Mrs. SewNSew

Does anyone ever just file off those cheezy case hold downs? Not the nice ones that swivel out of your way, but the stubborn little nub that needs you to wrench at the machine to rock it back?

For me, they seem to either scratch the paint on the machine or wrench the plastic of the case (Kenmores) making it more likely for the old plastic to crack. I mean really, is a 50 pound Kenmore going to pop right out while I'm sewing? Or do they expect that if I dropped the case, that nub would hold it in and the cheap old plastic wouldn't be smashed to bits?

J Miller

I leave them alone. They don't bother anything and do hold the case closed to the machine when you lift and move the it.
That's what they are there for so why defeat their purpose?

Joe

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Thinking your talking about the 70's era whitish plastic Bases, The clip on the right hand side/end

as Joe said, you want that and will be in a world of hurt without it. It's not much fun to pickup a machine, have the base go dangling down, twist the machine and try to come out of your hands

I agree there a pain to open.

sdhaevrsi

I was just thinking about that annoying plastic clip today, too, as I work on my 1960 Singer 185K. It hurt my fingers to get the head free to tilt back, but I knew it would be bad if it wasn't there, trying to carry the thing.

Well, rats! Now I have to figure out how to do just that, because it just snapped off!

Argh!! Now what?!

crocee

Is it screwed onto the case? in a pinch you could glue a couple pieces of a Popsicle stick together and drill a hole in the end, screw it down and good as new.

Cari-in-Oly

just a thought. One of those little twist around hold down thingys(technical term here) on the back of a picture frame? Sometimes those things are pretty sturdy.

Cari

Mrs. SewNSew

Ugh Sorry Sheri. Yes, those would be the ones I mean. I think I would see if there is anywhere to anchor to and cruise the hardware store for ideas.

I like the ones that twist out of the way much much better. I have a 99 in a plastic case that is so serious about it's job that it's easier to unscrew both hinges to get the machine out.

On a Kenmore I am working on, the old plastic case is brittle so as I carefully unclipped I heard a tiny crack from somewhere.

I know they have a good reason to be there, but it would be nice to be able to replace them with a more workable solution. Well and now Sheri HAS to.

J Miller

If you go to the window screen section of your hardware store you'll find plastic and metal clips with screws that resemble the rotating case latches. I use them to replace the broken ones on my machines.

In some instances you can retro fit the older plastic cases with one of those after the molded on one breaks off.

I did a thread with pics about those window screen clips but I guess I didn't save the link.

Joe

J Miller

The search was a failure, but here is a thread I did where I showed a pic of the window screen clips:
{ http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...x-t202882.html }

Joe

sdhaevrsi

Joe, your rebuilt case looks fabulous!! Thanks for the link to it, and the photos of the window screen clip helped me a lot. That would be perfect!

Question: my case is plastic. Will that hold a screw being put into it? I can have my son do this if you think it would hold...? Any tips? Would it need to be glued in, in addition to drilling a hole and screwing it in?

Thank you!