Amy,
It looks like it may have
originally came with a foot controller that would have been wired through the empty hole next to the power cord. I'm curious as to what the knob in front of the pillar does. When you said "It makes noise," I initially thought that maybe it was broken gears or belt. I found this site
http://zipsanddarts.blogspot.com/201...oy-sewing.html that shows two of them threaded and says that it takes 24x1 needles.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.