discojoy

Hello, I have had an old treadle 1918 Singer model 66-1 for a few years, but didn't use it until yesterday. It needed a few parts to get going, and my husband finally got it all put together and oiled & cleaned. I had a lot of fun sewing with it yesterday, it works great, though I do need more practice to make my stitches straight. I did made a tote bag yesterday to try it out. My main problem is that the presser foot is not very high when it is up. It is just high enough to slip the fabric under the foot, and when I get to a part that has 4 layers of fabric, it was hard work to jam it all under the foot, even when it is raised up all the way. I am wondering if there is a way to adjust the height? Or is this just the way the old machines are? Mine is a 66-1 that still has the foot that attaches on the back, so I don't have many options for feet. I don't want to mess with replacing the whole shaft so I can use different feet. My machine didn't come with the foot, but I found the right foot on ebay. I have been searching the web for answers, but haven't found any yet. Any advice will be appreciated, thank you!
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ThayerRags

What kind of fabric?

CD in Oklahoma

discojoy

It was some canvas, but not super thick. Medium weight canvas.
I've tried measuring how high it goes, I can barely slide my quilter's rule under the foot, the ruler is almost 1/8 inch thick. Maybe this is normal, I've never had an old machine before, my newer machine's foot goes up at least 1/4 inch, and higher if I push the lever up in the back.

discojoy

Okay, I think I've got it fixed! My handy husband did some more tinkering, now the foot raises up at least 1/4 inch. What a relief, I like my machine a lot more now. Here is a photo of the screw he loosened to adjust the height of the shaft, if anyone else has this problem. The pencil is pointing at the screw:
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Candace

Be careful. The factory specs are set for a reason. I'm not in front of a service manual for this model but raising the foot too much above factory specs can cause problems with stitch formation. You should check the service manual for the correct height.

discojoy

It seems to be working better than ever now.

Macybaby

DH does quite a bit - and he finds that for most, as long as when the foot is up and you rotate the needle down, the needle clamp won't touch the foot.

You still want to make sure your foot pressure is OK - if you raise the bar, you may have to tighten the pressure.

J Miller

According to the INSTRUCTIONS FOR TIMING AND ADJUSTING SINGER SEWING MACHINE 66 the presser foot should be adjusted so there is 5/16" clearance between the foot and the throat plate.

I also make sure that the presser foot is all the way down on the throat plate with the feed dogs down. I do this with the spring tension adjuster backed out so there is no tension before I adjust the presser foot height. And there must be some free movement to the presser foot lifter lever when the foot is down. That way the presser foot does not bind up when it it moves up over thick layers of fabric.

Joe