Assistance with a Singer 66
 

Hello all,

Just joined, first post, and I'm looking for some assistance. We live on a boat and after doing research, I settled on a 66 for a few canvas projects we need to complete. I bought this machine off of eBay knowing it had a few parts missing. I've ordered a slide plate cover, and a set of bobbins, but I just realized that it appears to be missing the bobbin case as well. Can any of you confirm this, and advise of any other parts it appears to be missing? I think the bobbin case is the last, but just need to make sure.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

More photos...

God news. bobbins drop in and your area is intact. Welcome aboard. your 66 has a crinkly finish often called a Godzila. It is a newer machine with the spotlight lamp and reverse. ( woo hoo.) if your lamp is out ask for directions on how to change it.

There is an introduce yourself forum should you want to tell us a bit more about you.

Your 66 could be converted to hand crank should your three hour tour turn into months. ( hehe)

Welcome aboard.

Welcome. As Leon said it is a horizontal drop in bobbin. You will want some sort of sturdy base or case for it.

You can find a manual for your machine at https://res.cloudinary.com/singer-se...ng_Machine.pdf The instructions for changing the light bulb is on page 5 of the pdf and how to install the bobbin cover slide plate can be found on page 15 of the pdf. The slide plate is often missing as one tries to put it on sliding left to right instead of right to left.

I don't know if they have led bulbs for this machine, but more than likely there are. Also the lens covering can sometimes be tricky to remove and replace.

Have fun.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Not affiliated with off-site link(s)

Welcome to the Board! Singer 66s are great machines. You will need a base for it, as it rests on moving parts at the bobbin end without a base. I make bases out of 1"x6" board ripped in half, 6 pieces of wood total, it requires some router work (e.g. for the hinge pin fittings on the back side). Frankly, for the work you're talking about I would want a wider footprint on the base, from front to back.
If you're going to be working on canvas, I'm wondering about the belt on the motor in the picture. I recently cleaned up a machine and with a cogged belt it would not spin up all the way, but with a v-belt it would. You should get a proper Singer belt for this machine. You can test all of this after you service the machine.

I figured that I would have to get a new belt for it anyway, but I was waiting until it arrived before I dove into that. Like any maker, I have a tendency to jump into things head and finacially first. I know that this is probably a .5 or .7 amp motor, and I know that 1.2a motors are available so that may be something else I switch up.

I opted to go this route because these machines were built of quality materials, have plenty of power for my needs, and have been going strong for decades. I couldn't justify paying $800 or more for a straight stitch Sailrite machine, when this does essentially the same thing, and has been for decades and decades now.

I hope it's a pre-1960's machine. I've heard that 60's machines and newer sometimes have plastic gears. Any truth to that? I'm not sure when Singer quit making the 66.

I didn't get the serial number for this one to verify that it was a 66, so I'm not quite sure when it was built. This one was cheap so I relied on the visuals to verify, i.e. "ski slope" neck, badge placement, crinkle finish, back/tack switch placement.

You have a 66-18, which I gave a link to the manual for in my previous post. The manual is dated 1952. My 66-18 is from 1950.

It appears that the serial number on your machine starts with AK which would mean that the serial number was allocated between November 1950 and April 1952.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Wow! How’d you see that so fast! I had to zoom way in!! I didn’t notice that when I originally looked at the listing.

Your machine is metal, no plastic gears anywhere. You can do some basic maintenance on that motor before jumping to one with high amperage (if some is good more may not be better): 1. remove the brush covers and remove the brushes, 2. remove the silver tubes at each end which house a grease wick (with maybe a spring at the top end to push the wick down), 3. spray out the motor with CRC QD electronics cleaner, 4. make new grease wicks (I've sued wool felt) and saturate with grease (Tri Flo or petroleum jelly), fill the ports under the tubes also, reinstall, 5. wipe off the brushes very carefully, reinstall with covers. I have a small inverter that runs off my 18v battery system for power tools which I use when testing a motor, rather wreck that than catch the house on file. If/when you test the motor use a circuit breaker protected power strip. You might be happy with the Singer motor.

Also when sewing heavier materials you need to use a heavier needle and larger thread.