Final Update - Dressmaker SS 2402
Well, the old girl is back home after an extended stay (accidentally) at my sewing machine guy and she's running better than ever.
I took her in the middle of October when she suddenly started spitting out birds nests under my fabric and after countless hours of trying to adjust both the top and the bottom tension and getting zero results, I pulled her out of the cabinet and off we went.
One thing about my machine guy is, he doesn't mix words and he doesn't lie, when I took her in and he took one look, he openly admitted there was a slim chance of ever finding parts for the machine. I told him I understood and I knew he wasn't a miracle worker, if it looked like if a part needed to be replaced and he couldn't find it, he said he would get me into a good, used Janome for a good price. I trust this guy implicitly and with his wife being an avid quilter, he knows that a good running machine is everything.
I wasn't able to pick her up until last week, thankfully he doesn't charge storage and I did call a couple of times to say that I would get there, it was just taking longer than I hoped. When I showed up and he pulled it out, we sat down and went through everything he did.
No new parts needed, there were places that were still gummed up and his repair guy practically took it completely apart to clean it all out. The timing was way, way off, which he fixed, adjusted the tension knobs as they were gummed up as well and cleaned out the bobbin mechanism below, it was filled to the brim with lint. I have to admit, I'm always scared to death to deal with that part of the machine, I never even thought about breaking into that to clean it and was the main issue for the nesting. Last thing he did was put a new spindle on the top of the machine since the two were broke off in back. He also replaced the belt.
Overall, he only charged me $25, his standard cleaning fee but I know there was a lot more work that was put into the machine to charge me so little. Once I got it back home and back in the cabinet, I sent a piece of scrap through it and I was completely amazed, I thought it was quiet before, this thing is whisper quiet now.
Last but not least, just a little more information for those that have found one and looking for info, this is a high shank machine, you can find feet for it on Amazon and I know there is an adapter for it if you want to switch to snap-on feet. I'm not-so-patiently waiting for my quarter inch quilting foot to arrive today. I still do not know the manufacturer of this machine, but I am still actively looking and I do not have the owners manual. Should I find out either, I will be sure to post it here.