Miriam, regarding the cleaning of machines and needing/or not the kerosene bath: When I got my 1890 Davis VF machine it was gunked up really good with old sticky oil. All I did was use new sewing machine oil to liberally coat all the moving parts and let it sit for a while, then wiped them all clean with rags, Qtips, floss, etc., and literally all the gunk came off. I took off the slide plates and the face plate and cleaned all under them, same way. She moves smoothly and does a great stitch.

I have to agree with you...it has to be a really really sad, rusty mess to need total stripping down.

I couldn't agree more! There's NO reason to totally tear down and strip a machine if it's moving, or can be made to move!! You're asking for trouble, IMO....besides some of the cleaners being harsh on the paint and decals!

The machine I probably should tear completely down is Mr. Rusty. A sad little 99K I got free for nothing because he was rusted tight. By all the debris inside I'll bet he was caught in a flood. When I got him the bobbin was still all threaded up and the needle was still there. All rusted. Using G96 gun cleaning solvent, then Liquid Wrench, and a lot of labor I've freed him up and have most of the bottom parts out for deeper cleaning. For the top and the main shaft I am going to give that a kerosene or diesel flushing in the near future. There is just no way to flush out the rest of the debris and rust without a lot of liquid to do the flushing.
Rusty is another of my junk machines I just can't stand to see go to waste. I was going to part him out but now that I'm getting him freed up, I think I'll make a hand crank machine out of him. That aughta be fun.

Joe

I purchased a walking foot for the FW 221 from Quiltgal and I couldn't get it to fit. Then I contacted April1930s and we corresponded a bit...she mentioned to me that the thread cutter has to come off. Today I went back to the FW, took the thread cutter off and put the walking foot on with no problem!!! I played a bit and thought it's not going to work cuz the needle hole in the walking foot didn't align exactly with the needle hole in the plate, but I began to sew and it works wonderfully!! So....don't throw the walking foot away...try it again after removing the thread cutter!

I think its because they are of the mindset that nobody would ever want to sew with such old machines, therefore they have no value. Its just sad.

A couple years ago I got 10 machines from a flood. The best 2 were an old Singer 66 and a Universal (15 clone) Just liberally brushed on some kerosene and it cleaned up the debris. There was some rust but it cleaned up just fine. Never did have to take it apart all that much. Others on here like to hand crank those old 99s. What do you do for a bobbin winder and hand wheel?

Miriam,

Places like Sew-Classic sell spoked hand wheels and the hand crank kits. Once installed you use your original bobbin winder. They drive off the wheel just like before.

Do you have any parts left from any of the machines? I'm looking for a rotary oscillator, a thread take-up lever assembly and feed dog screw for my 99K.
I could also use a motor and wiring assembly for it if you had any.
And I need a motor for a 66-18.

OK, that's enough mooching.

I took Rusty apart as far as I have because I had to get the rust out of all the joints and connections. One of those things that if I didn't have to, I wouldn't have.

Joe

I don't have much for parts, I might have a motor lamp and wiring from a 99 I made into a HC - it had a bent shaft and seemed to like HC better than the motor - sold it. I have a couple 66s I wanted to HC but there is no motor boss. One just has a hole - probably someone tapped it to mount the motor.

Oops. I put the lamp on DGDs Spartan.

"Places like Sew-Classic sell spoked hand wheels and the hand crank kits. Once installed you use your original bobbin winder. They drive off the wheel just like before."
Nope some of the bobbin winders do not go from a small balance wheel to a larger balance wheel. Not that simple all the time.