Help! Singer 111w155 stripped / stuck screw

[friquant]

8 minutes ago, matthew123 said:

Friquant, thanks for the heads up about adjusting that clamp screw in back.  I did try that one first, but I ended up with the machine binding before I could get enough lift out of it, so I figured the next step was the stripped screw "C" in question for the eccentric.

The easy way to get even lift between the inner vs outer toe:

1. Release the foot lifter
2. Turn the handwheel forward until the needle point comes down and meets the plane of the throat plate
3. Loosen the screw I pointed to in the photo. (If either presser was airborn, it will now drop to the throat plate)
4. Tighten the screw

[friquant]

14 hours ago, matthew123 said:

 

I posted a pic of the screwdriver in the screw groove.  As you can see, it's not quite tall enough and definitely not thick enough.  I will either search for one or work on filing down a piece of metal to serve as the new driver. 

Do you have any parallel sided screwdrivers? (Hollow ground)

My first set of hollow ground was just whatever I could collect from all the stray screwdriver bit sets. Eventually had a variety of sizes.

[friquant]

19 hours ago, matthew123 said:

Alzilla and Friquant, do you think the impact driver is too much force against the shaft that this all rests on?  I have one of those things but hesitated to use it. 

Depends on how hard you hit it I suppose.

[AlZilla]

19 hours ago, matthew123 said:

Alzilla and Friquant, do you think the impact driver is too much force against the shaft that this all rests on?

I concur, you could conceivably hit it hard enough to bend something. Also, I don't see enough slot for a screwdriver to bite into. I'd get to drilling.

[friquant]

On 9/21/2025 at 2:17 AM, matthew123 said:

I also noticed that screw "D" (which I think is the one people call the worm screw) spins freely, which seems weird. 

Agree this seems weird. How much lift do you have now?

[dikman]

I'm not sure about using an impact driver but the idea of tapping the screw with a hammer is good, sometimes it can loosen a screw just enough to start it moving a bit, then work it back and forth. As for heat if you're using a small pin-point butane torch I doubt if you're going to get it hot enough to affect the hardness.

[DoogMeister]

Impact drivers are great, but there is considerable risk of bending in the machine if you hit it hard enough to dislodge the screw.  A good soaking with penetrating oil followed by heat with a propane torch combined with an appropriate sized slot and good-fitting screwdriver should work.

You may end up removing everything but the threads of the stuck screw with your Dremel tool.  Go slowly, and have good light and magnification.  Then pick out the threads with a scribe or similar pointed instrument.  Run a thread tap through the hole to clean it out, and replace the screw.  much easier said than done. 

[matthew123]

Thank you again everyone!  I will respond in more depth soon.  Just wanted to share an exciting update.

I haven't worked on the stripped screw at all.  However, I noticed that now the worm screw "D" turns with some resistance and actually changes the height that the presser feet lift.  So I guess all the PB blaster freed something up in the eccentric mechanism?  Even though I can't loosen the set screw "C", the worm screw "D" is moving the eccentric. 

So I was able to use the wisdom in another post combined with turning the worm screw "D" to get it walking high and looking good to me.  I've attached a video of it walking now.  Does it look right to you all?

 

So I still need to address the stripped screw, but at least I know the machine is usable and adjustable and works right.  Will report back when I have time to work on the screw again.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by matthew123
video wouldn't work

[friquant]

That's in the ballpark.. Is the inner toe still lifting higher than the outer toe?