29k3 rehab

[Moly]

Hi, I recently acquired a singer 29k3 in a questionable state of maintenance. The machine make stitches but initially the tension seemed off. The foot lifter lever was worn enough that the top tensioner wouldn’t release anymore which I fixed by adding a washer under the tension collet. I played around with the bobbin tension as well and also tried adjusting the take up as the screw was seized in the outermost position. While the tension appears to be better the machine now skips around 10% of stitches and the top thread “jumps” around when the needle pulls it up from the bobbin well like there too much slack there.

Unfortunately, I am unsure if the troubles I’m having are caused by worn out gears or bad adjustment which makes troubleshooting quite difficult. The bobbin case holder in the machine for example turns a couple of mm left and right just by pushing it lightly. The needle plate hole is also frayed.

I’d be eternally grateful for any input on how to determine the source of this malfunction.

[Constabulary]

I cannot imagine the foot lift lever is worn so far down. Post pictures and / or a video (upload to YT and post a link here) please. Maybe you have wrong tension discs installed which put the "release cup" to high. I had this with an Adler 30. The added washer may be the problem as well. There should just be a thin felt or leather washer under the tension discs of approx 1mm-1.5mm thickness.

worn gears and racks are a problem with these century old machines. You cannot adjust the hook timing as they have no timing eccentric like the later 29K models.

Edited 5 hours ago by Constabulary