Necchi 544 Excited then Upset!
 

So Saturday i went to a thrift store and found an old sewing machine tucked away in her carrying case for 5 dollars. when i lifted the lid, i found an old, musty Necchi 544 starring back at me. I had read the name pop up in several sewing groups and that these machines were a work horse. so for 5 bucks i couldnt leave her behind and took her home.

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I spent a little while Saturday cleaning her, and today i took some serious time to look at her. She was missing her foot pedal which i thought would be easy to find (its not!) and then today when i finally opened her up without fear of breaking her i came face to face with a huge disappointment All of her cams are broken clean through!

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im really bummed as i thought i had a good machine on my hands... but i dont believe these are cheap to replace. Right now im besides myself. (i never thought id be so upset over a machine. i guess this means im in deep with all these antique and vintage machines.) not certain what i will do with her now. :(

I don't think the cams are broken. A lot of cams look like that, so don't give up just yet.

really? i thought it was odd that they were all so cleanly in a straight line... but i have no way of telling??

The cam stack is busted, boo boo'd, and kaput. If that was normal it would be a nice straight seam.

Now, I know nothing about Necchi machines or broken cam stacks but since you have but $5.00 in it to my way of thinking it's not gonna hurt to try and fix it. I'd try at to at least find the parts, price them out, find a service manual, then decide.

Here is one thing I might try if and I mean if you can disassemble the cam stack from it's shaft. Clean it till it's sanitary, then degrease it and glue it back together with LocTite Black Max. Then use automotive hose clams to draw the edges together while the Black Max cures. That stuff is the best adhesive I've used. It will glue things that epoxy will not and that super glue will not.

It's hard to find though and I don't know how the cam stack is made.

Just thinking out loud.

Joe

thanks for the advice Joe. I havent tried to remove the cam stack yet. im sure its possiable. the machine is otherwise clean enough and turns and moves the way it should. i think the cams are rather expensive though. and im not sure if glueing them would alter the nesacary movement? im not sure what they do? i believe change the stitch right? but it is an idea to consider!

As with all pattern cams or removable cams there is a follower that traces the shape of the cam, then turns it into the pattern via the linkage inside the machine. That machine will have a follower that moves up and down to ride on each different cam.

It should not matter if it's glued so long as the glue does not block the follower from tracing around the cam or moving up and down.

Oh and the plastic gear in the lower right of the second picture is also broken.

Joe

It's very likely that the camstack removal and replacement could require retiming of the pendulum swing of the machine. This is not an easy fix for someone not schooled in timing sewing machines and repair. My advice is that you part it out and recoup all of your money. $5 is not much for a lesson learned. This model is prone to having broken gears and camstacks. No glue is going to get it working like it should.

You're not going to like this!!!

http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/cam...966509310.aspx

Joe, your eyesight is a lot better than mine. For the life of me, I cannot see where the teeth are broken in the gear in the lower right of the photo.
As for the camstack, I have read a lot of complaints about broken ones. All I know is that I have seen some that I thought were broken on first sight, that turned out not to be when all other parts were cleaned and lubed. I don't claim to know what the follower does or does not track for each stitch without testing it out. As for glueing, I'm not sure I'm following what Joe is saying; I'm sure that in person you could point it out in a second. There are a few limitations to e-communications, eh?
I do agree that for a $5 investment, you can afford to experiment a bit. One owner who had a camstack problem just kept it as a straight stitch machine and was happy with that.

Just a thought...
I've been looking at Ebay and they are asking ridiculous prices for 544 parts. I would piece it out and you'll make money!!!

Ouch!! It would have to be love to spend that much.

Thanks everyone. I will probably part it out then. How do you advise I do so? There are not too many removable parts on this machine. :P

gear looks cracked by the screw - they don't last long under pressure - part that machine out. Does it have a decent foot control? How about a presser foot? Needle holder? bobbin winder? motor? throat plate? bobbin case? If it has a screw in it it will come off. I think I have learned a lot just taking a junk machine like that apart. You can kind of see how it should go back together as you go along.

The only parts (that I'm aware of) that is missing is the pedal with cord and the metal bits that go around the free arm and hold the extra bobbins and stuff. Otherwise it has a needle, needle arm, bobbin, bobbin case, all knobs I believe in good condition, it has the sewing machine cover. Etc. so I will part it. But I wasn't sure since im not well informed on what the parts are.

I have found that I need to leave the machine in tact. Pull parts off as needed.

As much as I think Necchi is a great machine, this is a clear case of why, under all circumstances (Except perhaps the Bernina's) that we all should stay away from the plastic machines. I feel your pain.

Tell me about the plastic Bernina machines? I have an old one with plastic gears - I'm scared to use it. Are those ok? Mine is a Favorit - don't remember what numbers. The bobbin goes in from the back - makes sense but seems hard to use.

Nylon gears last up to 35 years or longer, Miriam. Once replaced, they're good to go for another 35 years. If you're scared to use them, send them to me:> I own a vintage Bernina 830 and many vintage Elnas. A few have a nylon gear or two and I certainly don't consider them plastic machines. This model, Lydia, was prone to problems. One model machine is not representative of all Necchi machines.

Ahh. I thought that was dirt!

Yeah I doubt I would buy another 544 if I came across it. It would mean living with screwdrivers in my purse or pocket! I guess it was a practical monetary change to put plastic in an otherwise sturdy and metal machine. It's a shame really. Even if they last for 35 some years. Still I wouldn't right off the brand as whole. Im not fond of the "one bad apple spoils the batch" mentality. :)

What year was this machine made in? Ballpark guess is OK.
I personally think $170.00 for a piece of plastic with a rod through it is certifiably INSANE. The manufacturers have to be doing this with full intention that they fail and so that people will not pay the outrageous prices for the replacement parts.

Which is why I have told my wife NO MORE MACHINES WITH PLASTIC GEARS. Not even another Bernina.

And some might last 35 years, but others don't. The feed dog gears died on my wife's Singer 538 in less than 10 years of use. Since then they've been replaced twice more. PLASTIC = JUNK.

Joe

I think it's estimated to be 50 years old give or take. And I agree, I think I want an all metal machine. There's something to be said that my W&G is a 116 and still working perfectly.

I've got an Alden ZZ machine with 30 + patterns on the dial. Really neat machine with lots of great patterns. By the time you alter the needle position and other settings you can do about 90 + variations on it. I was thrilled with it until I found the cam stack was plastic. Since then I've hardly touched it. When it finally breaks the machine is junk. I can't even find a mention of the brand name ALDEN or an owners manual even. So parts would be a practical impossibility.

Joe

Plastic does not equal nylon, Joe. And a new Singer does not equal a vintage Bernina in quality. Nylon gears give a bit and the engineering of the machine may need that slight give whereas metal doesn't have that capability. I don't think it's about saving money on these vintage machines, it's all in the engineering of the machine. If all the internals of the machine are metal except for one gear or nylon cam, there's a reason that goes beyond saving a dollar. Now, the new machines are a different story....

Candace,

In this instance, I've got to disagree with you. I've seen way too many things over the years that transitioned from having metal parts to plastic, and yes nylon is a form of plastic, and always the quality and longevity goes down the crapper.

I will not argue that Berninas are far far better than the machines Singer sells. But the reason for casting plastic parts is cost.
To machine the cam stack for the Necchi that started this thread from steel would take a major amount of machining, assembly, and fitting. They can create a mold and cast it out of plastic for cheep cheep cheep. Then charge outrageous prices for it. I'll bet that $169.99 cam stack didn't cost any more than $5.00 to make and I'd include the designing and making of the mold as well.

There are earlier Singers that share the same design yet some use steel gears whereas the other ones use plastic gears. Same exact designs, just the difference in the gears. The reason, cost. A plastic gear ( nylon if you insist ) can be cast for pennies whereas the steel gears must be machined and fitted. That is the bottom line, cost.

One more thing. Starting in the early 60s American manufacturing went though a rethinking process that cheapened almost everything. Parts that had been previously forged and machined where now stamped or cast. This occurred across American industry from the sewing machine industry to firearms, cars, electric fans, you name it.

Look at 50s or earlier sewing machine and you'll find machined parts. Rarely will you see a stamped part. Then in the 60s machines went to stamped metal parts and yes, plastic gears. Just pop the top on a "modern" machine and what do you see?
Everything except rods or shafts will be stamped or plastic. You can stamp metal cheaply and you can cast plastic really cheap.
It's all cost related. It doesn't matter if it's a Bernina or a Chinese made Singer. Gears are complicated to machine, so they use plastic cos they are cheap.

Joe

We'll have to agree to disagree Joe. And honestly, I buy what I want to buy without "permission". Just saying, that raises hackles on my flesh....my husband doesn't tell me anything. LOL.

Yes, nylon is in the grouping of plastic, but it's a heavy duty polymer product. Send any Berninas you don't want my way....

Well, we can agree on buying what we want and not asking permission. That's something.

As for sending you Berninas well, my wife would want first dibs on them.

Joe

The Bernina's have such great value and appeal they'll always find a market and a home, so repairing is a moral imperative.

Well stated Joe. AND to top that off when my son was learning blacksmithing one of the men told me that one or two colleges are beginning to teach them how to do blacksmithing these days because they don't understand metals any more - not even after 4 years of college. :mad:

Yes and getting 35-45 years out of a machine and then replacing one part is not something I worry or lose sleep over. Especially since the parts are readily available. No biggie... I bet in 35-45 years I have more parts replaced than my Berninas and Elnas:>

Hello, again, Irene/Kittywolf. As I said when I replied to Carolines post about her 544 on Sat, the Lydia is infamous for having a cracked camstack and sometimes broken smaller gears, as Joe noted. She was the first Italian Necchi that they tried using plastic in and the combination of the plastic and metal parts in the camstack did not fare well together. One of our OSMG's theorized that the metal and plastic expand at different rates and over the years, the plastic surrendered. Over the years most of the camstacks developed cracks to one degree or another. If it's not cracked too badly she'll sometimes still do straight st and zz but no dec stitches. I have a Necchi list on Yahoo and some of our members do have intact Lydias but not many. Kim posted there today that she has one that is still intact. They used to be available from Allyn Int'l, the US Necchi distributor, but they stopped having them several years ago. Some of the replacements were black so if you find one with a black camstack, it might be ok.

The camstack used to be available but at about $90-120 but from Dan's post, they've gone up a lot!. If anyone would like to find out more about the vintage Italian Necchis, come join the group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/necchisewingmachineclub/

We have a sister group, the Sewing Circle, where we have a manual and a service manual too for the Lydia. I cringe every time I see a Lydia on ebay and try to clue the seller into this so they'll check it out. One last week did and changed his listing to it being a parts machine. She's so beautiful it's a shame she has this problem. There are so many other vintage Italian Necchis that are wonderful so please don't think they're all like the Lydia!

Joe, several members have tried to glue the cs back together without success, don't know if the glue you mentioned would work or not. And, as you said, other machines have plastic gear problems too. I had a Singer 457 with a cracked gear, got the gear and was going to try to replace it but finally lost interest. Some of the Singer 600 series had metal gears and some had plastic so it was important to check these out before buying one.

whatever the reason for the plastic cams... its a shame either way! :(

When I was at Ray White's class a lady found camstacks made by someone in Wisconsin and they are good ones. I think Ray has the info. or maybe google