How do I know if my FW is slow or normal?
 

It's waaaayyyyy slower than my 401A or my Necchi SNU. The video was too big to put on here, and I figured out how to post it to instagram before I figured out how to shrink it, so here's a link to watch it on instagram. I hope that's not against the rules. Anyway, does it seem normal to you?

I say the belt tension is most likely too tight https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/thumbup.png

Hooligan may be right - it doesn't look terribly slow, but it sounds like it's laboring, some. Try giving it just a little bit of "play" and see if that helps.

It might be "dry," too - I'd oil it all up top and bottom, run it at full speed for a minute and let it sit, run it, let it sit, repeat... you can hear the machine free up if it's dry.

The next thing to check would be the button controller. I have a modern clamshell foot control on all my vintage machines and that helped them all. I wish Jenny was still in business at sew-classic - she sold all the cool stuff we need for these old gals and I don't know who has taken her place in the vintage world. :(

Hope the belt is the only culprit. :)

I think Elizabeth means oiling up the machine top and bottom, not the motor itself. Cleaning the motor might be needed, but that doesn't use oil typically.

It was in pretty good shape when I got it, really. The belt it came with was loose, so I ordered a tune-up kit from FWs dot com and replaced it with one from them. Replaced the foot pedal with one from Amazon. Oiled everything and greased the motor.

I have a box going to Matt D'Azzo. Think I should send this motor, too? I think I might try unthreading it and running the motor a bit to see if it just needs to heat up and melt the grease into wherever it goes. And if that doesn't work, send it to Matt.

By the way, did you notice the decals? They are just about perfect. Considering this was an auction, I got really lucky.

Thank, you - yes! I should not try to type before coffee!

I would try loosening the belt just a tad, first. Then run it full speed for a while and see if it doesn't speed up. Check to make sure that the motor isn't getting too hot.

When I got mine, I had a lot of cleaning to do inside and underneath, then I greased and oiled with TriFlow. (grease, drops and aerosol) I had to oil it several times and go through the full-speed/rest cycle before the old oil that I couldn't reach softened up enough to allow the parts to move freely.

Yes, it's really beautiful! Mine has a little wear on the decals nearest the needle, and I may try Glenn's method of applying shellac to try to give them some protection.