Spool Pin Question: Straight or Angled?
 

I've just had the blessing of being able to "adopt" a 1924 Model 66 Singer from the G Series. According to what I've found out so far, it was almost the last of that series--the last four months of the last year it ever ran, and there were some changes just before that year. The machine itself appears to have been manufactured so that it could be run as a treadle, or alternatively mounted with a motor. It's presently mounted on a treadle system. At this point, it needs a good cleaning, oiling, and a few other bits and pieces.

The spool pin is my present quandary. For one thing, it's stuck. Very stuck. For another, it's at quite a noticeable angle--it really looks bent. I'm seeing pictures online of machines (Model 66s) with perfectly straight spool pins (mostly restored models), and quite a few others that are angled, as well. So I'm wondering--is the spool pin supposed to be set at an angle in at least some years? Does it work better that way? (I would think it would put some rather awkward spin on things.) And if it needs to come out, what might be the best method of getting it unstuck?

(I'm cautious: I haven't done anything to it so far, except squirt a little sewing machine oil up into the hole underneath it, and try to move it with a pair of pliers--carefully. I can't even tell if it's a tap-in, or a screw-in pin, though I've tried wiggling it both ways.)

Thank you to anyone who can clear this up for me! :-)

Welcome to the QuiltingBoard.

I do not believe the pin should be angled in any way. When I've had bent ones I straighten them using a 1/4" drive deepwell socket on a nut driver handle with the socket slipped over the pin. I then move it with as little force as possible. If there's rust on the pin I have used polishing grit sandpaper, and I slide it back and forth around the pin, like shoe shining, changing angles until I've made it all the way around the pin.

I have never removed a spool pin from a 66. I believe they are pressed in such that you would need a punch from the underside to remove it. Other people may remove them, if so I've not researched how as I haven't seen the need.

Use only clear sewing machine oil on your machine, including to clean the body of it. Anything water based and you will turn the decals silver. There are lots of posts on cleaning machines, I would read through those.

Hi, Joe. Thank you very much for the advice. I certainly will read those threads, and I very much appreciate the heads-up about avoiding water!

I hadn't thought of trying to straighten the pin, but it may well be the most sensible (and easiest) thing to do. I had also thought of applying heat (to the pin only) while protecting the machine and decals, hoping to expand and contract the pin enough to loosen the lock-up.

The thing that makes me curious is the number of machines appearing online with pins bent at apparently that exact angle and in the same direction. That's when I started wondering if the bent pin had been some after-market hack, used by machine owners (and possibly repair shops) to "improve" performance in some way. Another one for the "unsolved mysteries" file!

Update: The obnoxious creature is out. I ran into this on another website, and wasn't quite sure I dared try it, but it worked. The other poster recommended vise grips--I discovered that a good pair of channel locks (tongue-and-groove joint pliers) will do it, especially a large one. In fact, large is preferable.

For anybody else who wants to do this and has a tap-in pin: Take a good-sized pair of channel locks, I think mine is about 12 inches or so (I tried a small pair first, but the small ones don't have enough "umph"). Grip the pin horizontally--I worked from the front. Watch out for your machine and don't hit the body or decals as you strike the channel locks near the jaws from underneath with a hammer. Strike upwards carefully but firmly until the pin gives up. (This is another reason bigger is better: it's easier to hit your channel locks and not your machine.)

And now I can order a new pin. :)