Oiling of Featherweights
 

I keep hearing that FWs require oiling after every 8 hours of sewing time. I am fortunate to own one, but this seems so inconvenient and frequent. I just can't picture our foremothers doing this at home.

The owner's manual for my Kenmore 117-591 states "if used continuously", the machine should be oiled daily. Since I don't usually get to sew "continuously" for 8 hours, I generally oil once or twice a week, which probably does work out to be 8 hours of sewing.

The inconvenience of oiling every so often is far overshadowed by the inconvenience of a worn out or damaged machine.
What's even worse is you should put a new needle in when you oil it every 8 hours too. :D


Joe

I couldn't agree more. The oiling and replacement of needles are very basic. If you can't be bothered oiling your vintage machine, a new one might suit better. They require no maintenance and you replace the whole machine every time it breaks (just outside of warranty). The extra cost and crappy stitching are a compromise, a kind of "lazy tax".

LavenderBlue,

I can imagine our foremothers oiling the machines very often. Just not cleaning the old oil away. I can't count how many machines I've cleaned that had layer after layer of solidified oil on every part of the machine. The only parts that were clean were the outside where the fabric touched the machine. Inside, underneath was a gummy, varnished mess.
Last year I cleaned a Singer 127 that was so bad I had to use gun cleaning solvent to clean it. Regular oil, kerosene, Tri-Flow, wouldn't touch it. So I cleaned it the first time with gun solvent, then cleaned that off with denatured alcohol.

Yep, our foremothers were oiling fiends. My mother was that's for sure. My avatar pic is her old HOTHER SEW MATIC 15 clone. She had it for as long as I can remember (I'm 62 next month) and only retired it when she "moved up" to a ZZ machine. I still use the HOTHER. It runs just fine, she always kept it oiled.


Joe

It takes me about 5 mins. to oil a FW. I don't see it as inconvenient as any vintage (and most new) machines need oiling just as often.

LOL My mom has had a FW since 1948. She squirted oil in the oil holes all the time. BUT that oil didn't always hit the mark. She never cleaned that machine or had it serviced. It just ran and ran and ran. My sister and I cleaned it up one year for Christmas here is a link: http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...t-t174236.html I recommend that you at the least oil the top when you change the needle and do that fairly often, they are cheap & they do get dull. Maybe you can oil the bottom when you change the thread. Or you can just pick a time that works for you to oil the machine. It isn't hard.

I'm embarrassed to say I don't oil enough. Or changed needle more often but the darn machine is so strong running that I keep plugging away! Thanks for the reminder, it only takes 5 min from time you get oil and put it up to do.

My tech. that helps me when I get in trouble with my FW says to oil the bobbin parts after every other use or so. It seems to help. Then I oil the rest of it after several uses.
He says the bobbin parts are what are the most critical to keep oiled on a fw.
Maiah

I didn't realize that our FWs had to be oiled as frequently as talked about. Can do!