Brother Project 651
 

I recently inherited a 'sewing table' from my great grandmother... BUT it has a machine inside that I know NOTHING about! It's a Brother Project 651. It's dirty, locked up, and OLD... and I have no clue what to do with it...

Should I try to restore it? Sell it? Scrap it? HELP! I know NOTHING about old machines... I intended to use this table for my machine (which doesn't fit, btw).

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Older machines can be great! Check out the info on the vintage machines thread...there is lots on how to clean up and restore an old machine.

Megan,

That Brother is a Japanese made machine from the 60s or the 70s. Not "OLD" at all in the scheme of things.
It is very worth refurbishing back to life. Remove the top cover ( two screws ), open the face plate, and start oiling it with Tri-Flow. Clean it as needed, and check for thread wrapped around the bobbin, needle bar area and other places.

Those are good strong machines. I have a couple and they sew very quiet and smoothly.

Joe

I have a Brother that is very similar to it. Cute machine.

If I had that machine from my great grandmother I would be thrilled! It is quite handsome with all of its chrome and the blue/white color scheme. For sure I would get it back up and running and then enjoy sewing on a piece of family history. Please let us know what you decide to do.

Thanks guys! I'll try to get her up and running.

Judythesewer: I don't think she ever actually sewed on this one; she has a few others floating around that she used; this one is a machine that was acquired along the way from somewhere. But I'll see what I can do with it, though it may take me some time! :)

Brother machines from that era are top quality. Definitely don't throw it out.

I just bought the same machine at a thrift store but I'm unable to turn it on:( Is there a button that I should be pushing?

AARRGGHH!! This is the one Brother I own that I want to throw something at every time I walk past it. It was damaged in shipping because the seller put it in a box with nothing but packing peanuts. I was able to straighten the take up lever and spool pins, got it cleaned up and oiled. It sews a good stitch but has a bind that I've never been able to fix. I think a shaft may be bent. Also, I was dumb enough to remove the knobs on the front and the plate behind them. Trying to get it all back together was so frustrating the machine almost went out the window. It took many attempts, three hands, and some newly invented swear words. I would love to get it back to sewing well because it's perfect cosmetically but don't think it's gonna happen.

Cari

Cari,
We all have our closets of horror...