1930s Singer 201 Tension Assembly
 

Dear all,

first of all let me thank you for all the information I already found here. I recently got an old Singer 201 from a friend in the family and have been trying to get it to run smoothly. It is a 1930s version build in Wittenberge, Germany. One of the last pieces in the puzzle is the tension assembly as the thread spring was bent I had to get a new one. Unfortunately this is a singer without the dial later Singers used. It only uses a little bent thingy to show the tension which is totally fine. But I cannot for the life of me figure out how to assemble it correctly. Does anyone have any idea or a manual that shows this particular version of tension assembly? I couldn't find one anywhere.

Any help is appreciated,
Best, Robert

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7002/Vm4cb4.jpg

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjgVBCJuyKWngvd8...xdi3g?e=ciVrUO

Robert, it looks as if this assembly is very similar to that on the 115. The little knob on the knurled thumb nut is not the indicator, rather, the window on the short cylinder gives you a place to view the compression of the beehive spring. That knob is a device to adjust the fit of the thumb nut to the mechanism, allowing one to adjust to get a full range of tension, if numbered, from 0-9.

​I'll have to resize a photo to post here, I do have a photo with the 115 sequence. I hope someone beats me to it!
ETA: nope, the recent photo I found is from a a 1936/37 15-91 with nickel plate stitch length plate. I'll have to look further for the 115 project.

I learned the hard way, too, to carefully disassemble, layout the sequence, and take a photo. But then, that assumes the person who messed with it before me installed it correctly.

Welcome to the board! I would start with page 26, of the manual itself, from here

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...99796216700119

It looks as though your numbered dial, part Y from the manual, is inside of the housing, part Z from the manual.

It may not be an exact match for those parts you have, but it's a start.

Here is the assembly order for, yes, the 15-91 nickel plate. Note that the tiny divided washer should have a "finger."

Thank you all for the help. Weirdly enough my washer doesn’t have a finger and it doesn’t look like it ever had one. So there is no breakage or similar. Which is in part why the assembly doesn’t fall in line with the 201s dial assembly. Also the ‚dial‘ is connected to the plate that some of you have separately. Which is why I am not sure where to put the round end of the spring.

OK here goes...

I am looking at another manual, for a 201k, for reference, pages 24/25 of the manual itself, not the PDF file:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...ER-201K.pdf?15

There are at least 2 issues to deal with on this, 1. how to lift the tension when you lift the presser foot lever, 2. The "eyelet" of the take up spring (see pg 25 part marked N).

My suggested order of assembly assumes you are removing that eyelet on the spring, or getting another spring without one, such as this:

https://www.vintagesingerparts.com/c...-numbered-dial

I have marked up your original picture with numbers for the parts in more or less the order I would use, no number on the spring itself, just the post.
1. Discs 2 and 3 go on 1 from the slotted end, with the flared edges of the discs facing out, opposite each other but inside the squared off loop on your spring
2. Part 1 with the discs on it goes into 4 with the arm of the spring from where the eyelet was removed floating in one of the spaces/gaps on part 4 between the housing and the base plate with the long finger, or that arm being cut short enough that it won't hit the housing
3. Part 5, turned over from how it is in your picture, slid onto part 1, the post, with the crossmember of part 5 in the slot
4. Part 6, turned over from how it is in your picture, onto part 1, the post, on top of part 5; I am assuming part 6 has edges on it that will allow the part 7, the spring, to fit into it, if not turn it over
5. Part 7, the spring, with the crossmember in the slot of part 1, the post, on top of part 6
6. Part 8, the thumb nut, screwed onto the post directly contacting part 7, the spring

I hope this helps. I can't see any other way with the parts in your picture.

Even though I said I can't see any other way, I see at least one other way:

1. Discs 2 and 3 go on 1 from the slotted end, with the flared edges of the discs facing out, opposite each other but inside the squared off loop on your spring
2. Part 5, turned over from how it is in your picture, slid onto part 1, the post, with the crossmember of part 5 in the slot
3. Part 1 with the discs on it goes into 4 with the arm of the spring from where the eyelet was removed floating in one of the spaces/gaps on part 4 between the housing and the base plate with the long finger, or that arm being cut short enough that it won't hit the housing
4. Part 7, the spring, with the crossmember in the slot of part 1, the post, on top of part 4
5. Part 6 onto part 1, the post, on top of part 7, the spring; I am assuming part 6 has edges on it that will allow the part 7, the spring, to fit into it, if not turn it over
6. Part 8, the thumb nut, screwed onto the post directly contacting part 6

Dear JoeJr,

thank you and all of you so much for taking so much effort!
Your detailed descriptions are fantastic. Thinking about „how to lift the pressure when the foot is up“ had me thinking as well as part number 5 is not attached to number 4 as it is with „newer“ Singers. So I think you are right with your second idea that number 5 has to come before number 4 so it can press against number 4 when the pressure lifting pin is moving forward so tension is disengaged. I didn‘t know there were springs without the eyelet so snipping that off sure helped a lot getting it into the housing. That couldn‘t really be done with the eyelet on.

Attachment 631885

As you can see the complete assembly looks nearly like a singer with a black numbered dial. Now I think I need to adjust the bobbin tension, as that seems to be not high enough to resist the upper thread on any upper tension.

I attached a video to show you how it is working. Would you agree that that looks about right?
Attachment 631884

And one final question as you all got me thinking: is this really a 201 or another model?
Attachment 631886

See if you can find the serial number here:

http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mach...-database.html

I have not seen a machine with that configuration, but someone here will likely know.

If it's from Germany, maybe this information will help:

https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/201

Thank you. It seems it is a 201 from Wittenberge in Germany but there isn‘t much info as the Russians destroyed everything or later reused the factories for other supplies. Quite a lot learned today.

Much info has been lost sadly but also adds to the fun tracking down as much as you can. Nice looking machine https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/thumbup.png

Did you figure it out?
 

if not, I have one of these that is from the same factory that I can share assembly instructions :) I tried swapping it with a new assembly but the tension pin also had to be replaced and it just was a little off somehow so I had to get the old one working 😃

Oh, thank you. Yes, I figured it out. I cut off a bit of the spring so that it fits better into the disc assembly. That did the trick. Currently I’m struggling with the stitch length lever as that tends to move up when sewing thicker fabrics therefore not holding the stitch length of say 3.5mm. If you have any suggestions regarding that problem I’d appreciate it. But that is an entirely different problem :-)

Regarding the stitch length lever moving.

If you take off the handwheel, you are able to access a screw with a screwdriver. The screw is also a shaft for the movement of the stitch length lever and it got some spring washer below the screw head. You may be able to fasten this screw more, and get higher friction to the stitch length lever, so it will not move that easy. But you can only do that to some level of friction.

If you need to have the mechanics explained, then this video do it quite well: https://youtu.be/tRmQilh_UgI

I have fasten this screw as much as I can on my Singer 201k, and I still got the problem you describe. When I sew with a max stitch length of 4 mm on thick heavy fabric, then the lever moves and the stitch length may become 3.5 mm. At the moment I solved the problem by a elastic cord around the pillar of the machine, that is able to hold the lever down. You may put some thread around the screw head or something else to increase the friction. I should like to know, if you find a solution.

Thanks, Gymnast. Thank you for the suggestion. I tried that and it works quite well. At least the lever only moves from 4mm to 3.8mm when sewing thicker material. Something else happened though: my longest stitch length even when set to 4mm is more like 2mm. If I set it to 2mm it doesn’t move at all. Might that screw be too tight?

Hopefully you have not bended the lever, so you have got an offset of 2 mm in stitch length. The friction should not be so high, that you are able to bend the lever. But a bended lever cause exactly what you describe happened.

Dear Gymnast,
thank you for your reply. I checked everything and thought I’d post a picture of the lever. During the tightening of the screw I didn’t touch the lever but I always wondered why the 4mm stitch length seems more like 3mm. But it worsened after tightening the screw. It’s now not moving on 2mm as mentioned. Strangely when backstitching the longest backstitch is longer than the cut out for the feed dogs in the stitch plate.
but getting back to the stitch length lever. I assume it is not supposed to look like on the picture?

Attachment 632738

If you place the lever at zero stitch length, and you got the fabric moving, then best option for the cause of this is that the stitch length lever has been bended. But the lever also consist of the inner part. It may also be bended, but I would be reluctant to start trying to bend it. If the steel is bridle cast iron, then it could break apart, if you try to bend it.

This is a picture of my outer lever:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...1&d=1618049385

This is a photo of the inner part:

https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...1&d=1618049385

You are also able to find these parts for sale like here:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...ngth-253007806

Thank you so much. I went ahead and just bended the lever slightly straighter in the back part, where the washer is. And I also checked the screws that go into the feed dog bar ok the bottom. I took them out completely and adjusted the bar so both screws are screwed in evenly. Both actions together seemed to have done the trick regarding normal stitch length selection. Again a slightly moving lever on thicker fabrics but I goes I just have to live with that to a certain degree.
During cleaning the machine when unscrewing the bottom screws I thought I check the grease pot on the left hand side and found out that my service guy didn’t clean there and it has a lot of old grease. I think I might have to find another service guy in berlin. :-(