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The cleaning of a 1948 featherweight

The cleaning of a 1948 featherweight

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Old 01-02-2012, 09:30 PM
  #11  
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I just don't see enough lint for this to have NEVER been cleaned - I know how much this machine was used. Shaking my head for sure. [ATTACH=CONFIG]299948[/ATTACH]
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:33 PM
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Maybe she took it apart once and had a hard time getting that throat plate back on. There is a groove on the bottom that the race thingy has to fit into or the machine just plain won't work right. My sister kept pulling lint out of there.
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:34 PM
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Lots of oil drops - all dried up - This all cleaned up nice - we got busy and forgot to take after pics
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Last edited by miriam; 01-02-2012 at 09:36 PM.
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:38 PM
  #14  
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The thing with grooves!!! Mean Green or dish soap cleaned it up nice - My sister was in charge here
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:41 PM
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how the groove thing goes
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:42 PM
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gunk really does come off - do you like my little light?
It has a magnet on one end and a light on the other - the wire thing bends so you can stand it up and bend it where you want to see - really handy to get light in the tight spaces.
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:49 PM
  #17  
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I don't know why but I'm having trouble getting the last couple pictures to come up.
Let's see if I can get the After picture to come up - well Mom's FW isn't a whole lot prettier - Mom wouldn't let us take off the stick on magnet - who knows how long that was on there. This is the same machine that sewed silk neck ties for my Dad and re-upholstered our furniture. Amazing isn't it.
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:54 PM
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When we got all done we plugged the machine in and tested it out. We had to adjust the tension just a little and we had perfect stitches. Then my mom said it ran as good as when it was new. She was so amazed. She has a copy of her original owner's manual - the first 15 pages and the last 15 pages are missing. She has one pressure foot and a button hole maker - that's all she's ever had. Mom was a home ec major in college. She used an old hand crank chain stitch machine for all her classes. She said the teachers laughed at her but the stitches held so they got over it. This machine was a vast improvement for her. You name it this machine has probably sewn it.
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Old 01-02-2012, 10:04 PM
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Mom has a newer Singer machine Dad bought a few years ago. She said she wonders why she ever bought it. Mom sewed in the alteration department at J C Penny in Indianapolis - she used to fit the princess dresses for all of the Indianapolis 500 gals. Someone else would do the sewing. She is 85 and has a lot of trouble with co-ordination. Her hands and feet don't always do what she tells them to do. She called one day a month or so ago and asked me how to thread up the FW. I walked her through it over the phone and she sewed chef hats and aprons for my grand daughters - her great grand daughters. Shear determination. Then the made Christmas cookies. Oh and the hats and aprons fit each girl perfectly of course.
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Old 01-03-2012, 01:09 AM
  #20  
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This is a great thread! A spunky little featherweight for a great gal, refurbished by another couple of great gals! I have a centennial FW in much the same condition waiting for some TLC. I love the old machines, knowing how hard they have been worked, all the items sewn on them, and they just keep going! Got a pic of the parachute-wedding dress? Would love to see it!
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