Most of those Japanese/Taiwan zigzag machine will do so without need of a cam, unlike some of the Singer zigzag machines.

Of the machines I have had that wouldn't zigzag, it was generally because something in the zigzag mechanism was seized up, and needed oiled and manipulated to get it working correctly.

John:

First revelation: my machine is the same as yours! I photographed the badge and couldn't believe my eyes when I read that it's actually a SWA-2000..... I have the manual and it says SW*M*! Will scan and post the manual to the yahoo group if it is not there already.

Second: the gear that you circled in your photo is gone, all we have there is a big hole. My husband had a hunch that something belonged there....

Now I need to figure out what the gear is like that belongs there and whether I want to spend money (and how much) to buy that gear and screws.
I don't need that machine, I bought it since it was cheap ($10) and looked to be in good shape.

The cam shots are in the next post. Thank you so much for helping me solve this riddle! BTW my manual contains a parts list with photos! Do you have that?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]509200[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509201[/ATTACH]

John:

here are the cams:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]509204[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]509205[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]509206[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]509207[/ATTACH]

Hope this helps :-)

Mark, thank you for clarifying the difference between Singer and Japanese machines.... We have a Singer 328k which needs a zigzag cam for a simple zigzag stitch, which made me assume the Dressmaker might need one too.....

Sabine I have a Singer Touch & Sew that the gear disintegrated completely on. I couldn't even find the broken remains in the machine. Something similar may have happened on your machine. The useful life of those plastic gears is practically over. Looks like many of them self destruct after about 40 to 50 years.
Rodney

Hi John, Rodney and others, I have located a potential source for the missing gear, apparently part #25 on the parts list. Website is http://www.sewingmachineparts.net/gears.html He has supplied this gear to several others, according to my research (yahoo group).

We'll see how that goes....

I did post the cams in the cam thread.

Sabine,

I'm glad you're getting it figured out. I believe I do have the pdf manual with parts list and I *think* it came from the yahoo group. I did look at the site with gears but didn't see a #25 gear...or does that refer to the part number from the manual? Did you write directly to the parts site to identify it? If it works out, I would like to know so I could proceed.

Also, there are some other machines besides some Singers which require a zigzag cam. I know there are some lower end Kenmores that require one. Sometimes, it is not always obvious.

Thanks for the pictures of the cams.

Good luck with your machine and let us know how it works out.

John

John, the #25 gear was mentioned in one of the posts on the yahoo group as the one that drives the zz mechanism. Looking at it, that makes sense. I'll keep you posted on my progress or otherwise... Thanks again :-)

Well I was looking for a darning foot for my SWA 2000 and came across this posting. Not sure if the cam questions got resolved but I have had my SWA 2000 since 1974 and you do not need a cam to do the zigzag stitch. You just have to be sure and use the correct pressure foot. Also when using the cam be sure to turn the zigzag width knob to the right, insert the cam, turn to click in place then release the zigzag width knob. Then you are good to go.

I know this thread is almost two years old but I was wondering: did anyone ever figure out what that little white tab under the screw is for?

I have this exact same machine and it also has a cracked zig zag gear. I have removed the offending gear & shaft and am now shopping for a replacement. If anyone is still out there :)