This highlights reel / wrap up is a little later than I planned.  It’s also far longer than I’d planned – so I’m breaking it up into parts  1 and 2.  Today’s will cover the Sewing Machine related stuff and tomorrow’s will be the rest of the year in review.

In January, I moved all free help to the AA Vintage Sewing Machines Study Facebook group.  I did this because so many people would ask for help but leave incorrect contact information, or I’d respond and never hear back at all.  This way, a group of us can draw on our collective experiences and help each other more quickly.   If you’re interested, please join us at the link above.  Be sure to answer all 3 questions coherently AND agree to the rules of the group.  If any of these are left blank, the membership doesn’t get approved. There are currently 35 of these in the queue so if you asked for admission and didn’t get in, have a look to see if there are any answers missing.

In March, I posted a couple of youTube videos about the replacement bobbin cases for Featherweights and 301s and a couple of common issues they have.  They can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFrs7JZ1AyBQ2l-Mzkw7ew/videos

June brought a new 3d printer.  The intention is to eventually recreate some sewing machine parts that are hard to get or no longer available.  To do that, I’ve been learning CAD.  The printer has its own learning curve, and the CAD adds another layer on top of that.  Luckily, I generally love a challenge. 🙂   First parts are Elna friction wheels, spacers for the 4x1G chain ring spool pin mod – since those were turning out to be the hardest part to source, the spool pin plate for Pfaff 1222 type machines and a darning plate adapter for the 4x1G machines so that 401A type users can have the same.  The one that’s proven the most challenging is the last one.  Really though, the sky is the limit with the types of filament becoming available to us.

In August,  I picked up a 201 in a Queen Anne table with bench.  The table and machine both were in really rough shape and I expected to use the 201 for parts and the table I thought I might put back in the local Buy and Sell.  It was really the bench, the bench organizer and the pinker screw (no pinker though – I already have one but it was missing the mounting screw) that the machine came with that I was after to complete my own Queen Anne table.   Eventually though, I rewired, tuned up and even touched up the paint on the 201.  The table fared reasonably well too when I got in and worked the shellac rather aggressively.  I opted not to strip it though, since it wasn’t a keeper machine and this leaves more options for whomever takes it to its next home.  Now that it’s running well, it’s among the half dozen machines I intend to re-home this year.

I also serviced the dirtiest machine I’ve ever serviced this summer.  It’s the first machine I’ve seen ruined by neglect and lint.  I always knew that it was possible but I’ve always been able to fix them anyway.  Finally here on my bench was a machine I couldn’t put back into spec after cleaning it out, lubricating and adjusting it properly due to lack of parts availability and extreme wear. The owner had been using compressed air on it and it had impacted into everything – even the stepper motors in the embroidery unit (mounted below and open to the rest of the machine).

I feel like this is maybe a good time to mention that compressed air is never a good idea especially on an electronic machine . Compressed air is inherently moist and it forces lint into places it shouldn’t be and can even rearrange parts like sensors and cutters for you.

In October, I filmed a couple more videos.  This time about Elna Supermatics and their friction wheels and the 3D replacement and the roll pin removal tool that I am able to print now.  (Again, the videos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFrs7JZ1AyBQ2l-Mzkw7ew/videos) These videos predate the bottom up redesign that I did of both in CAD but show how the tool works and how easy installation of the replacement is.  They also talk about the background of how they came about in the Elna Heirloom Yahoo group.

I’ve been testing the friction wheels on my own Elna but will be looking for testers who can also put these friction wheels through their paces.  As mentioned above, I’ve since redesigned the pulleys from the original drawings and am happier with the new print than the old.  I will be adding the testing kits (including a roll pin removal tool and at a discounted price for testers in exchange for feedback.) to the shop in the near future but if you want to be a tester in the meantime, please drop me a note using the contact link above and to the right.  Figuring out how to apply postage properly is currently slowing me down. The pulleys can now be found here: https://shop.archaicarcane.com/product-category/3d-sm-parts/

The Elna marks the 2nd machine I picked up this year.  It was in pretty poor shape – no case, no accessories, paint a bit rough, not even a complete knee lever.  That didn’t much matter for me, since it was intended only as a testing machine.

 

I’ve since changed the friction wheel for testing, had Ryan bend up a knee lever from some music wire and begun doing the CAD design for an accessories tray.  I also sourced a case for it.   This by the way, is why I rarely if ever have parts machines.  I have a bad habit of fixing/completing any machine that could conceivably be salvageable.   It’s why I basically stopped buying parts machines.  They’re too darned expensive for me to keep fixing.  😀

October also brought a post about the Throat plate pins on the 431G/421G machines.

In November, I made the first functional 3d printed replacement part.  A customer had brought me a machine for service and I discovered that I only had the straight stitch plate so I couldn’t test sew it completely.  While this printed part wouldn’t stand up to a needle strike, it did hold up to me test sewing the machine and saved my lady the need to make an extra trip.  🙂 I was positively giddy at seeing the printer beginning to fulfill its purpose.

December brought the 3rd and final machine for 2019 home.  Doris is a Singer 421g .  I will be writing about the repairs I undertook in the new year to bring her back to fully functional and about her history as told to me by the seller (granddaughter of the lady who used this machine for so many years).  Doris’ under-bits are the featured image for this post.  I definitely had a lot of well loved machines cross my bench this year!

OK, that’s basically it for sewing machines this year.  There was a lot more going on here which is why the sewing machine part is a little sparse but I will go into more of that in the next post.  See you tomorrow!