ArizonaKAT

It probably just needs a good cleaning and oiling. The 401s seem to need more cleaning then the others. It's sitting in the garage since I got the 500. Now I'm spurred on to go back and try it again.

miriam

There have been some 401s, 500s and 600s I've spend a few hours cleaning up the stitch selector things. If they are not 100% clean they will not work 100%. They do require a bit of maintenance from time to time, too.

J Miller

If you don't treat that 401a with the respect it's due the sewing gremlins will visit your other machines and put thread nests under the needle plate. Uh huh, they will.

Joe

MadCow333

I had a Singer model 6268 that I sunk a LOT of money into. I had almost all the little cartridges, the embroidery hoop, attachments, all kinds of crap. I forget what all. But I never could get the tension adjusted on it. Neither could two Singer-approved service centers. It would sew for a while, then the tension would go on a drunken binge or something. And before I could shut the machine off, it would have snapped the upper thread, made a mess of my sewing project, fuzzied-up the upper tension discs, and set me up for 30-45 minutes of detangling and futzing before I could get it to stitch right again.

When I moved in 2005, I packed up that 6268, with all of it's glorious cartridges and embroidery hoop and all, and just GAVE it to the local Singer repair shop on my way out of town. Good riddance! Dang, I wasted a lotta cash on that POS.

I had a couple of 99s, but they were just kind of an annoyance. Heavy, and too much vibration, etc. Didn't like their motors, either. Would rather use a 66 or 15 or 201 or any other full size. Sold them.

I have one little Godzilla 128 shuttle machine, I think it's a Centennial model, and I think I mostly keep it because otherwise it would just be scrap metal to someone. It rocks and rolls so bad that I have to put a router pad under it to keep it from skidding off the table. It's an econo machine. Would be dandy with a handcrank, but I have old tread head 127s with HC and don't need another HC machine.

I bought some kind of early '80s Montgomery Ward machine because it only cost $15 or so and had a freearm and did 1 million built-in stitches. It worked great, but I just didn't like the "feel" of it, so I donated it to the student house of a nursing school so that they'd have something to mend uniforms with. haha

MadCow333

I'm thinking about selling off my Swing Needle collection, too. I sold the brown crinkle 306 last year. I still have a real nice black 206k, a black 306k, a green 319k, and I think I might have a black 319k as well. K, W, whatever. They are quirky machines, and are really best-suited to being mounted in a cabinet. pitb to change the bobbin if the machine is in a portable case / wooden base.

MadCow333

correction on the 6268: I actually gave it away in 2001, before I moved. hehe I truly hated that machine.

KenmoreRulesAll

This thread is full of hate.

I have a New Home that sews very, very slowly. I can't figure it out and don't have time but like the looks of it so I haven't trashed it:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]489328[/ATTACH]

But I reserve some intense disdain for a modern Singer plastic machine I was given, the 'Esteem'. It actually does sew but it feels like a toy and sounds terrible.

miriam

It likely needs oil is one little tiny place you missed or a different motor. How does it turn by hand with out the belt?

KenmoreRulesAll

It turns fine by hand and I oiled the hell out of it. Wiring issue? I haven't spent any time on it, so now I need to plug it in and try again. I don't think this is the one I fried. Was that the Emdeko?

Cari-in-Oly

I've read many, many posts on a different group about what a lemon the 6268 was. You're not alone in your feelings for that machine.

Cari