Help! I have a brush stuck in my FW motor
 

Hi all!
My project machine (a rusty, frozen Featherweight with no decals, chipped paint, etc.) has a problem I haven't been able to solve yet. When I went to check the brushes, the spring for the top brush came out but the brush didn't. Nothing I have done has worked to get it out. I've tried the super-glue-on-a-chopstick idea about seven times and have only managed to make it move about 1/4" upward, and then it went right back down when I tried it again. Tiny tweezers don't work because I can't get them wide enough in that small square metal tube to try to grip the knob on top of the brush.
I think I'm going to have to open up the motor and poke it out from the inside. Is there a way to do this without messing up all the other stuff that's in there? And how do I open the motor in the first place?
I don't want to do it, but I can't think of another option. I need to get the brushes out to check the wear, but also to see if there are any signs of soot in the motor. The bottom brush came out with the glue and chopstick, and it had some black residue on it.
Please help out this brave (or foolish) soul who decided it would be fun to take apart and restore a Featherweight. (Actually, it is really fun, and also frustrating).
Ila

Ila,

The only thing I can think of short of taking the motor apart is to turn the motor upside down and shake it. If that doesn't work, then taking apart it about all you can do.

Singer motors aren't really complex, but I've not had a FW motor apart. Go carefully, take pics if you have a camera, and you'll get there.

Joe

Might be too much, but what about using a vacuum cleaner hose with a nylon over the end?

Thanks for the vacuum-cleaner idea, WIChix, but I ended up opening up the motor before I saw your suggestion. I tried to fiddle around in there without hurting anything, and then when I was trying to put the motor back together (without having removed the brush) I realized it opened up into more parts than I had tried, if that makes sense. I had it in two parts, and there is a third part that popped off when I was trying to put it back together. I tried to poke the brush out with much better access -- and there was nothing there. It had fallen into the motor while I was trying to put it back together. I managed to reassemble the motor, no idea if it worked before I did that or if it'll work afterward, but at least the $^##&* brush is out.
Incidentally, I never want to open up a FW motor again. It was hard to open, hard to work on without fearing for its life, and really hard to put back together.
Now, to get that second feed-dog screw out...
Ila

Ila,

Take your time. If you start fighting with it, walk away. No point in making matters worse by accident.


Been there, done that.

Joe

What Joe said. He saved me a lot of grief with that advice. I was driven and would have ruined something if I had kept fighting it. Thanks again Joe for saving me from myself.

Thanks, Donna and Joe,
Since there's no way of knowing whether the motor worked before I opened it, I won't be too upset with myself if it doesn't work afterward. Of course, I hope for my budget's sake that it works, but this is my learning machine and if I have to learn how to replace a motor, I'll learn how to replace a motor!
I'm such a nerd, though. This is fun.
Ila

Awesome attitude!

Thanks, Joe. I was searching and searching for the most pathetic looking FW I could find that still had a motor.
I should know soon if the motor works or not. Waiting on the three-pin terminal, which should be here any day.
Ila