grannie cheechee

In a class on how to take care of a FW we were told to oil it every two wks. whether you use it or not. I do mine like she said, and it goes as fast as I want it to go.

Jeanette Frantz

My son was formerly a sewing machine mechanic (14 years at that), and has fixed a few having the speed problem (for free), but he is no longer a sewing machine mechanic (except for me lol!). The motors do get dirty, and oil that has hardened can create all kinds of problems. I observed when he took my 201-2 apart and re-wired it -- of course, the 201 was notorious for not having the best wiring -- some wiring will hold up to age, some just doesn't. If you moved the wire on mine, you could hear it cracking and creaking -- my son wouldn't even plug it in before he rewired it.

miriam

I have a slow FW. It is the belt. The belt does not fit the groove very well so has too much drag. With the belt off it turns great. I need to find a better fitting belt for mine.

DonnaReMe

There is no simple answer to this! I have owned a number of Featherweights and they sewed different speeds - sometimes significantly different. But even so none of them sew really fast, depending on what you're comparing it to. The fastest Featherweight I have sews about the same speed as a 15-91 but it sews much slower than a 301. I know that doesn't give you a definitive answer, but all I can tell you is that some Featherweights do sew pretty slowly although you can tweak it a little bit by adjusting the belt so it is just tight enough to run without slipping. Too tight, and it will slow the machine down. Most of the ones I've had just weren't fast no matter what I did.