Singer 411G, spool pin pads?
I pounced on a 411G today that showed up in Kijiji. It's pretty much "mint" except for the spool pins.
The pins are present, but they flop around. When I looked at the machine, the guy said that he'd made sure they were the right pins (and they look like it), but there was some sort of pad that belonged under them that had crumbled away. I don't have a parts chart for the 411, so I can't look up Singer's part number for it, and google was a swing and a miss.
I have a small piece of it, and it's really weird looking. It's sort of cellular looking, like a piece of corral or a dried up sponge.
My question is, why would it be there? Why make the recess for the pins, then pad it out?
If I know why, I might know what.
As in what sort of thing to use to replace that padding. It's hard and crumbly now, but I don't know what it was like when it was healthy...
I was thinking of using some spool pin felts doubled up til I get the right thickness, but if that padding was firmer, perhaps I need something else?
Either way, the machine is currently marinating in tri-flow.
Picked up a 115 from the same guy too.