KenmoreRulesAll

117.959. I have one. And I have that exact same cabinet, too, but it came with a different Kenmore.

The hand wheel on most rotaries moves away from the user because a friction drive means that the rotations of motor/wheel are opposite. The rubber on a friction pulley can be shaved with a very sharp knife. This is a temporary fix, though. This machine is equipped with a spring mounted motor that allows the pulley to rest apart from the wheel so that hard spots don't form on the tire. This is what causes the sound you describe.

These are good machines -- strong and simple to run. I bought mine for $3.99 including pedal, a box of feet and attachments, and the original manual. But I've seen them for over $100. This is not a boring machine at all; actually, it has quite a bit of character.

Sewnoma

Oops, went downstairs and got distracted playing with it!

The rest from my original, ill-fated posts:

Other stuff, including the manual! (What on earth does "sanforized" mean??)


Mystery....knob? No idea what this is, it doesn't seem to go with the machine or the cabinet...? Anybody know if this is something important? It's knurled along the edges, concave on one side. No threads or pegs.





I love the little cubby, it has a lift-out tray with some pegs for thread and a little pincushion area. The inside of the cubby also has more pegs and another little pincushion. And lots of stray rusty pins I need to toss!


The tray - anybody know what those open holes towards the bottom would have been for?


And last shot for now...inside the top drawer is a rail and a circular sort of cupholder looking thing. Any ideas as to what belonged in here? The other 2 drawers don't have this.

Sewnoma

OK, hopefully those came through!

So I put some oil in hopefully all the right spots (I followed the manual) and it does sound a little better now. It has that "clicky" mechanical sound I'm not used to hearing but it runs nice and everything seems to be happy. (I like the sound) The motor sounds growly compared to my modern machines but seems to work fine - everything spins and it doesn't get hot or smell funny, anyway! It's not loud or grindy, it's just a "motory" sound, if that makes any sense. This is the first machine I've sewn on with an external motor so I think I'm just not used to hearing it so clearly.

One problem...I can't get the clutch to disengage. The manual says to rotate it counter-clockwise. No luck, if I really crank on it, the needle & pick-up arm start to move even if I'm holding the hand wheel steady. I drizzled some oil into the oil hole there but I don't know what else I should do. I haven't tested winding a bobbin yet but the winder mechanism seems to move correctly.

I think I do need to replace that rubber drive wheel after all. It doesn't have a flat spot, but it's been worn convex over the years and doesn't have a very good grip. I have to give the wheel a little push to get 'er going. So that plus the bobbin rubber tire. Not a bad list! The cord even feels nice and flexible, no cracks.

I was happy to discover the light works too! I didn't think to test that so I'm glad to find it's working.

I didn't take any pictures underneath but it's nice and clean under there, just some old oil traces but nothing gunky or dirty. This machine is definitely used, but it looks like it's been well taken care of too.

I sewed on a test quilt sandwich and it stitched right through no problem. The stitch isn't as straight as I would have expected, though, considering this is a straight-stitch machine. The stitches look just slightly slanted. Not really a problem, just not what I expected. I got the tension just about perfect now, just a nudge on the tension lever did the trick.

All in all, after a much closer inspection...I'm pretty darn happy with it. Now I just need to figure where the heck it's going to go in my sewing room!

Sewnoma

Aye, I found that spring-mount - startled me for a second because I thought something was loose! It's a very cleverly made machine, I think. You're right, it's not boring at all, the more time I spend with it the more elegant it seems.

Sounds like you got a killer deal on yours!

Suzanne57

Those holes in the tray are for your thimbles.

Cari-in-Oly

The rail and "cupholder" are probably for pens and an inkwell. Many older cabinets did double duty.

Cari

QuiltingVagabond

IIRC sanforized means pre-shrunk

Sewnoma

Ah!! Thank you!

I thought it looked "inkwell-ish" but had no conception of why that'd be in a sewing cabinet. Right now it's doing a great job keeping my sewing machine oil from tipping over in the drawer, LOL.

I suppose that would make sense! At first I thought it said "sanfordized" and then I had the theme song from that old show "Sanford & Son" stuck in my head all afternoon, LOL. Funny how such a standard, day-to-day term would fall out of usage like that; just goes to show how "alive" the English language is, I guess!

I just need to figure out how to get that clutch un-stuck now. I guess I can just let it wind bobbins as I sew but I'd like to get it working right if I can. There is a screw on the clutch cap/knob, I could try taking it apart but since I have ZERO clue what I'm doing and not a lot of experience in this sort of thing I'm a little terrified of that idea, LOL.

QuiltMom2

I love that cubby hole in your cabinet. I got an older cabinet that was very similar except it had four drawers (no cubby, alas!) The key thing reminds me of what you used to use to open a coffee can and I haven't thought of that in years.

J Miller

Sewnoma,

Here's a tip to keep the drive wheel from flat spotting. Take a spring loaded clothes pin apart and put one side of it between the motor body and the bracket that attaches it to the machine. That will keep the drive wheel off the hand wheel. I do this to all my friction drive machines that have spring loaded motors. If they don't have spring loaded motors I remove the drive wheel if I'm not using the machine.

Joe