ArizonaKAT

I started to clean my second little FW the other day. I unscrewed the plate that holds the thread on top of the machine and found what appears to be white grease.

I opened my other FW and it has oil.

The grease isn't in the motor. It on the wheels that turn the machine.

I'm assuming the grease is wrong. I need to know if it matters and do I have to clean it and which one do I clean?

J Miller

If I remember right there is a gear under that plate. And if I remember right I put grease on the one in our FW.
You can do either. I like Tri-Flow grease on the gears. Oil has a tendency to fling off.

Joe

Charlee

Lithium grease is white...and from what I understand is nasty to try to clean off...

J Miller

Lithium isn't terribly hard to clean off until it gets old and turns icky. ( I missed the white grease part above. ) I cleaned one off that had Lithium grease in it with rags, tooth brushes and Q-tips. Took a while.

Joe

ArizonaKAT

Crap. White grease has to come off :-(

MattieMae

When I got my first FW, I bought a book by David McCallum at http://www.featherweight221.com which has large detailed illustrations and instructions on FW maintenance and repair, paint and the carry case. I liked it so much I bought the DVD which walks you through the lubrication procedure. It even covers the Singer 301. Someday, I'd like to attend one of his FW workshops.

His illustration for the area under the swing open top thread holder shows two spots that get oil and the upper main shaft gear which gets grease lubricant. There are actually seven areas that I oil from the top. I use sewing machine oil with the zoom spout and Singer grease lubricant.

Vintage.Singers.NYC

White grease, whether lithium or regular, is fine on the gears under the spool plate on your 221.

happy sewing,

k9dancer

Gears get grease; other metal to metal bits get oil. Use only tri=flow or oil specially for sewing machines. NO 3 in one oil.

startella18

I have a oiling question, I have two machines that i have to oil due to them being locked up I think.
My husband suggested a gun cleaner called clp "cleaner, lubricant, preservative." I was just wondering what machine oil is made of.

J Miller

startella 18,

I'd be cautious about the CLP. It's an excellent solvent / lubricant for guns but I'm not sure what it will do with the paint and decals on the older machines.

I've used several penetrating oils, Hoppe's #9, Liquid Wrench penetrating oil and various other oils for freeing up stuck and rusted machines.

But I try regular sewing machine oil first, or Tri-Flow oil, when that fails I use the other oils and sometimes heat.

What sewing machine oil is made of:

Singer = "Contains: Petroleum Distillates"
Alpha Sew = "Contains: Superior Sewing Machine Oil"
Tri-Flow = "Contains: Aliphatic Hydrocarbons"

Their labels just don't tell us much.

Joe