Originally Posted by
miriam
That little horizontal pin is easy to miss and hard to locate the first time - it throws everything off if it has one little teeny tiny dried up piece of oil - I clean it first thing when I do the top of the machine - q-tip and solvent. <snip> It doesn't take much dried up oil to stop up one of those Singer 401 machines.
Oh THAT pin!!
I do get that one, with the way I oil. Turning the hand wheel the whole time, when it moves, I squirt it.
They do require more exercise than the 403s for instance, but they're a very robust machine when properly cleaned then maintained. The problem with a lot of the ones we run into, especially at thrift stores, is they often have seen no maintenance for some time.
Think of its homecoming cleaning and oiling as bonding time.
BTW I run my 403 all the time with out the cam on there. Never had a problem - I don't get it I guess. I think it is the Singer 328, 319 etc - some other old machines you have to worry about.
I phrased that badly. A 403 will only do a straight stitch without cams. If you want anything, including a zig zag, you need cams. That said, the cams "duplicate" some of the built in stitches on the 401, and I usually like the fashion cam version better.
Originally Posted by
Stitchnripper
I will try and post a picture. The dial is stuck between the A and B. .
I had a sneaking suspicion that was going to be the answer. Try moving the right stitch selector into another position and see if the left one is willing to move. Try a few positions.
Originally Posted by
Stitchnripper
There is a piece about an inch square that is on the left of the cam stack
the one directly left of the center of the cam stack, right?
moves when I move the red stitch selector on the front of the machine. I can get the other stitch selector dial to move pretty freely.
Now I'm confused.
The red lever is stitch width (and has some other functions wit the built in cams).
So let's see if I have this right. Both "knobs" of the stitch selector (looks like a piggy snout) can move in or out as they're supposed to, and the inner one will turn, but the outer one won't, -and- the stitch width lever is still a little messed, yes? Have you been able to check to see if the needle bar is swinging freely yet? Push it at the joint, it will move about 1/4" to the right, and let go. It should snap back, not move lazily or stay put.
Originally Posted by
Stitchnripper
Here is a picture of the innards of my 401
I'd say that there's hardened oil or possibly even grease in between the "collar" and the pillar for the left side of the stitch selector. It looks "brownish" in between to me... it also looks ever so slightly "jammed", probably because of the stuck between a and B thing. If you turn the handwheel backward a smidge, the cam should turn backward a bit too, and you may be able to dislodge the finger for the left side selector.
Originally Posted by
miriam
It looks like your problem is NOT the spring - relief.
Do the knobs pull out or push in at all?
She said they did above (push in and pull out, but no turny on the left side is what I think I understood)... it really looks like the one is a little jammed though