Glenn

Very nice work Rodney. the case is great and wonderful job on the machine too.
Skip

oldsewnsew

Very nice work Rodney!! I keep saying I'm going to do some work on cases, but it's getting too hard to get to the table saw!

oldsewnsew

Depends upon the amount of rotating mass and how much of it is out of balanced, as well as if there are precise bearings or bushings. My first go with one arm and a pin, spun nicely, but it was severely out of balance, it would still spin after I let go, but the imbalance was noticeable and annoying. When I went to an arm with a pin on each end to engage the spokes, it ran much truer. Most of these are like sewing machines and don't have bushings or bearings, so over the years the abrasive dust can leave a lot of slop. They could probably benefit a llittle by having bronze or lead bushings fitted. Oh the gear adds inertial mass also, and the one that came with a 6" wheel, will coast for quite a while. hope I answered your question.

deplaylady

Oldnsewnsew - that's brillant! What a great idea.

oldsewnsew

Direct to handwheel could use this 2 pin attachment.[ATTACH=CONFIG]481151[/ATTACH]
dern sideways view, sorry Joe.

miriam

Wilbur and Walter came over today. Walter 'helped' grandpa and Wilbur and I tried to fix a Morse. The machine was barely moving - just about an eighth of an inch movement. We oiled and we oiled. No movement. Well we decided to clean out the bobbin area. Once we took it apart the machine moved. Wilbur was elated. So I asked him how to put it back together. He knew but couldn't manage it. We got it moving. Now it needs bobbin winder parts. It is missing some screws and the shaft the bobbin rides on. I had enough though. He is 4 and can read but he can't manage the screw driver most of the time - he's left handed so everything is harder. I showed him that a pencil has to be held just so or it doesn't work right. My DD was amazed that he would listen. I just compared it to a screwdriver...

Rodney

I'm still messing with the 99K. I can attest to the power of shellac for sticking things together.
I managed to glue the needlebar into it's hole. I had the bright idea of turning the machine "a little harder" to break it free again. Not the best thing I could have done. I broke one part of the linkage for the needlebar and managed to bend the needlebar too in the process. So a perfectly good running machine now needs mechanical repairs along with the cosmetic repairs I was working on. I have another older 99 here that I will see if the parts are the same or not to get this one running again.
Live & learn.
On a better note I was up in Tacoma a couple days ago with a little free time on my hands so I stopped at a thrift store there that I like. I found another briefcase to rob the hardware from. For $2.00 I now have latches, a handle and feet for the case I'm making. It turns out the briefcase is the same brand as the first one I bought with nearly identical hardware. This one even has a key for the latches so the lid won't be able to open accidentally. As a bonus I have a couple hinges and lid supports left over for another project.
Rodney

miriam

Rodney, how do you re-use those latches? Can you do some kind of tutorial?

Rodney

I already took them off the briefcase. I decided to destroy the briefcase before my daughter could claim this one too. The hardware was held on with little rivets. I just pried the latches off. I'll replace the rivets with little brass screws. The handle was held on with rivets that appear to be part of the handle. I ground the ends off the rivets to get the handle off. That one is going to take more work if I can make it work at all. The plan is to drill straight down the pegs of the handle then tap the holes for some appropriate sized screws.
Here's the hardware I plan to use.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481559[/ATTACH]
I can't buy the screws today. If the hardware store is open, they shouldn't be.
I'll be happy to post some progress shots as I work on it.
Happy 4th of July!
Rodney

Rodney

I'm pretty much done with the case though I'm thinking about taking the hardware off and giving it one more coat of shellac. If I do, it'll get cut back with some #0000 steel wool then waxed.
Here's a few more progress shots.
I built a small jig to hold the handle while I drilled out the rivets. It's very important that your work is held securely when drilling something like this. I was lucky, this went a lot easier than it could have. I had some concerns I wouldn't be able to use the handle's mounts before I started.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481856[/ATTACH]

Tapping the posts for screws to hold handle on the case. I ended up using #6-40 screws due to the small size of the posts on the handle.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481857[/ATTACH]

Interior of the top showing the screws for the handle in place.
It also shows the brown felt I glued to the bottom edge of the top. when I installed the latches I lined the edges up with the edges of the case. This allowed too much play so the top would slide around and rattle. The felt took care of the slop and rattling. It should help slow down the inevitable wear on the finish at that point too.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481859[/ATTACH]

The bottom of the bottom showing the feet that I robbed off the briefcase. The red area on the bottom middle is where I sanded thru the outer layer of veneer. Modern veneers are less than paper thin these days. If you don't pay enough attention this is what happens.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481860[/ATTACH]

A shot of one of the latches. I ended up using #4 wood screws due to the small size of the holes where the rivets used to be.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481865[/ATTACH]

A quick shot of the basically complete case on top of my very cluttered tablesaw/workbench.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481866[/ATTACH]

There's plenty of mistakes but it'll hold the sewing machine just fine. The briefcase was completely destroyed in the process of removing the hardware. I used a screwdriver as a chisel in the wood around the rivets to get the hardware off. I didn't want to mess up a good chisel. I have more time than money so it made sense to me to scavenge the hardware from something like a briefcase. (I've probably angered a briefcase collector somewhere.) Latches and suitcase handles add up pretty quickly if you buy them new. I also wanted a more vintage look than most new handles offer.

In the near future I'll do a tutorial on building a very basic base for a sewing machine.
I bought a piece of 1x4 hemlock trim board yesterday. I chose the hemlock because there were no knots in it though cheap pine will also work. I wanted a wood you can find anywhere for this project so no nice hardwoods for this one. I'm not making a lid this time. I plan to use methods that most people can do using pretty basic tools. Many of us have plenty of sewing machine heads but no base or case for them. The new plastic cases can work but are relatively expensive and don't look appropriate. Vintage cases can be expensive if you find one at all.
Rodney