Singer 101 With An Odd Attachment
I recently got an aluminum 101, with a serial # from 1924. It was in a bentwood case (clearly not the original) which had some rough holes drilled here and there to reorient the wiring for a Bakelite foot controller. The motor does run, but the sewing mechanism barely moves, so I have some work ahead of me.
As I'm beginning my inspection of the machine I'm baffled by an...an...an I-don't-know-what-it-is just above the medallion. It's right where every photo of a 101 I've found online has a large screw (right next to the screw to remove the motor).
It kind of looks like maybe a lubrication port, but I've never seen one on the side of a machine. I probed the hole with a jeweler's screwdriver, and it hit something soft, like maybe a wick? When I pulled the screwdriver out, it had just a little bit of black oil on it. So, maybe it is for lubrication. However, looking an Instruction Manual I just got today for 101-3/101-11, it doesn't say anything about adding oil there. And, the illustrations are too small for me to differentiate whether it is showing this round thing with a hole in it or a large screw.
Any idea what this is? [ATTACH=CONFIG]620803[/ATTACH]