Singer Golden Touch and Throw
 

Free and came with everything.

Worth it to replace gears or should I part it out?

Thank you.

Never been tempted enough to buy one but if given one I would fix it.

Is it something a reasonably handy person could do at home?

I can fix a lot of stuff, but replacing gears in a sewing machine gives me pause.

It's been a while since I looked but I believe the gear sets were less than $20. I have one needing gears too. It hasn't been a priority to fix it yet. IIRC gear sets are less than $20 on Ebay. One of these days I might give it a go just for the experience. Any older machine with plastic gears is going to suffer the same fate sooner or later. The plastic is at the end of it's useful life. I figure it would be good to know how to replace them.
Rodney

http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/457gear/
tutorial how to replace top gears - see if that helps any - yours may vary

I have a 457 I'm sort of in the same boat with. I bought it for the cabinet only, assuming the machine was toast. It worked long enough for me to decide it was actually a pretty decent machine, and then the top gear went crunchburger.

I plan on going ahead & fixing it...it won't cost much, it'll "save" the machine, it'll be good practice, and it will prevent me from feeling guilty for tossing it. Of course, meanwhile, it's sitting on the floor waiting its turn on the table, doing its best to break a toe or two when I walk by... LOL But when I'm done I'll have a nicely functioning machine that I can hopefully find a good home for.

Thanks for the link.

I've never torn into one of these things before. Just kind of clean and oil. If I do I'd better take lots of notes and pictures.

Kind of intimidating. All those parts and having to set timing and all.

Check out the feed dogs also. I purchased a cabinet and one came with it. The feed dogs were just bars, the plastic had worn away. I tossed mine.

Thank you.