Noise In Rocketeer
 

I just got a Singer Rocketeer and it sew beautifully after regular maintenance and cleaning but when I sew the cam stack constantly goes around. I hear a noise that I believe is the rotating cam shaft but is this normal or is there something else wrong.

The camstack rotates any time the machine is running. When the stitch selectors are in straight stitch mode (A-K), the cam followers are pulled away from the camstack so they do not move the needlebar left or right.

That's the good news - now for the bad. You should not hear a noise from the camstack. You don't say what kind of noise (squeak, grinding, clicking...) so it's kinda hard to diagnose from a distance. There is a gear below the camstack that benefits from grease but to get to it you have to remove the camstack and then you have camstack timing issues to deal with.

Ed

The cam stack can be lubed without removing it. Put some grease ( I like Tri-Flow ) in a curved tip syringe and you can lube the cam drive gear from the front. It's right under the stitch width red lever.
There are several places to oil it as well Right down the middle takes care of the axle. Threre is also a hole that if you position it to the left and drop some oil ( Oh, did I say I like Tri - Flow :D ) through the hole it will get under to the flapper pivot shaft.

As far as timing it goes, just put it back in the way you took it out. There is an index mark on the cam shaft and you can make your own on other parts so things go back they way the came out.

Joe

Joe, Gears should be greased - do you have a curved-tip syringe that will squirt grease? Oil is fine in the short run but will sling off in short order.

I haven't figured out all the hoop-la about Tri-Flow. I find plain, old sewing machine oil to be just as good and costs WAAAY less. I do use the Tri-Flow grease but only because the Singer grease is hard to find and I haven't taken the time to search out an economical alternative. In a pinch, I use petroleum jelly.

Ed

I have my Singer lube & my Tri-Flow grease in the curved tip syringes that Sew Classic sells. Squirts just fine & you can be more precise (& a lot less wasteful) with a syringe.

I used to think the same thing about Tri-Flow oil...until I used it on my White 77. It wasn't noisy to begin with BUT after I used the Tri-Flow on it, it became almost silent! Great stuff!

Interesting. In 40 years of collecting sewing machines, I have never seen one of those. I quit going to the Sew Classic site shortly after February 2011 when she made her last sewing machine-related post. No need for me to go there to buy parts because as a quilt shop owner, I get my stuff wholesale. I checked our distributor and didn't find any curved-tip syringes but did find them from a dental wholesale dealer. Apparently they are designed for irrigating around crowns and under bridges. Rather than buy a box of 50, I'll ask my dentist to part with one to try.

Ed

The good thing about the one on Sew Classic is that it has a latex-free plunger so it doesn't deteriorate as easily from grease. Maybe they're all like that. I don't really know.....

I have used the curved nose syringes for many years. I used them a lot cleaning my fountain pens. You can snip the end of the nose off to get just the amount of grease or other flow you want. You can get them at hobby shops.

As for the Tri-Flow vs regular SM lubes, it is better. I've never said regular grease or oil is bad, just that Tri-Flow is better.

Here is one example: We have a newer Singer 4622A ZZ with built in patterns machine. Plastic gears of course. We got it at a yard sale for less than 5.00. When we'd take it down to sew with it the ZZ mechanism would be sluggish. We would have to sew with it on scraps for a while until it started working. Then I got Tri-Flow and tried some in that mach. I let it sit over night and then started to sew. You should see the difference. It started right off normal. That right there sold me on Tri-Flow. I still have regular oil and grease, but I keep the Tri-Flow for the good things.

Joe

my .02 on the tri-flow vs sewing machine oil....

When the Victorian era machines I own were new they recommended to "ONLY use sperm oil on this machine". When petroleum oil began to be used, I am sure the attitude was the same as we now see with tri-flow replacing petroleum..

Folks get used to what they have experience with, and "new fangled" stuff is just not necessary when the old stuff has worked fine for years.

Or to use a music analogy.. there have always been only three types of music. The old stuff your folks listen to, your music, and that crap your kids listen to... every age, same story...

I like to use Marvel Miracle oil when not dealing with plastic parts. It's cheap, was made as a sewing machine oil when first introduced, and works very well, especially since my supply of sperm oil has been running low. I like tri-flow products too for the more modern machines. Up to the 500 series, the machines were nearly indestructible regardless of what was used. I restored a 401 where they used auto grease, cleaned it up, and it runs like a top. Now that was great engineering!!!