Beginner machine problem

[Zorba]

To add to Khanjar's post about oil - ALL modern machine manuals, and many vintage machine manuals - have inadequate oiling instructions. My '76 White 690 has an entire section with oil cups and other bearing surfaces that the manual doesn't mention at all! If it moves, turns, or has an oil cup - oil it! You can't over oil a SM - although oil can drip out of it, including on your fabric! Use ONLY SM oil, NOTHING else!

Khanjar - did you perchance pull the crank out of your 128? I'm tearing down an 1891 VS2 (the first version of the 27, a direct ancestor of the 128) for restoration and "hot rodding", and would like to get the crank out. I've read that its pretty hard...

 

[Zorba]

...but only one stitch that has to have the ends tied...

You shouldn't have to hand tie the ends, just backtack the stitch at each end. What am I missing?

 

[Shanazel]

I have a couple of treadle machines and a Singer circa 1949 in addition to my newer machines. Can I still get parts for the Singer? It was my mom's, has a knee accelerator, is in a cabinet and I'd like to clean it up and use it some. The local sewing machine guy claims that if any parts need to be replaced they are unavailable.

 

[Zorba]

The local sewing machine guy claims that if any parts need to be replaced they are unavailable.

Feldercarb....

Your SMG (Sewing Machine Guy) just doesn't want to be bothered. Singers are as common as dirt, there's LOTS of support out there for them.

In the vintage SM world, 1949 is relatively new!

Any electrical parts are readily available, they're standard parts that interchange and have been the same for the last 100 years. Belts, bobbin winder tires, bobbins, spool pins, shuttles, motors, foot controllers, etc are all available. All brand new.

It is HIGHLY unlikely, but certainly not impossible, that you'd need replacement mechanical parts. Those too are readily available on the used market. eBay is a good source SOMETIMES - but often is overpriced.

I've had good luck with this guy:

http://thayerrags.com/ThayerRagsMachines.htm

He's sold me various bits for several of my machines, including the 1891 Singer. Good prices and honest. Tell him I sent you if you need something from him. He has way more than what he has listed on his site, when in doubt, call or email him.

 

[Zorba]

A little more for Shanazel:

The most important thing about bringing an old machine back to life is first ensuring that it is all there. If the machine was your mother's and wasn't stored outside in a chicken coop, more than likely all it needs is a good cleanup and oiling. Old electrical cords often need renewing - but many last a surprisingly long time. I have several machines from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s still running on original cords - BUT do check or have checked the electrical components carefully!

But as an illustration, a brief recount of my 1891 Singer's story to date:

Bought it on site at an antique show for $25. Turns out it was NOT all there, someone had parted it out, it was missing several parts, including a Pittman arm off the bottom! Covered with rust, etc, etc.

All missing parts have been purchased, some from Thayer, others on eBay. The Pittman arm cost all of $4 - it was a common part to several Singers produced into the 1960s!

Rusty parts have been de-rusted, and the totally locked up machine is about 50% disassembled at this point.

One point: Never loose a screw to an old SM - they were engineered before there was such a thing as "standard screw sizes" - and then were grandfathered into newer designs for over 100 years! This is particularly true for Singers, but also for other makes.

 

[Shanazel]

Thanks, Zorba. No chicken coops but I doubt my mother ever had the thing serviced in its existence. It was mainly used to replace zippers and hems except for the several years I used it to sew clothes before getting my own machine.

I'll try the place you mentioned for needles for the treadles. One is a Singer, the other a New Automatic.

 

[Zorba]

The Singer most likely uses standard 15 X 1 needles, my '91 does. With the other, I couldn't tell you...

However, in some cases, you can still use a 15 X 1 even if the machine didn't originally use one. You have to get tricky about installation.

 

[Zorba]

I went and looked up "new automatic". It was built by the Free SM co. Not as common as a singer, but not unheard of. The picture I saw was of a very pretty Vibrating Shuttle machine, very similar to a later version of my '91 Singer.

 

[Daimona]

How often should a sewing machine go to full service?
(I did vacuum clean and oil my old PFAFF 1212 tonight, but there is still a squeeqy sound from it when I turn the wheel around.)

 

[Shanazel]

I clean mine every ten hours of sewing, more if the fabric sheds. I take it in for major clean up every couple of years or so.