Originally Posted by
ArchaicArcane
...I've had a lot of dealings with those pulleys and the one I removed to make a video on replacing them caused bloodshed and a re-shoot. And then that pulley ate itself within a day of use. We're not currently friends, no.
Yes, the later models did go to belts. They saw the flaw in the design finally. How do you like the metal pulley versus the old rubber one? Where did you source it?...
I did struggle a bit with the pulley, even the clip on the hand wheel was a bit stubborn. I ended up cracking its' bakelite inners and it came of in pieces. The metal pulley was a bit tight, I hammered it on. It works very well, and I don't regret it at all. When the old pulley came off I could not see much of a dent in it, at least not compared to the tutorial pictures on the web, still in runs noticeably better with the new pulley. The noise is another thing though, it's not quieted down to 201 levels. The Elnagraph her self is a noisy thing, and have used lots of the best teflon enriched oil on it. The motor runs with out much noise, so it's not the cause of it.
As you mention the pulley thing not a perfect solution mechanically; it can slip a bit, especially when the first few stitches when the machine has newly been taken out to sew. If I run it full speed a bit it's like it warms up for the run. The motor might need tending to, it runs fine but it probably could benefit from cleaning and new grease after 57 years. I'm not sure how much care a motor needs. I'm keeping it, I think I will both use it and like it. I am on the hunt for more cams :- )
Regarding new pulleys wearing of the rubber: I just read on the Yahoo group it could be caused by an Elnagraph with too much play on some parts, it puts an over load on the rubber and tearing it off.
It was through the Yahogroup I sourced the pulley. I had been cleaning oiling and being very interested in my new machine. I posted a lot of qestions on how to sort it out. After a bit of back and forth it looked like the only good source of worth while pulleys come from (Ray) White Sewing Center, and he doesn't ship outside US. A guy on the Yahoo group took mercy on me and offered to drill out an aluminum pulley. Of course I jumped at chance and I think it's the ideal solution, one I recommend if the opportunity is there. I have been sewing on mine and I can't really complain on anything, it's a fast machine. It still needs some fine tuning, it's not easy for an amateur to sort it all out in one go