My first experience with upholstery

[Darren Henry]

Thanks for the endorsement Hide. It's such a simple thing that some people just poo-poo it. "that can't help" "I just need to buy bigger and better".

Along with this comes adjusting the table to suit you. Most tables are adjustable for height; so June and I are probably set up lower than Russ or Mike. Start with setting it a comfortable height. If it has a knee lift; sit with your nose,buttons and such straight behind the needle and bring the pad for the knee lift over to where you want it once you have your chair set to the right height so that your thigh is parallel to the floor without too much weight on the front of the seat.  ;) If your chair doesn't adjust-- you've just figured out where to set your table  ;) . The only caution here is: if you have it too close and let your knees splay apart while sewing you can accidentally take weight off your presser foot.

The treadle linkage ,while butt simple, does get a little  finicky the first time out because you don't know yet where you want to be. She's a little trial and error,but you only have three adjustments : 1) there is a tension spring above the bar that engages the clutch with a wing nut on it . This controls the treadle resistance. 2) the further out you place the connecting rods from the treadle to said clutch arm (Gregg and Bob are probably laughing at my nomenclature ) the further the travel "between gears". 3) set the linkage rods to a comfortable treadle position.

Hope this helps.

[sawdustar]

Understand....but I have short legs and short arms....so my chest is almost touching the table edge when I'm sitting there working at the sewing machine. I've adjusted the position of the treadle to be much closer to the front edge of the table and that has helped some.

I had no idea that the knee lift could be moved/adjusted. I'll have to look at that.

The LOML and I have made good progress on the chair. Arms/wings are done, front of the chair is done, and the seat cushion with welting is done.....good thing the LOML knows how to sew.  ;)

I've sat and worked at the sewing machine. I just can't seem to find a sweet-spot of controlling the speed other than wide open and stop.  :( So....with that said, the LOML and I are saving our pennies for a servo motor. We figured out that if "I" was the motor (using a stick that fits in the hole in the machine pulley) I could run the machine at a manageable speed for her in the complicated locations of sewing. It's goes something like this....ok go.........STOP.! Ok go.......Stop!....ok reverse....ok stop  :D

So you see....even though she can run the machine pretty well....we both see the need for a better way of speed control.

[Darren Henry]

Understand....but I have short legs and short arms....so my chest is almost touching the table edge when I'm sitting there working at the sewing machine

:-\ I'm 5'6" (29" inside leg and 20" reach) and it still sounds to me like you are sitting too close.

Another thought; what RPM is your motor and what size pulley on the motor? If this machine came out of a factory it could be pimped right out for speed. We might be able to make some inexpensive adjustments while you set the coin aside for the servo.

[JuneC]

Aye, and I'm at 5'0" with my tables set at their very lowest level and pneumatic chairs set at the max height - otherwise I'd be peering at the needle over the edge of the table.  It took me probably a year to get good speed control of my clutch, but just a thought here... you mechanics correct me quick if I'm wrong... couldn't the clutch be grabbing when he accelerates?  Maybe some petroleum jelly on the disk to make it slip? 

June

[bobbin]

Darren, I worked in production settings for several years.  And I can attest to everything you've said about proper posture and positioning behind/(in front of?) a machine.  Comfort is everything when you are expected to sew for 7 hrs./day.   When you get paid by the piece your comfort is intimately tied to your productivity and therefore to your paycheck!

"Hunching", bending, reaching are very tiring activities over time, though you would likely never be able to identify them as the root cause of fatigue after a single day at work. 

As June pointed out, her statuesque 5' frame has different needs than does my own 5'5" frame, or the frame of my boss (5'8").   The tables in my own shop and the machine bench adjustments are, "all about me"... given my druthers I'd much prefer to work entirely at home, where everything is set for my own needs and comfort. 

You would have made a killing working for Henry Ford... time is money, baby! and comfortable, efficient work stations maximize productivity. 

[sofadoc]

couldn't the clutch be grabbing when he accelerates?  Maybe some petroleum jelly on the disk to make it slip?  
June

I have loosened the belt to the point that it almost slips on some old junkers years ago. It does help, but you still have to develop a "touch" with your foot.

Dennis, Darren, Bobbin, and June: I'm 5'8". I guess if we get a basketball team together, I'll have to play center!!  :D

[sawdustar]

Well, what I can say is that I have a 27" inseam and my legs have frequently been described as "sawed off telephone poles".  ;D
Yes, I used to play football. 5' 8" on a good day but built like a compact tank. Raised and worked on a farm most of my life and I was guilty a lot of times breaking bolts off, shearing off motor mount bolts, and just generally getting in trouble for making things too tight because it just didn't "feel" tight enough to me.  :)

No I suffer from the great furniture disease.....my chest done fell in my drawers. I no longer look like I could bench press 475 pounds nor clean snatch 290 pounds over my head. I simply look like a short fat dude that needs to grow some longer legs.  :D

I will see what I can do on more adjustments.

[baileyuph]

In the past, there was a tech guy who put oil on the clutch and said it helped.  The type of oil, it was not stated.

I suppose, developing the touch has been important controlling the machine.

BTW, what are you short people going to be when you grow up? ;)

Being small is an advantage for doing some of the auto interior work. 

Doyle

[byhammerandhand]

Seems like I'm the high end outlier here.  6'5" and 37" sleeves.  As I told some guys at church last week trying to put on food handling vinyl gloves, "One size fits all" is just a cruel lie.  It took me a year to find some XXL work gloves.

[Darren Henry]

BTW, what are you short people going to be when you grow up? Wink

  :D Die just like everybody else, DUH.  :P As grandma always said "it ain't the size of the dog in the fight---it;s the size of the fight in the dog"  ;D

I will see what I can do on more adjustments

Farm raised  8) ; you're on the short track. Physics is physics. Ten speeds or bailers or potatoe havestors or sewing machines. the longer you can make the travel on the treadle>>> the more "gears". The smaller the drive pulley>> the slower you go.But check that data plate please. If you have 3350 RPM instead of 1750; we're hooped until you and your better half get real experienced.

[sawdustar]

BTW, what are you short people going to be when you grow up? Wink

  :D Die just like everybody else, DUH.  :P As grandma always said "it ain't the size of the dog in the fight---it;s the size of the fight in the dog"  ;D

I will see what I can do on more adjustments

Farm raised  8) ; you're on the short track. Physics is physics. Ten speeds or bailers or potatoe havestors or sewing machines. the longer you can make the travel on the treadle>>> the more "gears". The smaller the drive pulley>> the slower you go.But check that data plate please. If you have 3350 RPM instead of 1750; we're hooped until you and your better half get real experienced.

Nope...to tater harvesters for me, but I have hand-cranked many a tractors in my time.  ;)
I will check motor speed and pulley size tonight after work.

[mpm32]

I just got a machine and I put the smallest pulley I found in my workshop on my clutch motor.  It's probably a 1-1/2" pulley.

I had to use a shorter belt but it really slowed down the machine where I can do a stitch at a time.  Before I had off or full on.  Forget about stopping at the end of the piece to turn a corner.  Before I even thought about stopping the piece was already all the way through the machine.  I figured I'd try the pulley first before I bought the clutch motor.

I'm just doing practice pieces now, haven't actually made anything yet.

[sawdustar]

Motor speed shows to be 1725 RPM on the motor plate.
I changed out the pulley to a 1-1/2" pulley.
I also adjusted the tension to a more "loose" adjustment on the spring that adjusts the tension needed to engage the clutch on the motor.
I guess we'll see how that goes next week when we start more sewing.

[Darren Henry]

Forget about stopping at the end of the piece to turn a corner.  Before I even thought about stopping the piece was already all the way through the machine.

I don't want to sound like a smart alack ; but in all this talk about the basics, the brake has never come up. That's the other reason for having your foot on the "sweet spot". It's just a quick press of the heel to engage the brake instead of having to move your foot  down the treadle. If the table has been used in a factory etc where the operator was on piece work and production [ they're "balls to the wall"--" lock up the binders" --repeat]  your brake may not be 100%. How much of a difference do you feel while hand crank the machine from locked up through free wheeling to okay now I'm dragging the motor, I must be engaged?

[sawdustar]

OK, The LOML and I are now "stumped" on this chair.

We used the old material from the old chair coverings to pattern the new parts from. Everything worked fine except for the seat top and the back. The seat was easy enough to fix but the back cushion is another matter.

We have the foam cut and wrapped in cotton batting. We can set that against the back of the chair and down on top of the seat cushion and it fits fine. Our problem is that the new pieces we cut for this chair back are too large (almost like the old pieces are stretched somewhat) and we know that the back has all those tears in it that are being held with duct tape.

The new back cushion is a nice fit, but how do we pattern the material for the new covering for it?
Also....trying to figure out how to pattern and sew the new back cushion material around those arms on the chair is yet another brain teaser.!!!

Just one final word...... HELP.!!