Internal Singer motor wiring

The machine was a Singer 201K3 but all Singers can have the same problem as this one.
When you come across an old Singer motor (1950s or older), it should be inspected thoroughly. If you have no idea what you're doing with electrical things, motors powered by mains voltage aren't a good way to start learning. Don't just plug it in and turn it on. While I'm on the subject, if the motor is hard wired (like the early ones), don't just switch it off, unplug it too. You'd be shocked to learn that the electrician crossed the neutral and live wires on that power point (pun intended).
Being someone who has quite a lot of experience with electrics, I removed the carbon brushes - remove them and put them somewhere so you can put them back in the exact same side and position as you removed them. If you put them back differently in any way, they won't make contact as well as before and the motor will be weak for a while. If they're short, you should replace them. They're only a few dollars and if you wear them out the springs will damage the commutator.
I then took the motor apart and the stator (the bit that doesn't move, also called the windings) wiring was as per this photo.

The wires (black and red)

In case it's not obvious, these wires are not fully insulated. I touched them a few times and the remaining insulation fell off. So where to now?
If you're not also extremely competent, confident and comfortable with electrical work, you have these options:

1.  Take it to a small appliances shop and have it repaired.
2. Have the motor reconditioned (re-wound) by a motor repair service (they do exist).
3. Swap the motor with a known good one (or a new one, but be careful, new Chinese made motors are often as dangerous as the one above).
4. Take the motor and light off, replace the hand wheel and pop it into a treadle cabinet.

Assuming you're all good to continue, you need to now make these two wires safe.
You will need a soldering iron, solder and some heat shrink tube insulation. If you don't have the latter, get some or you won't be able to complete this. Do not use electrical tape. It will melt off as soon as the motor gets warm, as will anything else. The heat shrink tubing needs a soldering iron's heat to shrink and will only melt if you burned it in a fire.
The rest of the wiring in the stator is held in place and not insulated with rubber, so we don't need to worry about it.
At the brush mounts, the wires are soldered to a copper ring, which is in turn soldered to the square brush contacts, which you can see in the picture is on either side of the hole at the end.
I was not able to remove the copper ring because of the amount of solder, so I cut it as close as possible.
Remove any remaining ' insulation'.
Now, cut a piece of the heat shrink insulation that will fit as snugly as possible over the bare wire and shrink on some new stuff (use a less hot part of your soldering iron and gently stroke it on all sides until it's hugging the bare wire).
Now solder it back onto where you cut it.
Do as Singer originally did and smother the whole end of the wire with solder. This is difficult because you need more hands than you were born with but you need to make sure these wires will never come loose.
It's unlikely they'll ever be pulled because only the rotor (armature) moves and you're going to ensure that it doesn't move anywhere near these two wires, but make sure it doesn't come off as you reassemble it.

Afterwards. Apologies for the fuzzy photo

I wasn't entirely happy about that millimetre of red wire that is exposed but there's absolutely no chance of it ever touching any conductor.
Repeat with the other wire then clean the commutator (the copper strips that come in contact with the carbon brushes).
Now reassemble the motor body, while watching the wires carefully as you put the end on. The wires will move differently now that you've changed the insulation. Make sure that the whole soldered area easily clears both the rotor's wiring coils and its contacts (the copper strips). I stress easily because the wires could settle slightly and move a little more when the motor warms up. Just imagine all that could go wrong and check that you've made sure it can't happen. It doesn't matter that it's a thousand times safer than before if it electrocutes someone because you didn't put enough solder on, left too much wire bare or used electrical tape. Do everything and your conscience will be happy.
So it was much more work than I expected, but I was extremely happy with the result. This motor should last many decades without anything more than the occasional set of carbon brushes. 

Singer 411G stitching issues

I bought this machine on the price alone, and thought I'd start by cleaning it. After cleaning it wasn't stitching well, so I assumed (correctly) that something I did had caused it to go out of balance.

The 411G has gold accents

The symptoms were that threads were nesting badly in the bobbin area. After perusing the 401 service manual thanks to Sewing Dude (https://sewingdude.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/singer-401-service-manual1.pdf page 131), I decided to go through and check the clearances for the bobbin case (which seemed very loose even before I cleaned it) and anything else in the bobbin area.

So this is the procedure:

Remove the needle, remove the presser foot, slide the slide plate (1) back, lift and remove the stitch plate (2).

If you want to (it's not necessary) you can also remove the slide plate. It's just like the 66 and 99. Put down the platform that holds the stitch plate then slide the plate back until it clears the spring.

You should now see this (without the arrows of course)

You will need a set of narrow feeler gauges to check the clearance. If you don't have any, you'll need to get some or guess the gap.

Narrow feeler gauges

Using the picture with the arrows, check the gap marked 1. It should be 12-14 thousandths of an inch (thou). If it's not in that range, go on to check 2, the vertical clearance between the hook and the spring, 16-18 thou. These are both adjusted at the same time, by loosening the two screws marked by thick white arrows and moving it until the clearance is right, then re-tighten the screws.

Once you've done this, check 3, the distance between the bobbin case and the spring. If this is not between 12 and 14 thou, adjust it. The adjustment is easy, but you first need to remove the machine's plastic base (two screws), exposing the locking screw (see picture below).

lock screw for adjusting bobbin case clearance

Once you've loosened it, you can turn the screw to the right of the bobbin spring (see below) which is eccentric and will increase or decrease the gap. 

Once this clearance is right, perform a test sew. My machine was made to sew at full speed with a very narrow stitch length and making a pattern, the ultimate test. It didn't skip any stitches or even hint of bunching up. Machines like this that do everything are a lot more complex than, say, a 15 or 201 so they need more attention and are harder to get to, but with the right resources (mostly just knowledge) you can keep them in top condition. 

Another problem was varying speed during sewing. This means that the foot controller's carbon pile needs a clean. This is a horrible job, so I replaced the controller. Later on I pulled out a Japanese electronic controller I've had for a few years and that was even better, because apparently you can leave these plugged in without any heating (the 411's controller was also quite hot when I changed it). The electronic replacement required a little soldering.

It's now almost perfect. The last job is to see why the motor is noisy. A drop of tri-flow was suggested on another blog, but it hasn't quietened it, so I'm thinking I'll have to remove and disassemble. Not a job I'm looking forward to, since it's completely enclosed, but I'll do it and let you know of any obstacles.

Elna Lotus ZZ

I bought this a few months back. She said it sounded a bit like a thrashing machine but confident that I could fix it anyway I took it home.

Okay it really, really sounded like a thrashing machine. The reason was the rubber drive roller (also called friction wheel).
I looked for a replacement but they're all extremely expensive. Ridiculous for such a small and unsophisticated component. Cheapest I found was $A80.00 posted from the U.S. but I can't afford that, especially when the machine cost a lot less.
The problem with the rubber is that when people let their machines run dry (of oil) which they generally do, the motor is trying to turn the hand wheel (which won't move) so it spins without moving the machine, putting the rubber roller out of shape and wearing in one spot. I suspect it's also because the rubber simply hardens over time. This is also probably more likely where I now live, in sub-tropical Queensland.
After calculating about $AU150 for a replacement it occurred to me today that the rubber feet I bought for my 411G looked about the same shape.

original Elna rubber is the black one

Do they look the same size? They're almost identical! The biggest difference is that the rubber feet are brown and had no hole. A minute later one of the brown feet had an appropriately sized hole (careful with the drill, I had to hold it with my fingers) and after another minute and it was in the machine, which is now as quiet as a mouse. I hadn't heard one before so didn't realise how they should sound. It's really a pretty nice machine that stitches well. It's portable like the featherweight, but can make a zig-zag stitch.

I pushed the new roller on and replaced everything

Tell everyone you know who might have one of these, since it's a very common issue. With a one dollar part you can fix this problem really quickly.
The original only lasted 30 before giving trouble, so even if your replacement lasts only a year, I'll still be $50 better off, assuming I'm still around in 30 years.

1950 Singer 103K2 Home Manufacturing

I got this one a few months ago for the bench, but the machine head was so good that I cleaned and serviced it, replaced the electrical cords for the light (they were completely perished as usual) and tried her out. Very smooth, and precise, and it's now my favourite machine. It has the original Singer home industrial universal motor, from which I removed the capacitor (it's just a matter of time that these will give you trouble) and I also replaced the motor wiring. Capacitors can be totally removed without causing any noticeable difference, unless you listen to AM radio when sewing.

These lights are almost always in urgent need of rewiring

Replace any perished wire. Capacitor is the box top-left

Live wires are at the yellow connector. That one has no insulation

After the spruce up, she's looking great

Singer 132K6

I haven't posted for ages, and a lot has happened.
One of my older adventures was buying this little (?) beauty a couple of months ago.

It was made in 1938 and is a walking foot industrial machine intended to sew multiple layers of heavy fabric (leather, canvas). It works really nicely on modern vinyl too. It's a little noisy but powers through just about anything. Previous owners oiled it when they knew I was on my way bless 'em, but they didn't care much about how the machine looked. The table is terrible and I'm on the look out for a replacement, and it took ages to clean the head and motor. I checked all the wiring and added an original Singer industrial machine light (not the clip-on 1950s thing in the picture).
The motor was full of insect casings and must have been left outside (but under cover, as it wasn't completed rusted).

It was miraculous the motor worked at all

Later ones have a reverse, but not mine. The picture doesn't really show the size of this baby. She's large and very heavy.
Seriously thinking about re-making my car's rear seat. Previous effort was nothing short of horrible, due to not having one of these. This is still the number one choice of upholsterers in Australia and consequently these usually sell for $1,600 - $2,200.
Needles are much longer and larger than regular industrial needles and start from size 21.
If you want a walking foot machine to sew vinyl or leather, here it is. They're usually called just 'K6' by upholsterers.

Basic Patch Quilt Blanket

My daughter received a gift of a quilted blanket before her birth, and she loves it to this day. I didn't sew back then (2002) and since learning to sew had it in the back of my mind to learn this art form.
Well, first one finished this morning.
Here are the steps:

1. Select fabric.
2. Decide how big your squares will be and how many you'll need.
3. Add seam allowance, then cut out the number you need.
4. Lay them out to see how it will look.
5. Sew them together in strips.
6. Sew strips together.
7. Select and cut a backing, same size as sewn front.
8. Cut wadding, slightly bigger than the backing.
9. Sandwich the wadding between front and back.
10. Pin the centre of it together.
11. Push from the centre outwards a little at a time and pin as you go.
12. Either free motion sew from the centre outwards, or fit a walking foot to your machine and just follow the same lines of stitching as the top. 
13. Cut binding in long strips (not on the bias) then diagonally join into a single long strip.
14. Stitch this strip onto the back of the quilt.
15. Fold over, then blind stitch to the front.

Here is a little more detail:
Selection of fabric is okay if you have an eye for it, but make sure you lay it out on a flat surface first. Choose similar weights of fabric or the result will feel a bit strange.
Make sure your calculations are all good. A lot of work goes into this, so screwing it up isn't desirable.
I selected an old wool blanket as my wadding. It's 100% natural, warm and recycled. Obviously, you need to wash it if you choose this option.

old wool blanket, with finished quilted top

It's really important to cut squares accurately, so use a rotary cutter, self-healing mat and metal ruler.
It's important to be accurate sewing the squares together and even more important joining the strips together. Inaccuracy looks like a dog's breakfast.
Fit a good walking foot to your machine, unless you have a Pfaff with IDT (built-in walking foot). I was surprised that my Singer 201 didn't feed the layers well at all until I put a Janome walking foot on it. The WF was made in Japan. I wouldn't recommend using a cheap one.
Sandwich the layers and pin the centres. As you sew, the layers will want to move against each other. A lot of quilters use a spray on glue to hold them still, but I didn't have any, nor am I inclined to put glue on my work. I used a whole box of quilting pins instead, which held it reasonably well. Flatten the quilt outwards as you pin toward the outside.
An alternative to what I did (stitching along the grid lines) is to free motion quilt. This involves the use of a hopping foot, whose only task is to prevent the work from moving when the needle is in the fabric. The feed dog should be dropped (or set to no motion if your machine doesn't allow dropping) and the best machines for this have a vertical bobbin. Drop-in bobbin machines have trouble with tension when doing free motion work. Free motion quilting allows you to put beautiful swirly thread designs on your quilt. Since this was my first one, I kept it simple.
The binding needs to be folded in half, then the raw edges gets sewn to the backing side. The corners need to be handled in a specific way, so I recommend these videos from McCall's quilting.
Fold it over and blind stitch the other side by hand. Ensure the thread travels along the edge only inside fabric, so it is always hidden.

Back of finished blanket

The front. Not perfect, but not bad.

Which way does my needle go in? Which way do I thread it?

If you're something of a vintage sewing machine aficionado (hoarder) you may occasionally experience some confusion when you go to change the needle or just thread it.

Luckily there are two rules that are always true with sewing machines, but you have to look closely to check the first one.

Simple rule #1: The flat side is nearest the hook.

This one requires you to look at which side of the needle the hook is on. In Singer 66 and 99 the hook race is very large, and the hook actually passes the needle on the outside. That is, the hook is to the right of the needle. Following simple rule #1, that means we have the flat on the right.

Models 66 and 99, the hook is to the right,
so the flat is too.

Model 201, smaller race means the hook
is on the left, so the flat is too.

Simple rule #2: Thread also goes toward the hook

That means the thread always exits the needle on the hook side.

Vertical bobbin machines are a bit harder to see, but as soon as you see the hook, you know how to put in the needle and how to thread it. This will maybe save you a lot of time looking for manuals.