CarolLady

I have a Kenmore that was my grandma's. The wheel is locked up I believe. I haven't really checked it out very well yet. I should fix it up. I also have a Singer Creative Touch that was my moms. It is having issues too, birds nest under the throat plate. I made 7 quilts on my sisters singer stylist 533,

smitty

there is a Yahoo group for vintage Singers. files on all
kinds of things.The people are most helpful ! find the Singer
machine co. site. manuals can be downloaded or free. 401's love lots of oil for the stitch areas. you can clean a really dirty machine with GoJo--imperative you use the one without
grit in it !! 401's are really nice machines.

nursie76

smitty, FYI, when I checked the Singer site the other day, the manual for the 401 A was not available due to the volume. It would be really cool if they have recently changed that.

smitty

http://gotoes.org/sales/SingerSewingMachineManuals/
this is a place I googled.you can get download of manual for
$5. cheapest I could find anywhere. think you need a Paypal
acct. the Singerco.com has them for $15.(hard copy). you can probably find them on eBay also. 96 pgs, so a lot for someone
to copy or send. this is for MANUALS.

tnjacke

I own 2 401A Singer Machines and love sewing on them. I use mine every day both were bought in the 60's. I also have a new Bernina Computerized but do the majority of my sewing on the Singer.
To answer a couple of your questions for regular sewing you need the middle knobs set to A and K.. with the red lever in the center. This should result in a great straight stitch. When I free motion quilt I have the throat plate in the "UP" position, this puts the plate just above the feed dogs and works great.

The machine came with 5 cams but you could buy additional cams to do more stitches. The cams for this machine are black. The footpedal for this machine has a small button on the left side for operation, the hinged knee pedal will strike this when installed in the correct position. But it also works well on the floor too. I use mine both ways depending on the cabinet. I bought a new set of cords off ebay, do not remember the seller's name but it stated for 401A and works great.

When you wind the bobbin, you need to turn or loosen the silver wheel inside the main pully wheel so the needle does not operate when winding. Then retighten when finished.
This machine uses a class 66 Singer bobbin. I have also purchased a 1/4" foot and a free motion foot that both work well from ebay. The ad stated they were for 401A and have used them daily with no problem.

If I can answer any more questions or help in any way... let me know. I don't always read all the post so feel free to message me.. I will get it for sure that way.

Jackie

nursie76

Just remember the manual for the 531 is available online for free. Almost identical just has a free arm. That should be enough to get to up and running.

CarolLady

Ok thanks

CarolLady

Well over the summer I was busy outside. So this winter I have taken my sewing machine to be cleaned. I have been told that it has a worn hook tip on the bobbin case that causes it to skip stitches when doing zig zag stitches and that it will run another $150.00 to get it fixed. Is this to much to pay for this fix and is the machine worth it? Is it a fix I could do if I can find the part online? Any one know what the part would be for it so that I could look it up online? The service person said it was a worn hook tip in the bobbin case. Any and all information would be appreciated.
Thanks
Carol

piepatch

No, CarolLady you don't have to have the cams to get ALL the stitching, but the cams give you SOME of the stitches. You can get some basic stitches without the cams. I use my 401A for everything, and yes, you can free motion on it if you know how to FM. I tried it a few times, but ran out of patience and stopped. I hope to get back to it very soon. If you have the 401, but don't have the cams, you can usually find them online on E-bay, or possibly craigslist, estate sales etc.

alimaui

I have the 403a, and I L-O-V-E it! It is magnificent. The cords are really easy to find on ebay.

I wasn't able to figure out how to make FMQ work on it, but it does everything else, and is great at sewing through multiple layers! (Needle just glided through four layers of canvas, but the Bernina didn't like it.)