Members TheHuntressAngel Posted April 28, 2016 Members Report Posted April 28, 2016 (edited) 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 Quote An angel always watches over you...
Members Constabulary Posted April 29, 2016 Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 a gear puller would do the job. Sometimes the balance wheels are gummed Quote ~ Keep "OLD CAST IRON" alive - it´s worth it ~ Machines in use: - Singer 111G156 - Singer 307G2 - Singer 29K71 - Singer 212G141 - Singer 45D91 - Singer 132K6 - Singer 108W20 - Singer 51WSV2 - Singer 143W2
Members TheHuntressAngel Posted April 29, 2016 Author Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote An angel always watches over you...
mikesc Posted April 29, 2016 Report Posted April 29, 2016 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.. Quote "Don't you know that women are the only works of Art" .. ( Don Henley and "some French painter in a field" )
Members brmax Posted April 29, 2016 Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote
Members TheHuntressAngel Posted April 29, 2016 Author Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote An angel always watches over you...
Members billybopp Posted April 29, 2016 Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote
Members TheHuntressAngel Posted April 29, 2016 Author Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote An angel always watches over you...
Members TheHuntressAngel Posted April 29, 2016 Author Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote An angel always watches over you...
Members brmax Posted April 29, 2016 Members Report Posted April 29, 2016 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 Quote
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