A Singer 401a and Greasy Terminal Prongs

Hi everyone, I know, long time no talk. I recently got to meet Elizabeth from My Sewing Machine Obsession and that was pretty cool. She mentioned that I hadn't written in a while. Over a year!

I've been busy with work and fixing sewing machines on the side, even making housecalls in Manhattan. If you need repair work done on your machine, are in NYC and/or can bring your machine to me in lower Manhattan, drop a line.

Anyways, a customer brought this Singer 401a to me. She came my way from Peter Lappin's sewing blog. The customer had just purchased the machine from a "reputable" seller online, and the machine had been damaged in shipping, with one spool pin broken off. She asked if I could fix it, I said no problem.

When she arrived with the machine, she mentioned that after five minutes of sewing, the machine would begin to emit a smell. I told her I'd check it out.

Well, never mind the spool pin, I was appalled to see the condition of the machine. So much so that I subsequently looked up the seller. I will not mention him by name, but based on his reputation and self-description, any of us would probably buy a machine from this guy in a heartbeat. He has been working on machines for longer than I've been alive, so I cannot understand how he let these things go.

The first thing I went to do is plug her machine in to uncover the source of the smell, but I stopped dead in my tracks. Check it out:

See that green stuff? Old Singer lubricant (grease) turns that shade of green after many years, I've seen it inside plenty a machine. And here it is on the terminal prongs--not good. Even worse, there was more on the cable:

Reader Questions: Rewiring a 99?

All photos in this entry by Azul from California

Azul from California writes,

I was excited to discover your motor rewiring series, but I have a model 99, which does not have the potted motor and does involve a light switch. The motor is mounted on the side, as seen below.

How to Re-wire a Potted Motor, Part 1: Wire, Wire Stripping, & Wire Braiding

Singer’s models 15-91 and 201-2 come with beltless, direct-drive motors colloquially called “potted” motors. Sometimes the wiring inside is shot and needs to be replaced; half a century of temperature extremes can rot the insulation away, leaving dangerous bare-metal wires inside an all-metal machine that can transmit a shock to the user.

In this series of entries I’ll teach you to re-wire a potted motor. I’m writing this for people with zero experience, so there are quite a few tools and skills we’ll need to cover. The good news is, you can practice all of these skills without touching your sewing machine, so you can be sure you’ll be able to pull this off before you open your machine up.

Also be aware that you’ll need to acquire a fair amount of tools and materials to re-wire a motor. You or your spouse may already own some. In a nutshell, what we’re ultimately going to need is:

- Wiring
- Wire Strippers/Cutters
- Soldering Iron
- Solder
- “Helping Hands” Tool
- Heat Shrink Insulation
- Heat Gun or cigarette lighter

In addition, you may also need a crimping tool and ring connectors; you'll decide for yourself after we cover how to terminate the wire in a future entry. And don’t worry if you don’t know what some of this stuff is, we’ll eventually get into all of it.

Documented Fix: Singer 237 Tension Assembly

I only collect and repair certain models of black cast-iron Singers made through the 1950s, and those are all I planned to cover in this blog; but when my neighbor mentioned she had a thrift-store 237 that was giving her problems, I couldn't help but take a look. (While I solved the problem, this post will be more of a documented fix than a tutorial, as I've only performed this procedure a couple times and don't know it thoroughly enough to try to teach it yet.)

First thing that jumped out at me was the duct-tape spool pin. I don't know much about the 237 except that it's from the '60s, and my first thought was "Wow, Singer really started cutting corners." My neighbor confessed to creating the spool pin.

I started reading up on the 237 on the Yahoo Vintage Singers group--it is a wealth of information--and found that it's actually a well-regarded zig-zag machine, the last of the all-metal interiors Singer made (although the little door that holds the rotating hook in place is plastic).

She said the machine was giving her tension problems. When I first encounter a machine, I never plug it in and start running it, not since I found a finish nail buried inside a 221, and a 201 with a mis-installed hook retaining ring. Had I plugged either of those machines in and hit the gas, I might've wrecked something. So I always eyeball the machine first.

Giving the 237 a visual once-over both inside and out, it finally hit me. Folks, you notice anything unusual about this photo?

Let me zoom in for you:

Screwdriver Check for Readers in Australia, Canada, China, UK Etc.

In the bobbin case removal tutorial, I asked you to use a US dollar bill to see if your screwdriver blade was the appropriate width, because I figured everyone would have a dollar bill. But now I see in the blog stats there are readers overseas as well, and you guys probably don't have as much of our precious currency on hand as you'd like.

Instead of mailing you all dollar bills, I've been casting about my apartment for measuring devices indigenous to your countries, like a kangaroo, a flapjack, a chopstick, a press scandal, et cetera when I realized I should just use the machine itself. So here it is: If you have a Singer 201, don't have the little silver Singer screwdriver, and want to see if a different small screwdriver is one you can use to pop the bobbin case clip open, check it this way:

201 Bobbin Case & Retaining Ring Re-Installation

First we covered How to remove the bobbin case, then we went over How to remove and replace the rotating hook assembly. Now that we've got the hook assembly area nice and spiffy, time to get everything back together. You may have heard that it's difficult to get the bobbin case and retaining ring back together, but you're going to be thrilled with how easy this is. First, put a drop of oil in the hook assembly, on the little track where the bobbin case will ride.

201 Hook Assembly Removal

We've removed the bobbin case in the last entry, revealing the bare hook assembly beneath. As you can see in the photo, the area underneath the hook assembly is filthy. We've got the bobbin case off, so we might as well remove the hook assembly to clean down there. We only need to remove one screw, that big one in the center.

This screw is a rare case where a B-Square bit (#10 3/8) fits perfectly, and a Brownells bit (#360-4) is workable but not a perfect fit. If you have the Chapman screwdriver set, the bit labeled "98" is likewise just a passable fit, not perfect. (UPDATE: On one of my 201s, I found the Chapman "97" bit fit better than the "98," although both machines have screws with slots that seem identical to the naked eye. Test both bits first--stick them in the slot by themselves and wiggle them loosely--to see which is a better fit before you start to remove the screw.)

Click here to read an earlier post about these screwdriver sets, and click here if you need to order the Brownells bit.

Please note that the Chapman bit numbers are read with the blade pointing to the left. In other words, this is a "98," not an "86:"

Try the Chapman "98" bit as well as the "97" to see which fits better.

Screwdrivers, Part 5: Bits That Fit a 201-2

Above and below are photos of screws you might need to get to on a Singer 201-2, and the corresponding Brownells screwdriver bit number that will fit that screw. You can then order the bits you need at this link to Brownell's website (at $2.99 a pop).

I'm not sure if this is helpful to anyone, but if it is and there's a high enough demand, I can do a similar "Bits That Fit" for a 221 Featherweight, a 206 or a 99.

I've made these photos pretty big, because on other instructional websites I've seen I always find the photos too small. If these are difficult for you to load, too big, or not big enough, please let me know in the comments.

Screwdrivers, Part 4: Bits That Will Fit a 15-91

If you've already got some assorted screwdriver bits that will fit parts of your Singers, and a bit-holding screwdriver handle, you don't need to purchase an entire set. You can save a couple bucks by ordering just the individual bits you need from a company like Brownells. So what I've done here is photographed the various parts of a 15-91 and labeled, below, which Brownells bit will fit it. (I figured looking at photos of the screws in question is easier than figuring out the name of the screw and checking that against a list.)

You can then order the bits you need at this link to Brownell's website. They're $2.99 a pop. Happy fixing!

Screwdrivers, Part 3: Which Set Do I (or Don't I) Need?

As I mentioned earlier, a good set of hollow-ground screwdriver bits is a must if you're going to work on your machine. You can choose to buy an entire set or buy the bits individually, which may work out cheaper depending on your needs. If you are a gun-owning household, you may already have a set lying around the house, as gunsmithing screwdrivers are hollow-ground. (By the way, the hexagonal shafts of screwdriver bits are standardized, so you can use any bit with any other manufacturer's handle.)

Here I'll review the three sets I have experience with, and point out some purchasing errors I made, in hopes you won't do the same. If you already have some screwdriver bits that fit some Singer parts, do not buy an entirely new set, that's a waste of money. Just wait until the next entry, where I'll cover some individual bits you can add to the ones you have. That will be a lot cheaper.

Getting Comfortable Wrenching on Your Machines: Screwdrivers, Part 1

Worth fixing.

I'd happily spend the weekend tearing a machine down, but that's not everyone's cup of tea. An experienced sewist friend told me "Most sewers don't care or want know anything about the mechanics [of the machine]. They just want to sew." I get that. But I still want to use this blog to illustrate some simple things you can do to keep your machine in top condition.

Experienced wrenchers may find my tutorials too dumbed-down. There's a reason for that. A lot of people tried their best to help me in the beginning, but because they were already experienced, they'd say things like "take your screwdriver," or "get a soldering gun and some solder;" they already knew in their head exactly what kind of screwdriver or tool, and they'd assume I did too. So I'd go to the store to buy a soldering gun and find out there's four different kinds, each of them different wattages. And five types of solder, "lead-free," "rosin core," "60/40," "63/37" and I wouldn't know what to buy. I'd guess anyway and usually buy the wrong thing.

When I'm learning something new I need everything spelled out for me, because I'm a little thick that way. So I'm going to write the exact kind of tutorials I wish I had read when I started out. I also hope to reach the greatest amount of people, including the tool-challenged and the clumsy, so I'll err on the side of overexplaining.

Before we can get to making some common adjustments and fixes for your machines, I'll need to talk tools a bit. I'll start with screwdrivers.