Singer 401A Rescue
 

I recently rescued a 401A from a trash pile. I have another slant needle and thought I could use parts off of it. When I got it home, I cleaned it up because it didn't look too bad. I used TriFlow oil and freed up the stuck selector knob and other parts. It was still a little hard to turn, so I removed the cam stack. Without the cam stack it was smooth. After cleaning and lubing the gear on the stack I put it back in following the procedure for timing it. Again it was hard to turn and there seems to be too much play in the height of the stack. I'm sure there is a way to adjust this. Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry I can't help, I am just starting to learn about machines. Just glad that you rescued one. I just noticed
Welcome to the Board. This is a very helpful place, someone will find your post and be able to advise you.

There are a few oil points that easy to overlook in this area, and it will make things turn sluggish. Archaic Arane has a good post on them. Make sure all movments, jont, gears, hinges, etc, from cam stack gears to swing arm move, poke at springed parts like the swing arm (needle bar) to inspect. Get oil all the way down to the gear under there too.

Can you compare to your other 401?

The only person I know who has taken out the camstack on a 401 is J. Miller. He doesn't post here anymore. He posts at victoriansweatshop.com fairly regularly, though.

bkay

The other Slant Needle I have is a 403a with the removable top cams, so there isn't a cam stack to compare it too. With my husbands help I think we have figured out how to adjust the height of the pin that the stack goes on. Will date later.

Thank for the comments.

There is this video on youtube, I assumed you had found it. There are a few points on how to get the hand wheel in the right position, correct insertion and tightening. There are expert help to be found at the vintage singer groups.io (former yahoo), if you are lucky a trained service guy will reply to your question there.

Yes, I watched that video. We adjusted the height of the pin/shaft that holds the cam stack by adjusting the screw that is under by the light. Stack was reinstalled. I put everything back together, put in a new needle, threaded the machine, and started to sew. No problems. I didn't even have to adjust the tension. I guess after landing in the bottom of the dumpster something moved in the cam stack. Another vintage machine saved.

Thanks!

I can't believe a 401 ended up in the trash? Is the beige finish worn? I have a similar beige 201, it shined up very well with car polish.

There are a few clips on the front edge, probably from being thrown into the dumpster. It was very dirty on the outside. Looked like it had been sitting in a garage or basement for sometime. I haven't tired car polish, sounds like a good plan.

My beige machine had lots of darkened staining from sewing machine oil, I think I cleaned it of with a microfiber cloth well wringed up on soapy water. The liquid typ care polish (that dries quickly to a whitish film you buff off to a shine) works well on these; it lifts up further grime and dirt as well.