Toro 3200 Lubrication

[LiftPig]

Morning everyone,

 

I just bought a used Artisan Toro 3200 and have a couple questions about lubrication.  The story on this machine is that a friend of my wife's bought it in 2010 on impulse and then didn't use it.  It was then leased to a local car upholstery company from about 2011 to 2018.  I have no idea how many hours are on it. It's been sitting covered and inside the house since 2018.  When I went to look at it, it was nice and clean, still threaded, and appeared in good shape.  I put a drop of oil in all the spots indicated in the manual and it sewed great.

So here's my questions.  First, it looks like the previous operator put some kind of grease on all the linkages, perhaps in lieu of oil.  Should I leave this and oil around it, leave it and don't bother with oil, wipe it off and proceed to use oil, or scrub it off with solvent and then use oil?  The machine isn't caked with grease by any means, it looks like it was thoughtfully done but I've never seen grease on these machines.  My second question is about lubricating the thread.  It looks to me that the bobbin thread has been waxed or has some kind of lube on it but is this necessary?  The bobbin wasn't stored in the machine so I don't think it's oil that drizzled down, I think it was put there intentionally.  Again, just haven't seen this before.

Cheers,

Jordan

[dikman]

If it was me I'd clean off as much grease as I could (at least it probably kept things from rusting!) and try and get some oil into the linkages. I doubt if grease would get into all the linkage pivot points as well as a light sewing machine oil could. There's a reason they put those little oil holes on some of the linkages.

As for the thread . Perhaps the upholstery company needed a lubricated thread for something they were sewing? If you don't like it just replace the thread, not many on here use (or need) a lubricated thread.

[Goldshot Ron]

I have a Toro 3000 that I purchased in 2007.  I have always used Weaver's bonded nylon thread without any problems.  If the grease bothers you, cleaning it off will not hurt anything.  I have always used sewing machine oil, so I have no experience with any other lubrication.  The company was in Vernon, CA when I purchased the machine, and since then they have moved up to the Bay Area, and they have changed ownership.  But, be advised, if you need parts they change a minimum fee for the parts. So, a $3 bobbin spring may be $30; or, in my case, a spring plus 6 bobbin spools for the same price.  This machine takes many of the same parts as other 205 style machines.  Happy sewing.

[LiftPig]

Thanks for the replies.

I've been sewing on a Class 26 for a bit now and never lubed my threads or used any kind of grease.  I just give all the points a drop of oil every 8 hours or so.  I'm guessing this was just a preference for the previous operator.  I have a few pounds of 277 bonded nylon showing up from LMC today that I'll start using and I'll wipe the goop off the linkages this weekend and give it another good thorough oiling.  

I'm so excited to start working with this machine.

Cheers,

-J

[Gump]

My Toro 3200 came with white lithium grease on the drive gears at the base of the machine behind the little swinging covers. That would be very good lube, as it doesn't drip off and is much easier to spray on rather than trying to get oil in there. So yes it is factory grease and proper for the purpose. As for the waxed thread, not needed, just use bonded nylon.