Pheonix 82
PHOENIX 82 SEWING MACHINE
I've been working on a Phoenix 82. There was a reason it was incredibly cheap... Maybe two... To be safe, it should be rewired but not hard to do. The machine was well used but well taken care of - some time ago. It had the usual sitting around surface grime and on first glance internally looked clean and cared for. I noticed the pressure foot was hung up and hovering high over the feed dogs but I thought I would test it with free motion... Thread kept breaking or shredding... I checked for burrs any where along the thread path. I cleaned off more dried oil. I thought I already got it all with naphtha but when I went back over it with denatured alcohol it still came up with something yucky. There are places you just can't see to inspect and you can't feel there very easily either. The going over again includes thread guides, tension unit removal and a thorough clean up. Internally the hammer lever thingy behind the tension unit was not moving properly on closer examination so that has been corrected... I think so any way. I cleaned and cleaned invisible dried oil... Then the bobbin area has throughly been gone over checking for burrs and bobbin case taken apart and cleaned. It was the upper thread that kept breaking so I extra cleaned anything in the thread path. The throat plate shows signs of honing so I suspect it was in a shop and it still had issues with shredding and breaking thread. From past experience, dried up oil can be the culprit. I just kept working it over alternating naphtha and denatured alcohol. It is now a fantastic machine. It sews zz and ss. Needle is center homing. I wish for a manual. What is the little thingy on the belt guard? It seems like it should be a thread guide. What is the thread path for the bobbin winder? The machines seems to be from late 1940's or early 1950's. It is light weight. It seems to be well engineered - so different from Singer. It could go on a treadle. The bobbin case is cool and supposed to be tangle free. So far I haven't tangled anything in the bobbin case. I should try to tangle it and see what it does. Note the hole the thread passes through at the top of the bobbin case. The bobbin in its case just fits its two prongs with a bar and the door shuts. Very simple. The zz only looks complicated. All it needs is the bottom lever to move in position and the knob above it turned to lock it in position. The two upper knobs can set where the zz can go. The Pheonix was made by The Baer & Rempel Sewing Machine Company.
i also posted this at the Victorian sweat shop with more pictures.
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