I am extremely pleased with the condition of Clarice, my new Singer 301. She doesn't have many scrapes or scratches in her paint and she cleaned up really nicely.
I took her top and bottom plates off and cleaned and oiled and lubricated where it was needed. There were some dead roly poly bugs inside, but they were more like fossils, they were so old!
Her bobbin tire needs to be replaced. Her foot pedal and electrical cord were toast. Wasn't even going to attempt to use them. I used the one for my 401 without any problems. Since it was just the wires that were bad, I gave my dad the parts that came with her to see if he could rewire things. If he can, great, if not, no big deal.
She also may need a new bobbin case. I have it out and oiled the dickens out of it. There is some surface rust on the inner parts of the bobbin case and I have been able to loosen and remove about half of it using a straight pin. I think letting it soak up some oil might loosen more. Who knows, I may be able to salvage this part. If not, I have a case from my featherweight that will fit. Those bobbin cases are expensive! From $30 to $50! I have a call in to a repair guy I know who might be able to get me one cheaper than that.
There were three oil wicks on the top that were pretty hard and dried out. I oiled them from both sides, hoping that would get them functional again, but if not, they should be easy enough to replace.
I haven't tried to sew on her yet, but when I run her, she really hums along. Very quiet machine, too! They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
The seller on Ebay took extra care to package and ship her to me, for which I am very grateful. All in all, I'm really happy with my purchase and hope to get many good years of sewing out of her.
1 comment:
Oh, she is beautiful! And by cleaning you get to know her ... intimately, which I always love with any vintage machine I get. You may want to check out a fb page called "Vintage Sewing Machines." Bunch of enablers they are! They have great and friendly advice and files for every machine known to woman (well almost). They have rust remedy recipes and methods that can save pretty much any part. But never post to them asking if you should or should not buy this or that machine you saw -- the answer is always, always get it! Congratulations on Clarice's safe arrival.
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