EMDEKO
It was a Saturday and Janey and I stopped by the local Goodwill. Usually I go directly to one of the places they tend to have sewing machines, mixed in with blenders, stereos and other stuff. Sometimes Janey takes a little longer to get there. I had already spotted a likely looking unmarked case and had it out on the floor removing the top when Janey walked up. As I looked at the unknown sewing machine, Janey let out a gasp. As I turned to look, she was off like a shot, soon returning with a cart. Without the usual "does the handwheel turn?" or "is the bobbin case there?" the machine went into the cart. Plop.
Flashbacks are On
Flashback about eighteen months. Janey had found a nice set of cams in a large clamshell case, for a good price. As it happens, it was at the very same Goodwill. The clamshell case had probably been left in the sun or some other source of heat, making the case bow outward. It closed, but if you shook the case, the cams would come loose from their little pegs. Janey had the idea to put the case under a stack of phone books to flatten it out. We may have checked it after a few days, putting it right back. I don't think we thought of it again. After all, under a stack of phone books is a pretty easy place to forget.
So it was a gasp of pleasant surprise, when Janey realized that this machine took the cams we had forgotten, while at the same time remembering the cams we had not thought of in well over a year.
(Emdeko Machine and Cams)
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This Emdeko is one heavy machine, which was immediately apparent in carrying it from the store to the car. At home, it fit nicely into the workstand, using the Singer universal baseboard.
Stand Readjustment
Being so heavy, the workstand is even more helpful than usual. I had guessed its weight at over forty pounds, but when I weighed it, it is actually thirty-six. Because of the weight and the lower distribution of it, I decided to move the pivot point of the frame uprights from the 3" position to the 2" position, which achieved a nearly perfect balance. (The picture above was taken before doing this) I remember Janey's look, as the kid in me had the Emdeko spinning around in the workstand more than once a second, just tapping the upright a little on each rotation. That's more than 60 RPM.
One reason for the weight of the Emdeko is that there is a very substantial motor which is covered by a cowling which is molded on the rear of the pillar. It makes for a very solid and seemingly rugged machine.
Another Swing Frame
This experience with the Emdeko has me thinking that I should change the hole spacing in the uprights by about one-half inch. I generally leave the pivots at the 3" offset, accepting a little variation from machine to machine. Using the 3" location, many machines are just a little "bottom heavy."
Since there are holes every inch, this will require making another swing frame with the half-inch change to the uprights to test how it works. It will also give me a chance to photograph the process, since I didn't take pictures of the making of the first swing frame. I'll post pictures of the making of the new swing frame here.
John