Question on Pullers

[Mojo]

I am hoping one of you have had experiences with fabric pullers. If memory serves me correctly I believe Bobbin might have in the past and maybe June.

This is the situation. My work involves long pieces of canvas. I sit at the machine a great deal and when I sew I am sewing 8 ft, 10 ft, 16 ft panels. I have an order right now for a 30 ft topper.
The constant moving of the fabric with my left arm has about ruined the tendons in my left hand and now I can barely move my arm because of the tennis elbow.

The repetitious motions has really caused some serious problems and pain to the point that I am struggling like hell to sew right now. If this gets worse I may have to bring in a stitcher. To make matters worse I am slammed big time and the orders are pouring in daily.

Has anyone used a fabric puller and does it help in moving the fabric across the table ? Would a puller eliminate alot of arm motion ?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Chris

[sofadoc]

I think a puller will certainly help some. But I'm not sure if it's the total solution. It will help pull the material along at the initial point of feeding at the machine head. But I doubt it will be real effective for the overall width out to the far left.

I saw a beautiful set-up at a local canvas factory once, where they had the sewing machine down in a pit, and the full length and width of the fabric slid easily along the floor and a rig that automatically rolled the sewn panels onto a spool. And they had the puller attachment too.

Have you talked to Bob yet about what will be involved in fitting a puller to your model machine?
http://www.sewingmachinery.com/highlead/highlead-GG0028-73L.html

[Tejas]

No help on the pullers, but a Theraband FlexBar has helped me greatly with tennis elbow.

http://thera-band.com/store/products.php?ProductID=20

I have all four resistances. I started with yellow and could almost not stand the pain. I'm up to the blue with almost no pain. I bought a complete set from amazon.

The exercise with the FlexBar for tennis elbow is called the Tyler Twist.

[JuneC]

That's why I've pretty much given up canvas.  I just can't deal with the weight through the machine.  My left shoulder is almost back to normal but the rotator cuff is pretty delicate.  I find that if I hold a coffee mug (empty) at my left side, then try to lift it to shoulder height - straight out to the side in line with my body - I can sometimes get it up there, sometimes not.  Kills me because I've always been very strong for my size and height.  Sucks getting old.

Anyway, have your wife photo/video you at your machine sewing.  Look for faults in your posture and motions.  You maybe doing this to yourself a bit.  I was, simply by having my seat too low.  My left shoulder was hunched up higher than my colllar bone, aggravating the problem.  I also was using my left elbow to hold/push canvas through the machine.  I'd bind the fabric to the table with the elbow and hold or push.  Be very conscious of your position and motions.  You probably ARE now that you're in pain.

June

[gene]

Tejas, I use the Flexbar also.

The only way I know of to eliminate the pain from repetitive motion is to stop doing the repetitive motion. I know that sounds like it's not very helpful, but if you can find ways to do the task differently, that may help.

Can you use your right hand to move the fabric? It will be as awkward as hell at first. It took me a long time to learn to use my scissors and my staple puller with my right hand. (I'm a lefty.)

I've seen table tops that have holes in them and air is blown through the holes so the fabric or rugs or whatever is on the table becomes very easy to move. Not what you're looking for but just a thought that may be of interest. 

Air tables at the 3 minute mark.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqiPIOKyBNs&list=PLw60ElZnu2Z_eQIF5FbeOG9EQXhyOmjtQ&index=8

gene

[MinUph]

Gene touched on what I was thinking about while reading this. Seems like an air table would be very helpfull here. One that with the press of you foot would turn on so you could re position the material and then let off it to allow it to again lay flat where you placed it. Fabrication might be done in house with some engineering on your part Chris.

[Mojo]

June:

I thought the same thing so I moved one of my tall chairs from one shop to the main shop.
I am hoping by raising my body it wont create so much stress on my hand and elbow.

I will take that advice and have her video tape me. Great idea June. Thank you.

Dennis I did contact Bob and a setup for my machine would be $ 1,100. He is concerned though about the install and setup as it is complicated.

The air table sounds interesting. That has my inventor brain working. I currently spray 303 on the table and it helps alot but I still have to use arm power.

Thanks everyone.

Chris

[sofadoc]

Chris:
I'm assuming that your table wraps around behind you so you aren't constantly pulling the fabric up off the floor as you feed it? And your table is as wide as the fabric out to the left of your needle?

If you have plenty of table space behind, to the side, and in front of you.......it looks like the air table idea would be a great one. I think I would start there before I went to the puller idea. Like Paul says. You're a pretty ingenious fella. I'll bet you could rig something up. 

[Darren Henry]

I made my cushion stuffer out of peg board and scraps of 3/4" plywood and then mounted it to the legs off an old mechanics stool. I run it off the shop vac. If I reversed the shop vac hose I'd have a scale model of an air table.

The top obviously is the peg board on a frame of 3/4 X3/4 plywood with a "weight bearing" strip down the centre front to rear but not all the way to the front back rails. The bottom is a piece of 1/4 plywood (or was it masonite?) that I cut a hole in at the back the just smaller than the opening in the opening on the inside of the "floor tool" that came with the shop vac. For a couple of Tim-Bits and a beer, I'll even tell you how I hook the shop vac up LOL. All the seams were sealed with PL3000 or silicone etc... to avoid air loss.

[Mojo]

Dennis:

Yes my table wraps around me and the machines foot is centered near the edge of the table on the right. I am going to video tape myself doing a topper and then go back and see if there is anything I can change. I did replace the chair with a higher model which puts my arm in a different position. I am more " On Top " of my work now.

Thankfully my elbow is healing and feeling better. The first night I got 2 hours sleep because of the pain and I couldn't get into a comfortable position.

I am considering an air table and will see what kind of design I can come up with. The biggest problem will be the top which has to be real sturdy and thick because I also cut on this top. I couldn't use pegboard as it is way to flimsy.

Chris

[bobbin]

The first canvas shop I worked for had a long arm, double needle machine with a puller.  We used it to join widths for large canvases.  It worked slick, but it was an expensive, custom-made machine (not a factory stretch).  It's been a lot of years now, but I have a dim recollection that it was possible to adjust the speed of the puller to suit the goods that were going under the needle. 

Air tables are the balls!  I have no clue about the expense, but one of those babies would make binding carpet a helluva lot easier, Mojo!

I hear ya on the sore left arm.  It was one of the reasons I wanted to leave my former position.  It was painful to lift my elbow to shoulder height.  Too much wrestling heavy goods into position!  The sad part is that some simple adjustments of chair/machine/bench heights to bring all into synch. could have avoided the problem altogether.  Suggestions fell on deaf (cheap) ears, however.  Going on 2 yrs. in my own shop I can report no pain in my left shoulder.  Amazing!

[Mojo]

Bobbin:

Thank you so much for your reply. I was waiting for you to jump on it as your the only one on the forum who has " production " experience and I knew these pullers were used in the factories. My work is more production based then anything else I can think of since it is repetitious sewing.

I had to do a large fell seam on two pieces of large acrylic. I found that really all I needed to do was guide the fabric with my left arm and let the machine do the work. Fabric going through a twin needle tends to be more stable on side to side movement. But something I did find is that my twin will easily grab the fabric and move it through the machine by itself. I just need to steer it.

Like you and June both said, looking at how we do things can really bring about some positive changes. I believe that alot of us do things we are not even aware we do - hence, Junes suggestion to video tape me while sewing.

Thanks again. You ladies on this forum rock and I find your production experience extremely valuable. It is always nice to be surrounded by smart women. :)

Chris