Singer 111W155 Refurbish

[Twotone]

Good Evening,

I recently purchased a Singer 111W155 for $225 . The seller had inherited it.  The seller plugged it in and pressed the foot pedal.  The needle went up and down without cloth and thread. Motor and machine sounded ok.

After getting it home, I sanded the top, re-stained and put a poly coat on it.  I cleaned the fuzz and wiped it down. I plugged it in and put a piece of thick cloth in it and pressed the pedal.  The needle danced up and down, but the cloth did not feed.

I researched and found some videos and refurbish sites.  I also found this site and have been searching and reviewing.  This topic was helpful: 

As I went through this topic, 

I read Eric's post and Uwe's post and video. I then decided to check out the upper and lower shaft timing. It was off.  I corrected it. The cloth then fed. 

Also the handwheel was not tight. It had only one screw with flat end in the grove position.  I purchased the correct screw and made sure they were in the correct positions.

The position of the stitch length indicator was off.  I turned it toward the lowest position until it stopped. I loosened the set screw and rotated the  indicator until the bottom of the number 32 was centered in the hole.

I re-tightened the set screw. I turned the handwheel until the maximum stitch length position was achieved. The top of the number 32 was centered in the hole. I haven't found a description on how to do this.

I downloaded http://militarynewbie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/NAVEDTRA-14217-Aircrew-Survival-Equipmentman-1-C.pdf using tjas's link. I used the print to pdf function to print only chapter 4 to a pdf file.

Then printed it off.  I also downloaded the TM10-3530-202-24 as well but haven't got to it yet.

After reading Eric's comments I decided to go through Chapter 4 in order.  The feed dogs were set to maximum height.  I tried to correct this. 

I found that if I set the  valley between the teeth  level with the top of the throat plate using the front half of the dogs then the rear half of the dogs are a little too high.

Is this good? or am I splitting hair here?  Many thanks to all the contributors and support vendors.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Twotone
Resize photo, correct typios

[Twotone]

I may have answered my question. I checked out the next step in Chapter 4. The front edge of the feed dog was close to but not hitting the front of the throat plate.  I decided to center it with equal gaps on front and back.

After completing the centering of the feed dogs the front valleys were a wee bit high.  I readjusted the front valleys level with the throat plate.  The rear feed dog valleys are only a wee bid higher than the throat plate.

I''ll edit this post tomorrow with a photo.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Twotone

[Twotone]

I figured it out.  There was fuzz packed in the beveled groove at the rear of the throat plate.  This did not allow the front of the throat plate to seat all the way down. After cleaning and reinstalling the throat plate, the feed dog is level with it.

[Wyowally]

I found refurbishing my  111W155 a very rewarding project. Adjustments made sense and parts all robust.  Resource documents are out there. I think you'll be happy with it and looking around for things to do with it!!

[Twotone]

Thanks Wyowally,

That is a really nice refurbished 111W155. Great job!

I jumped the gun on asking for help on this item. Felt good to solve it myself. I’ll keep going through the Chapter 4 Airman manual.  I am getting it ready to sew.  I’ll repaint it and replace decals after that. Some are gone, others are partially worn off. Where did you get the decals for the base and above the badges?

[Wyowally]

Decals from singerdecals.com - not exactly as originals but from a set they sell for 'Singer 31-Monogram decals for commercial restorations". 20 bucks when I got them. And thanks!  All my questions were answered here and on Uwe's videos.

 

[suzelle]

10 hours ago, Wyowally said:

I found refurbishing my  111W155 a very rewarding project. Adjustments made sense and parts all robust.  Resource documents are out there. I think you'll be happy with it and looking around for things to do with it!!

Wyowally, BEAUTIFUL Singer you have there, nice resortoration work!

Edited October 31, 2022 by suzelle

[Wyowally]

Thanks, suzelle!  I struggled mostly with setting and adjusting the eccentric on the main upper shift that adjusts foot lift and foot coordination. I even bought a new eccentric, because the function and adjustment was not clear from the information I could find. I did not need it as the original was OK but missing a couple screws. All good now.

[Twotone]

On 10/30/2022 at 8:36 PM, Wyowally said:

I found refurbishing my  111W155 a very rewarding project. Adjustments made sense and parts all robust.  Resource documents are out there. I think you'll be happy with it and looking around for things to do with it!!

How did you refinish?  Did you strip old paint.  What black paint did you use?