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Seiko STH 8BLD 3
Seiko STH 8BLD 3
This machine was another Craig's List find. It showed up at $1250. It was clear that the owner didn't really know a lot about the machine so I made the usual first contact inquiries. The owner was responsive and ultimately when asked for her best price she said $800. Turns out the machine was associated with a sad family event and she had reached the point that the machine was an unhappy reminder. I gave her the chance to reconsider and shop for a better buyer, but she decided she wanted me to have it.
The machine was delivered new in the fall of 2016 and it was now about 5 months later. It had never been threaded, the oil tank for the shuttle race never filled, the top oil pad never oiled. The rubber feet for the industrial stand had not been installed and were safely in the bag with the spare motor brushes . All in all, just very odd. Not a proper delivery and setup in my book.
I never thought this to be a treadle compatible machine, but it was a great price and seemed like a good investment. It is a triple feed with a drop feed, upper vibrating feed and a needle feed all working together.
The outer foot just holds the material down as the needle moves up and holds the goods in place while the needle moves forward. The goods are moved by concerted effort of the vibrating foot, the feed dog and the needle. Cowboy Bob and friends at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines (Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines Link ) did a much better job of explaining this at their page The Walking Foot Machine Overview . There is even a video. Very nice.
On a whim I dropped it onto one of my mutant treadles. This one is based on an extra wide patcher base with a double drive wheel. The top was salvaged from a Singer 31-15 power stand and some lumber bolted on the left side evened the whole thing out. Treadling with the stock handwheel was awful and very uneven. I popped on a spare 42-5 handwheel and gave it a try.
The Singer 42-5 handwheel is huge, heavy and has a large diameter belt pulley. The combination of the huge rotational mass and the reduced pulley drive ratio brought everything into line and let it spin quite smoothly. It is really quite amazing. I did back off on the presser foot pressure some .. on these machines it normally a set it and forget it and it is left quite high to HOLD the material in place as the needle cycles forward and to hold the goods down while the needle withdraws (important when sewing leather) . When the tape placed on the handwheel lines up with the dot on the casting .. it is easiest position to remove the bobbin (not well documented). There is a matching dot on the stock handwheel (that was my hint).
This was an orphaned long arm patcher treadle that I have found previously and had used with my now obsolete Singer 42-5. The knee lift mechanism is rotated out of the way but available if I decide to switch heads for a particular task. The foot operated lift is really neat and works nicely. At this point the pedal is just held in place by friction below the treadle frame.
A little closer look at the lifter pedal and the double drive wheel. Nice old monster.
Did a bit of practice sewing while binge watching Bones on Netflix. The diagonal lines are spaced about 1/8" apart and the background spiral is spaced at about 1/4" . I really like the foot controlled lifter.
A copy of the great Sewing Machine Manual is hosted by the nice folk at Keystone Sewing Machine Company ( www.keysew.com). They helped me with a new servo motor, I bet they can help you too.. grin ..
Manual for Seiko STH 8BLD 3 Walking Foot Machine. There are a lot of operational and adjustment details.
NOTE: I mention Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines and Keystone Sewing Machine Company because they are good folk and support the user community. This is not an advertisement and they have not offered and I have not requested any compensation.
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