Singer 29k-58 project

[Andy132]

Hi all, I originally started rambling about this in the New members section,but will restart here.

I have 4 Singers in my collection,this 29k is the latest. I bought itfor what is a fair price here in Australia,with running runs generally being around $1000 upwards.

I spoke to the fella over the phone,he said he'd bought it along with an Adler patcher that he was using ,this one was siezed up but all parts seemed to be there by the photos he showed,so as he was 200 klms from me,I decided to take a chance ,and buy unseen.

 

A mate picked it up and stored it till I could get it,on first inspection,it was indeed siezed with alot of surface rust over the head unit pieces.

First thing I did was removed the taper pin holding the trellis arm to the needle bar,it removed easily but unfortunately, so did the entire head unit,that unbeknownst to me,had already been unbolted.

It made a nice sound as it bounced off the concrete floor and I saw bits and pieces flying off in all directions. My first thought was," this things just become an expensive parts machine".

Luckily,after scrounging on the floor like a drunkard,I found the damage had been limited to the original rotating bush handle snapping in two places,the stitch length adjuster breaking along with the foot taking refuge 15 feet away,but unbroken.

All in all I got out of it lightly for such a dumb rookie mistake.

 

[Andy132]

I stripped and bagged the machine down to every last nut and bolt.

Removed the top shaft and gears, everything bar the bushings. All was in good condition with no evident slop or play. The head unit was stripped in it's entirety as thats where I expected to find the wear and tear.

Surprisingly - it was in great shape. The bell crank looks to be serviceable, as is the slide bar and bush and foot bar.

The cam pulleys dont appear to have any undue freeplay so most of the expensive items get a free pass.

So it's mostly consumables I need. Needlebar spring and screws,( had to draw file a minor groove down), bobbins, revolving bush handle. The pinion gears too more than likely,which is where I have run into trouble.

The japanning of the original black was in ok condition - not great but patchable,decals were still there but most were silvered from solvent cleaning.

I decided on a new color,as mentioned in my intro,the bungalow is full of old black machines,it starts to feel like a funeral parlour. I wanted a brighter colour,dos stripped down the machine with elbow grease and wet n dry paper.

The effort doing that robbed my enthusiasm for the same method on the treadle base and bench,so I tried out electrolysis as it was quite rusty- it worked a treat, highly recommend it.

Everything was etch primed and then sprayed in the hammertone blue.

To give it some contrast,the trellis arm,pulleys, handwheel and foot treadle and wheels will all be done in gloss black.

[Andy132]

The problem I'm having,is sourcing quality consumables,springs,pinions,racks,etc.

I started with an eBay order from one of the main Chinese sellers that appears to have sold alot of items for various machines. I ordered bush handle,springs, spare shuttle plate.

The needle spring was too long,lacked spring and was too wide at the mounting point,would have required a dremel or filing to allow it to fit in the bore.

The revolving bush handle was no where near spec,mounting holes were 4mm out and mounting flats for the bell crank were offset by 2mm to the footbar causing it to jam up.

Tried modifying it by filing and counter boring holes but nothing we tried could get everything lined up as it should be.

[Andy132]

The shuttle plate was so far off a basic reference point that after bouncing off the shed walls a few times,it went to the scrap pile. No more eBay s#@t.

I then tried a supplier in Australia,he assured me his parts were sourced from Taiwan and were of good quality and fitment.

When they arrived, I was quite excited, getting the gearbox back together was the last major hurdle and I hoped to give the 29 a test run shortly after.

Unfortunately,his claims didn't stack up,the drive pinion had its tapered screw hole drilled marginally higher than the original and the holes would not properly align.

So,I got some wet n dry emery paper and carefully took some meat off the bottom of the pinion shaft. i was now able to get the screw to go in about 3/4 of the way,but it now pulled the shuttle plate and pinion onto the bush, ( the 58 arm has had a simanco bush fitted, same as 71) and jammed them.

[Andy132]

Normally the meat I removed would prevent the two from pulling so close together and binding,but I had no choice in trying to get the tapered screw holes aligned.

No win there.

The following pinion was next,the inner diameter was too small to fit on its post,yelling started about this time,the vendor's name was mentioned!

I made a reamer from 400 grit wet n dry and a bolt,mounted it in the DeWalt and carefully removed enough do that it would fit its post and spin freely.

With the old drive pinion in,I fitted the new long rack,it rotated the two pinions relatively smoothly. Where things got wierd was where I tried to fit the new short rack.

There was no way that it would fit into the slot and engage with the pinion teeth.

The old rack would not do so either. Both will fit nicely into the slot when the pinion is removed,both will mesh in a coarse fashion,with the pinion teeth outside of the gearbox.

Both will fit in the slot and mesh with the old pinion,but it is worn. It appears that the bottom section of the pinion teeth are too narrow for the racks,though the large one will work.

Measurements with the digital vernier shows minor differences all over the place.

[Andy132]

I have a group of photos I'll post to explain better.

So, I rang the vendor and left an explanation message,no reply.

I emailed him a lengthy explanation and sent all of the photos with details showing the issues, no reply.

He has not called back or contacted me in any way, shape or form, seems to be avoiding me.

So heres my dilemma, I'm now about $120 Aus out of pocket for dud parts and my project has stalled. I sent an email and photos/explanation,to Toledo Industrial off this forum,but have heard nothing back.

What does everyone else restoring these machines do to access quality parts that are fit for purpose?

I see from some posts I read this Morning,that Glen,aka Shoepatcher, may sell parts. Are you able to contact me please Glen if that's the case?

If anyone can assist,please contact me,it would be much appreciated.

Regards- Andy 

[Andy132]

[Andy132]

More photos,but need to resize

[Andy132]

[Constabulary]

Its hard to evaluate parts from just pictures. I have restored several patcher machines (29K´s, Adler 30 and some less common models) but actually never ran into problems like yours. But what I can tell is that old and new gear box parts often do not play well together. I got my 29K71 parts from College Sewing in the UK but that was before BREXIT.

https://www.college-sewing.co.uk/parts-by-machine/singer-sewing-machine-parts/singer-29k-71-parts.html

I had a new TOWA shuttle driver that was super tight in the shuttle driving gear but it worked.

This was my project approx 10 years ago: https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/56079-singer-29k71-restoration/

If you ask me I would probably buy all gear box parts (incl the long rack) new from one source but I cannot guarantee that it will work then. Patcher can be pleasure and pain. Such projects sometimes turn into money pits that unfortunately is parts of the "Vintage Machine Restoration Game". From todays perspective it was too expensive to restore my 29K71. I found better 29K71´s for less money (compared with all cost of restoration) BUT I still have the one I restored. But when ever I found OEM Singer parts I replaced them so meanwhile most major parts are OEM again.

The springs for the needle bar never seem to fit, the one I got from College sewing was made of soft tin - useless! Same problem with the ball tip spring in the shuttle driver. That was 10 yrs ago - maybe the have improved parts now. But even the OEM Adler 30 needle bar springs (same as for 29K´s) needed to be reworked. Quite a while ago I bought a heap of old sewing machine parts incl. lot of patcher parts (new old stock & used), that included several of these needle bar springs too, none of the fitted w/o reworking them but they were of a way better quality. Sorry but I have no gear box parts just in case you want to ask .

Edited October 13, 2024 by Constabulary