miriam

AH Charlee the 403 is my all time favorite zigzag machine!!! You can set the needle left, right and center even when you do decorative stitches. You need a complete set of disks anyway. I just cleaned a 503 up to sell, but it cleans the same. There is a little pin the needle bar goes on - to locate it, push on the needle bar and look down - see if it has any dried on oil. That needs to clean off with a solvent. Then when you have that cleaned and the lid off, push on it again. Watch under the rectangle thing next to the disk... Oh silly me, remove the disk. Then look way down there next to that round thing and over it to the left - ah you maybe found it - another of those pins. Get the oil off it. The clean the readers above it. Get the oil off all that stuff and re-oil. Then clean the rest like normal. You should be good to go for a nice sewing session. http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...3a-t70011.html some more info - page 2 shows the needle bar and pin. You'll have to find the other one on your own. Those are very frequently gunked up when they follow me home. Any zz slant-o-matic gets gunk there. I frequently have had to pay more for the attachments than the machines - probably because nobody cleans that gunk out.

quiltdoctor

At least your had her clothes. My Singer 127 was nekkid !!!

Texas Jan

Charlee

I'm not sure where to find the bobbin cover...but as I'm out and about looking for attachments and cams, I'll keep my eyes open for you!! Cosmetically, this one needs the knob for the needle position...

Charlee

I really did not want one of these machines! Don't ask me why, they just did not appeal to me at all... the only reason I had attachments and cams for one is that I saw them in the thrift stores here and knew others here might want them, so I picked them up with no intention of keeping them! Until now, the attachments were pretty common to find, now I suspect that since I want some, they'll be scarce!

I do know folks that keep parts they can't use as "bait" for the machine they fit... LOL!

Charlee

Her dress has some issues too...looks like someone painted her with stain or thin paint that's going to have to come off... but I have more fun with that than I do with making the machine work!

Charlee

Thanks Miriam! I'm sure I'm going to be picking your brain lots!! This one doesn't SEEM as simple as the other girls in the herd...
There's one cam in place....I haven't yet figured out how to get it out, and haven't yet found a manual for a 403, altho the page you sent me to says the 503 manual is nearly identical.
Also...will ANY of the top hat cams work with this machine? Didn't the 403 just come with 5 cams?

Crossstitcher

Charlee, maybe once she is cleaned and you try to sew with her, she will be go thankful that you saved her and brought her in from the cold that she will make the prettest stitches in hopes that you will keep her.

Charlee

She's staying with me Trish, much to the disappointment of the spousal unit! I just plugged her in tho, just to test, believe I have the wrong power cord (it has 3 prong holes, the machine has 2 prongs)....no power. Gonna hafta figure that out too!

bdschafer

I know this is not a vintage machine, but I'm hoping that you folks will know your machines!! I'm looking for a machine that will do free motion quilting. A friend is happy with her Brother PQ1500. It only does straight sewing and that is ok with me, as I have another machine (Singer 500) that does other things, but it does not like to do free motion!!! My question is- is this a good machine or is there another that would be better??? I found the Brother on e-bay for $600. I sure would like any suggestions that you folks might have.
Thanks.

Candace

Congrats on your 403. I have a 401 I've had to play with just a touch to get it in tip top shape. You'll love it. Yours will take any of the black, top hat cams. It's a sweet quilting machine. I spent all day quilting on it yesterday. I'm not thrilled with the FMQ on it though, but that's due to the drop in bobbin , I suspect. I will give it another go since I had to remove and tweak the bobbin case a bit.

To mom-6 you should be using metal bobbins on this machine, so there's your problem, probably! The ones at JoannesWalmart tend to be too small in the center(junk). So order them from Sew Classic. I need to place an order myself...