SewMachines

Looking wonderful! I love seeing the photos of the progress, thanks for sharing!

Suzanne

OurWorkbench

I'm glad you enjoy seeing progress. I do, too.

I needed some more alcohol swabs and two Dollar Trees that I went to didn't have them. Went to K-mart and didn't see any with the bottles of alcohol, so went to the pharmacist and asked. He said they are kept with diabetic supplies. I ended up with a different brand and they are like 1 inch felt squares rather then the ones that I had before, which was a strip that was folded in fourths.

I was messing with machine and twisted the pressure regulator. I noticed some bright metal screw threads so decided to take it all the way out.

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then I went to cleaning it -- this is a picture of what I used.

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and here it is after

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I went to put it back in and decided that there was crud down in there so I pulled the spring out.

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what I used to clean it with -- blue is strip of scouring pads sheet that I cut off to make it narrower and easier to work with on things like this.

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and here it is after running the pad up and down the spring several times -

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I ran a 'real' pipe cleaner down the inside where the spring had been. It seemed rather dry. I think I will get the vacuum out to vacuum some of the stuff I may have loosened and didn't stick to pipe cleaner. Perhaps some of the pipe cleaner lint may have come off and hopefully I can vacuum that out, too.

I still haven't been able to get the needle out.

I just keep plugging along - getting dried oil off the bottom. I was able to start to unscrew the shuttle carrier screws, but just enough to see that I could probably get them out. I'm not quite ready to take it off. I think that I may need to take it out of the work stand to do some things as far as cleaning, but I want to do all I can while it is in the stand. It sure is nice to be able to rotate it to work on different spots and at different angles.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

OurWorkbench

I tried to put the pressure regulating screw back on without the spring and it wouldn't screw any further than it had been. Examined what I cleaned up and there is still a little bit of gunk in the threads. I think there may be more down inside, so that will need some attention. I don't mind the color difference, as probably that would be the correct position to actually sew.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

OurWorkbench

I got the broken needle out!!! I had wrapped some paper towel and some "Press'n Seal" around the lower end of the needle bar (without the clamp) and doused with kerosene over night. Put some more kerosene on and let set for a few hours this morning. I took some small needle nose pliers and wiggled a little bit and was able to remove the needle. YEAH!!!

Pictures to follow - later.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

OurWorkbench

It is hard to take pictures of round shank needles, even with a magnetic sheet underneath. I was able to get some that are somewhat decent. From my understanding the needle that is supposed to fit this machine had a notch on the top. It doesn't look like this one ever had a notch and possibly be 2mm shorter.

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Something I noticed was that "scarf" was more hollowed out like the long grove but shorter and with sides.

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When John measured the shank diameter with the micrometer it came out to .057 of an inch which translates to 1.4478mm and here I have measurements of length with a beading threader through the eye.

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I'm tickled pink to have gotten it out.

I'm still trying to get the dried oil off the bottom rods and joints. I picked up some birch wood cuticle sticks the other day to help save my fingernails a bit.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

jlhmnj

Hi Janey,

Nice work getting the needle out. Originally your Weed would have used original Weed needles. Singer never made Weed needles but the closest translation or recommendation would be Singer system 1x3 or 1x4. Weed and 1x3 needles are extremely difficult to find while 1x4 are readily available as Boye #8. The specs on the 1x4 taken from Kevin Pinkertons chart is 1.4mm round shank, 39.3mm shank to top of eye, and 45.4mm length. Worth comparing to the original. I don't believe the original Weed needles had a notched top as do the 1x4's. Here's the link to Kevin's chart which is invaluable.

Jon

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...NDUxYzA2ODg5Nw

Gray fox

Looking great, Janey. I have a few Boye 8 needles, and you are welcome to try one if there aren't any available on eBay at the moment.

Dianne in Colorado

OurWorkbench

Thank you Jon & Dianne. I was initially thinking that the notched top would be too long of a needle and the scarf would be in the wrong position. Then I realized that this machine probably predates the standard of putting a needle stop at the correct height. I haven't had any experience with setting a round needle - just read about it.

Something that I noticed while cleaning the bottom was that there is a hole directly under the hole in the needle plate. Initially I thought it was an oil hole, but upon further examination trying to figure out what it oiled found that it went all the way through. I can see that it would need to go all the way through in order for the scarf to be in a position to catch the bobbin thread and not break the needle.

WOW this is fun - frustrating at times, too. Based on the measurements and the link that Jon pointed to it looks like maybe the 34:22, MY1014, SY7256, SMx1014, SM1014 needles might work. A quick look last night I couldn't find those nor what machines they would fit.

Thank you Dianne for the offer. I'm not quite ready for actually installing a needle.

I still think there is a roller in the cam that isn't rolling. It kind of catches.
The needle plate needs to come off and cleaned. It evidently needs some more "stewing" time.
Then there are the feed dogs that need to be cleaned.
Slowly but surely.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Rodney

I just buy the 90% rubbing alcohol in the bottle for cleaning parts. Small removable parts sometimes just go in a jar filled with it to soak before I start scrubbing. It might be a cheaper way to go than buying the alcohol wipes though they do sound handy.
Looks like it's cleaning up nicely.
Rodney

OurWorkbench

I thought about using rubbing alcohol from the bottle, but then I didn't want to drip or spill it some place it didn't belong. The swabs are handy - especially the two ply ones that can spread out and wrap around the bars on the bottom. Maybe if I could get the small parts off or be willing to take larger pieces off I would use it from the bottle. I'm not really comfortable with dismantling this machine even if I could get the screws out. It is time consuming, but am enjoying seeing it clean up. I was thinking I wasn't making much progress, but then looked at some of the pictures before I got started... AND getting that needle out was a "biggie" for me. My next hurdle will be the needle plate screw.

Oh, after I got the needle out, I was able to put some kerosene on a dental brush. I took a little more of the handle off so that it would reach up farther.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.