Got a Pearson #6!!!! wee hooo!!!

[ScoobyNewbie]

Goodness, sorry if I sounded snappy. I was just asking. 

That makes a lot of sense to not be changing thread sizes and colors out all the time. Bobbins. The eternal enemy...

[dikman]

Don't sweat it. Not snappy at all, in fact it's a very valid question. Some of us just don't bother trying to rationalise it.........

[plinkercases]

2 hours ago, ScoobyNewbie said:

Goodness, sorry if I sounded snappy. I was just asking. 

That makes a lot of sense to not be changing thread sizes and colors out all the time. Bobbins. The eternal enemy...

No worries as dikman says... if only we could hear the tone of voice in which things are written and no I don think emogies help.  Written communications can go south pretty quick sometimes when we don't read what the writer hears in their head.  And to be honest I am sure those of us (at least me for sure) with a few machines (now) are primed to be a little defensive since some folks close to us just don't get it! and it is worth a discussion since this is a forum.

Edited September 20, 2018 by plinkercases

[Constabulary]

It´s time to post some pictures of your machine 

[plinkercases]

Its being shipped and the one from the add is crappy... stand by

[plinkercases]

Here is the pic from the add. Leaving out west today in a crate to be here Wednesday.

The seller bought it from an "old guy" then had it worked over thoroughly by a saddlermaker he says was an expert on them. Seller used it to make "bronc halters" and "horse flanks".

[ScoobyNewbie]

OH! What a wonderful old girl!

I have my greatgrandmother’s 1920? Maybe 30’s Singer. Maybe 40’s? It’s electric, knee pressure advance. It’s buried under boxes in the basement. I’m a little gun shy I guess. I haven’t plugged her in for 12 years or more. I’m sure any oil is gone, and I need to get a leather needle. I have sewn through 5 layers of denim with her, but still, I would hate to hurt her...

[plinkercases]

Get her out and give her a clean and oil and some fresh air and sunlight. I have my grandmothers singer too in the wooden vase woth the knee control and have made tool roles with old couch hide. The paint and detailing is in excellent shape and i just love the look and feel of it. Form and Function and a little style too boot. Show us yours and ill shown you mine!

[Matt S]

 

14 hours ago, plinkercases said:

Here is the pic from the add. Leaving out west today in a crate to be here Wednesday.

Well she's obviously got some miles on her but looks intact. The only obvious part you might be missing is that wax pot, but that's not the end of the world. The handle looks like an improvised replacement but functional.

If you've read the manual you'll realise there's not a great deal to adjust or time on a #6 -- most of it is fixed and what adjustments exist are primarily for compensating for wear over time. Apart from the obvious ones like shuttle tension and needle thread take-up (which does not work on the same principle as the common 111-type tension unit -- took me a while to get my little brain around that) off the top of my head there is only the needle assist slide, the gibs on the needle bar assembly and the tuning stud for the stitch length dial. (These may not be exactly what the manual calls em.)

I found mine was a little sluggish and reluctant for the needle bar assembly to snap back towards me after completing each stitch, which meant that the stitch length didn't always tie up with the dial setting. I found that the slides were full of very old oil, which was making it drag. A couple hours' relaxing with a set of spanners, the girlfriend's toothbrush and a can of brake cleaner sorted out that problem. There's a knack to adjusting the gibs tight enough for minimal slop but loose enough to cycle without binding. As always with this sort of thing though my recommendation would be "if it ain't broke don't fix it". (Shame I rarely follow my own advice...)

Beautiful as this piece of late Victorian engineering is, try to resist putting it anywhere the floor may be harmed by oil. Like all British engineering these things are thirsty brutes and have two modes:

(1) If it's not leaking oil it's run dry so you'd better top up.

(2) if it's leaking oil it has sufficient for now but it's about to run out so you better top up.

[plinkercases]

Thanks Matt for all that. It will be on a concrete floor so th oil situatiion is no concern. I could see the handle and would look to do something about eventually but it is functional. Wax pot i will find eventually if i can just for cometeness but iwont be waxing the thread. 4 more sleeps!