Sunflowerzz

There is one place that I like to stop at when making thrift store runs but it is at the bottom of the list because it is more of a dumping ground for junk than good usable thrift items. They throw the sewing machines outside in the back of the building and sell them all for $5.00 no matter what they are. Most have no case or foot control, parts missing, broken. They are pretty sad really. I brought one home a few weeks ago, and finally got to it last night for its cleanup. I always start underneath and work from the bottom up. Black widow spiders love to hang their egg sacs in old forgotten sewing machines here in my neck of the woods. She is a New Home model #560.

When I tipped 'Sunshine' over it was sooo clean I was amazed but...wait...it had a cover over the bobbin assembly and all the way around were dark brown orange stains. CRUD!!!

Sure enough when I removed the cover it was a mess. Then as I moved around cleaning I started seeing lots of small lightly rusted areas, major paint chips, the chrome pieces were dotted with rust and didn't feel like chrome at all, they feel like some sort of cheap imitation material. All in all she was in bad shape cosmetically. I decided I would clean her up and give her to someone as she wasn't a keeper for me.

Long story short...Sunshine IS A KEEPER! All cleaned up, still spotted with rust, many paint chips and needs some new parts and the cams but she sews beautifully, and I love the built in buttonholer. Such pretty stitches for one so battle scarred. She sews quietly and is a very feel good save for me. She is set up on the big table in my sewing room next to my beautiful Supernova and in the next room my other keeper the Necchi Bu Mira. Both very expensive machines and perfectly beautiful and yet here is $5.00 for Sunshine taking her place between the Necchi's. I like and enjoy her as much as the Necchi's. LOL

I also am posting a picture of two bobbins of white thread that came with little thread keeper sticky tags on them labeled 'white'. Too cute, does anyone know if these little tags are still available out there somewhere?

grannie cheechee

"Sunshine" is paying you back for saving her. She looks good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

barny

Golly, is that goop in that picture?

Sunflowerzz

Yucky icky oil build up over many years. I just about fell backward outta of my chair! Awful looking huh?

J Miller

That brown "goop" is actually grease for the bobbin hook drive. Make sure to re-grease it before you run it too much.

That's a nice machine. Any idea of what type of cams it uses?

Joe

Candace

Yeah, that's nothing out of the ordinary. If the machine has a grease trap, it usually looks like that.

zozee

You did a great job. She looks so cool and makes some great stitches.

Rodney

She cleaned up nice! Good save. It looks like basically the same setup underneath as the Monkey Wards machine I dragged home last week.
Rodney

Sunflowerzz

Thank you Joe, You're right I should have said grease. I remembered the thread from a week or so ago about how to grease the gears ( I read almost every post on this forum so I will learn ) so I did remember to grease the gears ( gently) and I do know what cams it takes but only from a photo. I found an ad from 2010 of someone selling this same machine with the cams so I copied the picture and have been searching for some. They come in a long little tin. I have one tin of new home cams but they are not the right ones. I just bought some on ebay...probably from you. LOL

Is that what it is called!? A grease trap?

Thank you, I was so happy and surprised, I called my hubby and told him all about it. He works in oil fields about 7 hours from home and is gone for days at a time so I have to call to share with him.

So many of them are similar, and I am starting to be able to see those things, but I still have trouble with bobbins, needles and bobbin cases and buttonholers that I have that I just haven't a clue about.

manicmike

Also what Joe said: You'll need to fill it back up if you want it to work reliably. That grease looked very clean, so I'd have put it back. Only reason not to is if it's been contaminated with something (usually bits of metal) or it's gone hard.