Originally Posted by
WIChix
A vintage machine would have to be abused quite badly to throw off the timing. I believe one would see, at a minimum, lots of needle strikes on the needle/stitch plate.
When I get a machine, I clean and oil, but don't touch the tension at all, until after I see how it stitches. I'll adjust the tension if needed, but don't remove it to deep clean/polish -yet. Checking in this manner separates the machine capability from user error.
This is exactly what I do. Often and good cleaning and oiling is all that is needed and, as you say, It eliminates a lot of "user error" especially when you're new to vintage machines and just following youtube with little other knowledge.