sschick

Hi All, I just got my new belt for my Singer Model 66 treadle. My husband helped install the belt, but he is concerned that it is rubbing against the cabinet and will wear the belt out quicker (see pictures). Does anyone have any information on how to adjust the horizontal position of the treadle wheel so the belt doesn't rub? It doesn't have to move much. I have searched the forum and internet, but all I come up with is how to replace the belt and not adjust the location.

Thanks,
Shari

JoeJr

The belt should not rub, and to the best of my knowledge you cannot adjust the wheel left to right.

Looking at the pictures, I would look at adjusting the lift assist hinge (that's what I call the part the belt is running through, not sure what the real name is). You appear to have some room between that and the base of the machine. Check the screws on the underside, loosen them a little, and see if it can shift closer to the machine.

sschick

JoeJr - thank you for the answer. We see the screws you are talking about, but according to my husband, it looks like we will need to remove the machine and take the cabinet apart to get at them. My husband tried this afternoon, but they are near impossible to get to. It will have to be a project for another day.

AlZilla

I wouldn't let it stop me from using it until it's corrected. It looks like there's barely any contact and those belts are dirt cheap online. As long as the staple isn't dinging, who cares?

Joe Ayres

Looking at your pictures, it looks like the belt isn't perpendicular to the table. It could be just because the way the picture was taken, but it led me to do some research. I measured my 66 from the center of the belt to the back of the arm, just sighting with a ruler, at 3/4 inch. I then hung a long needle from the center of the belt to the base, ( like a plum bob) and it is about 3/8 inch from the edge of the base. Is this true of yours?

I did this just wondering if somehow the hand wheel is, or could be, spaced out from the machine in a way that made the belt rub. Just a thought... And without taking the screws loose, is there enough play in the lift assist to "pry" it towards the base of the machine? I have one of those on my 15-91, but it has no side to side movement. In your picture, it looks like there's a space between the lift assist arm and the base of the machine. Is this enough to allow the belt to rub?
I was just musing over your problem.. TV is boring.

sschick

Thank you for your help. I measured the distance from the center of the belt to the arm. It is only 1/2". The lift assist plate was reinstalled crooked when the cabinet was refinished (long before we purchased the machine). In order to fix the problem, we will need to take the cabinet apart. It's not a big issue right now as I am still learning how to treadle on it and won't be using it for any big sewing projects.

leonf

another option. Look at the treadle wheel itself and see if it may be leaning to one side. I know some treadles have opportunities for adjust the axle. I don't remember about Singers.

Also AS a rookie treadler, you may want to run it without thread till you learn the rhythm pattern. getting off timing will break thread and you can spend a lot of time cursing needle eyes.

sschick

We did look at trying to adjust the wheel axially this past weekend. My husband (former mechanical engineer) was kind of surprised there was no way to adjust the wheel. The wheel itself is as vertical as I can tell by eyeballing it.

As to your second point, yes, I have cursed the needle eye quite a bit with some very colorful language. I was trying to treadle while waiting for the belt to get a feel for it. It is a much different feel when the belt is installed and the machine is threaded, but I am getting better . I didn't break as much thread when I was practicing today.