reddish real leather. He did a very nice job for not being a "seamster"

I bring my camera home and take pictures tonight.

Thanks again
 
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