Mrs. SewNSew

Congratulations Vridar! I love working out sewing machine puzzles too. Figuring it all out and being able to get a non-working machine cleaned up and running again is a real high! I know I always feel super confident when that happens.

ArchaicArcane

Great Job Vridar! So many people would have just dumped it.

Jeanette Frantz

Congratulations on getting the machine up and going again! It can be a real nightmare when someone takes something apart and then puts it back together wrong!

Jeanette

miriam

I fiddled with 3 Singer 401s yesterday - one had to have the eccentric adjusted. All had to have the tension worked on and worked on. I've seen easier tensions to take apart and redo. One had REALLY bad dried oil everywhere and of course a stuck stitch selector. All are missing kits. It is too bad people hoard up some of that stuff these days. I'm afraid I don't get that. I'm thinking I had started cleaning these up before Christmas but got bogged down doing other things. Next project is to see if a derelict 301 can come back to life. I oiled it up when I got it and that was it. There is no bobbin case. I'm beginning to think the price on those machines is going to skyrocket if they have a bobbin case - just the bobbin case is worth a tidy sum since you can't go buy one anymore.

ThayerRags

Sounds like a fun day. I’ve got a Singer 403A opened up on my bench soaking up oil that I need to reassemble and get going. And I’ve got a Singer 503A that I haven’t even looked at yet. I’ve been lazy about servicing up my newly acquired machines the past couple of months. I did get some machines serviced back in December that had been in use and were due for a service.

I used my Singer 31-15 treadle for a little job last week. It had been a while since I’d even uncovered it, but I sewed a webbing strap back onto a canvas sheep blanket with it. I had to search around to find my thread cone stand that I share amongst machines, and it was hiding from me, but once I found everything, it felt good to use the 31-15 again. The sewing took less time than it took me to find things to use it.

I mended a second canvas sheep blanket on my Singer 319 treadle the same day. It looked like a sheep had gotten tangled up in a fence with it and I had to mend it using a zigzag to put a piece of heavy denim in to fill a hole down the back. It came out pretty good, with a blue denim racing stripe on a green canvas blanket. It’s got a couple of new blue denim pinto spots on one side too.

My friend had laundered the sheep blankets well before bringing them to me, but the smell of the sheep was still lingering in them. Our daughter raised lambs in FFA during the early 90s, so it brought back nice memories of those days.

CD in Oklahoma

redmadder

I put my friend's Featherweight back together yesterday. I took the entire bobbin unit off the shaft and had the gib hook installed for me. Unbelievable, I got it back on the first try and it sews beautifully.

New belt and light bulb, lots of oil and lubricant, some cleaning. It was her grandmother's and someone dropped it. The tension assembly tightens without warning, I will take that apart before it goes back to her. It may just be dirty or assembled wrong.

ArchaicArcane

Miriam, what is it that gives you fits about the tension on the 401s? I can't recall if the top tensioner on the 411G is the same as the one on the 401/403 machines but a few people have told me that they're tougher. From what I remember, they assemble basically the same way, it's just the last one or two steps that are a little different. It's been probably a year since I did one of the American machines. Maybe I can put together a few photos.

Or is it the bottom with that thread check?

miriam

For some reason people around here fool with the eccentric - it took me a while to learn to check that. The 401 tension isn't as adjustable as the older machines - you can't just push it in and give it a yank. If you need it in or out you have to take it apart. I have a machine that sews tunnels or ditches under the zz no matter what I do to it. I'm wondering if the foot pressure is too tight or if it is the tension. The tension 'feels' right to me.

When I was in Florida I had a machine that was puckering stitches like crazy - it was a little 99 - so I changed out the foot and it was fine. When I put the foot on another machine and it did the same thing I knew it was the foot. The foot was made in China and was a nano thicker than the originals. It would be ok if it was set that way and nobody ever changed out attachments.

Today I was sewing on my trusty Singer 15-75 and it is pulling the spool of thread around the spindle and wrapping the thread - drives me crazy. I guess I need to check things. For now I put thread from the serger over to the 15 and it seems ok. I am thinking the 15 might be picky about spools.

Vridar

Since I had good luck with the 206 I got the 306 out to work on. It so happens the only issue was a gelled solid bobbin shuttle. Lots of oil and heat got it loose. Running full speed for a few minutes and I had to do nothing else. I even found a ZZ, stretch and hidden stitch cams. Now the dilemma. Rehome which one? Leaning toward keeping the 206 as it's less worn than the 306 and really all I need is the ZZ and SS. I have no need for the fancy stitches.

Miriam, you are correct. I do like the 206.

ArchaicArcane

That's not specific to there. If there's a screw, people gotta screw i... oh never mind.

The 401 tension just has to be adjusted the "right way" rather than having a quick fix. With that one, you have to sneak up on it before you finish assembling. With the older ones, you can fine tune after it's all together. I typically fuss with it til it's where I want it before I put the number piece on, then slap the number piece on the number where I know it should be based on testing. That's a lot harder to show someone though, which is why I never did make a video. If I can come up with a relatively foolproof way to do it, I might try.

What have you tried on the one that sews tunnels?