!s there a trick to removing the balance wheel on the singer 31-15 sewing machine?

[TheHuntressAngel]

Hello all,

I have searched the web and in most cases I am pointed to this site. so I have joined because I have gotten more information from the members hear than anywhere else,

Thank you for that. Recently i was given a beast of a machine   the Singer 31-15 and I am now going through the process of cleaning and removing all the gunk Needless to say it has

become a part of the mudroom, i have oiled and used PB Blaster and lots of patience and little by little all is coming loose, and moving nicely. Tthe problem I am having is with

the balance wheel, !s there a trick to removing the balance wheel on the singer 31-15 sewing machine?  I have removed the 2 set screws from the collar of the wheel,

and the set screw from the rear of the arm, I have also removed the arm shaft screw, from the back end of the wheel however it does not come off.  Can someone tell me what I am missing please help.

There is a link to pinterest with pics of the above screws removed.

https://www.pinterest.com/Huntressangel/sewing-machines-vintage/

Edited April 28, 2016 by TheHuntressAngel
punctuation

[Constabulary]

a gear puller would do the job. Sometimes the balance wheels are gummed

 

[TheHuntressAngel]

Constabulary,

Thank you for the fast reply,  I have looked at all of the diagrams and the Singer 31-15 parts list, I believe I have removed all of the screws I needed to

but I am not sure as to what else if anything else there could be such as washers, or other screws, that might need to be removed. do you know

if there are any others on the inside of the machine that I have missed?  The wheel turns forward and back over the shaft easily (now), however

I don't want to take to drastic a measure and damage anything on the inside of the machine.  

This is my first time trying to do this; so I am a little cautious right now.  Just tired of the new machines that don't do the work they are suppose to do. 

All help is very much appreciated.

I love your quote on "OLD CAST IRON"

Thanks again Hunt 

[mikesc]

I'd be inclined to heat ( heat gun on low or hair dryer ) the centre part of the balance wheel that is holding onto / around the shaft ( without heating the shaft )..hot ( even warm metal ) expands..so the diameter of the hole in the balance wheel will get ever so slightly bigger..and the shaft wont expand, so the balance wheel should "unstick"..wear leather gloves ( or oven gloves to pull it off..you shouldn't need to heat much for this to work..heating things ( with holes ) and then sliding them onto shafts so that they hold as they cool and shrink is the reverse of this..don't heat so much that you damage the bearing(s) behind the balance wheel..and not so much as to damage the paint..

[brmax]

Not sure your meaning of; wheel turns forward and back over the shaft now?.

I am assuming the wheel moves on the shaft yet shaft has a flared end and preventing the wheel from "sliding off" the end.

Possibly with photo here and using a straight edge there confirming and seeing if the shaft needs work prior to wheel removal.

I agree with the puller above photo and also like to mention when possible using a flat bearing puller behind the wheel for support.

good luck this weekend, and post up any new ideas we can use later.

Floyd

[TheHuntressAngel]

Brmax,

Thank you for responding.  When I say wheel moves (forward and back over shaft) I mean as in turning the balance wheel, I can see that it is turning freely as it would if sewing.

The end does not appear to be flared in the parts manual, or on the machine. I may  end up using a puller in the end. but must try everything else first. 

I just need to make sure I am not going to damage anything on the inside of the machine I can not replace with so many things being obsolete today. and I do not

want to purchase tools that I will not use again. I shall keep trying to post a pic, for some reason the site keeps telling me photo is to big, I'm going to resize and try in a new post.

Thanks again Hunt

 

[billybopp]

A gear puller is a very handy tool to have around, and generally not very expensive.  Check your local auto parts store.  If you have some flat steel bar stock around, some nuts and bolts and a little ingenuity you can also make one that will be serviceable (I've had to make my own when I didn't have a gear puller that was large enough to do the job).  It's really a very simple tool .. Just a screw jack when you come right down to it.  

 

  Get a piece of bar stock that's somewhat longer than your wheel diameter, drill a hole in the center and put a long bolt through that is skinnier than the shaft diameter, and a nut between the bar and shaft.  Further out on the bar, drill two holes just outside the wheel diameter (or even inside if it's an open wheel design), and put a long bolt through those holes.  Cut a couple of smaller pieces of bar stock to act as the "ears" which will go between wheel and machine and put nuts on both sides of the small plates.  Use two wrenches on the center bolt/nut .. One to hold the nut stationary and one to turn the bolt (or you can also optionally weld the nut in place or secure it somehow and use a single wrench).   Voila, you have a home-made gear puller.  

  I wish I could show a diagram of the above directions .. It's really much simpler than the directions .. Just hard to describe!

 

Bill

[TheHuntressAngel]

Mikesc, 

 I may try the heat after I get all of the oi,l and solvents off I have literally been spraying with PB blaster and  using machine oil for the past month just to get the gunk off, and pieces I have gotten off cleaned and polished.  A piece at a time. This balance wheel is so far the only piece I have not been able to get off with oils and patience.  I am going to  keeping your idea of using heat in my notebook for now. I will keep you posted I am not worried about the paint as once I have this baby humming It is going to get a total make over

Thank you

[TheHuntressAngel]

Bill,

I think I can handle that, I actually looked on YouTube this morning after reading Constabulary's post above and now with your directions and his picture I am sure I can make one;

if I really have to.  This is my first restore on a vintage so I am really relearning the meaning of patience.  Thank you for the design directions.

Hunt soon to be making her own tools

 

[brmax]

Ok my bad I'm starting to get on the page. I found in the past if not using a photo storage site and linking to the photo itself, a size limit is about 80 to 128kb max to upload to a forum site for their storage hth

I wouldn't put any flame on it as both parts expand and contract the same. Its just to easy to mushroom the shaft end while its super hot anyway.

In Constabulary's photo you can see a couple holes in the pulley, generally these are threaded and for the removal using certain types of pullers, and a typical laymen name is steering wheel puller and very possible that local autozone or other auto parts sellers have for loan free possibly, though with deposit they do here. As the photo above a HD puller and in tough conditions the ticket to use.

In a lighter situation one would need to determine the thread size for them holes in the pulley wheel and determine bolt length as the standard steering wheel puller has maybe a 4" bolt and not a high grade as my preference, but likely will need longer and grade 8 type from store or ace hardware.

Good day

Floyd