New Old machine

[JDUpholstery]

A while back I said I was picking up an old singer long arm walking foot, but wasn't sure the model. I have it in my shop now it is a model 144W204, hooked it all up and hums like a kitten...it does have a clutch motor, which I AM NOT used to....I had a heck of a time during the test drive this evening, but given time I am sure I will have no problem



http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j467/jdackerson/11132012300.jpg

image thumbs dont seem to be working on photobucket...go figure!


It is older but still seems to be in top condition and sews nice, I think it will make a nice addition to my shop for canvas and pleating work

[sofadoc]

I bet you'll have fun with that machine.

image thumbs dont seem to be working on photobucket...go figure!

Ever since the "new" Photobucket launched a few days ago, the IMG thumb code doesn't  link back.

I e-mailed customer support. They thanked me for calling the problem to their attention, and promised to work on it. We'll see. I think their main concern is making it more Facebook/Twitter friendly...........discussion boards?.........not so much.

[JuneC]

A VERY nice addition to your arsenal.  Long arms almost never come up for sale around here except for new/nearly new and the prices are crazy.  You'll get used to the clutch soon enough.  I have 3 clutches and one servo and I switch back and forth without missing a beat. 

June

[JDUpholstery]

I got that in a package deal when I bought another upholstery shop's tools/inventory, the bigger items were the sewing machine, a much more suitable air compressor (the yellow tank behind machine), a bunch of wood working tools (band saw, scroll saw, drill press etc.). Inventory included 25 recliner mechanisms, a few hundred spools of thread, springs, clips, 3 new replacement car seat sets (1 60/40 bench, 2 bucket seat) a ton of other stuff....my shop is a mess right now until I figure out where to set it all up at.

[baileyuph]

It may be a good problem JD, what is the length of the long arm.  I think mine is about 28 inches and when I need it, it is a tool to have.  I used it on two different projects today.  Both furniture jobs, but sometimes it gets used for canvas repairs and auto door OEM duplication on the 50's stuff.

I bought mine new and it wasn't cheap, but it is worth the money.

Sounds like you got some nice enhancements for your shop.  Wish my shop was big like yours, but here the taxes would be a killer on it.

Doyle

[JDUpholstery]

the long arm is 20" its quite a bit larger than my consew which I think is about an 11" arm, and way bigger than my original Singer which was a 7" arm (boy I dont miss the days of rolling fabric to do pleats in it)...

My property taxes are not pretty, on this lot I have the 2400 sf shop, 1400 sf house, 700sf 2 car garage and an 800 sf apartment....since arkansas bases your property tax on square footage under roof, I get taxed on 5300 square feet...

But I just could not do this out of my old house anymore and when I found this shop for sale with house and all on same property I knew it was perfect for my needs!

[sofadoc]

I've often thought about where I would put such a machine. A long arm machine is designed for over-sized sewing jobs. So it requires a lot of room. But unless you plan to use it a lot, you don't want it occupying primo space around your cutting table. And if you nestle it in a corner somewhere, you've defeated the purpose of even having it.  And you don't want to have to drag it out every time you need it.

It looks like you still have a fair amount of open area. I'm not sure whether or not you will fully appreciate that machine unless you arrange a dedicated cutting table for it.

I've been in a few shops that had  sergers, long arms, etc. tucked away in a corner. "Outta sight......outa mind". They were just gathering dust.

The long arm Singer might be a good candidate for rollers.

[Mojo]

I wished I had a large shop. I ran across two machines in the last month I would love to own. A Juki serger ( $ 500 all gone through, setup and ready to go ) and an old Post bed machine
( $ 400 ).

The Juki I bought a while back I put on a movable stand with casters. That was the smartest thing I ever did. I move it into the garage, shop and even the living room when I need to use it. Was talking to Bob Kovar the other day and he got a bunch of these new movable stands in if anyone is looking for one.

For the price of these stands people are crazy for not getting one for their backup machines so they can move them around.

Still dream of having a large shop someday. :)

Chris

[JDUpholstery]

I plan to turn my current table 90 degrees in its room, and then build a 6'X6' L onto current table, placing the long arm at the end of the L...this will give the long arm 12 feet (6' long plus 6 foot across my current table) and also adds a wrap behind to my current machine which I needed to add any ways...I will post pics once I get it built, but think it will work perfectly.....Since I do boat covers and such it will have a purpose, also longer arms make for easier pleating since you dont have to roll the fabric to get it into the machine. I have a plan for the shop, it is just going to take more time and money!

[Mojo]

Strange thing about time and money.

Rarely do we have both at the same exact time. :)

Chris

[JDUpholstery]

OK, so here are the pics of how I modified my table to add the long arm...I turned my table 90 degrees in the room and added an extension behind my current machine...this added a much need "wrap-around" and made the long arm have a 14' long table and my consew still has its 16' long table







Still have some pertifying (i know its not a word!) but overall utility its a nice setup

[JuneC]

Sweet!  You can come set up my shop and build tables anytime you feel like it  :-*

June

[JDUpholstery]

Needed to organize my roll remnants so built a little rack today for them....nice and tidy now

[Darren Henry]

And if you nestle it in a corner somewhere, you've defeated the purpose of even having it.  And you don't want to have to drag it out every time you need it

My boss has an almost identical machine 144W???and we just put it in storeage the other week for that very reason. It sat just inside the door next to the sample books. In the 2 1/2 years I've been here I haven't needed it bad enough to dig through all that dust and clutter. If I'd been able to move it I would probably have used it for those large tents I made this spring * but I couldn't budge it on my own.

* "we" took on a job to make 10-10x10/1-10x24/and one 20x30 pyramids to fit on top of frames to form a community market down town. [like the event tents you can rent for weddings etc...]. those are some serious big heavy puddles of vintex ((Herculite? I believe some call it)It was a  two person goat rodeo; but we managed to drag it all through a Consew 226/111W155. For the big one we had run the machine and a generator down to a level grassy area up back beyond the RV's. ::)