Touch & Sew-II Singer
 

I just received a FREE Touch & SewII Singer (special zig-zag sewing machine) the book says copyright 1975. Does anyone else have one of these and should I take the time to clean it up and use it? It has all the attachments with it and I'm searching for the manual now. Any info would be helpful. I'm looking to use it for straight seams for quilting projects but if I get it up and running and it is a "keeper" may use it for other things. Thanks for your help - I've learned a lot from you since I found this site back in November 2011!

it was my first New machine and i loved it i ran it till it died

I llove my touch N sew. Bought in 63 & love sewing raggy quilts on it. bought a 2nd one recently need inst book. Only problem with them some have plastic gears & older ones
have metal but they do run well & like the touch N sew feature & the 1/4" foot.

I have a 62 Touch N sew. It's a great machine. An all metal workhorse. Congrats!!

It is a great machine...... Still use mine for a special effect!!!! Love using it

That was the machine I got from my DH the year we got married! At the time, it was a fantastic machine, but I never even got close to using all the cams/bells and whistles it came with. When I moved back here from Vanuatu a couple years ago, I ended up getting rid of it-couldn't use it there (220 elect) so it just sat in the closet for 20 years. The casing yellowed with the heat and humidity and I just tossed it with all the attachments. I MIGHT have the manual, though, which was in a box I THINK I brought back. I will check. I had the button holer attachment and a big box of "stuff" that went with it, but I don't know if I brought that back. I will check and get back to you.

good machine, I have my Mom's. but you cant get parts for them anymore. that is the only draw back

I still have one and it works beautifully. I get it serviced about once a year. Works great. It was made when Singers were Singers.

I love em. I have 2. I have no trouble getting parts

Love my 600--a workhorse. hubs cleans and oils periodically and I keep sewing .

Yeah, I'm impressed with the 756 and the other 600 series (even though I feel the lever design is more finicky and time consuming to work on thus requiring more patience). I just started working on another, my 5th (plus a Futura 900 though isn't a T&S) that's a 758 with the most frustrating confusing experience of the timing going out of wack. Eventually, I found the YT video "Singer 758 Touch & Sew rebuild Incl/timing belt & gears.Worth it if you love your T&Sew (video 158)" by Randy Your Sewing Machine Man that led me in the right direction being the belt as the causing once I shined a light on and inspected more in detail.

Then searching around I saw the method Mikegenwood and another user used and am thinking will give that a more thorough review and try. Possibly using the 3M PR# (not sure which number yet) Scotch-Weld adhesive as a test if I can get some free samples maybe. :-).

I tried superglue first with backer material and it didn't work at all. It wasn't just the strength of the bond, the break gap between the teeth also stretches.
Before changing out the belt, you should try cleaning the gunk out from between the gear teeth (holes really) and the belt teeth. This alone can cause timing to go out. Then try tightening the belt which is very easy and covered in my pictures showing how to change the belt

I have a 603 T&S I bought from Goodwill on impulse. I think it is the same machine design. It takes a plastic bobbin which you can empty by simply twisting apart. But you don’t need to empty the bobbin or unthread the needle to fill the bobbin. All you do is press a small button, raise the presser foot and wind the thread around the foot screw, step on the foot pedal and the bobbin winds in place. Nice, right? The needle plate pops out for cleaning and changing. No screws to remove. You can still buy those bobbins at Joanns. I really like piecing on the Singer Slant. So much visibility and control. I almost forgot the best part, the stitch. This machine has the most beautiful straight stitch of all my machines. One thing I don’t like is that plastic bobbin. You can’t really fill it and if you go over the designated fill line it snaps in half. Not the worst problem since putting thread on the bobbin is pretty easy. The 603 has steel gears but I think the 700’s have nylon. If you decide to clean it up careful with the oil around that nylon. Bet you can download a free copy of the owners manual off the internet. Good luck

Yes, the 603 and 600 are the metal beveled gear drive design and a much better design I feel from what I've observed, though have only been working on sewing machines for little over a year. The 700 series uses a timing belt to drive the lower end of the machine, where-as the 600 series from what I've seen uses a drive shaft with bevel gears on each end of a vertical shaft instead of a timing belt and on the upper and lower horizontal drive shafts a bevel gear instead of a timing belt pulley.
I do wonder what all can be done to have options to retro-fit the 700 series with either the bevel gear design or maybe even a better quality timing belt material or timing belt pulley and timing belt.

These are good machines. Created to be a machine used in schools. However, if you do not use them... let them sit for years and do not keep them oiled and maintained, they are notorious for the gears breaking. As long as you use it, you should be good.

That was my very first machine! I was 17. Took all my babysitting money and bought it. I had it for years and years and knew everything to know about that machine. One day, I went into our local sewing shop and purchased my first computerized machine. I ended up donating my machine complete with manual and cams to a young girl who I was told had nothing and just wanted to sew. When asked how much I wanted for it, I said I would appreciate a thank you note. I guess it should surprise no one that I never got a thank you note. But she got a good machine and I sure hope it served her well because that was a good machine!