Tri-Flow is an excellent light oil. It has some qualities that regular sewing machine oil doesn't seem to have.
It penetrates better and doesn't gum up.
I've used many oils in my life, and I can tell the difference between regular oil and Tri-Flow when I lube up a machine.
That is why I recommend it.

You can get it at Sew-Classic. On the Tri-Flow pages there is a lot of information about it.

Joe

Is the belt too tight? When I bought one machine, it was sluggish until I loosened the belt.

I have a 201 treadle and 15-90 that's also treadle powered, both of them sew just fine with no drag at all. The 201 is much quieter than the 15-90. I'm thinking that maybe you missed oiling the 201 somewhere, there are a lot of oil points on the bottom of the machine.

That was the first thing I checked. Any looser and the belt slips. I'm certain it's from 3-in-1 oil, since I found the stuff in the hook.

On another note, I was at the Habitat Restore this afternoon and found a 201. It had the potted motor, light in the front, etc. but the gears were so stiff I could barely rotate the flywheel. Looked inside and it was black with hardened crud. Poor thing. The flywheel took a lot of effort just to get it to turn a few inches. I showed this to one of the workers there and told them the $125 price tag needed to include that the machine needed major work on it.

Mine doesn't seem near as bad now. It's needing a soaking in kerosene but she's not crying out for help like that one did.

PS: The Singer 201 made in the UK has the light in the back, and a belted motor. Those made in the USA have a potted motor and the light in the front. My 201 is from the UK, made in 1948. :)

I rewired the machine about 10 days ago. Went over the machine thoroughly, it's easy to oil a Singer when you know where to oil. I'm sure it's lubed well on the bottom. Thanks for the suggestion!

All the ideas you've given have helped me figure things out, thank you everyone! I love this board.

Here's a picture of my 201, all wiring replaced. The motor was made in NJ, machine is from the UK. Found her on ebay for a song!

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