45K25 Questions

[amuckart]

Hi all,

I'm working on a 45K25 I picked up recently for NZ$200. It's been in someones garage for the last several years and looks like it's had some slightly 'interesting' work done on it in the past. A lot of the screws and bolt heads are a bit damaged and the grub screw holding the hand wheel on is totally wrecked and needs grinding out with a dremel. The connecting rod that actuates the shuttle was disconnected when I got it and the machine didn't turn over cleanly when I reconnected it. Turns out this is because there was a grub screw in it that was way too long and was grinding on an adjacent part as it osscilated.

The main drive shaft and cams etc seem tight, there's no slop in the needle bar or anything so I left those bits alone. I've stripped the bottom half of the machine and cleaned it up.

Here are some before/after shots:

Now it's pretty much all back together and it turns over smoothly. It needs a new feed dog and needle plate at least, and I want to get a wax pot for it, but I want to make sure it's going to sew before I start forking out for more parts for it.

I think the timing is fixed on this machine so I've adjusted the needle bar height but I'm concerned that there seems to be quite a bit of slop in the shuttle. Forward to back is fairly tight but there's quite a bit of rotational slop in the shuttle. It picks up the top thread Ok, but it seems to catch let the loop go cleanly. I'm not sure if this is a timing issue where the shuttle is starting the anticlockwise oscilation before the thread take-up has started or if it's because the shuttle is munted.

Is a bit of rotational slop normal for this type of machine, or do I need a new shuttle and/or shuttle carrier?

I'm also wondering if the clones of this machine like the Techsew GA-5 are sufficiently parts-compatible that I could use screws for one of those to replace some of the damaged ones on my machine. I dont' really know what thread types the 45K is using, but being a 1905 british-made machine it seems likely that they're some flavour of imperial but I have no idea what.

Does anyone know if the GA-5 machine needle plates and feed dogs will go onto an original 45K25 as well?

Thanks in advance.

[amuckart]

Another question about this machine which I'll stick here rather than start a new topic on - I'm wondering if I'm missing a bit of the shuttle carrier. There are two screw holes in it that were empty when I got the machine and I can't figure out what they're for. The shuttle doesn't seem to be the part #98608 "Shuttle Driver and Feed Raising Cam" listed in the parts manual from parts.singerco.com, but that manual also talks about the part only being suitable for the shuttle #98608 "not with the old style Shuttles". Given that my machine is a 1915 model, I'm wondering if what I've got is the "old style" shuttle driver and shuttle it mentions, presumably meaning I'll have to replace both parts if I want to replace the shuttle

Here are some pictures showing the screw holes:

I can't see how these could be for grub screws because there doesn't seem to be an appropriate bearing surface on the shuttle hook for them to mate with.

Is there a part that goes on here that I'm missing?

Thanks.

[CowboyBob]

We sell the GA-5 & have alot of the parts for them ,feed dog will fit ok,the needle plate screws don't lineup so they need to be elongated alittle.

As for what goes in those screw holes I've worked on alot of 45's & never seen them holes before,if they are factory(which I doubt) maybe it had some kind on race cleaner on it something like a piece of metal with some felt on the end.

Alot of home machines have them.

[torrbuidhe]

Hi, I have a 45k1 flatbed and a recently acquired 45K25 (1916, though originally a 45k48 darner that had feed parts added at some stage).  Your 45k doesn't have the standard 45K25 needle plate. My 45K25 has the same screw holes in the shuttle driver though, but I don't think there's anything important missing.

There's meant to be movement between the shuttle and shuttle driver, this allows the thread loop to be pulled through.

Singer used a lot of proprietary threads, even with another Singer as a donor theres a lot of nearly but not quite fitting screws.

You can get a basic 45K operators manual here http://www.bootmaker.com/manuals.htm  It has information on adjusting the automatic thread controller. You can also look at the 7 class manuals on the singer site, the information on feed timing works for the 45K.  Have you cleaned the faceplate tensioner? The disc is meant to turn as the thread goes round it.

You could also join the forum at www.needlebar.org, we've had some discussions about these machines.

Sewmun, do the GA-5 feet fit the 45k? I'm interested in getting a feed dog and a presser foot.