minibarn

I like the black rubber belts like Lehmans carries. We have a lot of horse and buggy people around us and I can get the belts from their stores for less than $5. Shetlers Wholesale carries them also but I don't have a recent catalog to quote the price, probably cheaper than Lehmans though. I have not had problems w/them stretching any more than a leather one will at first. I still like the leather too, but these are easier to come by for me.

Jp

Jp

Prim Quilts

I have a friend who is 79 and she uses a men's leather shoe lace on her treadle machine. I've never tried it and I am not sure they make those like they use to either. I suspect the quality on the shoe laces has really gone done over the years.

J Miller

Since I don't care for rubber band belts on e-machines, I'm not sure I'd like them on a treadle. Someday perhaps I'll run across one and give it a try, but for now I'll just use the leather ones.


I've seen some of those braided leather shoe laces for hiking boots and like that. Never thought of trying one.

Just like substitute needles there's a substitute for belts too. Cool.


Joe

J Miller

New belt is on.

Old vs new belt:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]471965[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]471966[/ATTACH]
New belt is: .203" to .212", kind of oval instead of round.
Old belt is: .161" to .166", a bit more round but smaller.
Old belt is also scaly kind of like a fish.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]471968[/ATTACH]
Making new staple hole with a straight burr in my Dremel tool.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]471969[/ATTACH]
New belt on, back in business. I think I got it a bit loose, so I'll have to tighten it up soon. No big deal.


Here's a tip.
If your treadle is one of those W&Ws or Singer 9W-7s, or maybe a White made machine that rotate clockwise, in other words the hand wheel rotates away from you, opposite the normal Singer, and you have to remove the belt to raise and lower the head, and it has a belt derailleur lever or the lip on the big wheel to spin the belt onto it, it will rotate counter clockwise to do it.
Doing this will mess up your threading and can cause thread jams or broken thread as the belt will be turning the machine backwards during the belting and de-belting process.

So when spinning the belt on or off, just release the stop motion knob and the machine won't rotate, just the hand wheel or the pulley, as in the case of the W&W or Singer 9W-7s.

Joe

ThayerRags

I’ve gotten it the habit of pulling the thread out of the needle when I’m finished, or even pausing my sewing, just because of the thread snarl problem. It means that I have to re-thread the needle every time that I use the machine, but the odds are good that it will have the wrong color in it anyway....

CD in Oklahoma

Cogito

great way to keep that skill honed CD!

J Miller

Ain't that the truth.

Joe

Friday1961

We used to use saddle soap on tack when we boarded and helped care for my uncle's horse, Blue. It cleaned but also lubricated the leather. That was eons ago, though, so products may have changed a lot by now.

chris_quilts

I too used both saddle soap and neatsfoot oil on the horse tack when younger and just saddle soap and black boot polish on my Army boots and shoes when I grew up. Saddle soap is the bomb for cleaning and renewing leather products but I don't know about using it on treadle belts.