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Scarolamade

Singer 111W103 Stitch adjuster spindle wheel removal?

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Hi everyone, I picked up a Singer 111W103 at an estate sale. The timing belt is destroyed so I looked up some information online to reinstall the new belt that I purchased. The online instructions are pretty vague and require the removal of a few set screws one at the rear of the machine and the others on the pulley . Following this should allow for the Stitch adjustment screw, Spindle , pulley and Bushing to be removed. But that does not seem to be the case. I have been wiggling at the stitch adjustment screw trying to remove it but have had little to no luck. 

 

Does anyone have any experience removing the Spindle screw/rod?

Thanks 

 

Edited by Scarolamade

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@Scarolamade Moved your post to "leather sewing machines".  You'll get more comments and action here.  Have you searched this forum for replacing timing belts?

Tom

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Have you tried rotating the threaded rod stitch adjuster? It should reach a position where it will rotate right out the back. The knob on the back has a little stud on the inside. It rides inside threads cut into the shaft. If the threads are damaged the rod can slip about or not move in and out. The shaft with the threads is made of unobtanium, which means you'll need a salvage machine or a metal lathe to get a replacement.

If the adjuster turns in and out but won't come out, open the top access cover and rotate the wheel to bring a set screw to the top. Ignore the cap screw on the other side for now. It covers a powerful spring that will launch it into space. Unscrew and remove the internally threaded set screw, then back off the second set screw that's under it. See if the adjuster will back out. If not, rotate the wheel to bring the cap screw to the top. Unscrew it carefully as the spring may try to launch it into space. Try unscrewing the rod. It is a good idea to remove the spring now, set it aside and reinstall the cap screw to keep the internal parts from dropping out.

If the adjuster will not unscrew, use a rawhide mallet or a #2 rubber mallet to lightly tap on the left side of the handwheel as you turn the adjuster. Hopefully, it will allow it to unscrew and come out. This may destroy what's left of the threads on the shaft.

Once you have removed the adjuster and handwheel, cleanup warped threads on the main shaft with a flat file. Do the best you can to preserve as many threads as possible. The examine the adjuster to see if it is gouged at the pointed end. Clean up the pointed end with Emory cloth and a buffer. If it sucks badly, replacements from Asia are available.

If the threads are too far gone on the main shaft, you have two options.

  1. Locate a replacement shaft that has good threads, or have one turned on a metal lathe. Then loosen the set screws on all of the upper shafts and cams in the head and pull the shaft out the back. Reassembly won't be fun either.
  2. Leave the damaged original in place and reuse the original adjuster rod, statically. This means instead of turning the knob, you have to remove the threaded set screw to get at the secondary set screw that actually determines how far the stitch length mechanism gets pushed by the pointed rod. When you have the desired length, reinstall the top screw to lock the thrown down.

In either case the spring on the opposite side needs to go back into its hole and be tightened down with the cap screw. Good Luck with that!

At this point most people take the machine to the scrap yard.

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Thank you for the response, I will give it a shot. I did attempt a few of the steps before your response and the spring did indeed shoot the cap across the room but still have both eyes so we are all good. I will attempt them all in the order you sent me. the cap does rotate in and out and the stitch length adjustment works as needed. So I hope all the treads are still in tact. 

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1 hour ago, Scarolamade said:

Thank you for the response, I will give it a shot. I did attempt a few of the steps before your response and the spring did indeed shoot the cap across the room but still have both eyes so we are all good. I will attempt them all in the order you sent me. the cap does rotate in and out and the stitch length adjustment works as needed. So I hope all the treads are still in tact. 

If the threads are too far gone, use the set screw on the bottom of the adjuster channel to set the stitch length and lock it down with the top set screw. If you need a different length, unscrew the top screw and set the new length, etc.

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10 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

If the threads are too far gone, use the set screw on the bottom of the adjuster channel to set the stitch length and lock it down with the top set screw. If you need a different length, unscrew the top screw and set the new length, etc.

Maybe this will help?

111w stitch length adl old style 001.jpg

Edited by CowboyBob

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Little blow with a hammer and it finally broke loose. There is some minimal damage to the threaded rod but think it might still do the job. Thanks for all the help

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On 6/2/2019 at 1:28 PM, Wizcrafts said:

Have you tried rotating the threaded rod stitch adjuster? It should reach a position where it will rotate right out the back. The knob on the back has a little stud on the inside. It rides inside threads cut into the shaft. If the threads are damaged the rod can slip about or not move in and out. The shaft with the threads is made of unobtanium, which means you'll need a salvage machine or a metal lathe to get a replacement.

If the adjuster turns in and out but won't come out, open the top access cover and rotate the wheel to bring a set screw to the top. Ignore the cap screw on the other side for now. It covers a powerful spring that will launch it into space. Unscrew and remove the internally threaded set screw, then back off the second set screw that's under it. See if the adjuster will back out. If not, rotate the wheel to bring the cap screw to the top. Unscrew it carefully as the spring may try to launch it into space. Try unscrewing the rod. It is a good idea to remove the spring now, set it aside and reinstall the cap screw to keep the internal parts from dropping out.

If the adjuster will not unscrew, use a rawhide mallet or a #2 rubber mallet to lightly tap on the left side of the handwheel as you turn the adjuster. Hopefully, it will allow it to unscrew and come out. This may destroy what's left of the threads on the shaft.

Once you have removed the adjuster and handwheel, cleanup warped threads on the main shaft with a flat file. Do the best you can to preserve as many threads as possible. The examine the adjuster to see if it is gouged at the pointed end. Clean up the pointed end with Emory cloth and a buffer. If it sucks badly, replacements from Asia are available.

If the threads are too far gone on the main shaft, you have two options.

  1. Locate a replacement shaft that has good threads, or have one turned on a metal lathe. Then loosen the set screws on all of the upper shafts and cams in the head and pull the shaft out the back. Reassembly won't be fun either.
  2. Leave the damaged original in place and reuse the original adjuster rod, statically. This means instead of turning the knob, you have to remove the threaded set screw to get at the secondary set screw that actually determines how far the stitch length mechanism gets pushed by the pointed rod. When you have the desired length, reinstall the top screw to lock the thrown down.

In either case the spring on the opposite side needs to go back into its hole and be tightened down with the cap screw. Good Luck with that!

At this point most people take the machine to the scrap yard.

After Replacing the timing belt, it is really tight to turn the balance wheel. Is there a way to reduce the tension? 

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