Necchi sewing machine for leather upholstery

[mulberryworks]

Would a Necchi Lelia 510 sew leather? Thanks

Would a Necchi Lelia 510 sew leather? Thanks

I would say yes, yes it would. With some caveats. I'm not talking about belts or saddles, but for upholstery it should work well. The ones I've seen have a 1 amp motor instead of the 1.1 or 1.2 amp motors on the SuperNovas I have. But this is a straight stitch only machine so there's no power lost to running the cam mechanism (decorative stitches) so the net power to the sewing guts could be about the same. This model was introduced in 1961. It should be a fine machine if not abused.

Here's a PDF on another way to pack a machine for shipment. If you buy online, insist that they pack it properly with some form of double boxing.

 

[Baikallackierung]

Awesome to have an upholsterer on hand - very helpful! Thanks for the feedback. My upholstery job would require the circular welting/cord in between layers (not sure of proper terminology). Would the machines above and the Lelia in particular handle that?

 

[mulberryworks]

My knowledge of leather sewing is more theoretical than practical at this point, but I would think that it should handle that with a narrow foot. The key here is good low end torque at low speeds which is why the later electronic pedals are a good upgrade from the carbon disk or wire variable resistor ones that sewing machines used for years. They aren't expensive and are easy to change out.
For those that want to do 6 layers of sail cloth, a motor upgrade is usually a good path. I wouldn't think that would be necessary for what you describe.

 

[Mot27cars]

White model 651?
Built by Pfaff. Model 139

 

[mulberryworks]

It certainly seems like it's got good family history, Pfaff makes good stuff. I found this video of a guy sewing heavy leather with a Pfaff 130, but he's replaced the original motor with an aftermarket 1.5 amp motor. This listing says the White 651 was made in 1935 so lack of maintenance during 85 years of use could be an issue. I don't know how powerful that motor is but it's fairly simple to upgrade if that's all that's needed. Personally, I tend to stay away from machinery that was made before WWII as the engineering and materials improved after the war as well as being younger and having fewer "miles."

 

[Mot27cars]

White model 651?
Built by Pfaff. Model 139

White model 651
Sewing leather.
Even 4 layers thick of a medium weight leather.

 

[autokunst]

I'm writing with a quick update on the new (66 year old) machine. I was able to fix everything that was damaged, save for reattaching the bobin winder. I still have to extract the threaded portion of the broken shoulder bolt. But tonight I cleaned it up a bit more, oiled it and ran it a bit. No thread. I haven't stitched anything because - obviously - the bobin winder isn't on the machine. And apparently I am too lazy to hand wind a bobin. But it seems to operate smoothly. The motor smells like "old" electric, and seemed a bit weak. Not sure if it is the motor or maybe the foot pedal (which is essentially a metal box with toaster coils in it). I'll investigate the motor a bit. Perhaps the brushes are dirty.

 

[mulberryworks]

Sounds like you are smelling some ozone when the motor is running. Some of that will always happen, but I suspect you may need to clean the commutator. I did that on my Singer 237 and it helped a lot. I'm not sure that the Necchi motor is quite as easy to get to the commutator as the Singer is, but if you can handle working on an E9, then it shouldn't be too much trouble to get the motor open for cleaning.
The original Necchi and Singer foot pedals are carbon disk type which can be dirty and not work as well as they should. They usually have a 'full on' contact so when you press down hard on the button, it bypasses the carbon pile and you get full power.
The later pedals have a wire wound resistor that gives variable resistance as the probe slides across the range of coils. The contact surface can get dirty on those, though with use the slider tends to wipe the surface oxides and keep it clean.

The modern electronic pedals are a good upgrade, smooth variable speed and they don't get hot like the resistor type pedals.

 

[autokunst]

Sounds like you are smelling some ozone when the motor is running.

Last night I opened up the motor. It looked reasonably good in there, but I cleaned the commutator and the brushes, lubed up the bearing points, and put it back together. When I ran it again, it did seem mildly smoother. I think that is as good as it will get. I noticed quite a bit of what appears to be white wax that may have leaked from the transformer. To me, this suggests the transformer may have gotten hot at one point in its life. This makes me wonder if the transformer is not as efficient as it should be. There is an exact match motor and transformer on eBay right now for $29. I might pick it up as a spare. But then again, this idea of increasing the motor power might be an interesting option, too.

Clearly I am spending too much time on this sewing machine. I really need to get back to the car.

 

[deQuincey]

Sounds like you are smelling some ozone when the motor is running. Some of that will always happen, but I suspect you may need to clean the commutator. I did that on my Singer 237 and it helped a lot. I'm not sure that the Necchi motor is quite as easy to get to the commutator as the Singer is, but if you can handle working on an E9, then it shouldn't be too much trouble to get the motor open for cleaning.
The original Necchi and Singer foot pedals are carbon disk type which can be dirty and not work as well as they should. They usually have a 'full on' contact so when you press down hard on the button, it bypasses the carbon pile and you get full power.
The later pedals have a wire wound resistor that gives variable resistance as the probe slides across the range of coils. The contact surface can get dirty on those, though with use the slider tends to wipe the surface oxides and keep it clean.

The modern electronic pedals are a good upgrade, smooth variable speed and they don't get hot like the resistor type pedals.

read all your posts on the sewing machines, those were very nice, thank you
interested in one of these machines, but meanwhile i will try hand sewing of leather seat cover

love the husqvarna, but kinda expensive...

 

[deQuincey]

Last night I opened up the motor. It looked reasonably good in there, but I cleaned the commutator and the brushes, lubed up the bearing points, and put it back together. When I ran it again, it did seem mildly smoother. I think that is as good as it will get. I noticed quite a bit of what appears to be white wax that may have leaked from the transformer. To me, this suggests the transformer may have gotten hot at one point in its life. This makes me wonder if the transformer is not as efficient as it should be. There is an exact match motor and transformer on eBay right now for $29. I might pick it up as a spare. But then again, this idea of increasing the motor power might be an interesting option, too.

Clearly I am spending too much time on this sewing machine. I really need to get back to the car.

good you are doing fine, and that necchi looks fantastic

 

[deQuincey]

I'm writing with a quick update on the new (66 year old) machine. I was able to fix everything that was damaged, save for reattaching the bobin winder. I still have to extract the threaded portion of the broken shoulder bolt. But tonight I cleaned it up a bit more, oiled it and ran it a bit. No thread. I haven't stitched anything because - obviously - the bobin winder isn't on the machine. And apparently I am too lazy to hand wind a bobin. But it seems to operate smoothly. The motor smells like "old" electric, and seemed a bit weak. Not sure if it is the motor or maybe the foot pedal (which is essentially a metal box with toaster coils in it). I'll investigate the motor a bit. Perhaps the brushes are dirty.
View attachment 86722

i am sure that is rewarding... well done !

 

[autokunst]

I have been using it recently. It is running pretty smoothly, and I made some masks for Amy and me. It does look good, and even Amy thinks so. That is a win!

 

[deQuincey]

moving into the sewing madness, found this little text that can apply to more than sewing machines,....


Why I don’t keep post-1975 machines
Oct 4, 2017Elena
Short answer: I cannot afford new machines of quality that I require, and I cannot afford to waste money on machines within my budget.
The quality requirement
This is first of all solid mechanical construction with all hardened steel parts. Cast alluminium may also be used on parts that are not load bearing, such as the body casing or some parts of the feed mechanism. It is not acceptable to have plastic gears or tin shafts, they just don’t last. It is even less acceptable to have parts of the hook race mechanism made of plastic and painted in silver colour, as I’ve seen a few times. Surely, if you found it necessary to paint your plastic silver, it means you didn’t think people would accept a plastic part there? Pathetic.
I am not actually opposed to plastic as such. I wouldn’t object at all to a plastic body for a sewing machine, but it appears that if there’s plastic on the outside, there is also plastic on the inside.
Another thing I am weary about, is belts. Some machines use timing belts instead of shafts. Belts are fine as long as they hold, and they are usually a lot more robust than plastic gears, but they too eventually break leaving the owner with a nightmare of finding a replacement.
I must add here that some machines use very common easy to find general purpose motor belts inside as well as on the motor. Such belts present no problems, so I don’t mind those.

this is a nice blog:

Why I don’t keep post-1975 machines

Short answer: I cannot afford new machines of quality that I require, and I cannot afford to waste money on machines within my budget. The quality requirement This is first of all solid mechanical …

vintagesewingmachinesblog.wordpress.com

 

[Arde]

Nice thread...great pictures.
As an engineer I can design you a massive semiconductor (I am starting one as we speak) but I cannot think about how could I design a sewing machine.
I think of my mother's stitching motion when fixing a tear or shortening pants and she would pass the needle from one side to the other using both hands, and the needle doing a 180 while it is completely on the far side. How can a machine do that when it has a solid needle that cannot fully pass to the other side?
Also, I look at the stitches on the leather steering wheels, how can anything pass to the other side when there is a solid thing tightly attached to the leather on the other side?

 

[deQuincey]

Nice thread...great pictures.
As an engineer I can design you a massive semiconductor (I am starting one as we speak) but I cannot think about how could I design a sewing machine.
I think of my mother's stitching motion when fixing a tear or shortening pants and she would pass the needle from one side to the other using both hands, and the needle doing a 180 while it is completely on the far side. How can a machine do that when it has a solid needle that cannot fully pass to the other side?
Also, I look at the stitches on the leather steering wheels, how can anything pass to the other side when there is a solid thing tightly attached to the leather on the other side?

fantastic !

i think i can shed some light showing you a simple manual leather sewing

needle does not make a 180º turn, i had the same feeling about it at the begining

hope it helps