I serviced a Singer 401A during the past few days, that the owner said has been in storage for over 20 years. I had no reason not to believe her, and was not looking forward to getting everything “un-stuck” to operate again. It is in a portable Singer snap-on case. Boy, was I surprised when I popped the case top off and began “feeling” the movement of things, only to discover that there wasn’t anything that didn’t move freely. Even the two cam controls slid easily full travel!
Now, cosmetically, the thing looks dirty with oil stains nearly all over it, inside and out, and you can tell that the previous user was “Old School” about keeping the machine oiled, but that may be what kept this machine in such good operating condition. I wish that I knew what kind of oil had been used liberally on this machine. Twenty-plus years ago, I don’t know that Tri-Flow was quite the rage that it is now, so it was probably some other type of oil.
I wonder if it was 3in1 Oil.....?
CD in Oklahoma