Singer 42-5 stitch length

[Hilltop]

11 hours ago, CowboyBob said:

Push the feed dog front to back to check for play,even check both shafts underneath push left & right ,adjust as need alittle is needed so they don't bind up,oil every pivot point while your under there too.Making the slot longer in the front will help too.

By making the slot longer in the front do you mean to cut the throat plate?

I will check the feed dogs as you suggested.

My husband and I took apart a Featherweight once, and when we put it back together the stitch length was never right again.  It was a while ago, but if I remember correctly the longest stitch setting sewed about half the distance it should have.  Obviously we did something wrong when putting it back together.  At the time I had the most detailed Singer adjusters manual I have ever seen.  It was a few computers ago though, and I've never been able to find it since.  By the time we got the Featherweight stitching again, we were ready to be done, so it never really got fixed.

Thinking about the Featherweight made me curious as to whether the 42-5 had something wrong.  It seems in line with everyone else though from the feedback I'm getting. 

For all the other 42-5 owners here, what happens when you push the stitch length selector all the way up?  Does it stitch in place like mine does? 

 

 

 

[Uwe]

My 42-5 has no feed movement when the stitch length lever is at the top. In the bottom position, my feed dog carrier moves about 0.24" front to back, so I should get about 4 stitches per inch  (once I order some system 16x63 needles, which are readily available on Ebay and elsewhere.) 

I'm attaching the manual I had downloaded well before I ever got my 42-5. I saved the file in a folder I had named "Singer 42-5 best Singer flatbed ever?", based on a comment from one of our Australian members. When it finally popped up on CraigsList, I drove three hours one way to pick it up - gotta do these crazy things before I get too old to do them! (I also admit to checking CL before major road trips and picked up a lovely Pfaff 545C H4-N10 in St. Louis last weekend, but that's a different topic)

 

42_CLASS.pdf

Edited June 3, 2016 by Uwe

[Uwe]

As for reduced stitch length, sometimes the culprit is actually feed dog timing. If the feed dog doesn't start to come up until after it starts moving backwards or if it goes down before it reaches the very back of its movement, you miss out on part of the full movement it's capable of. The vertical feed dog movement timing should be simple to check and adjust, but I haven't done it yet myself on the 42-5, so I can't offer specifics or pictures right now.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Uwe

[Nix]

The problem with the manual that's been posted online and in many places is that it cuts off after page 8, so we're missing a lot of adjusting information. Still, if you're having trouble removing your work, I've attached the relevant passage.

The 42-5 is an unusual, yet a fairly robust and simple, machine. I wish we had a full scan of a user and adjuster's manual. I have an original parts book. However, that's readily available online and is complete.

The thread always being under tension is an advantage (it's going to sew anything that gets under the feet). Part of that set-up is that, on mine (this may have changed on later models), the primary thread tension discs are not two discs held together, but is actually a pulley that is under spring tension (think of it as setting the drag on a fishing reel). Anyway, if you over-tension it, the pulley will not turn and you will not gain any additional adjustment by tightening it more and more. The secondary tensioner assembly -- the two discs just ahead of the primary tensioner in the thread path is where you get most of your tension adjustment on a 42-5.

I've removed the thread oiling cup, the light fixture and the bobbin winder on mine, since I like keeping things clean and simple.

Nix

 

 

[Uwe]

1 hour ago, Nix said:

The problem with the manual that's been posted online and in many places is that it cuts off after page 8, so we're missing a lot of adjusting information

So, does anybody have or know where to find a manual that goes beyond page 8? I'd love to have the whole thing. 

[Wizcrafts]

37 minutes ago, Uwe said:

So, does anybody have or know where to find a manual that goes beyond page 8? I'd love to have the whole thing. 

I just uploaded a 48 page manual for the 42-5 to my server (3.6mb Zip file). I think it is what you all are looking for.

[Nix]

1 hour ago, Wizcrafts said:

I just uploaded a 48 page manual for the 42-5 to my server (3.6mb Zip file). I think it is what you all are looking for.

Thanks, but that's the Parts Manual, which is available online and in many places, and is complete. What we need is the Singer 42 Class User and Adjuster's Manual.

Nix

[Ken G]

I got lucky a few years ago and stumbled across some new bobbins for my 42-5 on Ebay. They ended up being from Anne Bonnys Locker, a member here. Even with airmail shipping from Australia they were pretty reasonable, a lot less than $12.00 each. From the postmark I bought them in April of 2013 and it looks like ABL has not been on the forum for almost 2 years.

[Wizcrafts]

11 hours ago, Ken G said:

I got lucky a few years ago and stumbled across some new bobbins for my 42-5 on Ebay. They ended up being from Anne Bonnys Locker, a member here. Even with airmail shipping from Australia they were pretty reasonable, a lot less than $12.00 each. From the postmark I bought them in April of 2013 and it looks like ABL has not been on the forum for almost 2 years.

Anne Bonny's Locker has been renamed to the owner's actual name: Darren Brosowski - who is alive and well and a frequent commenter on this forum.

[Darren Brosowski]

WIZ, I am Anne Bonny's Locker. Have had issues with losing my login details.

I wish I could sell bobbins for $US12 each. Maybe I should order some more as I sell them for about $US3 each

Methinks that somebody is taking the piss at $US12 each.

Normally I adjust the 42-5 to take the 135X16 needle