Melody

I have been following the tutorial and admit to wondering if I can do this. But I have also looked closely at my 15-91 and besides being full of oily cobwebs and oily dust in every crack and crevice, I found a section of the wiring to the foot pedal has some cracks with the insulation fall off. I'm not too worried about that because it needs a new foot pedal anyway so I can buy that whole thing on that great website that SherriB gave a link for. But I also saw on that link the kind of gunked up grease that is likely to be inside of the machine and needs to be removed... and fresh put in. Why did I think that just because it looked pretty and had parts that moved easily that it should be "good to go?" And speaking of gunked up grease, a tube of partially used Singer motor lubricant is in one of the drawers. Is it likely that this tube is still okay to use?

SewExtremeSeams

Oh, great, Charlee. Didn't know you were planning to do a tute on attachments. Several of my machines came with a lot of attachments, i.e. Singer 15-91 and my White Rotary for two of them. My White Rotary came with two zipper feet. One for the left side and then one for the right side. Must have been before they made one that you could slide to the left and right, right?

Thanks! :wink: I will looking forward to it. :-)

Charlee

Squeeze a bit out on your fingertip...if it's very thick and "hard" to push around, I wouldn't use it...otherwise it should be ok.

Melody

Thanks. It's soft and smooths on my finger easily, looks a little like vaseline but not greasy. I'm not opposed to buying new at all, just wondering if it's still available and if using this old tube is okay if it isn't available. Maybe I should have said, what do I buy as a replacement for this tube?

Charlee

It's still available, and it shouldn't hurt anything to use this tube as well! :)

I don't have a Singer dealer close by, didn't want to wait to order it, and so I bought some White Lithium grease at Lowe's that's used for power tools...seems to be working fine!

Melody

Thanks! I appreciate soooo much the advice I'm getting here.

Suzanne57

I read this on Sew-Classic Blog about using white lithium grease

"After 50 to 70 years the grease that lubricates the motor bearings and the gear drive gets very dirty, breaks down and sometimes even cakes up. It’s best to completely remove this old grease, clean the bearings, lubricating wicks and worm gear and them replace the grease. In order to do a through job, I have found it's best to remove the motor armature completely.

I have seen machines where someone used a lithium based grease on the machines, and it was always hard - like brittle hunks of cement which have to be scraped and chipped off of the parts. So, I always caution against using a lithium base grease for this application."

The website has a lot of information. http://blog.sew-classic.com

phyllis b

I love old singer machines and am looking to purchase one. I would like a workhorse to use on a regular basis. Just need straight stitch and reverse. Is there a model you experts would suggest. I was bidding on a 66-16 and quit at $100.00. I have heard the featherweights are cute, but not as dependable and worry free as others?????

Katia

Just a quick question. I have a Singer Touch and Sew, Model 600. My daughter got it for me a while back and thought maybe I could use it. It is in a nice cabinet. I have not plugged it in yet although it appears to be complete. The thing I worry about is that the bottom part is really bowed out. Like maybe it was sitting over a heater vent and the heat maybe warped it.

So, my question is, is it worth trying to fix, or should I just get rid of it and put a better, perhaps older machine in the cabinet?

SherriB

I love seeing all the old machines!!

Before I plug in my 15-91, I want to have it checked. Would a Singer repair shop be able to do this? There is a sewing machine repair shop that has been in our city for ages. Would you all feel comfortable taking one of your machines there?