I had four 99's I wanted to fix up to get out of the house and bought four slide plates. For some reason they fit the 66's slighty better than the 99's. On 1 or 2 I swapped plates with the 66's and the other two I had to peen the groove on the underside so they would not constantly fall off the spring when opening. Still wasn't thrilled with any of the four. I learned my lesson and stick with original used parts if possible and would be reluctant to try aftermarket foreign slide plates again. Could have been a bad batch that slipped by QC as the other overseas parts I've gotten have been OK for the price.

Jon

Yikes! Those grooves are in Cast Iron and you are VERY lucky that they did not break when peened.

A trick I learned from Cathy (Mizkaki) was to give each plate a slight bend along the shortest axis. i.e. imagine the plate on the table in front of you with the long way going towards/away from you. Place a pencil or metal bar under the plate in the middle going from right to left, (perpendicular to the long axis, makes it like a teeter-totter) then press both of the long ends down slightly at the same time. The resulting arc will tighten up most any slide.

If this was not clear, let me know and I will do a couple photos.

I get your meaning. On the 66/99 slide plate the groove is machined (half dovetail) on the underside of the slide plate (what I whacked) and travels mostly on the spring and only guided by the bed.
Good trick for the VS slide plates, I usually give them a whack on the bottom and file lightly to fit, I'll try bending on the next one.

Jon

Does bending the slide plate keep them from sliding out all the time?

Jon,

One trick I've learned on the 66 / 99s is to remove the slide plate spring, clean the spring and it's pocket, then bend the spring a bit to put more tension on the plate. I've cured a couple loosey goosey ones that way.

Joe

On the shuttle bobbin machines, yes. On the round bobbin machines, I don't know.

Joe

I think a big part of the problem was they grooves weren't machined quite sharp enough to catch the spring. Instead of dovetailed edges they were almost flat and easily slipped off the spring especially near the end of it's travel. Them plates I had were garbage not worth fooling with and I should have returned them. Hopefully mine were the 4 that slipped by QC and others don't have this problem. On to bigger and better things

Jon

Aha! Now I understand. Yes they would have been defected out had I bought them.

joe

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/atq/3708719845.html
is that one worth the money???

I would be if it a the foot plate peddle was not missing. Might be hard to find one that fits the irons.