FW problems: Broken-off bobbin winder, broken bakelite brush cap
A friend/coworker recently asked if I could help her figure out how to fix, clean and use her grandmother's machine she had just inherited - of course I said yes. Turns out it's a Featherweight! A little beleaguered, but still working.
Most of the problems are just standard issues with needing to be cleaned and lubed but there are a couple things I'm not sure what to do about.
The worst, probably, is the bobbin winder arm has been snapped clean off. It looks like someone had trouble with it moving too much so they epoxied that pivot joint, and then later tried to force it to move and snapped the whole thing right off the machine. So there's a busted part that's been epoxied solid into a bad position. Is there ANYTHING I can do to fix that, that doesn't involve needing to know how to weld aluminum? Without having any clue what this epoxy is (it's very hard, and amber in color), any ideas for getting it off? Even if I can join that piece back to the body, if I can't get this hard junk off it's not going to do any good! If it can't be fixed...do those Sidewinder things fit FW bobbins? Or anybody have another creative solution?
Second issue I could use some advice on - one of the bakelite screws for the brushes has had its head sheared right off. The screw is now basically a plug that's a little lower than flush with the motor body. I don't want to drill it out because I'm afraid of getting bits down into the motor. I was thinking maybe I could try to cut a slot into it and try to screw it out? Or maybe glue something to the screw part itself and try to use that as a handle to unscrew it? Anybody have a slick solution for that?