Shuttles, worn and not worn
There was a thread here a few days ago about something, that ended up discussing worn out shuttles.
I can't find it now. Probably looking right at it, but I don't remember the title.
OK, so I'll start another one.
I have a cute little Minnesota Mdl B with a genuine worn out Davis shuttle in it.
Minerva:
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Luckily I have a couple spares:
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In the two pics above you can clearly see the wear on the original shuttle, foreground and left. The little notch on the left and the knife edge thin opening on the worn shuttle are signs of extreme wear.
The thing is, the Minnesota and many other shuttle type machines have a small pocket right by the edge where the shuttle swings back and forth.
Here's another pic of Minerva showing the pocket with red felt in it.
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There is a horizontal oil passage from the pocket to the wall the shuttle slides against. Keeping this oiled will help prevent wear.
When I got Minerva the pocket was full of solidified and petrified something. I had to dig it out, clean the pocket, clean the horizontal passage and then insert a new piece of rolled up felt. Now when I use the machine I keep that oiled and it does make a difference. It doesn't seem to sew much if any different, but it is quieter.
Here is a pic of the shuttle from my New Home Model AB.
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The circle at the pointy end is indicating a hole caused because of the extreme wear. The big notch at the rear is also due to the wear.
Now, the New Homes I have do not have a pocket to keep the shuttle oiled. It would be up to the user to put a drop of oil on the wall when using it.
The New Home uses a Davis #3 shuttle {I believe} and if anyone has a good one they'd like to part with please contact me.
I have six shuttle bobbin machines:
Minnesota Mdl B
Free Mdl CE
Franklin 1911
Singer 127
New Home AB
New Home Greyhound Mdl 30
All have a pocket for oiling the shuttle except the New Homes.
So, if you have a machine with a hole right besides the wall the shuttle rides against, clean it out, put some felt it in and oil it. Your machine will thank you.
Joe