J Miller

Earlier this month my wife and I took a short road trip to pick up an ancient Minnesota Mdl ~B~ sewing machine. It was a nice trip and we got to meet some good folks while we were at it.

Once home I tried out the machine and it was cranky and promptly broke the one and only Davis long needle that was in it.

So I contacted Mizkaki and she sent me some MTx190 needles to use in it. While waiting for that I took the externals off and started cleaning it.

My goal was to get as much grunge and solidified oil off of it as I could with out ruining any more of what decals were left.

In between the cleaning I re-wired the connector from the motor to the foot control. That wire was pretty bad. The other wire isn't too bad and I left it alone for now. I'll redo it when I get a better plug for it.

The machine was a grungy and varnished up as the inside of an old truk engine.
Cleaning and cleaning and cleaning and finally I got to the point that I had removed as much as I could. Pouring oil on it or on the cotton balls didn't get any more brown stuff off of it.
Then I turned it over and worked over the bottom. Oil wouldn't touch the crud so I used Hoppe's #9 gun cleaning solvent. That works good for things like this and is mostly kerosene.
When I got the bottom as clean as I could get it without taking it all apart I set it upright and let it sit overnight.

Today I finished the wiping down and reassembly of the externals. Re-re-re-oiled the entire machine, including oil holes that had been plugged and blocked up for decades.

Then I put it back in it's case and threaded it up.



When I went to wind my one and only bobbin I needed something to drive the bobbin winder. I had an idea and it worked. I have a selection of old rubber machine belts and the smallest are just right to drive the bobbin winder.

I have four machines that use shuttle bobbins and only two that are properly adjusted and fill the bobbins equally. This little machine and my FREE.

I found a couple parts I'm going to need to replace. This is some sort of wire that could be a spring or a guard but I don't know. I'm looking for a picture of a machine that is complete so I can fabricate a replacement.


After getting the bobbin filled up I threaded the shuttle, put it in then put in one of the MTx190 needles. I threaded the machine as best I can without a manual and gave it a try.

I sewed up some scraps and played with the upper tension. It didn't really work as good as it should have. I noticed from my other pics I have the spring in opposite the way it was originally. I'll have to switch it next time I sew with the machine.

I was able to get the tension good enough to sew quite a bit with it. It's noisy due to the friction drive wheel having flat spots but it does sew.

As I was sewing some the material caught on the front slide plate and jammed up the machine. The front plate is a home made replacement. I need to find an original or one that I can make fit.

Now we just need to decide what we are going to make with the little machine.

Now I need to find those parts and some data about when it was made and by who.

Joe

Charlee

I have a machine that has that same kind of friction wheel. One of the Needlebar guys that has one like mine told me to take some sandpaper to it....run the motor while holding the sandpaper against the rubber....unfortunately, it was too late for that...the spousal unit had already torn the rubber piece getting it off the "post".

Off to the hardware store, where he found a rubber piece to replace it! Whatever it was originally for, it fit perfectly, and now the machine just has the wonderful "shuttle song" instead of the "Thumper song".

J Miller

Charlee,

Looks like that's what I'll be doing pretty soon. As you watch the machine running slowly you can see the motor rocking back and forth as the flat spots on the drive roll over the hand wheel.

Last night after she got home from work my wife and I did some testing to see what the machine would do.
The first thing I did was reverse the tension spring. I had it in like it was originally, but rotated 180° from where it was. Made a heck of a difference.
She came up with some rolled hems from the legs of jeans. About three layers of heavy denim. Went through the first one like it wasn't there. So as it was sewing I stuck another hemmed piece in front of the presser foot and it went up and over it and sewed right through it just fine.
So we know this machine will sew through 6 layers of heavy denim on it's own. That is nothing to complain about.

I think this little machine has found itself a home with all our others.

Just gotta think of a name for her.

Joe

J Miller

I was just looking at my pics and realized I forgot to clean the motor mounting bracket. Oh boy.

Joe

Nanamoms

Joe, what about "Jean" as she had her first test drive on blue jeans!! That was my mother's name! Carolyn

J Miller

Well, that's not a bad name at all. I will put it in the hat to be considered.

Joe

J Miller

OK, does anyone have a Minnesota B or a Davis MB they could turn upside down and take a picture of the bottom? I need to fabricate a broken spring (?) and I don't know what all of it looks like as it's only half there.
You can see that in my fourth picture.

Nanamoms,
My wife nixed the name Jean.

She said Mini, I said nope.

Joe

jlhmnj

Hi Joe, Sorry I havn't mastered the art of picture posting. The half of the wire you have is the same as the half that is missing. If your not in the mood to bend wire, I'll ship you one in an envelope, gratis.

Jon

J Miller

Jon,

Thanks a bunch, I accept. I'll PM you my address.

Joe