miriam

Glad I could help. Excessive force will do more harm than good as usual.

Brass Head

Heh heh. I wrote an essay once on the proper use of the hammer. My thesis was that you can best tell an expert, seasoned mechanic by how he uses his hammers (and his torches). He knows which hammer to use and how hard to swing it. An eighty-year-old guy helped me once to change the monlithically rusted front brakes on my plow truck. His work was a masterclass in the use of the hammer. He kept a big oily pile of assorted ball peens right there by his side.

I used to write overhaul manuals for Naval weapons systems. (NOT in the Navy, a civilian job). The Navy guys had to sign off on our manuals, and they were VERY fussy. One time, I couldn't tell from drawings or field/engineering reports just how hard a pin had to be hit to get it out. I asked the Navy guy whether he thought it was a job for a little hammer or a big one. He said, " I dunno. It's YOUR job to know this stuff." (I was 22.) Next time I brought in the draft for review, I had changed the text to read, "Strike the pin lightly with a heavy hammer." He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Perfect."

leonf

Dad, who was a diesel truck mechanic would say, "Clobber it gently." Used that phrase sooo many times.

Brass Head

Beautiful! I love those old workingman expressions: they're dying out, alas.

leonf

I think it is great that a three year old thread helped to bring another VSM back to life,

chris_quilts

Just sitting here laughing about "clobber it gently" and "strike the pin lightly with a heavy hammer" Thank you for my morning laugh.

Mary Hughes

I bought a Kenmore 1252 today. Supposedly it’s working, but I just realized the clutch knob won’t budge. I messaged the seller who said she never used, didn’t know it existed and had no idea she was supposed to. She said the needle always just went up & down when she wound bobbins. Not sure how long it’s been since it’s been turned. (She inherited it from her grandmother)

I plan to try loosening or removing the screw tomorrow (when I haven’t had a glass of wine) but if I can’t get it to move is it OK to leave it as is so long as it sews?

leonf

all up to you. It causes a bit of extra wear to move everything when you are spinning bobbins. Some folks spin them as they sew, but there is a bit more drag and you need to pay attention.

Bootsboutique

It might not be the hand wheel, could be the needle bar is locked up, but either way you would have to dismantle to know which one it is. Either way it’s an easy fix