Singer 111 and spooky action at a distance

[wombat57]

Hello all,

I've already been helped a bit (thanks! ) in another thread, and have done a TON of reading in the past week, but naturally still have many questions.  First - the spooky action at a distance.

 I am a retired Mech Engr and have been wanting to be able to sew thick material, esp leather for a while, and have been channel surfing looking for (obsessing on) machines.  I've found several on FB Mktplace, and Craigslist, but none complete enough, close enough for a quick look, and cheap enough to warrant a possibly unrewarding trip.  Last Saturday I pull into the local recycling center w my trash (close enough at 1.5 miles) and notice a guy with a really nice '88 Ford Ranger like I used to have.  I mean really nice, with  234k miles!  I compliment him, and we start talking, and he says he only had to replace one significant item which was patching a panel in the driver's seat.  It looks perfect, so I ask him who did it, and he says his father who just died at 97 years old had an upholstery business - naturally I ask if they have any old machines left,  and he says yep an old Singer 111.  

So $75.00 later, I own a Singer 111w155.  His dad bought it new  in 1957.  Complete, close, and cheap!  And spooky how sometimes things happen.

After about a gallon of mineral spirits thru spray bottle and gun scrub brushes, it is getting fairly clean.  

Servo drive. leather needles and thread supposed to be here from Bob Kovar today.

I've read thru the 11 odd pages of an excellent old post mostly fed by "gottaknow" from about 10 years ago, and several others, and learned a lot, but still have questions.  In that post "gottaknow"  said he was going to consolidate his knowledge into one place - does anyone know if he ever did?

1) tried to get pics and somehow had to start over, and now says I'm exceeding size limit so I'll just sent these questions, and try pictures in second post.  Several places that I was going to clean of "fuzzles" and dust, are I think felt oil pads correct?

2) timing looks good by arrows, with newer belt.

3) the bobbin case drive gear set screw has a slot on the shaft - what is the slot for?  Isn't it supposed to be locked down with centerline axis aligned with drive shaft?  The screw holding the gear axially on the shaft on this machine was loose, so the gear could slide back and forth, varying timing and adding a ton of slop between needle and bobbin.

4)  it came with a Hiroce bobbin case in a box - the case has been used - how do I inspect it to determine if it is just a good used spare, or if there is something wrong with it?

5) I  couldn't wait so after figuring out how to thread it, I tried rolling it thru two layers of denim (Levis) - but the drive flywheel slips on the drive shaft with relatively low torque - I checked by looking from below while rolling by hand, and the wheel obviously slips on the main shaft, without disengaging the overload clutch.  Approximately how much torque should the drive wheel be able to transmit before the overload clutch jumps out?  Is this just a matter of tightening set screws on the wheel?

6) the needle hole in the lower dog is a bit beat up - do I need to replace it?

Thanks very much for any help.  I'm very happy with the condition of the machine otherwise, and think like has  been related in many places, it will outlive me.

Wombat

[wombat57]

Pictures, hopefully:

[wombat57]

The arrows line up when the thread lifter is at tdc, just as info.

 

wombat

[kgg]

2 hours ago, wombat57 said:

but the drive flywheel slips on the drive shaft with relatively low torque - I checked by looking from below while rolling by hand, and the wheel obviously slips on the main shaft, without disengaging the overload clutch. 

I am going to assume when you say "flywheel" you mean the hand-wheel that the drive belt from the motor is on. The hand-wheel:

i) the hand-wheel slides over the main shaft which has a groove ground into it.

ii) hand wheel has two set screws. One that seats down into the groove of the main shaft and the other set screws seats onto the the round part of the shaft. If the hand-wheel slips chances are the set screws weren't tighten down properly or the groove location is damaged. If the set screws weren't tighten properly with one in the groove then the hand-wheel will slip / spin.

2 hours ago, wombat57 said:

the needle hole in the lower dog is a bit beat up - do I need to replace it?

You probably can just regrind the hole so there are no burrs to tear up the thread.

It maybe just the angle of your photo but it appears you have the needle in backwards. The long groove going up the shaft of the needle has to be on the left and the scooped out part of the needle (scarf) on the right so when the thread is threaded from left to right the thread slips down the groove to the eye of the needle.

kgg

Edited June 21, 2023 by kgg

[Quade]

Quote

2) timing looks good by arrows, with newer belt.

That's just step one of the timing dance. 

Quote

3) the bobbin case drive gear set screw has a slot on the shaft - what is the slot for?  Isn't it supposed to be locked down with centerline axis aligned with drive shaft?  The screw holding the gear axially on the shaft on this machine was loose, so the gear could slide back and forth, varying timing and adding a ton of slop between needle and bobbin.

1 - This large gear is how you set the fine hook timing.  You slide it sideways to change the hook timing then lock it into place with the set screws.  It shouldn't move axially when operational.  There's a procedure in the naval 111 manual for how to re-assemble this but you can do it by eyeballing it too.  If you find you're out of the range of hook timing, you might need to slide it away and re-engage the hook on a different tooth to get you closer. 

Another reason you might need to slide the large gear is when you move the saddle closer or farther from the needle. You have to loosen it before moving the saddle.

That same shaft uses a linkage to another shaft that drives the feed dogs. It also connects to an arm that goes up into the body of the machine to rock the shaft that moves the needle back and forth. So feed dog and needle timing are locked together.  If you find the needle and feed dogs aren't moving in concert, you might need to change the position where the needle rocker arm connects to the feed dog shaft. It's a lever so, moving the lever connection point in and out changes the how much the needle rocks compared to the feed dogs. 

After you get that timing correct, you might need to verify the timing of the foot lifting.  On the back side of the machine, the lever that rocks the feet is driven by an eccentric on the top shaft.  This can be rotated to change when the feet lift. I wouldn't mess with it if it seems correct.  

Edited June 22, 2023 by Quade