If your machine justs runs on while you wind a bobbin

I can't resist it! 

    A gentleman wrote to say his Featherweight just keeps runnin'-on when he tries to wind a bobbin. I suggested he take the hand wheel off and clean the bore and the bushing it turns on, with 220 grit wet and dry sand paper and oil.  He did and the machine still didn't behave. So I suggested;

     I think you will find that if you take the motor drive belt off it will take no effort at all to turn the hand wheel on your machine compared to a machine that doesn't have "the problem". I suspect your machine is so well "broken-in" that all of the parts are working in perfect concert with each other therefore there is no resistance to the machines being turned and however slight the tug of a well oiled hand wheel there isn't enough internal resistance prevent the machine from "running-on". Your machine probably runs fast compared to some Featherweights.

     To induce a little internal resistance to the machine's turning I suggest this. Gain access to the underside of your machine and locate the set-screws that secure the bushings for the lower high speed shaft. The bushings and their set-screws are in the "aluminum blocks" cast into the base of the machine that support the bushings. These two blocks have the oil holes drilled through their side to oil these bushings. I'll pick on the bushing at the hand wheel end of the machine that has the lower high speed shaft's gear next to it. The other end of the shaft has a block with a bushing in it also. In both blocks is a set-screw pointing out the bottom of the machine. But for now we pick on the bushing in the block at the hand wheel end.

    What I am suggesting is that you induce a little resistance into the free turning of the machine by over-tightening the set-screw near the gear to the point that we deform the bushing a tiny amount. I have done this several times and it has worked well. Before you do anything, take the motor belt off of the machine and turn the hand wheel a whole bunch and remember the effort needed. Get use to the feel of how much or how little effort is required to turn the machine without the motor connected. Get/find/steal a good quality screw-driver that fits the set-screw quite well and tighten the set screw more/excessively. If you detect/feel that the screw has tightened a tiny bit, check to see if you can feel an added resistance to the machines turning. If by chance there is a bunch more resistance, back off on the set-screw a bit and things will go back to normaler. Keep it up until you feel some resistance or until it appears this might not be getting what you wanted and you fear it is getting to be a bit much. Lets try something else.

Plan "B", if the above didn't work;

    Remove the set-screw near the gear completely. Using a "nail set" punch (or something of the kind) reach down to the bottom of the hole touching the bushing (which is the bottom of the set-screw's hole) with the end of punch and tap it with a hammer. Feel for resistance to turning again. If the resistance to turning hasn't increased, tap it again just a little more firmly, and again until you do get some resistance, testing between each progressively heaver tap. Baby steps. At no time should you let yourself get impatient to get things done and clobber the punch hard. Just a little harder each time until it works, replace the set-screw and go off telling your self that you'll never tell anybody what you just did to your Featherweight. Especially that I said to.

    I have done this before also, and it does work.

If you need a thread tension guage and want to keep your money.....

    Thread tension gauges are expensive, so I'd thought I'd share a simple project with you that works very well and can save you a lot compared to buying one if you can find one.  

    If you are looking for one to use, make your own, but this will not be a small pocket sized portable, but it works with almost any machine. And it isn't huge.

 

    Make a small wood "base" of say 3X10X3/4 inch (approx). It might not seem like a "base" yet, but it will. Drill a small hole (about 1/16th of an inch) 1/4 of an inch in from one of the base's long sides and centered from left to right. The hole should be perpendicular to this base while it lays flat on a work surface.This long edge with a hole drilled vertically has become the back edge of the gauge.

    Make a "back panel" five inches wide by eight inches tall of something like "foam-core" or thin plywood. This back board should be glued to the base's back edge, vertically, with the 1/16th inch hole centered left to right with the backboard. A piece of heavy white paper is glued to the inside surface of the "L" if needed and will serve as a surface to mark on using a pencil later on.

    You need a piece of music wire (from a hobby shop) of about .045 thousandths of an inch diameter and seven inches long. Bend a little (tiny) loop or hook (curly-Q) into one end, this will become the top of the wire when finally set in place. Glue the plain end of the wire into the hole you've drilled and let the glue cure/dry.

    To use: Get a bobbin case that is known to be "set" properly. form a loop in the 3 inch tail of thread coming from the bobbin case and catch the thread loop in the loop/hook at the top end of the wire. Pull gently, the wire begins to bend and keep pulling until the bobbin just starts to turn within the bobbin case. At that point note how far the wire bent and mark on the back board (a little tick mark) how far the wire bent until the bobbin within the bobbin case just began to turn. Make your mark toward the top of the wire. Then let things relax. Release the thread from the hook you formed in the wire and with a finger tip pushing from the top of the wire bend the wire over to the Mark you made on the backboard. Then press the wire against the backboard, holding it there from the hooked end of the wire and use the wire as an edge to draw a more distinct slightly curved line. Try the bobbin case from several machines if you can, all from machines that are behaving themselves. You'll notice the marks start falling within an average zone or range. Were you to measure this "average" it will come out at about 2.6 Grams. It's a primitive little gauge that will cost about fifty cents to make and take an hour to make. It is every bit as accurate as the $189.00 big name machine gauges and can be just as fancy as you want it to be if you want to embellish it.

    To use the tool, form a loop in the thread coming from your bobbin case and as above pull on the thread, holding the bobbin case to do so. Note when the bobbin begins to turn and if it is to one side of the line you have made, or the other, you will need to adjust the bobbin case accordingly. If the bobbin begins to turn before the wire reaches the line, tighten the adjustment screw of the bobbin case. If you are pulling beyond the mark and the bobbin case is not turning, loosen up the adjustment screw a little at a time. 

    Once you see what I'm up to with these words you can work-out your own design improvements and it will work fine. I told you .045 diameter wire, but it can be a little larger in diameter or smaller but I would not suggest a big departure. It's just how much it bends when pulled on, consistently, that matters. But don't go real heavy or thin just because you had a problem finding some rational sized wire.

    And please use music wire from a hobby shop as it is good spring steel and not like coat hanger wire that bends and stays bent.

    If when using your gauge you come quite close to the line....that's good enough. This is a very sensitive gauge and close is good enough.

 

Removing the light switch from a Featherweight for replacement or paintin of the machine

I've had several emails lately, asking how to remove the light switch from a Featherweight so I thought I'd bring that subject to you today. The reasons for these people wanting to remove the switch replacing the switch were a simple failure of the switch (as in "it don't do nothin'") to a broken off toggle. If you need to know all about this, here it is. It is a great subject for those moments at a wedding reception where small talk fails and you want to impress people. If you are painting your machine you will also want to remove the switch. The drip pan will need to be removed from the bottom of the machine. The electrical receptacle/plug needs to be removed to gain access to the wire that goes to the light switch. The electrical receptacle has one screw holding it in place. There are three electrical posts inside the opening of the receptacle and the screw securing the receptacle is directly above the center post of the three, by about an inch. Remove the screw. The receptacle will only pulls out about an inch and to loosen the wire from the switch, roll the receptacle onto its open face so it's back side is up. There are three thumb-nuts on the back side of the receptacle. Just beside the thumb-nuts is a number that identifies the threaded electrical post by number, Remove the thumb nut at post number 3 and take the two wires off of the threaded post. Use the tip of a pair of pliers to loosen the thumb nut if need be and then finish by finger. The switch is held in place by by two nuts or at least should be. One is a black plastic decorative cap that doesn't hold anything in place. this plastic cap rests on top of a steel hex-nut that lays right on the painted surface of the machine's deck. The black plastic decorative nut is removed by hand and don't use pliers or the like as the cap is somewhat delicate. The risk in removing the steel hex nut under the cap in the stack-up is the chance that you might scratch the paint of your machine with the tool you use. The So many of these tools that can be used to remove this nut get scratched in use on the family car and such. The wrench you use has to laid the flat side of its jaw on the painted surface to loosen the hex nut. I take my tools for this use (a six inch adjustable wrench or 9/16ths open end wrench) and lay the flat side of the wrench, the jaw portion, on a piece of sand paper of about 120 grit and all this laying on a hard flat surface and rub it in until the side of the wrench is smooth and "toothless". Remove the hex-nut and the switch can now be poked down through the hole in the base of the machine. Not quite done yet. There is another wire that attaches to the switch with a screw into the side of the switch. Remove that screw and set it aside. The switch is free now to remove. Attached to the switch will be a wire that is soldered to a terminal of the switch, it goes away with the switch as a unit. There is a heavy black piece of rigid paper that serves as an insulator so nothing within the machine's base can touch the switch's wires and short things out. It's a pain, but put the paper piece back in when the time comes. Reverse the process to put things back together. The screw threads for the hex nut and plastic cap should have a little oil used on them and do not tighten either one very much. The hex nut will/can scratch the paint under it and the black plastic cap can break. Apply a little oil to the threads of the switch before the hex or plastic cap are screwed on.

A machine that runs on while you wind a bobbin and.....

If the "stop motion" knob located in the center of the hand wheel is loosened the entire Featherweight sewing machine should not keep running when you wind a bobbin, just the hand wheel. We have "stopped the motion". Should have at least. If not the cure is to remove the hand wheel and clean the hole (bore) of the hand wheel, oil it well and reassemble the hand wheel. This only takes about ten minutes. We begins by removing the hand wheel. Get a washcloth and fold it twice, into quarters. lay it on your base extension and lift the extension all the way up as if putting the machine back into machine's case and then tilt the machine forward until the machine is resting on the folded up base extension and the hand wheel pointing to the ceiling. Toward the edge of the stop motion wheel (knob) is a small screw. Loosen it by three full turns and the stop motion wheel can be unscrewed completely (lefty loosey, righty tighty). There is an odd washer that can be seen now that the knob is out of the way. It fits on the exposed end of the shaft that the hand wheel spins on. The washer has three tabs spaced evenly around its outside edge and two bent tabs on the inside of the washer's hole that fit the slot in the end of the shaft. Leave the washer on the shaft until you get a felt tipped pen or something you can scratch steel with. We need to make a mark from one side of the hole in the shaft out across one side of the washer. The washer we are speaking of has to go back onto the shaft the same way it came off of the shaft. When you put it back on make sure the mark is up and we will know the correct side of the washer is up and align the marks across the end of the shaft and the side of the washer and we will know the washer is "clocked" properly as well. Felt tipped pens work well but the mark will go away after awhile. I prefer something that will mark (scratch)the steel of the washer for keeps. Remove the washer and pull up on the hand wheel. Notice: I did not tell you to remove the motor belt. The hand wheel will pull off the end of the shaft with the belt left on and you will not have to adjust the motor drive belt's tension if you don't have to loosen the motor and remove the belt. Get hold of the hand wheel and pull. If it just moves a little, slap it back down and pull up smartly again. Repeat if necessary. It will really will come off. Ultimately we are about cleaning the hole (bore) through the center of the hand wheel and oiling it well. Oh, and putting it all back together. There are two simple ways to clean the bore of the hand wheel. Steel wool or fine sand paper. With four ought (0000) steel wool I pull off a one inch ball of the steel wool and pull it thinner and larger, pulling at the edges, without tearing the little pad. Ladies, I suggest you put on a rubber glove on your "using hand" and everybody cap the end of a correct sized finger needed so you can push the pad into the bore of the hand wheel and twist your finger like you do with the wash cloth in your ears on Saturday night bath-time. Don't dab at it, honestly clean the hole out. Change sides of the hand wheel and work from the other side as well. The bore of the hand wheel is one of the most neglected places on our machines and it frequently is dry of oil and it cruds-up preventing the hand wheel from turning freely. The other approach is to roll a piece of wet and dry sandpaper about two inches wide and six long into a tube rolled around a finger that allows the sandpapered wrapped finger fit the bore. 220 wet and dry sandpaper (used wet) works well. Either way you do this you will end up with a dirty finger and that shows we are cleaning crud out of the hole. Keep working until you are not finding any more crud to get your finger dirty with. Clean the bore of dust and such caused by your efforts and put some oil in the hole/bore. Put a little oil on the exposed end of the shaft and put the hand wheel on the shaft without the motor belt and give it a spin by hand. The hand wheel should turn very freely. If that is the case remove the hand wheel again and loop the motor belt around it and put the hand wheel back onto the shaft. Install the washer with the mark up and aligned with the mark on the shaft and install the stop motion knob. Turn the little screw in that is out there on the edge of the stop motion knob. Not tight, just there. It might take a second for your machine to buy into the idea its clean again. Loosen the stop motion knob and run the machine electrically. Give the machine a little while to break-in again. If the machine is thinking about not turning with the stop motion knob loose, run the machine and hold the thread take-up lever to stop the machine yet let just the hand wheel spin for a bit.

THE NEEDLE IN MY MACHINE IS NOT CENTERED IN THE HOLE OF THE NEEDLE PLATE !!! WHAAAAA!

On the Featherweight model 221 or the Model 301..........and others Singer machines........ Many machines do not put the needle into the needle plate's hole in a way we may feel is perfect. Absolute dead center in the hole is not what Singer was after as they manufactured your machine. There was an "allowable tolerance" that meant that if the machine functioned, that was Singer's bottom line, things just needed to be within a working allowable tolerance. If the needle is not dead center in the needle plate's hole, sorry. You can get a very small diameter "mouse tail" file (at higher end hobby shops)and file the hole wider and away from the needle to center the needle better in a slightly larger hole. If the needle is touching one of the toes of the presser foot, this can be adjusted away. But First; check to find if the needle is bent? Using the hand wheel; withdraw the needle from the needle plate's hole and keep turning slowly until the needle is ready to reenter the needle plate. Watch the needle in relation to the needle plate hole as the needle descends into the hole. As the needle travels down, if the needle drifts closer to one side of the hole and then backs off again as you withdraw the needle you've got yourself a bent needle. If so, replace the needle. If this ain't the case, read on. Remove/open the faceplate and look at the presser bar. The presser bar is made of two parts you can see (there is a spring hiding inside), the bottom half of the bar is about a 1/4 in diameter shiny steel rod that that becomes a 3/16ths (approx) black steel rod above. This assembly of two rods runs from the top of the machine's head (inside), from the adjustable knob at the top of the head to the presser foot down under the head. On this shaft/rod/bar/assembly (let's call this the "bar" from here on) is a metal block (looks like 3/8ths X 3/8ths)that is part of the presser bar assembly and is about half way up the bar assembly. It has a set screw looking straight out at you and the block and bar move up and down with the presser bar if you lift the chrome lever hanging out the back side of the machine's head. Loosen that set-screw a tiny bit. we want the bar to be able to turn with moderate effort and not just drop as it is under moderate spring pressure pressing downward (but not dangerously so). Loosen the set-screw and as you begin loosening it the screw will kind of make a "pop" when it breaks free of having been tightened for 40 years. Stop loosening the set-screw. Reach down to the presser foot's toes at the bottom of the bar and use it like a small tiller on a small sail boat to straighten the foot out a small amount. To do this the presser foot should be lifted (the up position as in when removing your fabric from under the foot) off of the needle plate so you can get a grip on the toes of the foot/tiller to turn/twist the toes into alignment so the needle does not strike the toes any more. You might have to loosen the set-screw a bit more, but do such in tiny increments. If you have turned the foot and you think its about right, with the machine's needle centered between the toes, let the foot down gently onto the needle plate and the slots for the feed-dogs will act as a guide to confirm the foot is aligned with the the feed dogs and they are no longer angled across them slightly. If things look good, tighten the set-screw again. Or keep fiddling. As you loosened the set-screw; the presser bar may have dropped down to the needle plate because the set-screw was loosened a bit too much. Not to worry, we'll reset that. Internally, within the two part presser bar, is a spring that will encourage the bar to drop. If the set-screw was loosened a bit too much (which never happens to me) tighten the set-screw ever so little so the bar resits being turned but can be turned with a little effort. Go get a pocket book and and open it to about page 150, which will be about 5/16ths of an inch of pulp including one of the covers. Measure it so we are fairly accurate. 5/16ths of an inch. You don't need to buy a dial indicator, just a ruler will do fine, but try to be accurate, within reason. With the presser foot lifted; put the pocket book's 150 pages (w/cover) under the presser foot. If you need to force the book to get it under the foot; loosen that set screw centered in the metal block ever so little, and twisting the bar by the presser foot's toes, pull the bar up or down as needed within the block until the book just fits under the foot. Turning the bar by the foot's toes will help the bar move within the block and once it turns it can now move up and down within the block with relative ease. The foot should be resting (not pressing firmly) on the pages of your book and not hovering above the the pages. If you have had to twist the toes of the foot to get the bar to move up/down within the block you may find the foot will be crooked again and you will do the juggling act of aligning the foot and not letting the bar drop down next. The secret is how tight is the set-screw. The bar must be able to be turned within the block but not loose. If you have something that is 5/16ths of an inch thick and it is easier to work with than a book, use it. I made a "Go-No-Go gauge" (it "fits of it don't") of 5/16ths thick Plexiglas to do this with, but I work with a lot of machines and I don't know if this is a practical thing to make for yourself out of any material if you have but one machine to work with. The foot doesn't go out of alignment very often. I prefer to use a gauge as it is so hard to read a book with the presser foot pressing down on the pages as I work, and turning the pages is just plain problematic.

Keeping your eye out for something that isn't quite...well, I don't know.

   I taught a couple of classes this last week-end which is something I love doing. It is an opportunity to see and hold yet another Featherweight. Some machines that come to class come with a problem,  or two, and some problems are new to me. That's when it begins to be fun for me. When I find something new I love saying something like, "Gee, Ive never seen something like this before" and listen to the owner swallow their gum.When you are locked-up in a room working on sewing machines all week you have to find fun where you can get it. They don't let me out often.
    The machine in question was not sewing so pretty good. It puckered the fabric between each and every stitch and the fabric was very hard to pull out of the machine at the end of a line of stitching. When you pulled the fabric out of the machine, or if you pulled on the bobbin thread as it came up through the needle plate it was much harder to pull on than it should have been. So I said to myself, I said, the bobbin tension is set much too high so I coughed the bobbin case out. I got out my trusty gauge to test the bobbin case tension and the gauge said it was spot-on at 2.5 grams. I put things all back together and it still did not sew correctly.
    I had noted that the bobbin within the bobbin case was black which was unique and it was of a one-piece construction as having been turned on a lathe rather than made from separate parts pressed together into an assembly. When I put the bobbin back into the case the flange of the bobbin that closed off the opening of the bobbin case stood just a little tall and it was noted that when the bobbin case w/bobbin was put into the machine it took a bit more pressure than what seemed normal to get the bobbin case to snap into the hook assembly, yet still without having to use a hammer.
    The bobbin we were working with turned out to be a bobbin made for an Elna sewing machine of the 1930's. If you lay a Featherweight bobbin case on a flat surface beside the Elna bobbin, the Elna was about a sixteenth of an inch taller which made the bobbin stand proud and drag within the bobbin carrier and resetting the tension wasn't the answer at all. If not laying side by side for comparison the two bobbins looked just alike.
    I had looked at the bobbin within the case when I first took the bobbin case out and had commented to myself, "myself, that's odd" and just let it slide.
    When you see something that doesn't seem just right, and you've got some little nag of a problem, look harder at what seemed "a little strange" and think the strange and the nag through together as if they may be related. It is interesting how many FW problems have been corrected by thinking through something "just because it initially didn't look quite right."  



    

Keeping it original and keepin' it running

     I have touched a lot of Featherweights and in the process seen quite a few repairs that Singer had not thought of. Many times the driving force behind some variations of design is a belief that "the parts for a Featherweight are not available" which explains why I replaced my Featherweight's motor with a Hoover vacuum cleaner motor. In truth, very few parts for the Featherweight are truly difficult to find and the ones that are are not parts you would ever need, such as a lower main shaft. The really hard ones to find are those that are never needed so no one keeps them around, therefore they become "rare".
     As many of you know Singer does not supply parts on machines that are more than ten years beyond a given machine's model change. Our Featherweights are only fifty years beyond that model change milestone so don't bother asking at the Singer Store for Featherweight parts or you will be told the truth; Singer does not make Featherweight parts any more, "but maybe you'd like to look at this new machine over here?"
     Because of the popularity of the Featherweight machines there are quite a few companies that manufacture good Featherweight parts today. Using key words like "Featherweight 221" in a Google search will get you the names of people who can ship you good new and used parts. Spend a little time looking at various sites to learn the"going-price" of parts as there are some who just might try to gouge you a bit.
     I am not going to endear myself to a few sellers but I would avoid "new" bobbin cases and hook assemblies. You are far better off with a good used bobbin case or hook assembly that works compared to nicely chromed parts that are problematic.
     This aftermarket availability of replacement parts has its limits I fear. For a company to start manufacturing a replacement part there has to be a demand for them. Parts that are unique to the model 222 for instance are not manufactured anywhere and you will have to buy used parts. You can buy new motors for the black machine if you don't mind its not having the Singer name on it. You cannot buy a white motor for a white (I know, they are really green) Featherweight, you'll have to buy a used one or paint a new one white. Have fun matching the green color.
     Don't disparage if you are told "these parts are not available any more" by the first person you talk to. These people would know there are parts available if they would just search around on the web a bit as I am asking you to do. Ebay is one souse of parts that works as long as you shop around and have an idea what something should cost before you remortgage to underwrite the first part you see. Those who sell on eBay are often fond of using the word "rare" but the only thing really rare is the seller who doesn't use the word rare.
    Have fun Kids, these machines are going to be around long enough to be a problem for the great grand kids to have to figure out.

You cannot count on it all being the way Singer sold it originally.

     I've recently acquired a slug of Featherweights to restore and refurbish. With 30 machines piled around me I began looking at them, one by one, to determine the problems the machines had so I could figure which ones to attack first.There typically is a reason that Featherweights get sold. The machines haven't stopped looking cute so it must be something else. Maybe the person just doesn't use the machine enough and would rather someone who would use it would buy it and try to wear it out. That makes an nice wish but it doesn't happen often.
     The number one reason that these machines migrate is that somethings has gone wrong with the machine and the person finds themselves in over their head trying to determine what is wrong  and what to do about it.
     The number one reason that a Featherweight gets sold-off is that when it was maintained last; the needle plate was removed. When the needle plate was reinstalled the positioning finger of the hook assembly was not captured in the slot for it between what look two metal blocks on the underside of the needle plate. The machine will not sew in this state and the owner will sometimes think it is time to get rid of the machine. One in seven machines I buy do not have the positioning finger in place.
     Number two reason: You are charged $35 to be told the parts are not available anywhere. You are told this by someone who doesn't know, is too lazy to look or want's to sell you this honey of a machine over here. Hog wash!!!! Parts are easy to find and cheap.    Moving on.....
     Tension problems are the next in line. This is a rather convoluted subject but often the problem has to do with the Upper tension assembly having been disassembled (which makes it a disassembled assembly) and it was not reassembled the way Singer thought it should have been. The original manual for the machine, my manual (The Featherweight 221 and I) and the Technician's Service Manual for Featherweights have good illustrations of how the parts stack-up when correctly assembled. That funny washer that goes over the beehive spring must be installed with the tab on its edge side installed pointing up and so the tip of the tab is pointing out, like a small cobra head poised to strike.

     With some machines there are often some rather creative repairs that have been imposed on the original Singer design. Please, if you have to change something completely to get the machine to work (?) it might not be the best idea. One of the most confusing conundrums is; why, after removing the hook assembly to clear a jam or whatever, and having correctly installed the hook assembly (for a fact) onto its shaft again, why does the needle strike the hook assembly?
     Sometime in this machine's past the hook assembly had been removed and the wrong set-screw on the hub of the hook assembly was put over the flat that is ground into the shaft it mounts on. The hook assembly is 180 degrees out of rotation now. The person doing the work believes the hook assembly was correctly installed, "I mean what can be so hard about putting a part on a shaft?"
     "It must be the timing!!!" so the cure is to change the timing of the machine to make the machine agree with the incorrectly installed hook assembly rather than making the hook assembly agree with the machine. The hard part is that the machine works. So what's wrong with that. I just wanted a machine that works? The next time someone works on that machine and installs everything the way Singer says it should have been (for a fact) the machine wont work.The person working on the machine by the hour, if they haven't run into this before, will not work their mind numb trying to figure what is wrong and might well suggest, "let's go sell it.!"
      I love talking at you and I hope this blog helps. Feel free to ask questions.

This might seem redundant but

I don't know why but frequently a problem with a Featherweight can crop up that has never darkened my door before and then I end up with a handful of machines with this same obscure problem. Obtuse and obscure can be fun though, so lets relay the story and see where we end up.

The first of the Featherweights with this particular problem announced itself as a Featherweight that wasn't running very fast. There are Feathers that do run slower than others, but this one was really quite slow. A bit faster than "stop" but not by much.

    The First thought was; the belt must be too tight, which is the typical cause. But this machine's belt wasn't too tight. A Featherweight's belt should never be tighter than it has to be to keep the motor pulley from slipping.
    The Second thought was; has the motor been lubricated in the last 30 years? It had been.
    The Third thought had me gripping the pulley with my fingers and pulling it in and out on it for no real reason. This behaviour is part of my finial set-up/testing of a motor if I had disassembled it to turn the commutator or clean the motor out but I hadn't done that work on this motor, so really I was just killing time while thinking. This is called "fiddling-around" all the time looking terribly busy to the untrained eye.
   There was no end play to this particular motor's shaft as I pulled in and out on the pulley, and there should be a little. I removed the pulley and found the motor's shaft had 16 inches of thread neatly wrapped around it that had partially filled the gap between the pulley and the motors housing.The thread was packed tightly enough that the motor could not get up to speed, much less the machine as a whole. The thread got there from a bobbin winding session gone bad. The thread had gotten itself snagged by the motor belt so fast it wasn't noticed. While the thread was dry it let the pulley turn without slowing things down much, but then it begins to wick the motor's lubricating grease out of the motor, which doesn't sound so bad, except that the lubricant makes the thread swell and disc brakes will have been reinvented.
    Solution; remove the motor pulley and clean out from behind it. Put the pulley back on.
    But note; there are two styles of pulley found on Featherweights, One is made of steel and it has a set screw on the pulley hub that secures it to the motor's shaft. Loosening the set-screw one turn is adequate to remove the pulley.
    The second pulley type is a Bakelite plastic that looks like black plastic (unless it was painted tan as found on the tan colored Featherweight). with soft rounded edges in addition to the fact that the pulley is round by function. There is a screw in the hub of this plastic pulley as well, but this screw must be removed completely before the pulley can be removed from the motor shaft. This style of screw threads completely through the motor's shaft. If you only loosen it a single turn as with the set-screw style of pulley the pulley can be broken as you try to pry the "stuck" pulley off the shaft. I am not speaking from experience, of course.

For the machine that has slowed down

     Somethings don't happen often, but when they do happen, they happen in clusters of bunches. A problem was simply stated, "my machine is really running slow" and when we went to the typical culprit, the belt being too tight, we found that this wasn't the problem, this time around. And then the same thing happened three more times within this week.
     Checking the belt's tension was the first thing tried. If too tight the machine will slow a lot and it is hard on the motor. The belt is to be no tighter than is needed to keep the belt from slipping at the motor pulley. The belt's not being too tight not being the problem looking elsewhere was in order. Removing the motor's pulley revealed the problem. Wound around the motor's shaft, between the pulley's inner flange and the motor housing, was an easy foot of thread packed in very tightly and dragging the motor speed down dramatically. With the pulley removed the wad of thread pulled off like a miniature donut. I suspect it got there by thread going native while winding a bobbin.
    The solution is to remove the pulley and slide the thread donut off the motor's shaft. The trick is to make sure you remove the pulley correctly according to the type of pulley you have on your motor.
    There are only two types of pulley; one of metal (steel) and one of plastic (Bakelite). The metal one looks like blackened steel, because it is. It can be attracted to a magnet and has a hole in its hub as it looks at you from the motor with the shaft pointing at your face. The plastic pulley looks like a double brimmed top hat, soft rounded edges on the hub and there is no hole for the sahft extending completely through the pulley's hub as it does on the metal pulley.
    The blackened metal pulley has a set-screw that holds it to the motor's shaft as it bears down on a flat spot ground onto the motor's shaft. Loosen the set-screw one turn and the metal pulley can be removed from the motor. Just pull it off the end of the shaft.
    The plastic (Bakelite) pulley found on white (pale green) Featherweights and painted tan to match the tan Featherweight's color is also found in natural black on some late model black machines such as the model 222. This pulley has a threaded pin that can be removed from one side of the pulley's hub. The threaded pin runs through one side of the pulley's hub and completely through the motor's shaft. This style of screw-pin has a slot like a screw head for the complete removal of the threaded pin.
    The first guess for a machine that is running slow is that the motor belt is too tight, and now you know the second guess.

Hot time in the 'ol house tonight

   For years we've heard that our sewing machines should be unplugged if we leave our machines for an extended period of time. You just heard it again.And I don't mean just the Featherweights owners should. Almost every manufacturer of sewing machines today still tells owners to unplug their machines.
   Many Featherweight owners will reach over and turn the switch located down low and to the right of the base of the machine off, and the light turns off. And that is all that that turned off. By turning the switch off you have not turned the machine off, just the light!
   If the foot controller wonders out of adjustment after sixty years the controller can get hot. Very hot. The adjustment of the controller will be the subject of the my next blog, but for the time being please unplug your machine before you walk away for an extended period of time. Once and awhile feel your controller to be sure it is not getting hot. Room temperature is one thing, hot is different!
.   Unplugging the machine is such a bother, but turning off a power strip isn't  I plug a radio, my additional lighting and my machine into the same power strip. My Man-Cave is up stairs and all I have to do is cock an ear at the bottom of the steps to assure myself I have turned things off because I can't hear the radio.  

Trying to wind a bobbin? And the machine continues to run-on.......

    To wind a bobbin you first turn the "stop-motion-wheel" to the left releasing the hand wheel to spin freely without all the rest of the machine continuing to turn. But, in the real world........
    The hand wheel and the bushing it turns on is rarely oiled. The hand wheel needs only a drop of oil at the gap of the hand wheel and the flange of the bushing if it had been oiled routinely. If it hasn't been oiled since the machine left the Singer factory the hand wheel will need to be removed, the bearing surfaces cleaned, oiled and restored to be correct.
    But there is a deeper problem that may be causing your machine to run-on. I have in the past done all the cleaning and oiling thing and some machines will still run-on. These machines have gotten perfectly "run-in". The gears and bearings and all that kinda' stuff have worked with each other long enough that the wearing-in  of these parts has made these parts fit each other perfectly. Every thing turns with seemingly no resistance except that which is felt because the motor is being turned by its' connection through the drive belt. 
    If you suspect you are having a problem this way remove the motor drive belt and turn the machine using the hand wheel. If you can't really discern any resistance consider this cure.
    Roll your machine over onto its' back on to a padded surface. The machine's hand wheel should be to the right for this conversation while you are looking at the drip pan on the machines' bottom. Exciting isn't it? Remove that drip pan and have a look within. There is a gear at one right end of the silver colored lower high-speed shaft that has the chrome hook assembly (where you snap the bobbin carrier with its' bobbin into) at the left end of the silver shaft. (The white/green model 221's do not have gears so use the rubber t gimbler drive belt hub for your point of reference). The shaft goes through the gear (hub) and into a "block" that is part of the machines' base casting. In the middle of the block is a screw, a set-screw. The bushing that supports the gear end of the shaft is held in place (kept from moving) within this block by this set-screw. If you over-tighten this set-screw CAREFULLY the tightening will deform the bushing slightly and induce some resistance to the turning of the lower shaft and therefore the whole machine.
    This set-screw hasn't been turned in sixty years. Loosen the screw before you tighten it. Press firmly into the set screw and use a quality screw-driver that fits the screw slot properly. Ladies, you might need some help with this, after sixty years of waiting for a little attention the screw will not like to turn at first and will start to turn with a pop. Loosen the screw before you try to tighten the screw and maybe even remove and oil the screw or its' hole. When you tighten the screw keep turning/testing the hand wheel to feel for added resistance. As we tighten the screw we will be turning the screw tighter than is required to just  hold the bushing in place. I am asking you to tighten it just enough that the bushing distorts slightly and pinches the shaft inducing a resistance to the entire machines being able to turn. It will take some effort to turn the screw enough to make a change but the screw will only turn about 1/32th of a turn at most.
    Tighten and test for resistance of the machine to turning. If things get a bit too tight, loosen the screw and the shaft will respond accordingly. We do not want a lot of resistance to the turning of the machine, but there must be some. Properly adjusted the machine will turn easily but you can feel it turn rather than something that seems almost sloppy loose.
 

Times, they are changin'

      Thread has changed over the years since our Featherweights were born. I love many of the new threads and I'm not here to say I have a problem with them, but your Featherweight might.
      Several times this last month I have had people call asking "what is wrong with their Featherweight? The stitch in the fabric is all loopy and loose..........."
      The Featherweight was created at a time when 50 weight thread was the norm. Several times recently I have had people having problems with their machines and the common denominator was that they were using  the "new" fine threads that are becoming quite popular. I don't want to name brand-names because it isn't about any one manufacturer or brand, it's the weight (physical size) of the thread that is causing a problem.
    If you are not happy with your machines stitch or the thread tension try changing to a thread of heavier weight.

Don't replace your bobbin case too quickly!

     In the years that I have been working with Featherweights I've noticed that problems with Feathers seem to happen in clusters. I don't find a problem but what the problem does not repeat itself, repeatedly, within days. Case in point: a bobbin case not adjusting as it should. If yours seems to have but one setting; loose, it might seem like it is "time for a replacement bobbin case", Oh bother!
    How you remove the thread from your bobbin case might determine how you will spend your next $75.00. If you function like I did not so long ago you probably remove your bobbin from the bobbin case to change thread by dumping the bobbin in your hand and pulling the thread out of the case from inside, just jerking on the bobbin and dragging the thread out screaming!. (I'm trying to make it sound like a rude thing, did it work?) But we are not going to do that any more, are we?
     Instead let the bobbin drop gently into your cupped hand and cut the thread with your best gold plated (titanium bladed) stork scissors you keep warm in a velvet lined basket beside your Featherweight.
     Now, pull the thread out of the bobbin case from the outside which is pulling the thread out from the case in the normal direction the thread would travel.
     Why? The bobbin case is designed for the thread to pass through it one way. That's why there are no options as to how to install the bobbin case even though some have tried. If thread is pulled backwards through the bobbin case (as in; jerked removed from the inside) the little metal strap on the outside of the bobbin case (that is the tension spring) will "shave" the lint from the thread making its own lint if there wasn't any. This "free-at-last" lint collection builds up under the open end of the strap spring and it can have enough body (mass) to hold the spring's tip up and off of the side of the bobbin case allowing the thread to just pull through this tension device without resistance (tension). It will be held up and off by the tiniest amount and it will not be easy to see unless you really look.
    Cure? Stop pulling the thread the wrong way. If you already have a zero tension case; remove the tension adjusting screw (over a towel!!!) and loosen the screw at the end of the strap about one turn to loosen the strap. Using a flat tooth-pick, inset the flat end of the tooth-pick under the strap about where the tension screw was and wipe sideways to the tip of the spring where the thread comes out. The pellet of lint that comes out will be tiny and you'll think that I am pulling your leg, but April-fools Day was yesterday and I'm over it.
     Put things back together, reset the tension and enjoy. It is possible you might have to remove both screws to clean out completely from under the strap tension spring. Please work over a towel to keep from loosing one of the screws.

The Ten Most Common Things That Happen To A Featherweight

Question: What single thing contributes to the problems a Featherweight might have?
Answer: A human bought it.

In a class recently, I was asked why I don’t compose a list entitled; “THE TEN MOST COMMON THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO A FEATHERWEIGHT”. You might note that most of the things that do go-bump-in-the-night are not caused by the machine. A brief answer to the question posed, follows that question....

(1)  Why does my machine skip stitches or make frequent “long” stitches?
The needle is installed backwards. There is a flat side ground into the needle’s fat non-pointy end and that flat side must face to the left when the needle is installed.
(2)  My machine has grabbed absolute handfuls of thread and has sucked it down through the throat plate.
You must pull the upper and bobbin threads gently out the back of the machine as you introduce fabric to the needle or thread can get caught in the hook assembly and you will spend tonight picking thread out of the hook assembly. All of tonight.
(3)  There is a bird’s nest of thread under the throat plate and the machine has locked-up solid. Prevention; again, pull the upper and bobbin threads out the back as you introduce fabric to the needle. Have you removed the throat plate to clean under it? Is the positioning finger back in the slot under the throat plate?
(4)  Why does my machine run slow?
More than likely the motor belt is too tight, loosen it. It should be no tighter than it needs be to keep the motor pulley from slipping when you step on the gas. 
There may be thread wrapped around the motors’ shaft behind the flange of the motor pulley. 
Has the motor been lubricated within the last 42 years?
(5)  The foot controller gets hot.
An adjustment is needed within the controller. Unplug the controller. From the wall at least! Open the controller by removing the four screws, one in the center of each of the rubber feet, and locate the screw head in the middle of the metal plate at the end of the ceramic “controller”. Loosen the screw one and one half turns. Close things back up.
(6)  My machine has two speeds: “stop” and “go like crazy”! And nothin’ in between.
An adjustment is needed to the foot controller in the opposite direction of the answer to question number (5) above. That metal plate should be withdrawn one-eighth of an inch (and be accurate) into the ceramic block that is the real controller hiding within what we call the controller.
(7)  My machines’ light flickers and the motor stutters.
The posts of the electrical receptacle below the hand wheel are split so they splay out slightly to provide a positive contact within the plug of the power cord. The split posts may have been pinched     closed. Spread them until the split (gap) is uniform and not pinched.
(8)  The needle does not pick-up the bobbin thread.
Has the needle been threaded from right to left? Is there a three inch tail of thread coming from the bobbin case? Is there a lot of lint under the needle plate?
(9)  “Something just isn't right, I can't put my finger on it.”
Re-thread the machine. No explanation needed.
(10)  Operator error. I know, now I’m meddling.

That’s ten, I hope it helps.