Rodney

Usually I would consider that a "drill bit". I guess whatever works.
Rodney

redbugsullivan

Again, a sewing machine's value is totally based upon what someone is willing to pay. For me, prior to collecting, the free arm option was critical. How a machine sews, the ease of use, and dependability remain core value tick boxes. It is all in the eye of the buyer.

Cari-in-Oly

Necessity being the mother of invention, lol. Perhaps they didn't have a chopstick?

Cari

chris_quilts

Okay. Cleaning up a Singer 15-91 and the motor grease tubes are totally disgusting. Am in the process of cleaning them out and will use vaseline, aka petroleum jelly, as the replacement grease. Just how do I get the jelly into the grease tubes? Do not care about mess but this will be a gift for a beginner sewist so would like to do this for her as well as gifting her with a screwdriver that will work on most of the screws. So please offer some real life advice and not the TFSR manual which I have studied but found to be actual very little help with this regard. Thanks in advance.

Chris

Cari-in-Oly

It got kind of messy but I used my finger. One fingertip full at a time until they were full.

Cari

grant15clone

I now use non medical syringes you can get on line, but you can put some grease in a heavy duty (freezer) ziplock bag and snip just the very tip and use it like a piping bag for cooking. When you are done, you can either throw it out, or put it in another ziplock bag.
If you are rebuilding the motor and have it down that far, I would recommend some Triflow clear grease instead of the Vaseline.
Grant.

sewbeadit

I had a bear of a time with my 201-2, with that potted motor, I got all I could get in there with my finger too. The piping bag sounds like a really good idea, wish I would have thought of that then, may go back and see what I can get in there one more time.

Cari-in-Oly

Grant I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. Tri Flows web site touts their clear grease as a non melting grease and in this particular application that's exactly what you DO want. The grease in a potted motor has to melt to be wicked up to the gear it's supposed to protect.

Cari

chris_quilts

Thank you all for the suggestions. The piping bag idea sounds good. I am not rebuilding the motor but doing a thorough cleaning for the young sewist. Thanks again.

grant15clone

Thank you for bringing that up Cari. I am pretty sure there was a discussion here (possibly a different forum) a while back on this subject. Many people that I respect were talking about what lube to use. It was like the story of the three little bears. Topics were Viscosity, melting or flow characteristics, Lubricating quality, etc. When ever a different topic came up, one was good, better, and best. All had good qualities. What I took away from the conversation was, White grease came in last, Petroleum jelly was second and Triflow was first. If I remember correctly, the Petroleum jelly was too thin and would melt and flow at a higher rate causing an excess of lubricant inside of the motor. There was some talk about a quote on Triflow's page, but I thought that there was also another conflicting statement there as well. Saying that it was safe. I believe the question of it's flow properties came up when someone said that the teflon would clog the wicks themselves. The amount of teflon in triflow is so small it would be time to change the grease wicks before they would clog.
Does anyone else remember this conversation?
~Grant~