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Janie Doe, the 15 Clone - make over
There she was, on CL. Shouting COME AND GET ME! please... My kind of rescue. I sent an email to the lady named Jane. Got a reply - YES!!! Janie Doe the 15 clone is mine!!! I left immediately (I didn't want Jane to change her mind.) When I got there I found Janie Doe, the 15 Clone trapped in a sewing table. She was not able to lift her head at all without hitting the table top. Even her foot control was tightly screwed to the table. I think it gave her the blues. Janie Doe, the 15 Clone was homeless until Jane rescued her from a closet in the warehouse. Jane let Janie Doe, the 15 Clone sleep just outside her front door for many years but alas it was time for Jane and Janie Doe, the 15 Clone to part their ways. Jane and I gently moved Janie Doe, the 15 Clone out of her loft on a flat car, over a noisy metal bridge, down the elevator, down a ramp and into my car. Janie Doe, the 15 Clone did not complain - maybe she felt secure in her table? I took her on the first ride she had in a long time - poor thing couldn't even look out the window. There is no evidence that Janie Doe, the 15 Clone was car sick at all, but since she is so heavy I doubt if she will travel around very far. Janie arrived at my little shop. (I shortened her name - my fingers were tired... besides, Jane is out of the scene.) Poor Janie was stuck -very stuck- no access to her entrapment hinges at all. DH, my own super hero, immediately released her from her entrapment by unscrewing the top of the cabinet. Janie is in dire need of a clean up. She has fuzzy grime in her bobbin area, dried on oil in other places and a good amount of dust on her motor. Her wheels and gears don't want to turn. Janie is sort of plain in a 1969 sort of way. Janie's birthday may be February 18, 1969 - (it is stamped inside the entrapment table.) She came with no accessories at all. Her paint while dirty still has some of that old sparkle. Her cords are not too fragile and her foot control looks good. She will need a good clean up and a different place to park herself. Janie has a knob to drop her dogs and set her feet to dancin' Meanwhile Ms Franklin, the 15 Clone fits in the entrapment table nicely and is much happier than in the termite chewed frame she was trying to live in. Ms Franklin doesn't care, it's nice to have a firm foundation for once and makes her feel so much younger. |
Oh dear, I can't get the pictures to go on here... Janie is a blue Japanese 15 sewing machine.
Friday, Iris, Hannah and I worked on Janie. Janie had a little dried on oil and lots of grime. Nothing moved. Hannah lovingly cleaned up Janie's dirty body and polished her rusty chrome. Then she dotted dabs of Tri-flo on all of Janie's moving parts while I turned the balance wheel. It took a lot of dabbing and turning but all of a sudden Janie was free. We set her to sewing and she sews like a dream. I gifted Hannah with Janie for her birthday/graduation. |
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...p-t164361.html
Her twin is pictured on #7. I guess the twin's pic will have to do. |
One more try for a picture - oh never mind.
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There's a limit on the file sizes accepted now.
Your camera or software should have options for sending and storing your photos - chances are, you are taking pictures at the highest possible resolution, which is what you need to print your pictures, but too large for viewing on a computer screen. :) If you shrink your photo to "email" size, the bulletin board should accept it just fine. Or maybe you have photo editing software like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro - you can resize your digital photos and save a small version of your photos that are more suitable for email or bulletin boards. Or (if you have Windows 7, this might be the easiest way) you can find the file in Windows Explorer, right click on the file and click "Preview" A new window will open up with your photo previewed. Click on the Email button above it and you will get a drop-down menu - choose "Smaller 640 x 480" and click "Attach" The program will open a new email for you with the resized picture attached. Right click on the attachment and click "Save As" to save it somewhere on your hard drive. |
Love your story! Hopefully after resizing your pictures and sending we will be able to see lovely Janie.
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What a lovely story!! Sounds like a "happily ever after"!! Can't wait to see pics!
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For miriam
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I'm posting the photos of the Jane Doe makeover for Miriam...if you have questions, she'll have to be the one to answer! :)
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Some more of Miriam's machine. :)
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And some more.... :)
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GREAT photos!! :)
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Originally Posted by Charlee
(Post 4703468)
I'm posting the photos of the Jane Doe makeover for Miriam...if you have questions, she'll have to be the one to answer! :)
Photo's by Iris. |
Very nice in her baby blue color! Chrome and blue just look nice and wintry together--perfect for fall!
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Here are the last two...
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The glamor shot and the test drive. I looked high and low for a FM foot - found it today.... photos by Hannah.
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I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for a pretty clone like this one!! :)
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I have had one for years. It belonged to my neighbor lady. (I've always been a bit snobbish about sewing machines.) I just never used it until I was testing attachments. I got into the FM and fell in love. These are fantastic for that if nothing else. They are usually pretty inexpensive on CL or yard sales. They are simple to use. Parts are available. The motors are strong and fast. They clean up pretty easy. They are a little tricky to learn to thread. You have to make sure and follow the directions in the manual. What can you find anywhere that would make a better back up machine or a machine to learn on? When we were working on Janie, we put a hand crank and a finger guard on another 15 I've been working on. The hand crank was a blast - it turned so freely! The finger guard is very nice - I want one for any low shank I own. I don't like getting vaccinated with a sewing machine needle. Yeah, Charlee this is one to have. They come in many colors. Melinda is trying for one of each color I think.
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Charlee here is a link for lots of different pics of the Japanese 15s from QB members - that way you know what to look for when you go to a garage sale. http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...p-t164361.html I'm amazed at how they can look alike and yet the have been customized in their own way. I get a kick out of how some of them look like 1960s cars.
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Here is a CL ad I once wrote and got kicked off... I liked it... I don't have that machine anymore.
Vintage late 1960's cream puff Original two tone dazzling grey and cream paint in mint shape Classic and functional piece of equipment Rich showcase passion condition One owner (Grandma's) Chrome & heavy metal! Well-engineered One foot petal All original accessories Custom cover in excellent condition This machine purrs like the well-crafted piece of machinery it is. It feels "quality:, if you know what I mean. This machine will definitely be in your "keeper" list. Would be great in a show just like it is They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Runs like a sewing machine... because it is one. Meet the Wizard!!!! |
Nice Rescue, I never met a machine I couldn't love yet!:)
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Miriam what a great story. I love reading your posts!
Great job on the cleanup. I want one that color and keep looking around here. But they are listed high on CL so hope to stumble upon one at a garage sale sometime. |
They seem to sneak up on me and we keep letting them in the door. This one was free from Jane. My DIL loves her new clone.
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Originally Posted by quilt addict
(Post 4707159)
Miriam what a great story. I love reading your posts!
Great job on the cleanup. I want one that color and keep looking around here. But they are listed high on CL so hope to stumble upon one at a garage sale sometime. |
Oh my, Miriam. You have given me the "bug" or addiction whichever. She is so pretty. My DH keeps asking me "where will you put it?" I just answer "I can find a place".
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Nice I am going to look for one of those machines.
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Originally Posted by hershery
(Post 4714067)
Nice I am going to look for one of those machines.
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what a beauty, but than again she looks a lot like my clone! Have fun with her!
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Wow, Miriam!! Quite the cutie girl after her make over!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tii...re=uploademail
Muv made another video - this one will tell you how to thread a machine like Janie Doe. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy the video Muv & Fav made! |
bringing Janie back up - so many clones this week
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If you need a printed manual - just print one out... http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_...uals/15-91.pdf it takes a bit to load - it's at least a free one
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Lovely thread Miriam, I am glad you brought it back up as I hadn't found this one yet. Your girl is just like the full sized one I have...who is still sitting all gunked up waiting for me to find the time to free her! The little 3/4 was in better shape, she purrs like a kitten - I love these little machines! It is so hard to pass them up when I see them 4sale.
(and I definitely have my heart set on finding a Greyhound some day) Joann |
WOW, what a transformation~she is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.!!! Thanks for sharing her story!!!
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OK. Some machines do come to my house all stuck and so NOT wanting to move the needle bar. As with this machine, I start with a visual inspection. Is there any rust? No? Ok it might just be stuck with dried up oil. Something has to dissolve the oil or soften it. A solvent will break the oil down. Heat will soften the oil. Oil will soften the oil. At first Janie would NOT budge - we dropped oil anywhere there was something that would move - friction points - look on the bottom of the machine - clean and oil there - clean and oil the top parts - anything you have any kind of access to - we slowly turned Janie as we oiled everything again. Sometimes that is enough to make the machine work. Sometimes a bit of heat will soften the oil and let it move. Use solvent with caution. Out doors, windy day, VERY, VERY careful of any paint - oil isn't the only thing solvent will dissolve - very careful of the paint and any kind of plastic - ask me how I know this... I've also seen that VERY little solvent can be enough to dissolve the dried on oil in a moving joint - there just isn't that much oil in there to begin with. Oh and Janie doesn't have plastic parts inside.
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For a long time I didn't realize there were 3/4 size Japanese 15s - I have one and I think it is a keeper. It is small but it is powerful. I also have a Cinderella sewing machine. It is even smaller. My Cinderella still has issues so I don't know how she sews. She was missing some parts. She is made of stamped metal I think and she uses some Japanese 15 parts. She is very small and light weight. Mine sits in a smelly little case.
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This is my Fabric clone that I love and adore and sew on as often as I can. She weighs 38 lbs and now sits in this fablous cabinet that came with my 403 (only weighs 18 lbs so is in a travel bag=portable).
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you are some super smart lady, wish you lived near so I could learn from you. Thanks for all your helpful comments.leepat
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I cleaned a machine yesterday - it was a Singer 401. It looked like it had been greased with a black crayon - waxy gunky grease. I scraped off as much as I could, wiped up what I could and then hit the stuck on gunk with some alcohol careful to keep it off the machine's paint. I would much rather see gunky grease and oil than rust. Once the machine was freed up it looks great and sews fantastic. Then the GKs invaded... I was hoping to post pics of the DGKs 'helping'. Two of them (ages 2 1/2 & 5 1/2) stood on an old piano bench and were working with Qtips to 'clean' that Singer 401. They got all excited when the Qtip got dirty with grease or lint. I had to define gunk. It is anything that comes off onto a Qtip... well, I guess so anyway. I'm sure the machine didn't care who swiped the gunk.
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Thanks everyone. I have it moving a little bit . It has a tag "Deluxe Zig-Zag made in Japan" I will try to post a picture later today.
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It can take some time to get some of them to move. Janie was the first machine I ever freed up with only Triflow. I was so amazed at how well it worked. I have another machine that was more deluxe and it was badly frozen up - more complicated, too. I was advised by Ray White that the Triflow might take a month to free things up - it freed up eventually. I oil any thing that moves. Look way up inside the machine for anything that moves - chances are that is frozen up due to either dried up oil or never had any. Under the machine - drop one drop on anything that moves. We jiggled the hand crank as we went. Some times things moved - some times not. Jiggle anyway all you need is a tiny amount of oil to get in there and lubricate - it is not the oil you see that gunks up a machine - it is the tiny little bit of dried up oil you can't see that is causing it to freeze up. Never force it. If you have plastic parts do not use heat. Heat can some times speed things up. I have a hair dryer and some times a rice bag... well not so much the rice bag. That microwave SIL has burns the rice and I had a fire going one day - the end of the rice bag... The rice bag also puts out some steam and that is not so good on the machine. You can also turn the machine on it's side or back or on end upside down - get the oil to go in those little tight places. Crank the machine some more. I rarely have to disassemble to get it to move. I do remove the bobbin area and most of the time I pull the tension out and clean and then put it back - that way I know it is right - I've seen all kinds of creative tension assembly.
The tensions for these machines have given me more fits than all the other machines combined. Here is a manual with some good help. I will give one big hint though - if you need parts get a new tension that is supposed to fit that machine. I have tried to use spare parts and didn't like the results. Sew-classic has tensions and some of the parts. I would recommend dealing with her. She is reliable and up front. Oh here is that manual. http://www.tfsr.org/pub/technical_in...echanism_2.pdf you will need the info toward the bottom: UPPER TENSION MECHANISM - (15K model) This was a lot of help - there may be holes but if you run into snags just ask - there are people who can explain things better than I can. I just do it. |
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