I have the 4432 and it has been a great machine. Have a Singer 301a that I used prior to buy the 4432. I the I can control the speed better and the varies stitches it offers compared to my older straight stitcher. I have made a tarp, stuff sacks and tree straps; and it has worked flawlessly for me so far. Would definitely recommend it. Pull the the trigger
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I did just a bit of reading, and while I'm not sure, I think that this sort of device does essentially the same thing that the foot pedal does. That is, it is a triac phase control. It turns on the triac part way through each half of the sine wave supplied by your mains. The longer the delay, the less the average voltage supplied to your motor (and the slower it goes, but the more likely it is to stall). It might allow one to set the maximum speed. I could be wrong, but I expect that if you want to set a really slow max speed that it won't give you any finer control over the range from zero to what you set as max. I think it would just be nothing, nothing, nothing, then max setting as you push down on the pedal. Might be worth a try, though.Originally Posted by Kpi890
Why don't you give it a try tonight and report back. Sounds like all you'd have to do is to unplug it from your router and plug your sewing machine into it.
BTW, it looks like Menards has a similar product for about the same price.
mathineer
That approach does work on the 4423 (and probably any similar machine with a phase controlled universal motor), but I personally don't like it much. When starting a stitch, I like to have both hands on the material to make sure it feeds correctly. Sometimes I just manually turn the wheel for a few stitches, and even back stitch to lock, then start. Very time consuming if you're starting a lot of short rows, but not much of a big deal when doing a long row along the side of a hammock for instance. Regardless, I'm not very skilled at thread injecting. I do notice that I get a little better at controlling the speed with the pedal towards then end of a project. So practice does make a difference.
mathineer
Thanks guys for the responses and I will try out the speed controller tomorrow Mathineer since I didn't and won't have time to try it tonight sorry. And from the sounds of the posts here I may go ahead and get the machine. Do any of you all recommend anything different in the same price range? I just got so used to my mechanical kenmore that moving on to another mechanical machine is easy for me I'm just so unsure when I see all these machines with the digital stitches and wonder whether they perform okay from the thin "sil end" of our needs here to the thicker "tree strap" end of sewing.
I got this machine for $96 from Amazon a couple of months ago. Sorry I have not had a chance to do much more than fool around and test stitches, so can't report on its functioning in a serious way. However, I have not had the problem with the "stall-start" on this machine that mathineer describes. That happens on my 60+ year old Singer all the time though, but it has a much easier-to-grab wheel.
Well I ordered it just now for $130 I couldn't find it anywhere else cheaper except eBay for $100 but Amazon prime's returns are worth the extra $30 if something does happen to it upon opening and testing.
Hi all,
I'm almost done making new vinyl cushions for my pontoon boat. (recovering). A Few thoughts that may help.
- I Bought a generic Used Singer First (Used, Cheap cheap) to try my luck and learn basic skills. It Worked fine but labored on 4 to 5 layers of seams. I Spent may hours trying to learn and although I was then able to basically sew, I still had a lot to learn. Especially speed control. It's much easier to sew and learn at slow/crawl speed - but you need lots of practice to control the slowest speeds. Any Yes hand control of the manual crank is needed for real slow starts.
- I then Purchased the Singer 4423. Runs great (with one exception see below). Does 5 layers of Vinyl no sweat - Starting slow requires a little hand crank help. Again, As I put the hours into the Seat back and bottoms, Armrest - 11 pieces so far !) It became obvious that slow speed control was the key for good looking half felled seams, tight radius/corner work and especially overall appearance. I do like this machine although it has much more capability than I require.
- As for my one issue (occasional feed issue) - Please see my other thread hammockForums6226. I'm sure I will solve it - but it is an issue at least with my machine.
- I also wish the Max Stitch length was longer - the 44223 Max stitch length 4, to me, is just min needed for vinyl.
- I'm happy so far with the purchase but If I knew then what I know now - I'd find a heavy duty - long stitch length walking foot machine preferably with only Straight and zig zag stitches. Simpler is better - but the lowest / best machine (IMO) I'd buy is the Sailrite UltrafeedĀ® LSZ-1 BASIC. It goes on sale for about $650 (a LOT more than I wanted to spend) - but considering that I can sell it down the line, the price seems to be a lot more reasonable. http://www.sailrite.com/Sailrite-Ult...Sewing-Machine
Please Note - Use my feedback at your own risk. I'm just relaying my poor ability to date ....
Last edited by Canufixit; 02-15-2017 at 10:52. Reason: add pic
Man nice job on the boat recover! That's a tough task! And thanks for the post; my machine comes tomorrow so I will be testing it out tomorrow night with some sample fabrics I have here and see how it goes and if it doesn't fit my needs I have free returns on Amazon so back she'll go!Hi all,
I'm almost done making new vinyl cushions for my pontoon boat. (recovering). A Few thoughts that may help.
- I Bought a generic Used Singer First (Used, Cheap cheap) to try my luck and learn basic skills. It Worked fine but labored on 4 to 5 layers of seams. I Spent may hours trying to learn and although I was then able to basically sew, I still had a lot to learn. Especially speed control. It's much easier to sew and learn at slow/crawl speed - but you need lots of practice to control the slowest speeds. Any Yes hand control of the manual crank is needed for real slow starts.
- I then Purchased the Singer 4423. Runs great (with one exception see below). Does 5 layers of Vinyl no sweat - Starting slow requires a little hand crank help. Again, As I put the hours into the Seat back and bottoms, Armrest - 11 pieces so far !) It became obvious that slow speed control was the key for good looking half felled seams, tight radius/corner work and especially overall appearance. I do like this machine although it has much more capability than I require.
- As for my one issue (occasional feed issue) - Please see my other thread hammockForums6226. I'm sure I will solve it - but it is an issue at least with my machine.
- I also wish the Max Stitch length was longer - the 44223 Max stitch length 4, to me, is just min needed for vinyl.
- I'm happy so far with the purchase but If I knew then what I know now - I'd find a heavy duty - long stitch length walking foot machine preferably with only Straight and zig zag stitches. Simpler is better - but the lowest / best machine (IMO) I'd buy is the Sailrite UltrafeedĀLSZ-1 BASIC. It goes on sale for about $650 (a LOT more than I wanted to spend) - but considering that I can sell it down the line, the price seems to be a lot more reasonable. http://www.sailrite.com/Sailrite-Ult...Sewing-Machine
Please Note - Use my feedback at your own risk. I'm just relaying my poor ability to date ....
Update! Just got the machine today and man am I impressed. For $130 it sews like a dream. When I first got the kenmore you see in the background I fought tension issues with the bobbin and casing for days straight trying to figure it out. Now that I know exactly how to adjust the kenmore it's easy for me now but it's kind of a pain to work with compared to this new singer. I do understand what everyone is saying about that "hummmm" you get at the start of it and then it jumps ahead to super fast speed. However, the Kenmore is also a mechanical machine and it does the same thing so I am acclimated to it, I actually just add a longer paddle to the foot pedal to allow for slower start controls. The singer is super easy to thread and load a bobbin and I have tested all the stitches and they work beautifully. I sewed an old t shirt I had folded into 8 thick layers and it powered right through it so I will no longer have issues like I had with my kenmore and thick materials birds nesting underneath. Haven't gotten a chance to test it on some thinner sil material but I will tonight. I have a tyvek project in the works to I might test that since it's super slippery. And as for the motor speed controller I tried it out and really all it's doing it limiting the power to the whole machine. So when you set it all the way low the light on the machine is very dim and it will see much slower. The only way you could use it efficiently is hook it up and turn it way down to start your project and then turn the dial to the point where you don't want the machine to see any faster, which for me is about half the speed of this, 1,100 stitches per minute, machine. So there is a place for it for sure. Plus for big projects like tarps you can slow it down for all your small slow detail work and just use the dial to turn it up for your large side hems. Anyways thank you all for your help and suggestions but I'm super happy! *Also does anyone know if this machine has to be oiled? My kenmore has an oiling diagram that shows the spots to oil yearly? Thanks!
Kyle
Glad you like the machine. I certainly like mine.
Update! Just got the machine today and man am I impressed. For $130 it sews like a dream. When I first got the kenmore you see in the background I fought tension issues with the bobbin and casing for days straight trying to figure it out. Now that I know exactly how to adjust the kenmore it's easy for me now but it's kind of a pain to work with compared to this new singer. I do understand what everyone is saying about that "hummmm" you get at the start of it and then it jumps ahead to super fast speed. However, the Kenmore is also a mechanical machine and it does the same thing so I am acclimated to it, I actually just add a longer paddle to the foot pedal to allow for slower start controls. The singer is super easy to thread and load a bobbin and I have tested all the stitches and they work beautifully. I sewed an old t shirt I had folded into 8 thick layers and it powered right through it so I will no longer have issues like I had with my kenmore and thick materials birds nesting underneath. Haven't gotten a chance to test it on some thinner sil material but I will tonight. I have a tyvek project in the works to I might test that since it's super slippery. And as for the motor speed controller I tried it out and really all it's doing it limiting the power to the whole machine. So when you set it all the way low the light on the machine is very dim and it will see much slower. The only way you could use it efficiently is hook it up and turn it way down to start your project and then turn the dial to the point where you don't want the machine to see any faster, which for me is about half the speed of this, 1,100 stitches per minute, machine. So there is a place for it for sure. Plus for big projects like tarps you can slow it down for all your small slow detail work and just use the dial to turn it up for your large side hems. Anyways thank you all for your help and suggestions but I'm super happy! *Also does anyone know if this machine has to be oiled? My kenmore has an oiling diagram that shows the spots to oil yearly? Thanks!
Kyle
The speed controller behaves pretty much as I expected. Plugging it into the wall, and the 4423 into allows reduction of the voltage to the machine. You'll notice that the footpedal has a three position connector that plugs into the machine. The hot and neutral from the wall go into the machine, and the hot goes to the foot pedal as well which runs through the pedal and into the machine. So the foot pedal controls the voltage supplied to the motor, while the other hot powers the light. You could cut the wire that goes to the pedal, and wire the speed controller in series with the pedal, and you wouldn't dim the light. Or, you could hack the pedal circuit itself, and put a second potentiometer in series with the one in the pedal circuit, but that's sort of a pain. None of that is going to prevent the motor stalling when you try to start very slowly.
Did you find that the speed controller allowed better control when you want to go very slow by limiting the max speed, ie with the speed control turned to low, you push on the pedal and just get the hum, push more - hum, push more and it starts but even all the way down and it starts, but goes very slowly?
I'm thinking of buying a speed controller and a small LED lamp...
mathineer
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