Originally Posted by
SteveH
Well, for me it is the fact that the machines I acquire are almost all before SAE standards were adopted, so to replace a broken screw or bolt I have to make a new one.
That's not even just on older machines before the standards were adopted. Singer, for one, made their own screws for years. Once the standard came in in the early 1900s?, they kept using the screws they were using, because everything was already designed. And because they could. What a hassle though if you lose or break one. Good example: the stop motion screw (not the knob) on the 301 (built long after SAE was available) - "Singer thread". Discontinued. Am I bad person if I get frustrated and want to tap the knob out to a "normal" size?
No, I didn't do it.
