oldsewnsew

Okay, so some folks may have been born later, so for them, who was Rube Goldberg, and how would that relate to sewing machines... http://rubegoldberg.com/

***CAUTION!!!** Anything you read here, can possibly fatally injure you (or worse!!)
It's possible that you will see careless use of powertools, insane methods of dealing with HI VOLTAGE, ideas that just don't make good sense to a reasonable person. That being said, the OP (me) has always been fascinated with unbelievably convoluted ways to accomplish things that have already been done, regularly, safely, and with little Hooplah by much simpler methods.

For instance, how can we handcrank something that has already been electrified? How can we convert to treadle power that which was already proven to work well off of Conn Ed?
How can we run the remaining guinea pigs on solar power (or bicycle generator, or ??) ? How can we make a really ugly, but simple base to stick 130 yr. old sewing machine heads that were once happily ensconced in functioning treadle bases, but now dispensed with on Ebay like old Beanie Babbies, and their bases doomed to support ferns on coffee shops? How can we find other ways of re-cycling what was once valuable, but now hidden for a giant smelly landfill?

Hope you'll submit your wackiest, most anochronistic, illogical solutions to problems that may not have been discovered yet.

oldsewnsew

Or, I can make this thing run better than PG &E. So I took Miriam's wonderful "necker nob" project and pursued it down to the local, old time auto part store, to see what they would have, and sure enough, over by the fuzzy dice and seat covers was the object of my search. Unfortunately, they only had one motif, Corvette crossed rally flags. Didn't see that with pre-1920's sewing machines.
Here are my early attempts around that.[ATTACH=CONFIG]483320[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]483323[/ATTACH]
Basically it's made up of a 5/16" "J-bolt, a block of wood about 3/4" x 3/4" by about 2-1/8" with a 5/16 thru hole, and a 5/16" half-way thru hole centerlines about 1" apart. Some kind of spacers, collar, old bearings or something to get where the nut will clamp the block on the rim of the hand crank (or balance wheel). You may have to open theJ-bolt a tad for some machines, like my "Household". If so, adjust the spacing to fit. then you need a 5/16 or 8mm washer, and then a nut. Tighten up on the rim, and use a rasp to make the profile of the clamping block fit better if you want. Or just hold it still and wrench down HARD! then take a chunk of tree branch, deer antler, old wooden curtain rod or whatever and drill a 5/16" hole thru it also. (This is where it gets tricky, if you use a drill press, it will break your fingers unless you clamp it tightly. But that's okay, because while it's spinning on the drill bit, you can use sharp pointy things to kind of rough it down to a more "handle" shape! And the blood will just stain it dark after 24 hrs or so. Or you could, if you're wimpy like me, chuck it somehow into a small lathe and turn it kind of "roundy".[ATTACH=CONFIG]483324[/ATTACH] When you're satisfied with a degree of "roundiness" you could even spin some finish on it and buff it, don't let that rag spin around the part more than a few dozen times, cause the inertia will eventually send it flying towards the dog!

oldsewnsew

As you can see by the earlier photo, I can still get to the chopsaw as it's right next to the garage door, the tablesaw is way down yonder in the dark beyond. So here is an idea for those treadle heads, leaning at odd angles on a workbench, couple it with the HC knob, and you can be sewing in minutes! [ATTACH=CONFIG]483325[/ATTACH] Another view of "Maywood" [ATTACH=CONFIG]483326[/ATTACH]
And to show that's it's stout enough for 1/15 of screaming horsepower...https://www.dropbox.com/s/82ptwr49h4...2011.15.50.mp4
What do you need to make one?
1) 2 pcs of 2-1/4" flooring scrap, see a hardwood floor installer for freebies.
2) a sewing machine of known width, at least the first time.
3) either a chop saw(need not necessarly be treadle powered) or a miter box and hand saw, or a table saw if you can still get to it.
4) 2 pieces of "allthread" from the local hardware store. (No, Walmart is NOT a hardware store). I used 10-24thread, but 1/4-20 is another possibility. these can be the same length as the bed of the SM, if your hdwe store has neat little bins of Hillman fasteners with these special female threaded posts,[ATTACH=CONFIG]483327[/ATTACH] Notice that they look like shuttle bobbins, but wait, I'll get to that later.
5) 2-4 nuts of the same size, and 2 flat washers for same.
6) 2 pieces of dowel, same length as bed of machine. It can be 5/16" dia like mine, of aluminum or brass, or steel, or even hardwood dowels.
Tools;
1) Saw of some sort to cut the flooring to lengths similar to but not necessarily the same as, the depth of the sewing machine. I like longer, stable base, and places to hand things like thread holders, light fixtures, motors and little mounting blocks for some pieces of something yet to be determined to provide a bigger feed deck.
2) Drill press is nice, but you could get by with a hand drill, with a guide bushing and a little fixture to place the holes, or you could just measure or even eye-ball it, cause it will still work, unless you really goof. A 1/4" drill bit for wood, a brad point is nice, but not necessary. Drill holes for the dowels to fit in that are as deep as the dado is at top where the sewing machine is going to set.
3) Pliers/wrench/strong fingers...
4) Something to measure and mark with, or, as I've heard they say down under a "good-eye".[ATTACH=CONFIG]483328[/ATTACH]
5) Once you're somewhat convinced that it just might work after all, a little sandpaper, shellac thinned with alcohol, a rag to wipe it on with, and some 0000 steel wool, to rub out the rag marks cause you were to cheap to mess with a brush. Follow with another coat, of same, on the same linty rag, towel or cotton ball, that didn't work before.
6) Assembly, all of 10 minutes.[ATTACH=CONFIG]483329[/ATTACH]
7) Finagle said sewing machine to not drop thru the counter while you tighten the nuts on the 2 pieces of AllThread, or you could go large and spend $2.60 for 2 more of those internal threaded furniture fastener thingies.
done... put in a needle and try your luck at embroidery, remove the foot, put some material on a hoop and make a painting. Check out the FaceBook group devoted to just that.
8) Almost forgot, move the HC knob, (Miriam attachment?) to where it will be at the bottom when the needle is all the way up, for embroidery, and fasten it to where the needle is all the way DOWN for quilt piecing. Control is now EASY! Speed on the other hand, not so much...

oldsewnsew

The astute observer will notice that the "tongues" have been removed from the ends in the above picture. That will be to (hopefully) accomodate what will cover the rods and perhaps lean a little more towards esthetically pleasing.

miriam

How does the bobbin winder work with the J bolt there? And doesn't the wood and rod get in the way when you sew? It all does seem doable though.

oldsewnsew

You are right, bobbin winder won't work with the J bolt in the way on the Maywood, because it's tire was designed to ride on the wheel rim. On Defiance, it will work as it was driven off the belt. In any case, you can hook the J-bolt around a spoke and still wind bobbins. The hand crank from the grinder, is in the works, and it's okay with either style. I am working on a one size fits all cover for the front and back. A simple solution would be a piece of thin wall PVC pipe that would surround the rods, and round the top corners of the wooden frame to match.

Caroline S

This is very interesting Jim. Wish I had the cool machines you have. But as I looked at your picture of turning process my beady little brain had a thought. Could one use the handles from rolling pins? This is my one and only and very heavy marble unused rolling pin. But I see rolling pins all the time at GW.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]483358[/ATTACH]

oldsewnsew

I'll bet the handle from one would be do-able. Great idea. I imagine 1/4" J-bolt would work on some maachines, but you you might have to bend the "J" out a little more.

Rodney

Fun read. Thanks for the tutorials. It's been a while since I saw any references to Rube Goldberg. I think that was before my time but not by much.
Rodney

oldsewnsew

I wouldn't want to try and pass any of my ideas off as tutorials! More like the miscellaneous musings of a frustrated reverse engineer. But I DO love the feel of flipping the balance wheel on a 120 year old SM and seeing how many turns they'll coast. Kind of a meditative moment, combined with polishing.