403 Singer Question about cams
 

My husband bought a 403 Singer at an auction that had no cords, very dirty etc . in a cabinet for $5.00. I cleaned her up, got the cords, got it to stitch, does a pretty good job. My question is, it has a zig zag cam in it but it does not zig zag. There are no other cams with it either. Any idea about on what might be the problem and should I order more cams. Don't want to if it will only straight stitch. Thanks for any information.

Have you oiled it? Oiling these machines makes a world of difference in performance.

Even with the zig zag cam in place you still have to choose a width for the stitch. On my 503 (very similar controls) there is a setting for STR (straight) and then 1-5 for width. If that lever isn't working there may be some dried oil or something gumming up the inside or needle bar area. If you want to do anything other than straight stitching you will have to get some of the black "top hat" cams that Singer made. Good luck.

Pat

Fluffygirl, thanks so much, I have cleaned it up but I think you have explained maybe why it was not working. I need to put it on the 1-5 width adjustment. I probably just left it on the straight. I do not have a manual so I don't know except thru trial and error. Will see if it will work now. Thank you everybody.

If you have a service person they can usually tell you where to get parts for older machines. There used to be a place on here where someone posted a place you could order old manual's. Maybe someone can help you find it.

Great, that is really what I need.

Send a PM to Miriam, she has quite a few old manuals....

I downloaded a free manual for my 403 and now for the life of me I can't find the website so you can too! Grrr...

Google it...there are free Singer manuals available.

Here is a web site that I just love - Jenny has parts and TONS of info, a free manual AND she has parts. The bobbins I got are better than the ones from Walmart. blog.sew-classic.com/2008/10/25/singer-401-401a-403--403a--404--sewing-machine-review.aspx
If it still isn't zigging and zagging there is more info - let me know.