mea12

I have a Singer 403 that i just love as much as my expensive modern machines and ordered a free-motion (darning) foot from Sew-Classic to see how she quilts! Any tips or thoughts on this? I would love to know if others have used these machines for this purpose with success? Also, I wonder if there is a different foot pedal that doesn't use the button in the left corner? That tends to slip away and when i do use it, the "button" on the pedal is hard to use without a few passes...slows me down.. anyway..i have had several vintage Singers over the years and berninas also but in a massive down-sizing, this is the one i choose to keep. Such an exquisite machine!

crafty pat

I have the 401A and love how it quilts. I use a piece of foam under my foot pedal and it stops it from sliding.

Irishrose2

You can replace the foot controller. I put a used wide one on one of my 301s. I love FMQ with my slant needle machines, but the 301s have vertical bobbins and they are supposed to feed better for FMQ. My 404 has a horizontal bobbin, so your 403 may, too. I haven't tried FMQ with that one.

nlpakk

I would love to know the answer to the FMQ question too. I just bought a 403A, not sure if it is different than the 403, for $20.00. It needed a foot pedal which hasn't come yet plus we discovered the motor needed some attention which hubby has fixed and also the needle is not coming down in the center when the straight stitch is selected, it's off to the right. Hubby is working on that. Even without the cord he was able to make it run but with a little smoke coming out of it which is now fixed. The commutator needed cleaning etc. I bought this at a Reuse store so figured it might need something.

bkay

The problem with the needle not coming down in the center is probably a clean and lubricate problem. Push just above the needle on that bar. It should go back and forth easily. If not, everything that moves (or should move) between the needle and the cam stack should be cleaned and oiled until it moves easily. Ditto behind the lever that controls the width of the zigzag.

Sometimes it takes more than one day to achieve "moves easily" as those 400 machines were built to tight tolerances. Almost all oils will dry up and leave a residue over time. Those dried oils are usually the problem with what you describe.

bkay

themadpatter

I have mine in a cabinet that has a knee control and it solves the problem of the button. It *has* a button controller,but the knee lever presses against a piece that presses on the button.

Cari, thanks for that good description of how you do that. I've never understood how it works til now.

nlpakk

Thanks bkay- It turned out not to be a lubrication problem. Someone had monkeyed with some screws up on top trying to adjust it. Hubby figured it out and it now runs although we haven't had a chance to really try it but seems to be moving fine now and not hitting the metal.

hobbykat1955

I can attest to above stmt on 301's...have 3 of them and I love doing FM on each. They do a better job then my modern machines.

vivisky

I have done a lot of FMQ on Singer 201 (which is not a slant like the 403) and it is wonderful. The 201 bobbin is same drop-in style as 401\403\404. I have replaced the original foot control on my 201 (and 401, which I dont use very much) with an electronic non-Singer foot controller. I believe I got it from AlphaSew.

vivisky

The Singer 301 is awesome too!