I was down in the basement testing needles in my New Home AB, Minnie. I had been running it with a shallow seated 15x1 but had a strange needle that might have been a 135x17. It's a round shank needle the same length as the 20x1s so I thought I'd give it a test.
The needle fit in the needle clamp. It passed through the needle plate without any interference problems and then it picked up the bobbin thread just fine.
That's where all the good things ended. It would sew about an inch then break the thread. Upon close inspection with a magnifying hood I found this needle had no scarf or thread grove. It only had what might have been called a slight scallop around the eye on both sides. So this needle went back in my box as an unknown.
After that I put in a genuine 20x1 needle and boy oh boy did Minnie come to life. That needle made a whale of a difference. So, I've got to buy some for her and the Greyhound.
About then I heard someone knock on the door. Wife answered it. Lots of happy talking and not long after I was called upstairs.
The visitors were a couple my wife knew from her last job. The guy lost his job the same day my wife did April 2nd when the company closed the doors and let them all go. His girl friend was an X-GF of a former juvenile delinquent neighbor boy. She ditched him when she caught him making kissy face with another girl.
She was holding a white plastic bodied Singer sewing machine and wanted to know if we could tell her what to ask for it. It was a model 3210 with the 150th Anniversary decal on it. We were interested but no funds to buy. (We {I} figured we needed a modern machine to show just how good the older ones were.)
I found out the reason they were trying to raise money was to get their gas turned back on. Gal starts a new job next Monday, but for now they are hurting with no way to cook meals. The guy asked me if I had a grill they might borrow and we didn't. Then an idea hit me.
I have three Coleman camp stoves. One has an adapter for propane and I don't really use that one, so I offered them a trade for the machine. I was a bit startled when they jumped at the offer. The gal said she had the part that turns the free arm to a flat bed and the accessories but had forgotten them. Would bring them tomorrow. My wife trusts them so the deal was struck.
After they left I sat down and studied the strange white plastic blob that was supposed to be a sewing machine.
Quite a few built in stitches. Satin stitches, stretch stitches, two button hole stitches, and a feed dog drop control. Hmmmm ... says I. They said the machine works so I wanted to try it.
Got it plugged in and was trying to figure out how to thread it when I realized the plastic thread peg is broken off. Oh well, go get the thread stand we use for the serger cones and use that. That done I followed the map drawn on the machine to thread it. Then ran into some trouble with the stitch selection knob. Figured out that the button hole stitch balance adjustment knob can be turned too far and that locks up the stitch selector. Turned it back a bit and that problem was solved.
Then I put a new single needle in it, a Singer 90-14. There was a double needle in it, but I don't test with those at first. I found out right quick there is NO room under that harp to work. I had fits getting that needle into the clamp. Once the needle was in I threaded it and pulled up the bobbin thread.
Then the test stitches. Oh dear, here's a problem. No tension. None. Wife said see if you can fine a manual on line. I did. Sat here and studied the 62 page manual and it didn't tell me anything I hadn't already figured out.
We checked the bobbin carrier, it's plastic but it came with metal Class 15 bobbins in it. Hmmmm? In the bottom of the carrier is a magnet. Metal must be OK if there's a magnet. The manual does not specify what class bobbin or plastic or metal. We'll probably use plastic bobbins in it in the future. Unless we find out otherwise. We also pulled the bobbin carrier and found one of the corners has a broken place. Oh drat, two things to replace now. But thankfully it still works OK.
This machine has all the upper tensions hidden under the plastic body. Can't see a thing. So I pulled the nose off and looked, still couldn't see anything. There was one more small part to the top thread path covering the tension so I took that off too. Ah HaW! Now I can see something. I wasn't getting the thread down between the tension disks. Dummy me. Put it all back together, re-threaded it, and this time it worked. Whooo Hoooo!
I ran it through all the stitches and every one of the worked perfectly. Not one dropped stitch or boo boo.
The machine is extremely simple to use. No computers either. Thankfully. Had there been I'd not been interested. I hate the sound of it though. It sounds like ... like ... ewww ..... plastic. Barf ....
So we have a new machine to tinker with. The couple we got it from has something to cook their food on and hopefully all will be well.
Naw, we couldn't be that lucky.
Tomorrow I'm going to wash the machine till it shines, then when they bring the accessories I'll do an inventory to see what we need. After that there's a really good chance this machine will be sent to my step son in Arizona. We promised him one some time back but each and ever one we've got for him ...... well we can't seem to turn loose of it. Maybe this one will be different.
Joe