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    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

    IHUK - A day in the life of….

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    • ChrisC
      Chris
      Raw and Unwashed
      Joined:

      Nice! Glad you guys found it useful.

      Mine's a relative infant- built in 1930, model 31-15. I have a couple more, but they're still in bins, waiting for me to clean and organize my shop enough to find a place for them.

      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • SimonS
        Simon
        Joined:

        @Giles:

        I think the bobbin tension is screwed.  It throws a random birds nest on the underside of the fabric every so often.

        If I did not have an alternative, I'd spend more time trying to fix it, but I actually prefer the end-result on the old Singer. And, it's very Zen using it…. 🙂

        I doubt its the bobbin tension. It will Probably be an issue with the upper tension, either its too low (I suspect not as you will have checked this first!) more likely its the little pin that releases the upper tension to allow thread to run through the tensioner on the downward stroke of the needle, when it gets jammed the take up lever pulls from the spool rather than locking the stitch, leaving a loop under the material, which then bird nests. Can’t hurt to try a few drops of oil on the tension release pin, you could also look for a tread jam in the upper tensioner?

        Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities - Frank Lloyd Wright

        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GilesG
          Giles
          IHUK Crew
          Joined:

          Thank you very much Simon.  Will take a look tomorrow….

          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • motojoboboM
            motojobobo
            啓蒙家
            Joined:

            @Simon:

            I doubt its the bobbin tension. It will Probably be an issue with the upper tension, either its too low (I suspect not as you will have checked this first!) more likely its the little pin that releases the upper tension to allow thread to run through the tensioner on the downward stroke of the needle, when it gets jammed the take up lever pulls from the spool rather than locking the stitch, leaving a loop under the material, which then bird nests. Can’t hurt to try a few drops of oil on the tension release pin, you could also look for a tread jam in the upper tensioner?

            This is SO COOL! All my respect for your knowledge and helpfulness troubleshooting long distance @Simon

            The journey is the objective.

            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • GilesG
              Giles
              IHUK Crew
              Joined:

              ( @Simon  lives about half a mile from me  😃 😃 😃 😃 )

              "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Paul9221P
                Paul9221
                啓蒙家
                Joined:

                I'm pretty out of shape with this quarantine. Half a mile seems pretty long distance 😉

                Blanket-line all the things!!!

                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • GilesG
                  Giles
                  IHUK Crew
                  Joined:

                  Amazing - 1901…...

                  "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • GCG
                    GC
                    Joined:

                    Blimey, that must be great to finally know Giles.

                    Not sure a thread exists for this, so apologies for tagging on the back of the current theme. Coincidentally I have been looking lately at getting a second hand machine, mainly to learn a new skill on and to ultimately attempt the odd alteration of the wife's dresses/kids clothes. (WTF has WFH done to me)  😃

                    Given the multitude of choices, should I…
                    (A) walk away from the idea and just let the pro's do their job.
                    (B) venture into old or new Singer machine territory.
                    (C) Consider something like a Frister + Rossmann Cub 7? (the later I spotted was engineered in Germany, made in Japan, which ticks a lot of reliability boxes for me)

                    If anyone in the know has any advice I'd be very grateful.

                    Insta @eaudepetroleum

                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • KasiK
                      Kasi
                      見習いボス
                      Joined:

                      @Giles
                      Can’t check mine my mum, till I go over back to the villa

                      The world's insane
                      While you drink champagne
                      And I'm livin' in black rain 4Q 🖕

                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • GilesG
                        Giles
                        IHUK Crew
                        Joined:

                        @gc I'm a little biased.  I learned how to sew on my Singer.  I've made trousers, shirts, hats etc etc…..It does the job (though nothing fancy like buttonholes, blindstitch etc etc, but you can do those by hand if needed) and is very satisfying to use.

                        "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • GilesG
                          Giles
                          IHUK Crew
                          Joined:

                          Just looked at some of my others.  These were all gifted to me or I found in skips…The first one posted below is in absolutely immaculate condition...

                          1950

                          1925

                          1954

                          Late 50's/Early 60's

                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • GCG
                            GC
                            Joined:

                            @Giles:

                            @gc I'm a little biased.  I learned how to sew on my Singer.  I've made trousers, shirts, hats etc etc…..It does the job (though nothing fancy like buttonholes, blindstitch etc etc, but you can do those by hand if needed) and is very satisfying to use.

                            @Giles thanks. You biased, really  😃

                            I'm more likely to cherish something old over new, fleabay here we go.

                            Insta @eaudepetroleum

                            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • GilesG
                              Giles
                              IHUK Crew
                              Joined:

                              Yesterday and today Les built us a new Mezzanine.  We need a ladder and balustrading (and racking and decent lighting yet), but is going to be dedicated boot storage.

                              We have a guy from the racking company that we have always used (ever since I bought my first single rack, installing it into `a bedroom at home and thinking I'd made the big time  😃 ), coming in on Thursday to audit our storage space and how we use it.  Then we get the lighting sorted out.

                              Dangerously close to getting profeshnial (sic)….

                              "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                              last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • SeulS
                                Seul
                                Joined:

                                Excellent display of efficiency!..

                                last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • GilesG
                                  Giles
                                  IHUK Crew
                                  Joined:

                                  I found another one, this one has been converted to electric motor drive at some point….

                                  1946

                                  "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                  last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • GilesG
                                    Giles
                                    IHUK Crew
                                    Joined:

                                    I'm just looking at all the machines to work out which one is best suited for flat seam hemming on the heavy stuff.  Found this little piece of wonderment….

                                    "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                    last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • GilesG
                                      Giles
                                      IHUK Crew
                                      Joined:

                                      Hemming Bitch.  Collateral damage….. 🙂 🙂 🙂

                                      "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                      last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • Alex_24A
                                        Alex_24
                                        Haraki san Expert
                                        Joined:

                                        ^^^ Ouch [emoji21] that looks painful [emoji37]

                                        last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • GilesG
                                          Giles
                                          IHUK Crew
                                          Joined:

                                          The good news is, that I now have an equal amount of useful fingers as I have toes…. 😉

                                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • ?
                                            A Former User
                                            Joined:

                                            @giles can’t beat the old singer machines. My grandmother bought this new, my mom had the motor changed in the eighties sometime, and I’m still using it today.

                                            last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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