A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link
Or ~ Plastic parts will let you down every time.
A couple months ago while searching for our new digs here in Ft Wayne my wife and her sister stopped at a yard / estate sale. They found a White Model 1477 sewing machine. Looked pretty good, just dirty. Looks to be mid to late 80s vintage I'd guess and was made in Taiwan.
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Had the cords and foot controller as well as the accessories in a little swing out drawer underneath the removable bed.
The bobbin case and hook were missing. ( My SIL told me she saw that, but didn't think to mention it to my wife ...... grrrrrrrrr.)
As it turned out I had a hook that worked and was able to acquire a bobbin case. Problem solved - or so I thought.
With these two parts replaced I found out it would:
wind bobbins
sew straight and ZZ stitches.
But it would not do the two stretch stitches or the reverse half of the built in button hole.
Of comes the top. Nice and clean inside. Poke it here, poke it there, poke it, poke it everywhere.
Then the light bulb comes on ........ crap, cracked plastic parts. Arrghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
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The cams and the cam actuating disks are plastic (red). They look like separate disks on a shaft so they "shouldn't" give any trouble.
However, the two little pieces (yellow) that actuate the reverse levers to make the stitches reverse (blue) are cracked. They just turn on the shaft and cannot push the levers down to put the machine into reverse for the button hole and stretch stitches.
Other than the broken plastic parts this is a simple, quiet and nice running machine. It sews straight and ZZ stitches very well. But it's not completely functional.
I have told my wife to err on the side of caution and if a machine looks to be of recent enough manufacture to have plastic parts ... pass it by.
Now my question(s) for QB members is this. Is there a place to find parts for the foreign made White branded machines? I've been looking for a day or two and have only found the common easy to get parts. None of the internal parts.
I haven't been on eBay yet, I'll get there eventually.
Does anyone have one of these machines that works? If so could you pull the top off and take photos of the little winged parts (yellow lines in my pic) when they are in the proper position for the three stitch settings?
I'd appreciate any help I could get on this one.
I've considered putting super glue in the cracks and clamping them into position, but I need to know where they are supposed to be for the stitch settings.
Joe