Kenmore Electric Rotary Sewing Machine or 120-49 is here.
 

The UPS guy brought my new toy today just after lunch time. No damage from shipping. All the accessories were there as well as the owners manual.
The original text said the motor ran, the light worked but the needle did not go up and down. They were right, the top shaft was jammed up solid.

I've been told these machines jam up due to the nylon bearings used in them. Well, this machine has bronze bushings on the main shaft, the presser bar shaft and needle rod. Also the underneath shafts are mounted in bronze bushings also. The only nylon parts I've found so far are an idler bushing that puts the tension on the drive chain, yep the main shaft drives the bottom shafts with a steel chain. There is an tubular angled piece that controls the stitch length that's nylon, and a nylon cam in the feed dog areas.
There is also a part in the thread take up lever assembly that's plastic. There may be more, but I found none in critical high load areas.

If the condition of this machine is any indication of it's life, it was used a lot. No closet queen this one. It was full of what looked like wool lint. Lots and lots of it. The feed dogs were totally covered in it. This is a well used machine.

So, I started putting the Tri-Flo oil to it. If it moved, turned, slid, rotated, or even looked like it would do any of the above it got oiled. And oiled, and oiled.

I pulled the hand wheel clutch nob off and there was a big slot in the end of the shaft. So using a screw driver I began to put the pressure on it trying to get it to turn. It took a bit of coaxing but it turned. So, with the top two bronze bushings floating in oil I've been turning and turning till I had to take a break. While I'm typing this I stood the machine on it's end and poured more Tri-Flo on the bushings. Some really icky brown stuff is coming out of the bushings so I'm figuring that poor machine has been use for many years then retired without a single lube job in it's life.
The motor is even covered in the brown wool lint. It's a Delco motor by the way ... with oil holes.

I found many places to lube this machine. It's not really meant to be left to go dry.

I'm pretty sure she'll sew again.

My only worry is needles. The needle I took out of the machine is a full 3/16" shorter than a standard 15x1.
The markings on it are: REE RD . B. 1/2 . The flat shank is longer than a 15x1s but the needle is shorter and it has a real stumpy point with the eye very close to the end.

The owners manual says use a "Kenmore 49" needle and shows a larger than life pic of it. But it gives no other information.
I'm going to try ISMACS to see if I can find a listing for the "Kenmore 49" needle, but I won't hold my breath.

Anybody have any idea on this?

More reports will be coming along with pics.

Joe

OK, here we go .... Pics of my new to me Kenmore 120-491.

This is what GW said I'd get, and I did:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...rewithcase.jpg
When I got it home I checked it thoroughly. As they said it was locked up. Filthy inside from brown wool type lint.
But nothing was missing or broken. That always helps. And I'm glad I didn't look closely at the manual cover till after I had it running. One thing is for positive sure, this was not a closet queen. This is a well used but not abused machine.

Here is it with the outer shell removed. Looks really hokey to me but it gets the job done I guess.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nmorenaked.jpg
In this view you can get an idea of how filthy it was. Just look at the feed dog area. You can also see the right main shaft bronze bushing near the hand wheel, and the pressure foot and needle shaft bronze bushings too.

Here is the motor. It's a Delco, made by GM, 1.5 Amp motor. It is oil-able and was dry, dry, dry and covered with the brown wool lint.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nmoremotor.jpg
It is spring loaded and once the oil got to the bushings it lacks nothing in giddyap and go.

Here's a couple from straight on, front then back:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nmoreFston.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nmoreRston.jpg

While I had it apart I pumped the oil in it and worked it and worked it and worked it until I finally got some movement. I had to use a screw driver in the slot at the end of the main shaft under the clutch to get it to move.
I worked it for over an hour by hand then took a break. After my break an idea hit me. Use my drill motor to drive the shaft while I put more oil in the bushings. So I chucked a bit in the drill and did just that. It worked.
After that I cranked the clutch down and kept turning it until the motor could drive it. Then with the foot controller pedal to the floor I poured more oil in the bushings as the motor did the work. Gradually the speed picked up until it was running pretty good. By the time I was finished it would even start with out my help.

We had a snack and after that I put the shell back on and put all the peripherals back on. Put the needle and bobbin in and threaded it up. Because the needle is slightly bent I turned it by hand to see if it would actually sew. It did. So I put the foot controller on the floor and tried it out. I was pleased to see it sews. Not only does it sew, it makes some really nice stitches too. Here's a pic of the machine with the test stitch felt and all the accessories I got with it:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...1fw-attach.jpg

After I was finished I was putting the pics through my photo program to reduce them for the forum when I saw the caution on the cover of the owners manual:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...andneedles.jpg
"IMPORTANT ... Do Not Oil Machine". Really now. Well, one thing is for sure, had I not oiled it, it would have never sewed again. It was jammed up and jelly tight. Now it turns freely. I suspect there was lube already in the bronze bushings that lasted a period of time. After that the idea was to convince the owner to buy a new machine. That's just my theory now, nothing I know for sure.

The needle is shorter than a 15x1, see the bottom of the pic above. I'm going to do some more research but it is the correct needle. I'll make a trip to my LSMG tomorrow and hope he's got some.
Does anyone have any idea of what the correct number for this needle might be?

Well, she's kinda ugly and I think I'll name her something appropriate as soon as I can think of something.

Joe

Joe, how do you know if a motor is oilable and where does the oil go? I won't worry about the one that's been to an appliance repair for rewiring, but I have several others in that age range.

Irish rose,
In the pic below look at the little dot inside the red circle. That is an oil hole. There is one on both ends.
The motors with these holes can be oiled, if there is no holes they are usually can't be oiled..

Joe

Joe,

Pretty neat how the "hood" comes completely off and power shouldn't be lacking with that motor. If needles are difficult to come by, I'd be curious if a 15x1 with a few mm ground off the top would work. I was reading somewhere that your machine was made by a division of Chrysler. Nice Find

Jon

Joe, I'm impressed at how resourceful you are.... and persistant, too. It looks like you have another great machine that was willing to sew beautiful stitches but wasn't going to get the chance unless you or some other machine enthusiast coaxed it back to life. Good Job!!

You all encourage me with your knowledge and desire to revive every vintage machine you find.

I contacted Kevin Pinkerton over at ISMACS and he suggested DCx1F needles. I'm pretty sure we have some of those here even though we've never had a machine that uses them. Now the hunt is on.

Jon,

The needle in it has a very short point. Sort of like a 206x13. I don't know if grinding the top off of a 15x1 would work. But the thought did cross my mind. The only problem is how much to grind off and how to do it consistently.

n-u-n,
I don't know what the numbers are for the stitches yet, but I ran the stitch control down to "1". Then ran some stitches. On most machines I have, when the stitches get to the 20+ per inch they loose their individual stitch.
This machine makes the most perfect itsy tinsy stitches I've seen. I'll have to do it again with a good needle and post them.

.................................................. .......................................

Next up a video of the naked Kenmore running. In color with sound.

Joe

What a way to "run"!

Pretty neat Kevin recommended the DCx1F as I see there used mostly in Sergers. He does lots of good work on needle sizes, cross references, and replacements.

Jon

Here is the video of the naked Kenmore being run the first time.

Turn your sound up cos a couple times the machine sounded like a small block V8 with mild race cam in it.

Click on the pic to see the video:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...orerunning.jpg

Joe

I saw a naked machine at my LQS a while back and I was looking at it really closely. If fact it was more naked than the one in your post. Tfhe owner who was a funny guy said. and I hope I get it right.
"That's for people who put their machines on Lay-A-Way. We add the parts as they make payments".

OH LORD that's funny!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for laugh, we really needed one.

.................................................. ................

Our local SMG has an aluminum skeleton from a Janome out for display. Looks sorta pathetic to me.

Joe

Actually, Joe, I think she is quite attractive. Something about the design and color remind me of the Kenmore 159.262 I purchased about a month ago for $15.00 at a thrift shop. Mine has a shuttle bobbin and the work space is only 5.5 inches. I have a question for you. When I called the Sears archives they told me mine was made in 1986. Were these machines still being made with a shuttle in 1986? Mine says Made in Japan and has JA47 and JC5 on the underside. Mine works very smoothly and has a nice, even stitch also. (Love your posts, they are most informative.)

Kitsy,

I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. Is this the machine that resembles the Singer Rocketeer a little bit?
If so I thought it's features were a mixture of old vs new and would have loved to have found it myself.

Joe

How many horses is that motor! :D

I'm not sure, but it sure sounds good don't it?

Joe

She's not ugly, she is just sturdy looking!

Update: I've been researching and have found two needles numbers that match:
Kenmore #49 and Boye 2 1/2. No modern needles at all match. The DCx1F suggested by Kevin Pinkerton works very well as a substitute, so at least I have something to use.

Joe

Awesome machine!!!!

Thank you for the picture of the motor with the oil hole circled. I'll be checking all my 1950s machines.

When I first looked at this Kenmore I could see it hadn't been oiled in like forever ......... at least many many years.

I oiled the motor while I was freeing up the main shaft and again after it was free. When the oil finally soaked into the bearings you could see, hear and feel the motor free up and run faster and easier. I oiled it a couple more times after it was freed up so I'm pretty sure it's good to go for a while now.

Joe

I have 2 vintage FW's and whenever I get a "new" machine I take it apart, clean all the dust & crap out of it and oil & lube with sewing machine oil & sewing machine grease. Usually in the manual it tells you only to grease in certain places (gears, small holes in motor) and never put oil on those places. I just got my 2nd FW the other day and when I opened it up, everything was dry looking and the machine ran sluggish. After cleaning and oiling, I put the machine back together and put the needle back in and the machine would not sew at all. It had no tension , it was skipping stitches 1 to 2 inches at a time ..I had put the needle in wrong. I had checked the manual to see what I could have done wrong....put needle in right and it runs like a charm. I do have another machine (newer one) that I think has a timing problem. It will not even pick up the bobbin thread. There are web sites where they show you how to fix stuff. Good luck

Deborah,

Don't let your heart outsmart your brain. That machine is not a good machine to use. I got mine to sew only after many months of on again - off again working on it. The bushings were seized, the tension was way off, there are no proper needles currently available for it only a few here and there if you can find them. The DBx1F needles do work quite well but you have to seat them out just exactly right. A little bit wrong and it won't pick up the bobbin thread.

Should you buy it?
Well, if you want it cos it's ugly and would add something to your collection, go ahead.
Or if the cabinet is what you want, most other White machines of that vintage and some Kenmores will fit ... I think.
If you want it to sew with ... pass it by. There is much better Kenmores to be had.

Joe

Hi everyone. I've been working on sewing machines for about 30 years, and have had a few of these 120's. They are some of the strangest sewing machines I have ever used. Strange because they implicitly instruct the owner to never oil the machine, yet if it isn't oiled, it will quit running. PLUS, as Joe mentioned, there are actual oil ports on the motor, which means, IT NEEDS TO BE OILED!! That slays me.

As far as I can tell, these were semi-bottom of the barrel sewing machines. They were fairly inexpensive and made almost as throw-away machines. They have a stitch length adjustment, using a really strange side to side lever system that no one else has ever employed. You can open the case to get beneath the machine and drop the feed dogs by sliding a nylon bushing out of the way. Not a very practical way to do that, but it works. It is just difficult to imagine a machine like this, that has virtually zero maintenance, and then they expect you to lift the entire machine up so you can fumble around with a difficult to move nylon cam to drop the dogs. Weird.

Taking everything into consideration, Joe is also probably right about Sears wanting this machine to seize up so that you buy a different one. Since it isn't supposed to be oiled, it isn't user friendly, and you either have to take it in to a Sears store, where they will oil it up, or get a new one. Sears wins both ways financially on this machine through service or selling a new machine.

Every one I had, and I have one sitting next to me as I write this, every one I had ran like a tank. Yes, the stitches were good, but if a metal machine can be said to be cheap, this would be it. But hey, this is a no muss, no fuss sewing machine that will literally work until it doesn't, and then you are stuck with it after that.

The Sewing Guy,

Welcome to the QB.

I've got mine working. Took a lot of work but it sews. The only thing is, I dislike it immensely. It's a lousy design but worst of all, there is so little room under the needle bar area I have to use a set of needle nose pliers to change the needles. I can't get my hand in there.
I keep thinking I'll just sell it, then I change my mind and say I'll use the case for a better machine. Then I hem and haw and say, but I put so much work into it and it does sew now, so why not use it.

So it sits on the shelf.

Joe

Too bad about the design flaws. I don't see it as an ugly machine at all. I like the sleek lines of it. It does sound like the beginnings of "planned obsolescence" at work though. Sears was pretty much at the front of the pack when it came to that sort of thing.
Rodney

Rodney,

The looks is what attracted me to it as well. But along with looking good a machine has to work good too. This one does but it's got a few features that make it difficult for me to use.

Joe

Joe, I have acquired this machine myself from a 90 year old friend who is downsizing into a senior residence. She said that it worked (40+ years ago)but like your machine is seized up fiercely. The motor works but will only turn the hand wheel when it is loosened. I can move the reverse lever and a bit of tri flo has got that to move a little easier. So, I want to know hot to get the case off so I can start to oil the rest of the machine. Can you help me out here. Thanks,
Kathy

Kathy,

On the back of the machine is three or four screws. Remove them and the back comes off. Then there are three or four screws coming in from the back side that hold the front on. A couple are kind of hidden, you'll have to look for them.
Once those screws are removed the clam shell will come off and you can see how it's built.


Joe

Did it! Thanks. Lots of places to oil. Not sure how this will go but will keep in touch.

Kathy

Kathy,

Do not oil or grease any of the nylon ( plastic ) bits. They can react with the oil and expand. When that happens the bobbin parts will bind up.

Also for the top shaft bushings stand the machine on it's end and oil them so the oil will soak down between the shaft and bushings. Those were oil impregnated bushings and the original oil is long dried out. This is where the Tri-Flow oil really shines.
There are also bushings on the presser foot shaft and needle bar.

Joe

Thank you for the pictures and the great details.

As I am aging, am learning that the older something is the better it can be.

BerninaGirl,

There are exceptions to that and the Kenmore 120- machines are one of them. I consider them vintage junque. The one I have sits in it's case and is never used. I dislike it that much. I take it out once in a while to clean the case of mold and see if it still turns over.

There are many better machines out there. If you like Kenmores then try the 117 and 158 series. Some of the best in my opinion anyway.

Joe

Any comments on the Kenmore 148 series, Joe? There is one at auction that I am watching. It is just a straight stich with reverse.

SD,

The only Kenmore 148 series I've seen was a 15 Clone. The 148 series was made by Soryu in Japan. I do believe I'd give them a good look see and then make up my mind on an individual basis.

When I suggest models like the 117 and 158 series it's because I have hands on experience with them.

Joe

It is an ugly beast, isn't it? I have one too and consider it male; I call him "Bear" because he has a wonderfully powerful growl. Bear worked when I got him but was filthy. So I did pretty much everything you did except that I pulled the motor apart and cleaned it too. I found the whole machine fascinating as it's so very different than all their others. They went off in a totally different design direction with the aluminum "skeleton"; or perhaps it was Chrysler that did it. And the 1.5 amp Delco motor! You'll never find a motor that powerful in a modern machine. I carefully cleaned it's chain too. Lastly, I oiled him and tried sewing. Holy cow, what a machine! I'm going to make some medium-weight canvas slipcovers and plan to use Bear. I tested him with a size 16 needle and 8 layers of heavyweight denim; he chomped through it as easily as though it were butter.
Wish I had all those lovely accessories - "Bear" arrived "bare". Guess I'll have to begin trolling Craig's List and ebay.

I have this same machine and posted about it on another thread. After having the "exoskeleton" off the machine all I could think of was the movie "The Terminator", which is what the machine will be to me.

What needle did you use? I think the correct needle is a CC1221, I tested mine with a 15x1, which worked, but I it shouldn't have.