Masterfully done. The artwork is lovely, and the pedestal is nice and rigid. With the rapidly increasing popularity of these junk-yard products, it's fun to see what people are doing to make them more functional. I'm not taking mine this far, but the improvements that I've done have paid off in smoothness of operation and I hope, longevity.
Ity's fun to see what guys are doing with these rudimentary machines. They come out of the box rough as a cob, and will fight you every inch of the way. It took me 17 hours to get mine running right, which included some re-shaping of the arms and general smoothing and deburring of almost every surface. Now that I know virtually everything about it, I'll break it down again and really get to refininig it. This example is superb. One question: When you drilled out the holes in the arms, did you hit any voids? I think they're made from scrap iron bits and just hammer forged together - not always well done.
You did a nice job on the machine, and it LOOKS better but, these machines are not really commercial grade. I have 3 but also have a cylinder arm machine. The main weak point is the raceway bearings and the fact that you can't use commercial needles without modifications. I use my machines for certain jobs that no other machine can sew. They used to sell a version with a post bed that was more commercial grade. Also the lack of feed dogs make your layers shift with certain materials such as leather. Get a cylinder arm for heavy jobs. I finally got one.
Very nice job at machining all Tahoe parts and improving the aesthetics of the machine. Beautiful job. I have 3 of these set up with different threads. One is motorized. Mine are moded heavily but not like yours. The biggest draw back of these machines is the lack of feed dogs. I like that it can sew in different directions but it does not even come close to my cylinder arm machine. The raceway bearings are also a weak point. Have you made mods on the bearings?
Beautiful! Did you simply move the motor from the plastic housing and fabricate a custom bracket? I assume it was a plastic housing. Looks much better without it.
Nice job and looks great but this machine will never perform as well as a true walking foot machine. The only real advantage the long arm. I've used mine to sew things that no other machine could.
Really cool upgrades. The only thing I saw that I would do differently is that chain final drive. I would use a belt instead. Why? well if (Heaven forfend) anything at the business end jams up, a belt will slip while a chain will continue to apply force, likely increasing the damage. While the probability of a jam up may be low, good old Murphy is always lurking in the wings!😁
I concur with all of praise you’ve received on this build! I own two of these, and my biggest question is why you didn’t install bearings on the inner cam like they put on the outer one?
Hay que entender que los chinos si pueden hacer algo así y hasta mejor solo que sería incomparable...de modo que para ser asequible lo hacen así rudimentario
I am receiving my machine today, yours looks great. Can I ask how you got that front cylinder brass? Did you have it plated, or use a brass brush and heat?
Thanks for the video. I need HELP! My walking foot doesn't walk. The upside down U shaped piece barely moves left and right. So I followed that part to the other end, to the base. That arm has very little space from the end to the base. Also, one of those rotating levers at the base doesn't even press against that arm which is part of the U shaped piece. It's like the machine is damaged or I put it together wrong. Are both of these levers supposed to touch a metal arm?
You done a amazing job on this 150.00 machine and I would like to offer you your money back and I'll pay shipping. Just a guess on the shipping cost should be around 40.00 so I can enclose a check for 190.00 . If the shipping is more I will get square with you on it, if it's less you can keep it.
