KenmoreRulesAll

I recently purchased another industrial machine, a used high-speed (5500 spm) Juki light to medium duty straight stitch with a max stitch capacity of 6/inch. This is the DDL-8700 and is the most recent iteration of the machine, so I'm guessing about 2 years old or newer. It looks to be in very good condition except two inexpensive external parts that are easy to replace. I don't yet have the machine in my possession, so this is my impression based upon pictures and the seller's description.

It's in a t-leg table with a clutch that the seller informs me '...is not currently working...'. Clutch motors are noisy, run constantly, and are heavy. Speed is harder to control with a clutch motor or so I've read; I've sewn with a clutch and find this is true, although I don't have a servo so I can't compare and I've always thought the lack of control was me, not the motor (and that's undoubtedly true).

By contrast, a servo is silent (until engaged -- and still runs quietly when it is), is much lighter, draws far less power (about 75% or thereabouts depending upon the motors being compared), and is much easier to control, i.e. sew at very slow speeds. It's also easier to sew one or two stitches in either direction. They are more expensive than clutch motors, sometimes considerably.

Anyone here have an opinion as to whether I should repair the current clutch or sell for parts and buy a servo with the proceeds? Do any of you have experiences with both types of motors? If so, do you have any thoughts and recommendations? I've read over and over that similar to industrial machines vs. domestics, once you sew with a servo, you'll never go back to clutch. Is this true?

Thanks in advance for any input! And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

ThayerRags

I am an industrial sewing machine power stand user, and have 4 industrial power stands in service right now. But, they’re all clutch motor powered, so I don’t have a Servo motor to help you with your comparison. My clutch motor speeds range from 3470 RPM down to 1725 RPM that has an 8:2 step-down speed reducer (step pulley) on it. The 3470 actually feathers better than you’d think, although still fairly fast, and still has blazing speed when wanted; one of the 1725s feathers very well; a second 1725 doesn’t feather very well at all (possibly because it hasn’t been used much, and I have a 10:2 SR to put on it next spring); and we feathered the 1725 that now has the 8:2 SR on it for several years before putting the SR on it. Boy, did the SR make it a pleasure to stitch slow! We never had a runaway with it, but we always feared that we would. Actually, learning how to feather a clutch motor used to be a desirable feat, but not so much anymore.

I have two projects in the works with clutch motors involved. One will be an old Singer 1725 RPM clutch motor that I’ve never ran before that I’m going to see if I can put it back into service on my convertible electric/treadle stand to power a Singer 96-40, and the other will be an old Atlas clutch with a GE 1725 RPM motor on it that I’m going to try to power a Singer 95-40 with. I had a Singer 31-15 pass through my hands that had an old Atlas clutch on it (you can use about any motor on one) that was surprisingly easy to feather for slow speed. I was impressed! After researching, I discovered that back in the old days, mechanics would put grease on the cork clutch linings to get more slippage and better slow-speed response. Replacement cork linings were readily available, but when you think about it, grease is meant to reduce wear on matching surfaces, so I don’t know that the cork wore any worse with the grease on it than without. I know that I want to experiment with one, and hope to do so in the next few months. These last two projects are an attempt to restore usage to power stands using the old original motors and clutches to restore the units back to the original configuration.

If I want ultra-slow, and since I don’t have a Servo motor, I resort to one of my industrial treadle stands that will place one stitch at about any interval of time that I choose.....sometimes one today, ........and another one next week............or next month......

CD in Oklahoma

miriam

If money is no object... get the Servo... I have had 4 different industrial machine but all had the clutch motor. I think you can set one up to go slower if you want to. The one I have now is so gradual and I love the control. If I want to go fast I have to really tromp on the foot control - then look out... I guess my question would be how much does it cost to put in a Servo? How much and how often are you planning to use it? Will your projects be a lot of stop and start? While it would be very nice to have on there, I would hate to spend a lot of money on one and then not use it much.

mtpockets1

I have 5 industrial sewing machines. Singer 3 thread serger, Rimoldi 4 thread serger, Singer Fur Machine, Singer Walking Foot and Necchi Zig Zag. I have servo motors on the walking foot and the zig zagger and love them. I am not one that uses the machines constantly but when I want to, I feel I have so much better control. The cost of the servo motor is worth every penny to me. I did buy the needle down servo for the walking foot machine but you have to make sure the stitch length is not adjusted off the balance wheel. (see attached photo and sorry it's sideways). I had a Singer 107W1 like that so I could not get needle down. I seem to have no problems with either of the serger clutch motors but would most likely change them in time. The fur machine sews left to right and is really something to get use to and therefore will be the next one I change to a servo motor. You can very easily change the motors as they use the same carriage bolt holes and are a breeze to lift in comparison. We did order the 2.5" pulley and changed out the one that came with the servo motor which gives added control, but I would try it with the regular pulley first if you are someone that uses these machines daily. I have made everything from quilts start to finish on the industrial machines, canopy for my husbands camper, dog toys 16 layers thick, fur teddy bears 8", bullet holders etc. My friend came to make a quilt and used the walking foot machine for quilting straight lines and had absolutely no problem, and she never sewed anything before. I used the walking foot machine to straight line quilt fleece backed quilts with no problems. I love these machines and am very happy with each of them and the servo motor gives the extra control I happen to like. Hope this helps and doesn't make your decision harder.

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KenmoreRulesAll

Thanks everyone for all the great responses.

CD, you make the point a clutch can be set up for a fine degree of control. Not knowing much about sewing machine motors, I had always heard of feathering in the context of cars and trucks and I've always been told that partially engaging the clutch (say, on a steep incline from a stopped position) is hard on it. Greasing the cork is an interesting idea but I wonder if doing so provides slippage at higher speeds when control over small increases/decreases in speed aren't such an issue -- or does pressure overcome this?

And your point that refurbishing a vintage industrial to original specs (or as original as possible) means a clutch motor. I've seen some beautiful clutch/table sets in recent months and some of them can really haul.

I suppose I had already answered my own question and was looking for confirmation or some input that might get me to change my mind, but I think I'm headed in the servo direction. The machine's a modern machine, so no vintage considerations. It will be used inside a home and servo motors are a lot quieter and draw far less power. And they're easier to move.

miriam brings up cost. The cost of the current machine/motor/table was so low that buying a new servo means I'm still well within a low budget. And from CL, eBay, etc. listings, I gather that servo motors (except for those like CD who want a completely vintage set up) are far more desired and thus more valuable and easier to sell. If and when I decide to sell this machine, a servo will make it far easier to do so. Prices for servo motors are around $150, some more and some less.

mtpockets brings up ease of installation and that's yet another advantage (not the least of which is weight!). I won't be using the machine daily but a speed reducer and/or a pulley that places more torque at the needle would likely be to my advantage, as I'm not in need of 5500 spm at any point and would like greater flexibility of a light- to medium-duty machine rather than one that goes incredibly fast but is mainly for lightweight application only.

I believe that as a relative beginner, I would be better 'served' by a servo. The Mitsu clutch on my Adler 98 is hard to control and the machine itself is burly and could sew through my arm. Kind of intimidating.

I won't be getting the servo right away (I'd like to see what's wrong with the clutch and try to fix it if I can) but I'm definitely leaning in that direction.

ThayerRags

I’m not sure when or if I’ll get my first servo, since I’m certainly not against them. I just haven’t had one yet. And I should point out that a factory-made speed reducer (2-groove step pulley on a bracket) is about the same cost as a servo at around $150, so the speed reducer isn’t any real savings. And then too, many larger machines are set up with both a servo and a speed reducer to increase slow-speed torque.

I hope that we get some input from the quilters that use industrial machines for quilting, to see what their take is on the power option.

One thing that may lend to some of the dissatisfaction of clutch motors, is when one is put back into use after an extended period of non-use. It seems to me that they begin to respond much better after being what I call “run-in” again. Some operators that started out with a clutch motor often stick with them simply because they’ve gotten comfortable with them and use them on a regular basis, even though they could switch to a servo if they wanted to do so.

I’m an intermittent user of clutch motor machines because I mostly just do repairs with mine, and I only work part-time anyway (only when I have to). My wife uses a couple of them at least 2-3 times weekly, so she keeps those two limbered up in good shape and they respond nicely. On the other hand, I use muscle-powered machines whenever I can, just because I enjoy using them, but when I tried treadling my Singer 111W153 compound feed walking foot machine, it was difficult to treadle and I was afraid that I was going to break my treadle pedal by fighting with it. That machine turns very freely and so does the treadle, but I think that it takes more torque to actually sew than my treadle was designed to do. I could treadle it all day long without anything under the needle, but when I put some leather under the needle, the torque just wasn’t there and it took a great deal of effort.

Your point about the servo helping to resell a machine is a good one, and I agree. But, I don’t plan on selling mine, so the added expense of a servo could only be justified if it was needed for my machines to achieve the function that I use them to accomplish.

CD in Oklahoma

Monroe

I use industrial machines at work (Consew twin needles and TacSew single needles) but all are clutch so I can't help with comparisons. I'll be watching this thread with interest. I can sew very slowly or really haul depending on what's needed.

ArchaicArcane

I don't find the clutch motor hard to control. In fact a month or so ago I had DH sit at it and use it. He initially said that he'd likely stitch his whole hand before he stopped it but he had no problems with control whatsoever. It's crazy loud though and has developed a "squeak" or "chirp" that has to go so "big and scary" is on my bench at the moment waiting for me to find good resources on the clutch portion of the program.