crocee

After applying a tiny bit of alcohol to the needle bar to melt any dried up oil it now moves freely. The little thingy behind it rocks so I'm guessing its not stuck. This thingy isn't the take-up bar but the thingy the needle bar is attached to. It rocks slightly when I move the needle bar by hand. The rest of the machine is still stuck tighter than, ummm, ah, well you know, its still stuck. I think I need to find some of those throat swabs the Dr. uses. The q-tips are just a bit short to reach up inside the pillar.

Just a tip: IF you can find one of those old printer cartridge refill kits it has a syringe with a pointy thing that screws on it. This makes the perfect oilier to reach into tight spaces and you can apply 1 drop or a full stream of oil right where you want it.

miriam

Shoot something behind it. I would go back and forth between there and behind the hidey hole and then down under the machine. Drop some oil and turn the hand wheel even a little - gently rock that thing. Drop some more oil and gently rock. Keep moving the machine around. I hold it in my lap on a towel some times so I can keep turning things. You need to clean and oil anything that might remotely have the potential to move or be a friction point. A 7 year old kid once pointed out that a sewing machine is just levers and pistons. I think freeing up an old sewing machine could be a good science project... Label all the friction points. My son did that with one very ugly junk bike from the curb one year. He labeled every friction point on the bike. That was the easy part. Writing the 10 page paper was pure agony and torture for him. BUT he did get first place not bad for 3rd or 4th grade. Another project would be to label all the simple machines on a sewing machine - there are many.

crocee

I'm going to attach a piece of O2 tubing to the syringe and shoot some oil way inside the arm and up/down in the pillar. It looks mighty rusty in there but maybe the oil will break it loose. Right now the hand wheel wont turn at all but hopefully soon it will.

ThayerRags

Other differences between the 27 and the 127 had to do with the shuttle design, shuttle carrier, and the shuttle ejector button. It’s going to be almost impossible to get completely lined out on the Singer 27 models. Either Singer changed things as they went, or the records are off.

For the early models, back when treadles were still common, the cast-in boss was not on the 27, and the bobbin winder ran off of the treadle belt. Then came the Singer 127 with the cast-in boss and a bobbin winder mounted on the belt guard that ran off of the hand wheel shoulder. These differences will hold true for the majority of the machines made, but things get dicey when you get into the later models. Some machines with a boss and high bobbin winder are shown on the Singer records to be a model 27.

Then add to that, that when electrification became popular, independent shops began converting old treadle model 27 machines into electrified machines by moving the bobbin winder up onto an aftermarket belt guard. And then to complete the conversion at times, they even removed the BW lug that was low on the pillar and repainted that area, sometimes slapped on a disc hand wheel, and made the 27 essentially look like the electric Singer 127, at least from the front. With no boss on the 27 to mount the motor on, the motor was mounted on an aftermarket mount that attached in place of the rear inspection plate.

One exception to the regular model 27 during the early years, was the 27K2, made around 1901. It was a treadle machine that had a hand attachment also. The hand attachment (referred to as the “wrap-around” hand attachment) mounted in place of the belt guard. A special bobbin winder was a companion to the hand attachment, that mounted on the normal BW lug low on the pillar, but the shaft was extended out past the treadle belt location, and fitted with a large tire that ran on the hand wheel rim. The purpose of the machine was to be one of Singer’s “Convertible” machines. This one was convertible in that it could be powered by hand crank or by foot treadle, plus, it could be operated as either a stationary cabinet-mounted treadle machine, or the head could be quickly removed from the cabinet by pressing a small tab under the cabinet and lifted free to become a portable table-top hand-operated machine. To do that, the bobbin winder had to go with the head, thus the different bobbin winder.

CD in Oklahoma

crocee

OK, I've shot oil down through the arm and let it sit for a couple days, still stuck. I shot kerosene down through the arm and around behind the needlebar thingy and let it sit for a couple days, still stuck tighter than Grandma's wallet. Any suggestions? I don't have enough room or I'd stick a torch tip in there and heat it to bust up the rust or whatever has it stuck. I may end up taking the whole works apart, cleaning the rust and gunk off, then putting it back together. Should I break something, how hard are the replacement innards to find?

Glenn

Crocee go get some Blast buster and try that.

crocee

Glenn, I've been spraying PB Blaster in it daily since I got it and gone through several cans. I filled the space behind the needle bar with it and let it set for a week in the sun. I sprayed it down every day inside the arm and even had it pooling. This thing has been super glued by something.

Glenn

Crocee you have a tough one here for sure. I guess you have tried a little heat too. I had one like that once and had to take if apart and the rust was so bad it looked like it was welded.

crocee

That's what I'm worried about. If I have to take it apart I'll be taking pictures every step so I can get it back together.

miriam

Is anything bend or missing?