I got this Consew 226 to tinker with. It’s serviced and ready to go. Problem I’m facing the foot pedal is trigger happy. It just takes of when you just think about starting to sew. Any suggestions? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Call Ron at Quality Industrial Sew in Grand Island Nebraska 308-398-0383 He's been in the industrial sewing machine business for 40 years and has sold your machine in the past.
I had one of those machines. Good machine. I think you can adjust the clutch so it's not so jumpy. Never had to do mine but you may find something on youtube.
Try to forget you're at the drags with the second stage light on, ready to mash the load pedal and instead you are a teenager trying to creep past your parent's bedroom to sneak out to party with your mates.
Clutch style machines are pretty hard to deal with for a beginner. You can put a piece of foam under the treadle which makes it harder to push and gives you a bit more control. I eventually just bought a servo motor for mine. Pretty inexpensive and makes the machine 1000x easier to use. Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It’s on Craigslist now going to buy a new Seiko. Not buying a new motor and smaller pulley. They are affordable enough and I’m determined to figure this skill out one way or another. Must be some secret society or something. I got the lucky needle videos to help me along the way. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Follow Cechaflo on YouTube super informative and extremely helpful if you have questions. https://www.youtube.com/c/Cechaflo/videos
Replace the motor with a DC motor ,,can vary the speed ,about 100 bucks on ebay,,,did it on the one my wife has ,,world of difference..They are brushless servo motors
I’ll look into that servo motor tomorrow. I appreciate all the advice thank you Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Put a different sized pulley on the motor. Leave the motor as is. Take some time to practice. It`s like letting out the clutch on stick shift automobile. You will get the hang of it. It`s a sewing machine, not a jet powered car. You can also tighten the wing nut on the arm that hangs down from the motor.
I tried a lot of different things to slow mine down. Most of the changes had to do with changing the leverages on the mechanical controls to make them less sensitive. Mine was originally used in a factory and set up for piece work. It was very fast. I was not able to slow it as much as I would like and it is especially tricky to start it slowly. I wish I had bought a servo motor, it would have made things a lot easier.
When I first got my machine I swear the damn thing wanted to sew all my fingers together. (How do you explain that to the wife?) It took off like a Ferrari so now my motor drives a 6" pulley on a countershaft with a 2-1/2" output pulley to slow it down. Yes, the servo motor has a speed adjustment but the problem is, when the speed is set for 'low' all the torque goes away and the motor hums without turning. That's no good when installing piping around seat corners. I need to go SLOW. Since installing the pulley, it's a sweet machine. I've done dozens of car interiors, boat covers, Bimini tops, dog collars etc. All my thread is polyester, I go up from T90 to 277 and rarely use needles below 20. Keep it clean and oiled.
The old mechanical clutch motors have some adjustment, but the clutch pad does wear out eventally. Most everyone changes over to the newer dc servo motors, but I remember years ago one trick we did was to rub white lithium grease into the pad and scuff it up with some sand paper. It would still grip when fully engaged but slipped a little more before hand. Just remember it's like a cars clutch, on or off. If you find yourself floating it more often than keeping the pedal down, get the smallest pulley you can on the motor, or the next step would be to install a speed reducer (jack shaft with another belt and set of pullies). Most sewing machines are designed to sew up to 2000 rpm, but that's all dependant on the work and the operator. My day job is with a company that builds and services leatherworking machines, and 90% of sewing operators we work with, even in production settings, prefer to keep the machine under 1000 rpm. The biggest benefit of the new dc servo motors is that you can set the top speed with a knob or digital display so it dosn't get away from you when doing the details, but you can still go fast on the straightaways. If you see yourself doing any heavy sewing, go for the 750 watt DC motor over the 550 watt. As someone else mentioned, Consew was made by Seiko and just rebadged (and for that matter Seiko was formed out of Singers Japaneese company when they started to go down, so there are lots of parts shaired between Seikos and now obsolete Singers). Both equally good machines but most consews out there are 20-30+ years old, and sometimes the generational differences from the newer to older machines make parts hard to source correctly, so Consews are technically still supported, but a newer Seiko could lead to less headaches.
Surprise! Those clutches wear out. As they wear they become more difficult to control, especially at low speeds. When industrial sewing shops were more common, the stores would stock cork or synthetic linings for the more common motors. Installing new lining was pretty simple. A couple of my machines that were seldom used still work very well at low speeds without reduction pulleys. I don't doubt that servo motors are a great upgrade, but why change my vintage tables? Disappointed that some of these guys continue to struggle without fixing their machines. Good Luck: Fred A
As a rank amateur in the sewing world, I found replacing the clutch motor with a servo was the best thing I did to increase my control over my Consew. More control= better looking sewing for me.
Update: sold the fast machine bought a new 206RB Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B. fooled around last night sewing some. The ruler got weird on me so I went to bed. But I did figure out how the bobbin works and a few other things. Gonna start watching my lucky needle videos and go from there.
Thats awesome and congratulations . Is this motor slower or gas pedal not so sensitive. I know both my consew and pfaff have sensitive pedals
Yeah the motor has a control knob and I can slow it to just creep along. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Very cool and must be a pleasure too use . Do you have a picture of the motor or control or even the name as I need to slow mine down on the consew
Good for you! The lucky needle are super videos. I took the whole course too and well worth the money. There is a LOT of talent here on the board too, so start checking around and you will see a lot of good threads and info
The Jalopy Journal
