Cecilia,

When it comes to icky, age hardened, goo and other solidified oils and greases I use Hoppe's #9 gun cleaning solvent. It's base is kerosene with a few extra solvents and it's not overly volatile like acetone, white gas or others.

Thanks for clearing up the use on the sand paper. I understand how that is as I've done it too on badly rusted pieces.


Joe

This morning's project was inspection of the motor and the foot pedal. I took apart the motor casing, cleaned out the dust (which was -really- not bad at all!), examined the brushes (in great shape!) and added a wee teflon washer to the inside non-pulley end of the motor axle (do we call it an axle or something else?), to take a bit of the play which was present. I think the motor is fine, wiring-wise, but as that is stepping out of my territory just yet, I am going to show it to someone more clever at these things.

The foot pedal is another story. I found that I had to step -way- on the pedal in order to get the motor to kick in, and when it did, it was fairly full-on. Inside the foot pedal, there were a few dust bunnies, but more alarmingly, this small hunk fell out; it looks to be made of the same material as the carbon brushes. I am showing a pin, for scale:

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Next, inside the rheostat, I know that there are two columns of approx 100 carbon discs. I wanted to take a look at all the contact points leading up to those discs. Here is as far as I can get. What looks to be like it should be a capped-nut sort of thing on either side, is only one, and the other side looks like a broken off stump of what appears to be that carbon-brush-type material again. The capped-nut type hardware which is intact also feels as though it is that material. So, I am hypothesizing that these two caps are indeed made of carbon, and one broke off.

Is this rheostat irrevocably hooped? Can these odd little outdated bits be replaced? I so dearly hope so. Here is a photo. I am sorry if I am not using the correct terminology; this is all rather new to me, insofar as electrical things are concerned. I would really appreciate any pointers. I know I can get a new foot pedal, but I'd rather not, for two reasons; firstly, the cost, and secondly, if it really is as simple as a wee piece of carbon, then I cannot stomach the thought of this all going to waste.

I hope someone here can help! Here are photos of the rheostat, showing the one intact and the other broken bit:

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Hi Everyone - this machine stayed untouched since October, as I got busy with other things - however, by handwheel, she stitches beautifully, and I am finally mustering the courage to tackle re-wiring. (New to me)

I need help figuring out how to open the lightbulb casing; you know, the singer lamps on a 99 k with a lens? I cannot for the life of me figure out how to open it to clean it or to change a lightbulb, even! I am sure that once I know how I will feel quite dumb... but meanwhile if anyone can help me I would be so appreciative.

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isnt that ring around the lamp a type of spring?

Take a popsickle stick and worry the ring off at the opening in it. If I remember right. Havent looked at one for awhile that still had a lens

Those rings are spring steel snap rings. You can use a small screw driver or a pointed object to get them off, but it's easier if you use a set of snap ring pliers for that kind of ring.

Joe

Hold your hand over the works when you take it off. Them things tend to become airborne and sail off to parts unknown:eek:

Hi All!

I have refinished the case bottom, re-wired the foot pedal, re-assembled the rheostat after replacing the carbon plug, put the machine all back together, and made some stitches! I will post a few photos; she is looking very nice! However, I have a few problems, so I will need some help.

1) The machine stitches quite slowly, and the foot pedal ends up getting snap-crackle-pop warm. I will have an expert look at my wiring tonight to ensure that I have not done anything wrong, but I am quite sure it is correct. (famous last words!:p) Any ideas as to why it would run so slowly? Is this likely an adjustment within the rheostat? For example, When I put it back together, I noticed that one can have some of the parts of the rheostat screwed closer to or farther from the main body of the ceramic block within the rheostat. Would this be the appropriate thing to adjust?

2) The tension is fussy - the stitches look fine, but not WOW. My grasshopper, 15 Clone, and Featherweight all stitch such beautiful stitches; any tips on making these 99k stitches go "WOW"?

3) I hear a mechanical 'click' with each stitch, as the needle is in its lowest position. I cannot tell quite where it is coming from. Is it normal to hear a bit of a click? Presumably yes, as it is an oscillating shuttle...?

Many thanks in advance if you can help with some answers. I am meant to gift this to a 12-year old on Monday, and I am awfully concerned about fine-tuning it right away, in the next day or so.

Thank you thank you , whoever can help. Photos to follow: The first one is how she looks now. Pretty nice compared with the "before", eh? (The funny marbley texture on the bed is just the reflection of the backdrop fabric).

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By the way, am I meant to thread the thread -through- that wee hole, after the tension discs? Or simply underneath the arm? Threading it through the wee hole was a pain! Most machines that I have do not have such a hole; I cannot figure what exactly that hole would be for. Ideas?
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Whew, that last photo looks dusty! Ever notice that close-ups show stuff that you do not see in real life?!? Next, photos of the lower (white thread) and upper (blue thread) stitches on two layers of cotton twill fabric. I would very much appreciate input on stitch quality and what I can tweak to improve it. Thank you!

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