How To Remove Bobbin Case On Singer 112W116

[Mark842]

Hi all,

I'm going to do the classic introduce myself with a problem. Sorry for the poor form. I'm the usual long term lurker. I've been gleening info from all of you for quite sometime and thank you for that.

I recently picked up a Singer 112W116 for $80. Its a beast! Been working with it for a couple of weeks now. Seller really didn't know anything about it, which is slightly less then me....I knew it was worth more than $80...at least I'm pretty sure it is. I put a Sewpro servo motor on it, removed one needle, found a manual online, threaded her up and have been sewing like a champ with her. I'm very impressed with it, but then again, up to now I've had nothing that would sew medium weight leathers. Today I hit my first snag. Somehow I messed up and got the thread knotted up under the bobbin case. Removed the bobbin but I have no idea how to remove the case, or carrier...not even sure what the correct term is. The manual I have shows nothing for this and my internet searches are coming up blank. I really don't want to start disassembling stuff without knowing what I'm doing. I don't want to make things worse by doing something that will gubber up the timing.

Anyone familiar with this machine that can guide me through this?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[gottaknow]

You can remove the basket by removing 2 small screws on the little curved flat piece I've circled on the pic. This is actually a 112 with the throat plate and feed dogs removed. You'll need a short but good screwdriver as those little devils can be very tight. Remove the screws, slide the curved piece out. I hold the basket with my fingers (no plier zone) and rock the wheel back and forth until you can rotate it far enough to pop it out. Give the hooks a drop of oil each time you use your machine, right along where the basket spins in the hook.

Regards, Eric

Edited December 20, 2012 by gottaknow

[Mark842]

Thanks so much Eric,

I was eye balling those two screws but like I said, I was a scared to just start taking stuff apart. When you say "rock the wheel back and forth", I don't think I'm going to be able to do that. The thread up under there has it all jammed up where nothing will turn either under power or with helping by hand, however I didn't try for more than a second. Didn't want to hurt anything. I'll get those screws out in the morning and see what I can do. Hopefully that will loosen things up enough to get the thread out.

Thanks again,

Mark

[gottaknow]

Thanks so much Eric,

I was eye balling those two screws but like I said, I was a scared to just start taking stuff apart. When you say "rock the wheel back and forth", I don't think I'm going to be able to do that. The thread up under there has it all jammed up where nothing will turn either under power or with helping by hand, however I didn't try for more than a second. Didn't want to hurt anything. I'll get those screws out in the morning and see what I can do. Hopefully that will loosen things up enough to get the thread out.

Thanks again,

Mark

It's amazing how tight that can get. Another trick that I've used is to remove the screws and the "gib" (that flat curved piece) get a decent pair of needle nose pliers and grab whatever hunk of thread you can. (Nothing Metal!) Keep tension on the pliers and turn the handwheel back and forth. The hunk you have a hold of will likely give some and you can pull out enough to free the basket. Removing that basket is a good basic thing to learn.

Regards, Eric

[Anne Bonnys Locker]

Curved nose embroidery clippers are great for this.

On the one hand prefer to do any job without loosening a screw but on the other I would like to see a machine user come to terms with pulling that baby apart and being absolutely comfortable putting it back together and retiming it. The more you learn about how that baby works, the better!

[CowboyBob]

When it gets jammed up like this put some oil all the way around the hook & like Eric said then undo the belt & rock it back & forth.

[gottaknow]

When it gets jammed up like this put some oil all the way around the hook & like Eric said then undo the belt & rock it back & forth.

You know, I always forget the belt part...heh. All my 112's and 212's have clutch motors and I work with my foot on the pedal with the pressure taken off the brake (in neutral so to speak). Good way to sew your finger if you're new to it, and it doesn't work with servo's. Thanks Bob.

Regards, Eric

[Mark842]

Thanks all for the great help. Got her all fixed up. Get those two screws out was a bugger for sure. I finally gave them a shot of W-D40 and let it sit for an hour. Then with a set of vise grips on my jewelers screwdriver I was finally able to crack them loose. Looked like the problem was about 2 years worth of dust bunnies and a bunch of older thread all up under the bobbin case. Looked so bad I figured I better take the other one out and clean up there too. The other side was clean, guess someone was running it just as a single needle for a lomg time. Is there any reason to make those screws that tight again? I just snugged them pretty good. They were so tight when I took them out I was probably a nose hair away from stripping the heads.

Should the mess I found under there scare me as far as what kind of maintenance was done on this machine? Anything special I should check or watch for? I've been oiling regularly and it seemed to have oil most places I could see so I'm assuming who ever used it last at least oiled it.

Anyway, thanks again all!

Mark

[gottaknow]

Good to hear you got it taken care of Mark. I wouldn't worry too much about the machine history. Oiling the hooks is important as is the needle bar bushing. Oil the hooks most often, everything else will stay good for a long time. The bearing on the top shaft where the handwheel is should have some oil now and again, but I've pulled those old Singer bearings out that are 50 years old, bone dry, still smooth as silk. On the bed of the machine, you'll have a bunch of little holes, on the top you'll have a little resevoir that has a bunch of felt wicks in it.

No, those little gib screws don't have to be pop a vein in your neck tight. Snug is good, as you'll likely have to clean them out again. I use SnapOn Screwdrivers which have really hard tips. Klein also makes some good ones. It only takes 3 or 4 different screwdrivers for those machines, so spend some money on some good ones with hardened tips. You should be using your right hook since most all thread is left twist. The left hook rotates in such a manner that it will on occasion untwist your thread and you'll get more breakage and not as pretty stitches on the left. Obviously you can use either, or both, but you'll usually have less issues using the right hook. Have fun!

Regards, Eric

[Mark842]

Very good to know about the right hook and thread twist. I had read that somewhere before but had forgotten about it.