Originally Posted by
sewbeadit
... HOw long do you think all that crud had to be on the machine for it to look like that? I have a hand crank that needs cleaning like this but it isn't quite as bad as this one. Will start on that after the holidays.
I don't have any idea how long it has been like this but my guess is that for a really long time. I kind of wonder if it was oiled every year - even if it hadn't been used. Like a lot of us with old machines - one wonders about the history of these machines - when it was last used/serviced and by who. Considering that the needle that was in the machine was an actual "WEED" needle, I would think that it hadn't been used for over 70 years. I hope your hand crank goes smoothly. What will you be using to clean?
I finally got the stitch length regulator screw off. I tried the spark plug tool shown earlier, but it kept slipping off. I ended up using some thick rubber that I had found specifically for this type of thing with a regular pair of pliers. I also have an old flat vacuum belt that would have worked as well.
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John had noticed some notches on the nut and the piece with the number on it (red arrow in picture below). We figured out that that was to hold the stitch length. I was kind of afraid that when I started unscrewing the nut that things would spring apart. It didn't. I threaded some SM oiled crochet thread through the spring to try to clean the spring with the threader as indicated by the blue arrow and shaft behind it. It was kind of crowded in there and kept trying to get it cleaned up but didn't seem to spring out.
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This morning I sprayed some Kroil next to the threads and the top of the spring. I turned the hand wheel a bunch of times and noticed that the spring was pushing the numbered piece out. I finally got it out to where the notches matched.
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Some other things that I have gotten cleaned up - the cleaned up rod where the feed dogs screws into as shown in the first picture on this page.
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The hole where the feed dogs go.
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The oil hole between the hand wheel and cam, even got some of the shaft cleaned off.
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Worked some and cleaned off the net in the hand wheel.
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It's a good thing that I don't have to take it off. I would have to get an offset wrench as the nut is kind of inset from the outside of the hand wheel. Seems like I have seen them for antique machines but don't remember which one. I do have 20586 for the 27. Just for grins, I went and got the 20586 wrench and tried it on the nut. If you turn it on edge one of the openings will work - I didn't take it off but was able to move it.
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More later --
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.