Yeah, All my thread is upholstery thread so I must admit to being a little lacking where lighter threads are concerned. LOL
That Consew is using a similar design to the 1900's Singer like the 31k15. Those were the "tailor" machines, more heavy duty than generic homeowner ones but meant for a lot of tasks unlike more specific industrial ones.
I'm not good with Facebook but using my wife's account I don't see it listed anymore assuming it sold quickly at that price. I'm 7 hrs away and would have jumped on that if it was running.Cough...
@rlitman Thanks for this response. Everyone please try not to laugh at my photos, but here's my set up. Bag closer clamped in my vice, plugged into a very (non) high quality vari-speed pedal. It took the rpms down from 50,000 to about 1200....not great, but a lot better. I tried making a couple with the crappy thread it came with and it works! 8 oz. non woven geotextile. When I fill the bags for real it will be with small gravel, not these baseball sized rocks. I filled, tied top and dropped, stomped cussed and didn't blow out! Bags are 14" wide x 26" tall.
12/3 is about twice too big to fit the largest needles that will fit in any of my sewing machines (12/4 is 25% heavier than that), but I've been known to use stuff that thick with my Speedy Stitcher sewing awl for hand sewing leather projects. Anyway, as has been pointed out above, the thicker the thread, the longer it will stand up to UV. However, 12/4 also requires a bigger needle to match. Does the cone it comes with say anything? Any numbers may be useful to cross reference that, because there are quite a few systems of thread measurement. I ask, because if what you have works, maybe try sticking with that, even if it happens to be 12/3, because we now know something that reliably sews this thread with your needle and your fabric. Why mess with a known good? OTOH, if you know the needle it comes with is meant to take the 12/4, it might not work as reliably with the 12/3. Also, changing thread sizes with the same needle may require tension adjustments.
It looks like it shares a lot of components with my embroidery model. If so, I'm sure it's a great machine.
Wait till you try something with a class 15 bobbin and upgrade from that shuttle machine.You can find machines at estate auctions very cheap. My favorite machine is this 1914 Singer model 127. Was my Great Grandmothers. Sews nice.
1541S is perfect for your application it's the same machine I'd love to get. Been looking at older machines though just for sake of budget. Juki 563 (not "-3"), Consew 206R and PFAFF 145 H4 are some alternatives I've been considering similar attributes to the 1541S. I recently saw a new 1541S with servo motor and table for $1675. Happens to be local to me. Lowest price I've seen for that machine in several years.
@rlitman the needle size says # 230. As for the cone of thread, it's smeared but almost positive it says 12/3.
that's a giant needle, and should have no problem running 12/3 thread. That's a cotton count number, which tells you it's 3 plies of 12 weight thread. cotton is indirect, smaller numbers are bigger, because it's the notional length of a fixed weight of thread. that's "government size" FF, or ticket # 138, about tex-130. Should be easy enough to find some bonded nylon thread that size.
230 is huge (kind of expected). The chart in my link was showing a #140 needle matches 12/3 and a #180 matches 12/4, so #230 should leave plenty of room for either and then some. If the needle's that big I'd try for the bigger 12/4 thread.
Juki 1541 is a great machine for any heavy material. However it's about $2,000 set up. I don't know if that's breaking your bank.
Industrial machines are typically straight stitch. Reverse is nice, but you have to practice some because industrial machines are very touchy - you can rip off 20 stitches very easily. Sometimes it's easier to do it manually, which is why they did fine without it for a long time.
rlitman, I'm glad you have an understanding of that that thread and was able to help. I was having a hard time finding anything.
CV, I really like my 2 Consews. One is a 255 RB2 and the other is a 255 RB3. I found both for around $700 each. Either would do what you want and then some. A variety of feet readily available plus they use the very large U size bobbin.
Maybe, maybe not on selling a few of these. I haven't committed either way. As to farming it out, way too expensive and time consuming. One of the guys that restored his a/c that is like mine, had covers made, about 5 years ago. Labor cost for the two stick boots and the landing gear draft curtains was over 1400$, plus another couple of hundred for materials, snaps, buckles and anchor pins. For a full set of duck and all the straps for mine would be probably over 4k$ in labor. The gal that did his, ended up taking several months to get them all done and they had to go back and forth to the aircraft a number of times for fit checks. None of this stuff has patterns available. We have most of the factory blueprints, which need to be developed into patterns to actually make the parts. It also requires doing some translating to convert WW2 standard call outs to something that is understandable to a sewer to day. Haven't found enough data to do the translating yet. Here's one on the drawing:
Yes, I'm sure the materials and sizes and shapes are unique to the airplane, but sewing is sewing and Sailboats have a ton of that kind of stuff onboard - from sail and equipment covers, to bags and cushions and everything in-between. I think Sailrite would be a good resource and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they didn't have the mil spec fabric and threads you need.
