MaryTG

It's been many years since I last sewed on a treadle sewing machine, and that one had a lift so the mechanisms are totally different from the Singers that I got a couple of weeks ago and have refurbished and have running. It wasn't until I brought the machine into the house and attached the belt that I realized that there must be something you have to do to lower the head down when the belt is attached. Everytime I lowered it before was without the leather belt on and it was simple. Do you have to move the belt off the treadle wheel to lower the machine? There is the belt shifter lever at the front of the treadle wheel that will move the belt off, but I am hoping (probably without much chance of it being possible) that there is some way to lower a machine head into a Singer cabinet without taking the belt off track.

DonnaMiller

I think the Singers have to have the belt "derailed" before stowing away. The White I learned on, didn't. It has a cable attached to the lid and when the lid was lifted, slack in the cable allowed the machine to lower into the stowed position. There is a powerful spring inside that my Singers didn't have. The belt is easy to reinstall on the Singers, just part of getting ready to sew. The Sphinx 127 my daughter has has to have the belt changed to stow away. It is a very old machine. I had a 66 Redeye that had to have the belt changed too. Good luck

MaryTG

Thanks--that's what I was afraid I would hear. I also learned to sew on a White treadle that stowed the machine when the lid was lowered without touching the belt, so the concept of taking the belt off was a new one to me. I'd better get used to it, as I have just finished restoring two Singer machines and cabinets.

manicmike

My Singer cabinets have always been sprung and they all have the same procedure to stow away.

Unseat belt, lift machine, raise hinged bit, lower machine, lower hinged bit, close lid.

ShirlinAZ

You don't have to remove the belt completely. Just derail it from the lower wheel. The belt should go through a derailer that is spring loaded at the top front of the skirt guard. When you are ready to sew again just guide the belt back onto the wheel as you start to treadle. The wheel has guides to help you do this. Quite simple once you've done it.

manicmike

In fact, if you removed the belt completely, putting your machine away would be a 15 minute operation rather than a 10 second one, and you'd ruin the belt in a very short time (as well as stabbing yourself with the join staple every time you put it back on). The belt just sits loose when the head is down.

Not all cabinets have the spring loaded belt derailer, but it's easy to do this in a matter of seconds.