Rose_P

Good point. The pedal doesn't work. I have opened it up to see why, and it's not the wiring but some broken parts that don't allow it to make a connection. Since the wires are a bit stiff anyway, I opted to replace the pedal with a new, pre-wired one. I believe the machine will be okay. It makes pretty stitches with just turning the hand wheel. I could treadle it, if nothing else. No sledgehammer for this one.

Thanks, everyone, for all the kind interest and help! I do have at least one hopeless mess of a machine, a Kenmore with plastic innards, that may have quit sewing the first time it was used. It looked as if nobody had ever used it, and I paid very little, which I don't regret because it came with several shiny new feet, screwdrivers, needles and such, and a working 1.0 amp motor. I wound up using the foot pedal from it on an older machine.

The sad thing about a bad machine is that the person who had it originally may have been someone with no sewing experience who may have given up the whole idea of sewing because of the hopelessness and disappointment it caused. These machines came with impressive warranties, but inexperienced owners sometimes don't take them in because they assume it's something they're doing wrong. If anything ever deserved a sledge treatment, that was it.