I Got Another Singer - A 331K4

[dikman]

Normally, I wouldn't bother with something like this - but it was FREE! I happened to be looking on Gumtree (our local ebay) and saw this, head unit only, no motor or table which was fine by me. It had only been up for two hours, I waited long enough to check on the 'net to see what it was and then rang the woman and said I'd take it. I figured if it didn't work at least I could salvage some bits and pieces from it.

It's actually in pretty good condition, without a lot of the worn paint that seems common on used machines. The woman had never gotten around to setting it up so figured it was time to get rid of it (she actually repairs domestic machines and re-sells them). It turned over nicely and everything seemed to move ok, bobbin and shuttle are complete, the only thing wrong is a screw missing from the needle plate (found one in my spares box) and the end cover over the needle bar/lifter mechanism - it's appears to be a slightly different colour to the rest of the machine and the top mounting screw is missing, mainly because the slot in the cover doesn't line up with a hole anywhere for a screw! Other than that the cover fits properly.

I've downloaded a manual for it and given it a good oiling. The base plate is the same size as the 211G166 so will fit that table, with minor adjustments to the belts. Now I just have to work out what size needles it takes - the manual says 16x87, not sure what that is in modern terminology.

My wife is wondering where it will all end - and where I'm going to put this one . At least I'll now have an industrial straight stitcher too.........

[CowboyBob]

These are just like a 31-15 machine.you can use 16x2 leather points,or 16x257 round points.all the common parts interchange with 31-15.

[Constabulary]

Now it´s official - you are Singer addictive and there is no cure! I know what I´m talking about

[dikman]

Thanks for the info, Bob. I'm heading down to the "needle" shop today so at least I know the right questions to ask.

Yep, there's this strange personality trait that I have - whenever I get interested/involved in something I start collecting!!!

[dikman]

Any thoughts I had that it would work straight off were dashed in no uncertain terms when I fitted the needle, a 16x2, which is a direct replacement for the obsolete 16x87. I checked the hook timing and the hook was well below the eye of the needle!!! The needle bar was close enough to the correct setting. I compared the needle to the longer one for the 211G166 and thought I'd try that. It lined up almost spot on, just needed a slight tweaking of the needle bar. Very strange.

Next problem, I fitted a bobbin and threaded the machine and turned it over by hand. The top thread was not slipping around the shuttle consistently, so wasn't picking up the bobbin thread every time. I pulled out the shuttle assembly and cleaned it in petrol, then polished the parts with brasso. That helped, and now the thread slipped over the shuttle assembly every time. Unfortunately it still dropped stitches. Watching the shuttle it was obvious that the hook wasn't grabbing the thread every time. The problem with this machine is that, compared to a walking foot it is actually a pretty basic machine. The shuttle is pinned at both ends of its shaft, which means it's going to be a pain to readjust it just a little. I think I'll try lowering the needle bar a bit first, so hopefully the thread will form a bigger loop for the hook to grab, otherwise I'm going to have to knock out a pin.

[dikman]

Well, that idea was good in theory, but didn't work in practice. In fact, it made it worse, so I brought the bar back up but it's still missing the stitches. This machine has a horizontal shuttle, and what I have noticed is that there seems to be a bit of lateral movement between the shuttle and the shuttle race. Which means it's impossible to set the hook precisely, as the gap between the hook and needle can vary randomly. I'll have to pull the shuttle assembly out again, but I don't think there's any adjustment to take up any slack.

Looks like I might end up stripping it for parts after all.

[Constabulary]

What you mean with the shuttle is pinned? As far as I remember the shuttle race is held by a clamp and the clamp is attached with just 1 screw. Remove the crew and the clamp and you can pull off the entire race. The shuttle driver is attached with 2 set screws if I remember correctly. Maybe the shuttle driver or hook or the race is worn. 31-15 parts are quite cheap sew hooks are just $8 or so.

[CowboyBob]

No,I don't think you want to strip it!! You need to fix it !! If you take the race off (it's held on by 2-screws) there's a screw on the back that holds a u-shaped spring & it holds a ring on,take it all apart & clean it,put it back together & see if the side play is better ,if not you need to buy a new race.Over here they sell for $20.00.Someone has adjusted the needlebar to take a longer needle,if you want the 16x2 to work loosen the set screw on the needlebar & lower it so the needle is just below point of the shuttle point as it passes by the needle as you turn the machine in the direction that it runs.

[dikman]

I've already done what you suggested, Bob, and stripped and cleaned the race. There's definitely some slop in it. As for the needlebar, that thought had already occurred to me, but I noticed that if I drop the bar down to accommodate the shorter needle then if the bar is down when the foot is lifted the slot in the foot actually hits the shoulder on the needle.

Constabulary, according to the manual the shuttle mounting is pinned at both ends of it's drive shaft. I can see a pin at one end, but not at the shuttle end, which has two grub screws. I loosened them, but I couldn't get anything to move.

I've also found that an arm inside, which has a pivot screw at the end, has a noticeable amount of slop in the pivot area. I'm not sure what difference that's likely to make yet. I mentioned that the end plate isn't the correct one for this model, and while the body of the machine is a silvery grey, the base plate and end cover are different, both in colour and texture, more of a grey-green. I checked the serial number on the base plate and it belongs to a 132K6!

While my original idea was to strip it, a little voice inside said no, store it somewhere for now. I'll have a look for parts, but if it's going to cost too much I won't bother but I'll keep my eyes open for something similar so that I can maybe use the parts.

A bit later:

I had a closer look at the shuttle. Around the circumference (the part that rotates in the race) it's a pretty good fit at the middle part, but is loose at both ends. Very close inspection shows wear marks at the ends, and a micrometer indicates that it has a definite taper towards the ends, so it looks like it's the shuttle that's worn. I would guess that it's been run without lubrication, because it seems like pretty excessive wear to me.

I also noticed that the machine is actually pretty clean inside (other than dust, as it was stored under the woman's bed) with no sign of the oil and lint buildup that I have in my other machines. I'm beginning to wonder if someone else cobbled this together from other machines/spares that they had.

Edited February 1, 2016 by dikman

[Constabulary]

Seems I have mixed a bit 45K with a bit 31K - sorry. Yes, 31 race is attached with 2 screws but both have the clamp (spring). Anyway 31 parts are quite cheap. When the foot hits the needle bar when lifting try the 135x17 needle which is longer and adjust the needle bar accordingly. I did that with a 96K once so I would guess it works on 31K type machines too.

[dikman]

The foot was actually hitting the shoulder on the needle, as the needle doesn't go all the way up into the bar. Anyhow, I removed the foot and cleaned some gunk off, which may have been offsetting the foot just enough. I reset the needle bar and fitted the original needle and now the needle shoulder just misses the foot, so that's ok.

[dikman]

I've ordered the hook from my local (industrial) sewing machine place. Slightly dearer than off ebay, but I figure it should be decent quality. Hopefully it should work properly with it fitted, I'll know next week.

[dikman]

Picked up the replacement hook. Part number is the same, although no brand on it. Comparing them and it's obvious just how worn the original is! I fitted it to the race and it's a good fit with no slop and moved smoothly within the race. When I installed the assembly, however, something was binding slightly at one point in the rotation. After removing and replacing the race several times, with no luck, I noticed that the arm that's supposed to open slightly to let the thread past the shuttle wasn't opening. I pulled out the shuttle again and compared it to the original (again!) but it looked the same, so I started measuring it. I finally found the problem - below the hook itself the metal forms a "mouth" that the previously mentioned arm fits into. On the new one this "mouth" was significantly shallower, so the arm didn't have enough room to move. In other words, it could never work properly! I had to use the trusty Dremel, with a cut-off wheel, to deepen this "mouth".

That did it, now it operated properly. Threaded it up (#69) and ran some stitches by hand, and it looks good, although at one point the top thread caught somewhere underneath and snapped. I don't think there will be too much wrong, so I'll hook it up to a motor and see what happens.

[Darren Brosowski]

Glad you got one locally - been off line for about a week so only just saw your message.

When Singer was running around trying to pretend it was a sewing machine company rather than a marketing company they did a bunch of stupid things such as creating the "New" 331 machines. All they did was take the 31 and modify the body.

Shortly after that they went broke.

[Art]

With your truck, or at the Karaoke? The guys down here used to hang out in front of the local Karaoke during open season and wait for the singers to try and come in and shoot them right there till the game warden started writing citations right and left. The good ole boys were complaining that it wasn't a violation 'cause it was open season. The Warden replied that it was true that it was open season, but you still can't bait 'em.

Art

[dikman]

Now THAT is one heck of a hijack!

[dikman]

The hook needed a bit more judicious re-shaping and polishing where I'd already worked on it, as there was an edge that looked a little bit sharp. That seems to have fixed it, as I can now handwheel a row of stitches in a piece of leather. While the baseplate is the same size as the 211G166 (so will fit the table) the belt, of course, is the wrong size and it's a fair bit of messing around to swap the machines. Also, the knee lifter mechanism on this machine doesn't line up with the table's lifter, so no knee lifter. Other than that, it's a goer.

Total cost $45 - hook $26, paint $12, needles $7. Not bad for an industrial machine, I reckon.