FoggyButFocused

I bought a treadle a few years back and I would like to try using it. but the dog ate part of the belt. I have the old belt, so I know the correct size to buy. I have two quesstions.

Are all the belts the same quality? Is one place better than another to buy a belt?
Are they hard to install correctly?

Any information would be great. Thank you in advance!

ptquilts

DH had a treadle, we got a belt at a sewing machine repair shop. It was blue plastic and had a metal piece joining the two ends. Didn't look "vintage" but got the job done.
ETA - not hard to install.

OurWorkbench

ptquilts, I would love to find a belt that you got, but have not seen any like that. I have seen some others have made which sound similar.

There are several different things that can be used such as what is found at https://iamsewcrazy.com/2019/06/04/m...ewing-machine/ and Treadle Belt Alternative as well as numerous youtube videos.

Foggy, I don't know if any sewing machine shops in your area would have a leather treadle belt, but there many places online. I got mine from a company that is no longer in business. They even had a pdf for installing, but alas no longer available. There are instructions about installing a belt at https://www.treadleon.net/sewingmach...eadlebelt.html

Wawak has them at https://www.wawak.com/search-results/?q=treadle%20belt and there are a lot at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=leather+t...f=nb_sb_noss_1

ETA there is a good post about how the belt is supposed to ride in the pulleys at Treadle users: how often do you replace the cord? most domestic machines use the 3/16" belt.

What machine do you have - most of the belting comes in 72" length which will be too long.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
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Stitchnripper

I got mine from Amazon. It is leather and works just fine.

sewingpup

I remember that my dad used to cut leather laces for boots and snowshoes out of a piece of leather. I think he just drove a big nail into a spot on his old workbench and positioned a sharp razor blade next to it at the thickness he wanted, made a small notch and pulled on the leather. He made it look easy and my recollection of how he did it may be a bit fuzzy. But if you want an authentic looking leather one, maybe something like that would work. I did buy a leather belt several years ago and I remember the tech telling me that they needed to be adjusted to the tension you needed to treadle and also that I would probably have to adjust the tension in a bit as leather does stretch a bit. I think the modern ones not made of leather are easier to use but I currently do not have working treadle.

FoggyButFocused

From the serial number it is a Singer 15, built in 1936. I made the assumption that the belt would have to be cut and joined again to fit my machine/table configuration. Fortunately, my husband is very handy (and handsome) and would be able to do this for me. And, it looks like they made a LOT of Singer 15s. But I am not sure how much slack there needs to be in the belt. I did a quick search on YouTube and it looks like there's plenty of help there too.

As long as it works, I don't care what it is made of.

Thanks for all the suggestions! The board is always very helpful!

ptquilts

the ones I have seen have two ends with a metal piece to join them. If there is too much slack, you can trim off one end and re-join them until you get a good fit. Have to be careful not to take off too much. If you look at them on Ebay you can see the metal piece, it is shaped like a "C".

ebay

OurWorkbench

Thanks for the clarification, Barb. I was thinking since it was blue that it may have had what is called a ferrule that screws together or was hollow and had a barb piece to connect. Was the blue one a faux leather or plastic? I would think that the "C" shaped one (which I have called a staple) would pull out of plastic.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

juliasb

I too bought my on Amazon and it is great. They came 2 in the package when I got them. I am keeping the extra on sealed in a vacuum bag but did not extract all the air. It seems to be keeping just great. The one on the machine is perfect and should last for many years. I think I paid around $7 for it.

ptquilts

It was a tough plastic, not faux leather. I believe it was like a tube.