LoriS, could this have been the machine you saw?

www.pennywinkleranch.com

Their Sunshine 16 is very affordable and I like the way the head is toward you like the HQ 16 sit down model.

I'd like to add that I've learned to control the speed. I takes practice but I can go stitch by stitch if I want to. Or so fast it scares me.

No that was not it but ... is very interesting Thanks!

I set up a Singer Industrial 96-40 treadle/electric for FM last summer that my wife has been getting acquainted with. Once she feels comfortable with her hand motion, she may try learning the foot motion of treadling. She’s quilted nearly all of her quilts on vintage electric machines, mostly straight-line on a Singer 401A with an even-feed foot. She’s done a little FM on the 401A, but needs something better.

She likes free-motion quilting on the 96-40, and has done a few on it, but lately, it has started acting up on her. I need to play with it a little bit to see if I can figure out what’s causing her problems. I think it’s the darning foot that I used. I need to get one of the Juki high shank feet for it. I dropped the presser bar to use a low shank foot on it, removed the feed dogs and installed a darning plate (no feed dog slots). I put a small electric motor on it (piggy-back on top of it) and we operate it with a standard home-use foot control. We have good speed control of it, but it started skipping stitches. I don’t think that the darning foot is holding and releasing the sandwich at the correct time.

CD in Oklahoma

CD, could it possibly be the needle is too big for the thread? When I got the 31-15, the only needles were a couple of 16's and it skipped stitches all over the place.

When my order for needles came in, I put a 12 in it and it worked perfectly. The only thing I can guess is that with these honkin' big industrial needles, the hole punched into the fabric is too big to put enough friction on the thread as the needle ascends. No friction = no loop for the hook to catch, right? I hope you can try a small needle (I think the smallest DBX1 I could find was a 12) and fix the problem.

I have question for you, though. How did you set up the motor? I want to put a small household motor on the 31, but there's no place to mount one. I'd love to see how you got that to work! :)

Hi Poly,

We’re using size 80/12 needles in it already, but I’m not exactly sure who made them or which point they have on them. I don’t have the outside packaging where the mfg and point type was listed. I’m pretty sure that they’re not Sharps (R), since they came from a lingerie factory that closed here in town. They’re either a Thin Ball (FFG/SES) or a Medium Ball (FG/SUK). I have a bunch of Schmetz needles, but they’re all Medium Ball (SUK) that are designed for sewing elastic. I think they would be the least likely to perform well in a cotton/cotton-batting/cotton sandwich, but I haven’t ever tried one. I’d say that the needle that we’re using may be at least part of the problem.

The Singer 96-40 has a single screw to attach the spool pin onto the top of the machine. I came up with a motor that already had a bracket on it that would attach with the spool pin screw. It started out as just a temporary setup, and I haven’t gotten back to working on a permanent mounting system yet. I’m still working out the foot and needle problems.

CD in Oklahoma

I'll bet the ball points are at least part of the problem. Maybe all of it. If you'll send me a message with your address in it, I'll be glad to send you a pack of Organ sharps - DB x 1's, size 80/12 so that you can try them.

Another problem with the industrial needles is that without a flat side, it's easier to "set" them wrong. I sometimes have to mess around with the position of the needle a bit before I can get it to make a proper loop. Pain in the neck. Good luck and I hope you can get 'er running! :)

The needle curve goes next to the shuttle - groove side out - you get to where you can do it after you break enough needles. Organ does make some good inexpensive needles.