so-sew

Bought a Singer 404 at a garage sale, brought it home, did a quick test drive (about four inches of stitches) to determine it worked, cleaned it, reassembled......now it sounds bad and the hand wheel is stiff. When I turn the gear that extends upward from the motor by hand, no noise or resistence. Put the handwheel on, and it's hard to turn and makes a noise that makes me think it's not lined up somehow. Anyone ever feel like steering clear of vintage machines? This isn't the first time I've taken a vintage machine apart, reassembled, and was broken hearted. Maybe I should admit I'm mechanically declined and get back to quilting. :evil: I'm pretty sure if I looked in a mirror, this is what I'd see looking back.

Quilter7x

Contact Billy here on the QB. His board name is Lostn51 and he should be able to give you some advice.

Leota

That is frustrating....
I took my Viking 6430 apart and then couldn't remember where everything went.... fortunately, my dd's machine -same model_ was here... took her's apart and was able to see where stuff went back... only thing is i have 2 screws left over..

CoyoteQuilts

It is possible that you have the belt to tight. This will make things work much harder than necessary. It only needs to be tight enough for it to grab both the motor and machine pulley. Also, check to make sure you have the bobbin parts in correctly.

Other than that I'd check with Billy..... Lostn51

so-sew

At this point I feel like putting my 301 (similar problem), my 404, and all the little goodies (button holer, accessories, cradles, etc.) into a big box and shipping them out. Not sure where, just somewhere else. I dont' even want to count how many days I've spent trying to identify and correct my mistakes. If I keep them in the house I'll continue to waste my time and loose my mind....I just can't seem to walk away from the challenge. Thanks for letting me vent. :)

so-sew

Neither the 301 or the 404 have a belt. They're both gear driven. I would love to hear any other ideas. Poor Billy is certainly sick of me picking his brain. This is the sixth vintage machine I've "tuned up" and Billy has answered a question or two with each one!

Painiacs

Hang in there! I'm having problems getting my vintage to sew. I'm sure I'll get it and so will u and well love them. I'm looking on the bright side!!

irishrose

I assume you have oiled everything several times and put lubricant in the grease tube. My 301 was very dry when she arrived, but now sews very well. We are FMQ tonight.

CoyoteQuilts

As you can see I am not familiar with this machine :shock: I know how frustrating it can be when you just want to sit and play and the play toy won't let you.......

cabbagepatchkid

I second this advice. Also, do you belong to the We Fix It yahoo group? They call themselves 'shade tree sewing machine mechanics". There is also a Singer yahoo group for the slant machines.

I sort of know how you feel because I bought a FW that didn't run properly when I first got it. The machine ran really s-l-o-w and then when I took the carbon brush out to see if it needed replacing, I must have put it back in the wrong way because then it didn't run at all even though the light was still working. I eventually was able to fix not only the foot pedal but also figured out that the carbon brushes need to be in in a certain direction. Good luck and don't give up yet!