lmc8

Hi QBers! I've been slowly dismantling my purchased Singer 319 that arrived in filthy condition (dust embedded in dried grease) and could never test if it worked because the foot controller was crudely severed from it's knee mechanism. The machine did turn smoothly by hand, therefore, initially I was just going to refurbish the foot pedal and motor and clean the exterior. Then I found the more piece parts I took off the filthier it got; so I decided to do a complete overhaul. Oh boy, it's been a month endeavor thus far full of joy and disappointment (weekday evenings and Saturday mornings only).

1st, I started with kerosene which released the dust and enough screws to remove about a quarter of the piece parts. 2nd, moved on to transmission fluid, which released screws to another quarter of the piece parts, and it removed the first layer of grime. 3rd, used Mean Green spray which dissolved the grime into liquid that easily soaked up with paper towels leaving nicely cleaned paint and chrome. 4th, applied Kroil oil to still stuck screws and used a punch stick & rubber mallet to release pins, which together worked nicely for all but a handful of parts. 5th, now I'm stuck on how to move forward with releasing the remaining underside parts: feed fork & rock crank connections, feed & hook driving shafts, and grease pot and feed dog mechanisms that function as the driving shaft end caps at the nose end of the machine and which I believe where my main issue is.

I understand the shafts are suppose to slide out towards the hand wheel side of the machine when all screws are removed (which they are, I think). The rock crank and collars slide along the shafts easily and I can slightly shift both shafts through the legs they are threaded through but the shafts won't release from the grease pot and feed dog mechanisms and the two eccentric sprockets won't release from their retaining bushings. At first I didn't realize their where screws sunk deep in the feet which was a delightful "ah ha" moment for me; oh but wait, removing those 3 screws didn't help, "grr".

Q1: Can I leave these underside parts as is; or would the fact that the shafts are stuck in their retaining parts hinder proper functioning once all parts are reinstalled? If so, is their a trick to removing the shafts?

Q2: Is the metal plate behind the hand wheel suppose to fall out? I would think it would for ease of reinstalling the cleated drive belt, but I've not been able to push it loose.

Q3: I am missing the long spring that stretches across the horizontal arm just under the top cover. What is it's purpose? Or is that only a part for the 306 models?

Q4: The motor carbon brushes are exactly 1/4 inch tall, should I replace them with new ones? If so where do you all purchase them from?

Any advice is appreciated!

lmc8

Well I was able to get all but the grease pot and metal plate off this morning, after repeated alternating bouts of Kano oil squirts and punch/rubber hammering; and assume those will come off too in yet more soaking time because they are both wiggle-able at the moment. That takes care of question 1 & 2. Still wonder about question 3 & 4.

Q3: I am missing the long spring that stretches across the horizontal arm just under the top cover. What is it's purpose? Or is that only a part for the 306 models?



Q4: The motor carbon brushes are exactly 1/4 inch tall, should I replace them with new ones? If so where do you all purchase them from?

Any advice is appreciated!

Cari-in-Oly

You'll probably get more help on the Victorian Sweatshop forum.

Cari

Sunflowerzz

Lots of places to find great information for help. Here is one that helped me to start cleaning my vintage machines.
http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...gmachines.html

Cari-in-Oly

Don't get me wrong, not trying to come off rude or unhelpful, but why would you feel the need to tear it completely apart? Refurbishing a sewing machine 99.9% of the time can be done without doing that. Hope you're taking lots of pics.

Cari

miriam

It is unnecessary to tear a machine apart just to clean it... Lots of misinformation out there. Some times it is from people trying to make money from your mistakes.

lmc8

Miriam and Cari... No offense taken here, in general I agree with you. Although in this scenario I felt it was indeed necessary to do a complete tear down. Yes, the front was clean except for the bight control, and the back seemed varnished with grime similar to the one shown in Miriam's posts, but on the underside and internally it was even filthier. Then under the grime I found rust and stripped pieces as if someone in the past had used a cleaning solution that ate through the chrome and paint, then bathed it in gunky oil for a year before leaving it to sit untouched thereafter. As stuck as the screws and piece parts were, I'm amazed it hand turned as well as it did before I started peeling it apart. The 22 page rebuild thread gave me the confidence to do so. I'm considering it the part 2 that Miriam mentioned was never gotten to. And yes, I took pictures along the way and stored pieces parts with their screws in separate zip lock bags so our cats wouldn't bat the parts around or get lost. There only a few small pieces that I'm NOT positive where they go since they fell out during the process. I will post pictures in a part 2 thread once I'm done. I took photos with my android phone which for some reason will not upload, so at the end I'll import them into Adobe Photoshop and export as .jpg format all at once.

Currently I've decided to leave the grease pot and hand wheel mount as is, they are the only two pieces I've not been able to separate from the head. My next step will be to use a wet aluminum foil technique to dissolve the last bits of stubborn rust and oil "varnish" on the piece parts before wax polishing for reassembly. Beyond that, since I've gone this far, I'm toying with the idea of repainting with Rust-oleum spray paint/primer because the bight control and under arm have bare metal spots, and there are pin pricks and scratches along the nose, arm base, and bed rim, as well as rough spots under the existing paint job around the hand wheel and power terminal mounting areas.

Yup I've committed myself to a long term project. I'll likely do it in tandem with my treadled White FR machine that I left dismantled for repainting, and which is another WIP at the same stage this Singer 319 is.