Vintage Singers NYC

Hi [Whatever your name is], If the timing is only off by half a tooth: Have you tried loosening the grub screws in the hook-driving gear, tapping it slightly to the left or the right to compensate, then tightening the screws back up? As long as the teeth still catch you're in business. One other thing to check: Open the slide plate so you can see the hook, then jiggle the handwheel back and forth, the absolute minimum amount you need to get the needlebar to move up and down. Now look at the hook and see if it responds to even the tiniest jiggles of the handwheel. When I did this with a well-used 111w155 I picked up, I observed that while the needlebar moved even if I rotated the handwheel a millimeter, it took several millimeters of handwheel movement before the hook responded. In other words, the hook gear was worn out and had enough slop that it was affecting the timing. I ordered a replacement hook gear and corresponding hook-driving gear online, but the damned things were made overseas and had less than fine tolerances. I had to take the hook gear to a machine shop and get them to shave a couple thousandths of an inch off of the top of it to get it to fit between the bearings. Even then, if I meshed the gears up snugly they'd start to grind once a rotation, as the teeth are not 100% consistent. I had to compensate by tapping the hook-driving gear quite far to the left, but not so far that the teeth don't grab, and finally managed to get the timing right with some back and forth. hope that helps, - Nick Vintage Singer Sewing Machine Blog http://vssmb.blogspot.com/

Hi fellas, you may be interested in taking a look at this; it's photos and videos of "DIY Designs of Retractable Wheels for Tool Bases" that different people have whipped up: http://www.core77.com/blog/tools/diy_designs_of_retractable_wheels_for_tool_bases_23197.asp These guys have the same needs as us: Need to occasionally wheel the machine out of the way, but do not want to change the overall height, and need the wheels to disappear when it's time to use the machine, so that the vibration does not cause the table to wander. Only difference is they're using tablesaws rather than sewing machines. In any case, there are some cleverly jury-rigged solutions there. - Nick

Hi Kevin, thanks for the tip--and the clarification. For years I worked as an industrial designer, and whenever someone was particularly adept at modelmaking or drawing we'd say "That kid's got good hands." I figured Ken meant the same thing, didn't realize it was an actual technique. Will give it a shot sometime. - Nick

Thanks to all of you for sounding off, and thanks for the info, Steve! - Nick

Haha. Luke & Kayak, I have no such pretensions; I'm interested in knowing the machine model the guy is using out of general curiosity. Primarily I repair machines as a hobby. I've got three industrials in here with servos and enjoy expanding my horizons with YouTube, but I've never seen a machine move as slowly as what that guy was using. Any guesses as to the make/model? thanks, - Nick

Hi all, was just wondering if anyone can tell what machine the guy is using in . (The video and the craftsman are from Japan, so I can't read any of the associated text.)I'm amazed at how slow and precise it seems--is this par for the course compared to the set-ups most of you guys ('n gals) are running? thanks, - Nick