My sister came up to visit a few days. This afternoon, we worked on an old Singer 411 I bought last fall. I had worked on her a little and gave up. The needle was hitting the foot - took off the foot and it hit behind the hole - took off the plate and it was hitting the shuttle. So we thought maybe the needle bar was bent. I have an old Singer 500 that is good only for parts - the parts do interchange. SO we did a needle bar transplant. We took the one off the 500 VERY carefully and then took the needle bar off the 411 - identical! We put the 500's needle bar on the 411. Then we stuck the bent one on the poor old tired 500. (NOTE: We could not see that it was bent until we had it out of the machine.) Then we had to time the machine. I have had to do it on a Consew walking foot every time the thread winds around the shaft so I tackled that with my sister observing every move I made. We did a high five when we got the thread to feed. Then the thread was hanging up on something so we started checking for burrs. We took the bobbin case out (again) and felt around the shuttle and sure enough there was a burr where the needle had been hitting because it was out of sync with the shuttle. Got it polished up and she runs!!! It took us about an hour and a half to get it all done. Imagine the bill from the shop??? We named her Gertrude - Gertie for short - I would ssssssoooooooo love to turn her into a treadle - some of those were made as treadles in Germany - Gertie would need a new balance wheel though. Her previous owner abused her - bent needle bar, broken cabinet where the hinges go, missing spool holders. Poor thing. In spite of all the abuse, Gertie's motor purrs & she makes a great stitch. She came with some parts that are suppose to make a chain stitch. I will have to try that out some time.

Krystna, beautiful Redeye and cabinet!

Nancy

Well, you have a really nice start to a really nice collection!

Nancy

Ok I did it, got my 33rd machine today!!!! The sad thing is that 11 of those are treadles!!!!!!

I got the Eldredge Two Spools listed on Craigslist! The machine is so nice, only needed to be wiped off. It was in the same family for 86 years! I got the Certificate of Warranty - dated. I got the users manual, the attachments, the instruction manual for the attachments, the service guarantee. He was asking $100, I got it for $90. This is the first machine I have bought that I did not have to go on-line and get a manual, bobbins, slide plate, spool pin, whatever! It is complete!

Here she is! I am going to call this machine Annie Oakley - she fits in with Monica's cowboy and cowgirl.

Nancy

Sorry these pictures are kinda dark - I had to put this one in front of the Murphy bed in my sewing room! Heaven help us if we have over night company soon!

I bought myself this lovely lady a couple of weeks ago... on eBay, so I probably paid way too much! But she is quite a beauty, and sews like a dream. I've always wanted a hand-crank, so I can convince myself that sewing counts as aerobic exercise! She came with the cover also, which is in pretty good condition.

I named her Ambrozina, after my grandmother.

Donna, that is a beautiful Redeye - the hand crank makes her even prettier! Ambrozina, is a very unusual name - but pretty!

Nancy

Thanks, Nancy. Don't think I'll ever catch up to you in the machine department, though..... I'm jealous of those 33 machines, and especially the 11 treadles! That's what I want next.

Dixie, look at page 469. That is my 127 with the Sphinx decals. The part you are missing is silver looking, but mine is not tooled, just plain with just a screw not a thumb screw. Your best bet would be to find a parts machine. Have you been watching e-bay?

Nancy

Miriam, you are a brave soul! I bet it is easier to try something like that with your sister in cahoots with you! Congratulations on the switch out, and especially congratulations on that fact that it worked! Way to go!

Nancy

Nancy! That's a gorgeous machine and cabinet! Congrats! I love the Annie Oakley name. These are wonderful machines for piecing. Winding the spool bobbin does take some getting use to. If the can doesn't wish to sit in correctly (which happened with the Cowboy), then you just make adjustments to the spring plunger. Those directions are found in your manual. But most likely you are good to go.

Again, I'm very excited for you! Enjoy! :)