Learning About Vintage Sewing Machines

 

Ali P asked, “How can I learn how to fix up these beauties?” I have a fairly extensive library of sewing machine-related books and, to be honest, none of them has been of much help. They only hit the high spots for a very few specific machines and the high spots they hit always seem to be not what I am having trouble with or for a different machine than I have on the bench. I obtained a copy of “Sincere’s sewing Machine Service Manual” from my local library. Check there, you might be able to score a free copy of that or Hutchison’s manual but if you have to pay anything, it’s not worth the price in my opinion. 

As with learning anything, you have to start with the basics and hands-on is better than just reading a book. With that in mind, here is Ed’s method for learning vintage sewing machine repair:

1. Start with a Singer straight stitch machine, they plentiful and cheap and parts and documentation are readily available. Scout around for a model 15, 66, 99, or 185 that is complete and has no rust. First scour all your relatives and acquaintance's basements for a freebie. If that doesn't yield results, keep an eye on local thrift shops, local classified ads, craigslist, yard sales, and local auctions and flea markets.  If you pay more than $30, you got cheated. The balance wheel should spin but, if not, use that fact to talk down the price. I have paid as little as $5 at a local auction and $2.50 at an antique store that was trashing the heads to make tables out of the treadle cabinets.

2. Go to singerco.com and download the free instruction manual, so you know how to use the machine, then go to parts.singerco.com and download the free service manual – sometimes called adjuster’s manual. For 15 Class machines, I recommend the 15-91 manual in the “Instruction Manuals” section and for 66 Class machines (66, 99, 185), the 66 manual in the “Instruction Manuals” section. I have a re-typed version of the 66 Adjuster's Manual in pdf format with a few added procedures, like disassembly of the tension assembly. If you would prefer that to the Singer download, I am oldsewingmachines at gmail.

3. Clean all the fuzz bunnies out from under the needle plate and remove all the covers and oil the machine. Disregard the oiling diagram in the manual, with oiler in hand, rotate the balance wheel and put a drop of sewing machine oil at every point where metal rubs against metal. Run the machine at full speed until the new oil is worked in and your baby is purring. At this point, you might even want to install a fresh needle and see if the machine will make a stitch. If it does, don't be tempted to stop there - just because it sews doesn't mean it sews as well as it should.

4. Now, get out the service manual (adjuster’s manual) and go cover-to-cover, checking every adjustment in the book – needle bar height, feed dog height, feed dog centering, tension assembly, bobbin winder, hook timing, hook-to-needle clearance, drive belt tension, check spring, and all the gaps that thread must pass through on its way to making a stitch. No special tools are needed, you should have all you need lying around the house.

5. After making any necessary adjustments, you should now have a vintage Singer sewing machine that runs and sews like new and you know why it does. If you have gone through all the above steps and your machine does not sew, perform a search for “vintage sewing machine forum” and join one of the many forums where SM collectors hang out. They are all anxious to show how much they have learned and willingly answer questions within minutes. You will be more credible if you can tell what you have already tried that didn't fix the problem.

Rusty the Singer Featherweight

Remember this Featherweight?  Frozen solid and rust on every component 2" from the bottom.

After I gave the owner an estimate for a new motor, new hook assembly and new bobbin case, she decided not to have it repaired and it has been sitting in the shop for almost two months waiting for her to pick it up. Friday, I called her to remind her it was there and she told me if I could use any parts from it to keep it.  While it would be prohibitively expensive to rebuild it, the body is nice and all the exterior components (bobbin winder, spool pin, tension) and the foot control and power cord are all in usable condition, so I was tickled silly.

Of course, the tinkerer in me would not be satisfied to just start ripping off parts and I decided to see if I could get the machine to sew again. Hours of soaking the shaft in Liquid Wrench finally got the motor to break loose and Liquid Wrench/sewing machine oil also got the mechanical parts to spin freely again.

But, a Featherweight won't sew without a smooth hook and this hook had lots of rust on it.

The hook needed to be removed and disassembled for cleaning but the setscrews securing the hook to the shaft were some of the more corroded pieces. It took lots of LW to break them free and I made so many attempts that the screws were damaged and had to be replaced.

I wish I had taken photos of my hook cleaning attempts, I removed it three times to clean, smooth, and polish and, after borrowing a bobbin case from another machine, finally have a half-decent stitch forming. The machine is still not ready for prime time, it has to be started by hand if it sits overnight, isn't running as fast as it should, and is noisier than a Featherweight should be. It will take some more fiddling to make it right, if it ever can be made right.

Babylock BL402

Today, I was gifted (cursed) with a serger that had been sitting in a storage shed for an indeterminate period of time. The above photo does not accurately represent the amount of dirt and insect droppings covering the outside of the machine but the photo below gives you an idea what I saw when I looked at it closely.

The rust was most severe on the exposed components, but the loopers were also rusty and thread needs to slide smoothly over the surfaces of the loopers. The machine was also frozen solid and the wheel would not turn at all.  The first thing I did was to give the mechanicals a good soaking of Liquid Wrench. I kept trying to turn the wheel until it finally broke loose the tiniest bit. From there, I kept turning the wheel until I finally got one complete revolution, then used the motor to finish the job of loosening everything up.

The thing is a bear to thread and the lower looper thread broke several times but each time it broke, I would polish the looper and try again. Finally, I got a nice stitch with all four threads.

And here it is now. I still have some cosmetic cleaning to do in the nooks and crannies and testing some of the functions, like differential feed, but I'm pleased with the results so far.

As you can see, I installed threads the same color as the tension wheels so I would know instantly which thread needed tension adjustment.

  I would not have taken in a machine in this condition for someone else because I was quite sure it would never sew again.  I only did it because there was no pressure to get it done and no penalty if I didn't. 

Singer 401a

Trolling through the only thrift store in town, I spotted a blonde - not a female, I'm too old for that - this was a blonde sewing machine cabinet. Now, blonde furniture hasn't been in style for quite a few years, so, if it was not just an empty cabinet, this held some promise of a vintage sewing machine.

I didn't recognize the cabinet as Singer, and figured it would contain a Japanese machine of the 1960s.
To my surprise, when I lifted the lid, inside was a Singer 401a!



 I think I've told this story before, but a Singer 301 was my first machine and a 401 was my second machine and my first zig zag machine. I still have a soft spot in my heart for slant-needle Singers, even though I have better sewing machines and I already have too many slant-needle Singers. I don't see many of these around any more, mostly late model plastic machines.

Accumulated dirt made this one look like it had been stored in a barn for some time. It was missing the slide plate and one spool pin and the bobbin winder tire was disintegrated but the stitch selectors and balance wheel turned freely, it had the power cord and foot control and the price was right, so I brought it home.


When I removed the head from the cabinet, I found a tag saying, "Make Offer". Apparently the machine was offered at a local yard sale and no one was tempted to make an offer, so it was donated to the thrift store.



The old girl cleaned up nicely and with just cleaning and oiling and replacing of a few common parts, it sews nicely. I have sewn three small projects on it and am quite pleased with my latest find. Now, I have to pick another machine to get rid of because I am under a one-in-one-out mandate.

Singer FashionMate 252

    Last Saturday, a lady came by the shop with a machine she had tried to sell at her yard sale, then tried to give it away with no takers. She said it was "locked up", which usually means rusted.  Being a sucker for old sewing machines, I gave her $5 for it and took it home. It is a Singer 252, one of the FashionMate series. This one was made in Italy. I have had several FashionMates before but don't remember one with the top lid attaching screw hidden under the spool felt.

    The FashionMates were Singer's entry-level offering. It has only three stitches - straight stitch, zig zag, and blind stitch but that's one more stitch than I ever use and I like the left/center/right needle position, which not all machines have.

    I usually just part out FashionMates but I was in the mood to tinker with a machine and decided to see if I could make it sew well again. With nothing but oiling, it sews like a champ. The nicest stitch quality I have ever seen and not exceptionally noisy when sewing.  So far, I have only used it on quilters cotton, the real test will come when I try something heavier.

    The treasure was in the attachment tray, a straight stitch throat plate, a pack of Schmetz needles, a quantity of original metal Singer bobbins and a Singer seam ripper/needle threader like I have never seen before. The hook is broken off the needle threader but those old needle threaders came with a couple of spare hooks and I think I have a different model with some of those hooks somewhere. I don't know why this seam ripper got paired up with this sewing machine because the machine threads front-to-back. You would need to insert the needle threader hook from the rear and the presser foot is in the way.

Singer 221 Featherweight

Today, a lady dropped off a Singer Featherweight to be cleaned and oiled. At first glance, it looks pretty good - decals are fairly complete, only a few paint chips on the balance wheel, I think it would clean up nicely.

Then, I tipped it over and saw that the bobbin case is missing and the hook is quite rusty.  I tried to turn the motor shaft with my fingers and learned it is frozen.

I took it home and removed the bottom plate and saw that very part made of steel is coated with rust.

When I called the owner to inquire about the bobbin case and to give her the $481 estimate for repair, she told me that the machine had been in her barn for about six months.  I think she needs to recalibrate her calendar. -Ed

Recycled Denim Project on the Morse 4300

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a fresh pair of jeans to cut up and a new sewing machine to sew on. I have been making these wrist purses to sell at the shop and they are going like hotcakes.

We only have one left in stock that I finished yesterday and orders for fourteen more! I can't make them fast enough.  Rather than wasting time making something for myself, I decided to see how a wrist purse would look in denim.

I was able to cut out all the pieces from one leg. I used the factory hem wherever possible to save time and preserve the authentic jeans look.

I am very pleased with the result, the completed purse holds its shape much better than those made from quilter's cotton.

How did the Morse 4300 perform? I'm not impressed. The presser foot lift was not sufficient to get the required 10 layers of denim beneath; the presser foot pressure constantly need adjusting to feed properly; it is smooth and quiet sewing thin fabrics but protests loudly when asked to sew thicker goods. I will not be keeping this one.

Morse 4300

  A lady came into the shop today with an old sewing machine. She had been trying to sell it, then trying to give it away but found no takers.  It was so dirty on the outside of the case that Kathie told her we didn't want it either, but the lady wouldn't take no for an answer.

  When I lifted the lid, I found that the case had done its job and protected the Morse 4300 inside admirably. I have not found many Morses in this neck of the woods, so it was an unknown quantity.

  There was no rust and very little dirt inside and outside.

  In fact, it looks like the machine has seen very little use. It still has the white spool felts and the original gray bobbin winder tire. It came to me with the full box of accessories and even a straight stitch throat plate.  There is one tiny paint chip but that is the only blemish I have found.

  I suspect that the machine stopped sewing well and was put on the shelf for years or decades. I say that because the needle was installed backward.  I learned a long time ago that a sewing machine sews much better with the needle properly installed.

  A little oil and a fresh needle and the machine sews like new.  All the stitches work and tension is perfect.  I never got in the habit of naming my sewing machines, but if I did, I would call this one Buick Roadmaster - big, heavy, and a ton of chrome!

  An application of Tuff Stuff on the plastic lid brought it back to life in short order.  Next time Kathie sees it, she won't recognize it.

  Kathie tossed out another pair of jeans last weekend, I think it's time for another recycled jeans project using my new Morse.

Singer 15-75

  I was in a local thrift shop a couple of weeks ago and saw a Singer 15-75. That was only the second one I had ever seen, so they are not that plentiful. The asking price was $75 and I have lots of straight stitchers, so I passed that one by but it reminded me that I have one tucked away that I got years ago.

 The 15-75 has the same reverse sewing mechanism as the 15-91 and the 15-125 EXCEPT that it is belt driven, rather than direct gear driven like its sisters.

  I didn't like the machine originally because it was too noisy but about a month ago I ran across the instructions for adjusting the shuttle cushion spring and I have been checking all my 15 Class machines for excess gap and correcting it.

The space between the tail of the cushion spring and the shuttle is supposed to be .010 - .014 inches, just wide enough to let thread pass through. Too narrow a gap and thread will get hung up; too wide a gap and the machine will be excessively noisy.  Every machine I have checked has a much larger gap and this 15-75 had about .12 instead of the .012 it should have. Adjusting the spring quieted the machine right down and it is now a pleasure to sew on it.

Kenmore 17881

Everyone who regularly reads this blog knows that Italian-made Necchis are my favorite sewing machine. However, a long-time collector like myself needs periodic infusions of new machines to tinker with and the Italian Necchis are now in the 60-year-old range and getting more scarce. To fill the gap, I have been picking up Janomes. Several years ago, my wife bought a Janome 6500P. she was so pleased with it that I bought one for myself. Since that machine has performed so well for both of us, I decided to add Janomes to my list when I am scouring thrift shops and auctions for new finds. While Janomes are not that plentiful, Kenmores having "385" as the first three digits of the model number are also made by Janome.

Pictured above is my latest find, a Kenmore 17881. The photos are a bit fuzzy because I took them in low light with my cell phone. At first, I thought, "this is not a vintage machine" but then I realized it was manufactured around 1988, which makes it 25 years old! That probably brings it just barely into the vintage arena.

The machine was starved for oil and took a fair amount of lubricating and exercise to accomplish a zig zag stitch; the stitch selector indicator needle was bent back 180 degrees so it didn't even show in the window (I still haven't figured out how that could happen); and I am still working to free up the stitch length mechanism. The stitch length is changeable but it's so hard to twist the plastic knob that I'm afraid I will break it.  It also had some small droplets of teal paint in several places on the front, but headlight lens restorer took care of that quickly.

The machine sews smoothly and quietly and forms a perfect stitch. It has a nice size throat opening, both width and height.  I will keep looking for Janomes and 385 Kenmores to fill the gap until the next Necchi shows up.  In the meantime, I have to select another machine from my collection to sacrifice to keep the number constant and my marriage happy.