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Vintage Sewing Machine Shop.....Come on in and sit a spell

Vintage Sewing Machine Shop.....Come on in and sit a spell

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Old 03-15-2012, 05:55 AM
  #32261  
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Originally Posted by Quilt Mom View Post
Nancy, the person I got a 31-15 from last week had used it to sew leather as well as upholstery. He even demonstrated on leather for me. The machine I have is set up with a 1/4 horsepower engine, and speeds through whatever... The machine has been serviced, so I do not need to do that. But the surface has a lot of grime, and the table it is in needs some work. I would like to treadle it. Are the irons on yours similar to irons on a non-industrial machine?
Thank you Quiltmom, I am a little more excited after reading your post and doing some research. One of my machines is a 31-20 from 1925, the other one just says Singer and has the #2 etched on it - the serial number is completely rubbed off. The cabinet is in rough shape, but with a little light sanding, staining and finishing it will look great. I am excited about them, but haven't had time to do anything with them as California is going through a flu epidemic right now and DH is very sick - and grouchy! I will post pictures as soon as I can!

Yup, the irons are similar, but bigger I think. At least the whole table is wider. The problem is the treadle is missing the belt wheel, which is a bummer because I wanted to clean up this machine and set it up in my little shop in the cargo unit as a treadle! I was really excited to find out the 31 drops its feed dogs too! I need to order needles - I think size 16X87?

Nancy

Last edited by BoJangles; 03-15-2012 at 06:00 AM.
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Old 03-15-2012, 06:05 AM
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Ok Cathy, Candace, or Miriam I have a huge issue. My 3-year old grandson decided to play with my 319w when I wasn't looking. It is so messed it makes me sick! I thought it was just jammed, got all the tangled up thread out from around the bobbin casing - that I could see. The needle had been broken off - not sure where that went? Anyway, that baby won't budge without hitting the bobbin case now. There is a little finger thingy that attaches with a screw under the slide plate. It has a little hook on the side that attaches/sits near the bobbin casing. I tried to move it several ways, but I still can't get the needle down without hitting the casing. Do any of you know how that little finger is suppose to sit in comparison to the bobbin race? I messed with it until late last night. Right now the machine won't work at all. Cathy, you may get this one to fix!

Nancy
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Old 03-15-2012, 06:48 AM
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Nancy, find the piece of that needle...I'm betting it's stopping the casing from turning correctly. (No real ideas here, just a guess)
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Old 03-15-2012, 07:07 AM
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Originally Posted by BoJangles View Post
Ok Cathy, Candace, or Miriam I have a huge issue. My 3-year old grandson decided to play with my 319w when I wasn't looking. It is so messed it makes me sick! I thought it was just jammed, got all the tangled up thread out from around the bobbin casing - that I could see. The needle had been broken off - not sure where that went? Anyway, that baby won't budge without hitting the bobbin case now. There is a little finger thingy that attaches with a screw under the slide plate. It has a little hook on the side that attaches/sits near the bobbin casing. I tried to move it several ways, but I still can't get the needle down without hitting the casing. Do any of you know how that little finger is suppose to sit in comparison to the bobbin race? I messed with it until late last night. Right now the machine won't work at all. Cathy, you may get this one to fix!

Nancy
Aw, the little rascal... I can take some pictures of mine and post them if you can't figure it out. Yes, I agree with Charlee, that the needle has to be somewhere. And jammed in the bobbin assembly may be the spot. And there also may be some thread wound around the hook somewhere. No worries. We'll work together and get her back up and purring. Wait until the sun is up a bit more and take another look at her. If no go, I'll take some pics.
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Old 03-15-2012, 07:10 AM
  #32265  
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Nancy,

If the timing is right. Count me in.

Cathy


Originally Posted by BoJangles View Post
Candace you are so funny! It would be fun, though, for the 3 of us - and anyone else who wants to join - to do the road trip and have lunch out!

Nancy
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Old 03-15-2012, 07:12 AM
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Cathy, thanks so much. That spring looks perfect. You are so nice! I have been struggling to find a good FMQ foot for several of my vintage machines that just don't work well with the typical low shank universal, darning foot. So, I'm super excited!!!

Cathy, I'd be interested in buying the 360 from you. Hopefully one machine could be the donor to the other or something!! That would be awesome.
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Old 03-15-2012, 08:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Candace View Post
Cathy, thanks so much. That spring looks perfect. You are so nice! I have been struggling to find a good FMQ foot for several of my vintage machines that just don't work well with the typical low shank universal, darning foot. So, I'm super excited!!!

Cathy, I'd be interested in buying the 360 from you. Hopefully one machine could be the donor to the other or something!! That would be awesome.
Candace, You are going to love this darning spring! Its very nice to be able to see all of the fabric and where you once were traveling on the material. In those shots that Cathy took, I was making feathers. I'm not a feather person, most of my FMQ has been stippling, jagged straight line stippling, or outlining. With other darning feet, I find it difficult to do feathers since the foot obscures the view, but not with this one.
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Old 03-15-2012, 08:33 AM
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Originally Posted by miriam View Post
I'm taking his class in May - I can hardly wait.
Do so! I think anyone who hasn't should take his class, like me!
It was very educational listening to Cathy last night. She is a walking encyclopedia of sewing machines and repairs.
I got to play with the darning spring and she had fun making the adjustments that were needed.

First machine that we tried the spring out on was my Singer 201. I was surprised at how well the FMQ turned out on that after she tweaked my bobbin. Then, it was my Necchi Supernova which the spring worked well on it. And after that was my Singer 328k, which was a big surprise for me since i had never FMQ with that machine. Cathy was cute making the adjustments and educating me on what to do. One can see that Cathy's passion and love is in fixing and tweaking machines. Best analogy is a sailor adjusting the sails to his sailboat to get the best sail of his life.
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Old 03-15-2012, 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by vintagemotif View Post
Miriam, I will be praying for you and your family.
Me also! Hope things improve soon, and will hold you in my prayers.
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Old 03-15-2012, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by miriam View Post
The long, thin, really nice screw driver was one an old sewing machine repair man gave me. He ground it at a slight angle. It worked wonderfully. Someone broke in a couple years ago and stole all my bright orange sewing machine repair tool box with a bunch of parts and tools - the parts and that screw driver made me the mad. You can't use that stuff on anything else. I have a screw driver that would be good to grind at a slight angle but no grinder. I should find a grinder, I guess. A straight screw driver just does not work the same as that one on the angle. Oh and I got much better tools after that. DH took me seriously and helped me get some better tools. I had been using cast off tools before that. Good tools do make a difference. We should start something on tools. Maybe when I get a screw driver ground at an angle. You almost do need a torque wrench or Locktite to get those screws tight enough that they won't come undone while you sew Misty. If those feed dogs come flying off while you are sewing and you don't catch on it can be pretty interesting. Ask me how I know............. Try a little heat - blow dryer, rice sock, sun, car on a hot day... Put the machine on its side then try soaking with liquid wrench, turn it over and do it again.
A tool that works for me is a double ended screw driver, bent at a 90 deg angle on each end, two different sized blades, and my DH ground one down thinner so I could use it on smaller screws. It doesn't do them all, but when the space is small to get into, the horizontal orientation of the handle is great!! I'll take a picture of it and put it up here...but it won't be tonite. It really works well, though...I thought we were quite brilliant to think of it!!
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