Originally Posted by
lots2do
That table looks a lot sturdier than my Joann's one. Nice job!
I think it is. It's got 4 chairs hiding in the middle of it, and the wood trim is actual wood, not pressboard like the ones I see in the fabric store here.
Originally Posted by
sweetpea
Who need s the antique show? great finds.
no kidding, eh? I was humming and hawwing as to whether I wanted to go, because it costs $30 for us to just walk in the door. (parking and admission) This was a way better expenditure of money.
Originally Posted by
janiesews
You got awesome things! Be sure to check around the bobbin area for threads. When I got one of my 301-A's, it had several threads that were caught and keeping it from going properly. Now she sews like a dream. Enjoy your goodies!
This one was surprisingly free of threads. I found one that easily tugged out. The motor pulley was seized. It's the second one I've found seized in a week. Once that started moving, I got oil and grease in all the requisite spots and it was turning perfectly.
Basically, 10 minutes spent to make sure it works, now comes the cleaning and adjusting.
Originally Posted by
J Miller
Is that a Bernina 730 and what's wrong with it?
You got a whopper of a bargain at that sale.
Joe
Good Eye, Joe! Yes, it's a 730. So far here's what I've found:
- Broken Cam gear - available for about $30, unsure about the labour.
- Needs a lower belt
- motor seems sluggish, I put "new" brushes in it to test, and it's fine without load, but any bit of load and it stops.
- the machine was completely seized up, not a smidge of movement when we got it. Then the handwheel started turning, but nothing else (neither shaft, no play at all), then a little more oil and it started turning... it's hard to rurn right now, tighter than I'd expect a motor to turn it.
- The needle position mechanism is chipped (the part the user doesn't see), it may be OK, but it may be a problem if it slips once the pin that selects the position unsticks.
The part that makes me crazy is there's one shop in the city I keep hearing about bad tuneups. She took it to them because it was running slowly and not sewing well a couple of years ago. The brushes were nubs. She said when it came back it was still too slow, but it sewed.... its so seized right now, I doubt they did much, barely oiled it, there's practically no residue. This one's going to be a lot of work, and that's IF I can get it going. She was going to take it back to them and give it to them for parts. She said I could have it instead.
She wanted to buy a new machine that just worked, so I'm going to take a machine I have here that's tuned up and read to go and give it to her, regardless of whether I get this one working or not.
Originally Posted by
oldtnquiltinglady
I am going to look up what the moon signs were in when you went out; then I'll be looking for a show of this type. I do LOVE to find awesome deals like this; and so does my husband. You only spent about $100 that whole weekend, huh?????
No kidding!! Let me know what they were too? That way I can plan my next outing
Total spent yesterday was $51. There's a LOT of elbow grease needed on all of this stuff though.