A Problem with Oiling a Singer 15K

Regularly maintained machines can still give you a nasty surprise. 

Before starting my latest project I thoroughly oiled my Singer 15K treadle, taking particular care to oil all the accessible points revealed when the rear inspection plate is moved.  I also made sure that I oiled the felt oil reservoirs at the top of the needlebar and presser bar and the ones that are reached through the holes next to the spool pin.  These two previous posts show my 15K hand machine, which has exactly the same innards.  The mechanism was in a different position, which explains why the photos seem so different.

So I have been quilting happily over the last couple of weeks, and everything seemed fine until last night.  Suddenly the machine started labouring, sounding as though it hadn't been used for aeons and I had just brought it home from a second hand shop.  

A good half hour was spent checking the machine to find which particular spot needed oiling.  It was a real puzzle, because there was still plenty of oil in evidence from the last time.  Eventually I realised that the noise was coming from the U-shaped junction on the left in the photo above, where a shaft that goes down the pillar to the base of the machine joins the horizontal rod that is turned by the wheel.  In theory the oil reservoir should keep this joint well lubricated. 

The right side of the joint was fine.  However, to the left, where indicated by the knitting needle, it was bone dry, as if it had completely missed the last oiling.  Needless to say, I have slathered the machine in oil, and it is running like a train again. 

Why did it dry out so quickly?  I'm not sure.  Either I have been using the machine more than usual (I didn't think I was); or, the oil reservoir no longer wicks as it should; or, perhaps because of the U-shape and the position of the needle when the machine is not in use, the oil has a tendency to drain away.  Who knows?  Who cares?  The problem is fixed, and I know what to look out for in the future. 

Freeing Up The Action On A Singer 99K

Looking at these first test stitches made by a 1918 Singer 99K, you would not be able to tell that two days previously I was hardly able to turn the wheel.  This is the machine which has the improvised repair, the thread guide made from a safety pin.

The next big problem was that the mechanism was well and truly gummed up; in fact, so stiff that I was nervous of turning the handle too much in case I suddenly discovered a bit of hidden metal fatigue.  The last thing I wanted was a snapped handle, so much of the time I was turning the wheel by hand.

First I cleared all the accumulated fluff from underneath the bobbin plate and needle plate and from behind the face plate.  Next I cleaned up the stop motion screw and checked that the wheel was able to move freely.  Then I gave the machine a very liberal oiling, and found that the movement was still very stiff, even after leaving the machine for hours to give the oil time to penetrate.

After a few turns the machine would start labouring.  Somewhere there was a gummed up joint, but it wasn't obvious where just by looking.  I could hear it creaking, and decided that the sound was coming from the bobbin mechanism underneath the machine.

One or more of these joints was objecting.  The answer was paraffin, which I have used before to unstick stubborn parts.  I wrapped a piece of old cotton rag around the entire bobbin mechanism, tied it with string, and soaked it with paraffin.  Then I left it in place overnight, and this is how it looked the next morning - clean and very dry.  The paraffin had removed all the fresh oil and all the old oil residue that was causing the problem.  Once I had re-oiled underneath the machine, it turned freely.

Now that I was able to turn the handle, it was obvious that the handcrank needed more oil than I had already given it.  Essentially, the handcrank is made up of two cogs, which both need oiling.

The lower cog is oiled next to the large central screw, just behind the handle.  The cocktail stick shows the oil hole.  Note mug of tea lurking in the background.  It helps.

The upper cog is oiled at the top of the arm that connects the handcrank with the wheel.

The machine was then left overnight, and next morning all I needed to do was wipe off the excess oil, especially from behind the handle, where it oozes out, bringing out black muck that has been hiding there for years.  If you are too enthusiastic, and turn the handle before dabbing off around it, you can end up getting splattered.

And finally I had the thrill of getting this machine sewing for the first time in decades.  Beautiful stitches, every bit as good as I had hoped. 

Linking up with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday

Maintenance and a Moral Tale

It was high time I lavished a bit of tender loving care on my stalwart 1945 15K treadle, which serves me so well for all my free motion quilting.  The last time couple of times I have used it I haven't been sure whether it has been me feeling a bit slow and creaky, or the machine. Probably a bit of both. 

The first job was to remove the faceplate to clean out a great accumulation of fluff, and tip the machine back and clean out the fluff from underneath.

Next, I oiled it at the various points shown in these photos of my 1949 Singer 15K hand machine.  I made sure that I had removed the foot, because oil seeps down the presser bar and can take a while to clean off the foot.  I could have removed the needle and needle clamp too, but I wasn't feeling particularly organised and methodical.  I also oiled underneath the machine.

Once oiled, I gave it a quick spin, and then left it for a couple of days with strategically placed tissues under the wheel and round the needlebar and presser bar to catch and absorb excess oil. 

All the old manuals recommend that after oiling a machine should be run hard, so the oil is well distributed.  So yesterday I gave it a fast and furious spin - terrific fun with the face plate off so you can marvel at the movement.  A table lamp was trained on the machine, the camera was resting on top of a tin, I had my finger on the shutter, and I was sitting at completely the wrong angle for treadling.  I rather chuffed with myself that I managed to get a mini video done.

And here is one I made earlier...

While making this video the machine made a big bang, which sounds less than half as loud on video as it did in real life.  I jumped out of my skin.  For a split second I thought I had broken the needle.  Then I realised that the presser bar had sprung itself down as a result of the vibrations and I had managed to record it on camera.

Moral of the story - run the machine hard with the foot off and presser bar down.  Better for the machine, and for owners of a nervous disposition.

Linking up with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday

Oiling the Singer 15K

Here is the view inside the back inspection plate.  This was before I got rid of all the nasty brown residue.

At the top of the shaft that goes down into the pillar there is a tuft of fluff sticking up.  At this stage it just looks like part of the general muckiness.

Now a view of the top of the machine.  Beside the spool pin there is an unusually large oil hole.

Turn the wheel so the the head of the shaft is directly beneath the hole.  Here I have put a cocktail stick into the hole to go down inside... 

... to the top of the shaft.  This is where the fluff was sticking up.  In fact it is another of those little felt oil wells, like the ones at the top of the presser bar and needlebar.  When oiling the machine the wheel has to be turned so that the oil well is directly beneath the hole.  This hole is big enough for you actually to see down inside so you can see when the top of the shaft is in the right position for oiling.

Although the last picture isn't fabulously clear, I'm sure you get the general idea, and you might even have noticed that the machine is considerably cleaner than in the first picture.  All that rubbish had to be cleaned off before the oil went on. 

A Horror Story

And a truly hideous picture to match.  

This was the state of the innards of the 15K inside the back inspection plate.  Somebody decided they didn't need oil, so they just smeared the works liberally with vaseline.  It might have kept the machine turning, but it also combined with (or possibly caused) a degree of rust, leaving a thick dark brown greasy deposit which smelt, not surprisingly, of vaseline and rust.  I took this picture after I had already cleaned some of it off.  

It was the same story when I took off the stop motion screw - loads of vile greasy muck was hiding behind it.

The remedy was a good scrubbing with an old toothbrush dipped in paraffin.  I cleaned the back of the stop motion screw with neat washing up liquid.

The machine is now thoroughly cleaned and oiled and I am looking forward to giving it a good run.

Cleaning and Oiling a Singer 15K

At the moment I am cleaning up a 1949 Singer 15K hand machine.  When I bought it the metalwork was unusually clean and it turned well.  I polished up all the exterior metal and finally took off the faceplate yesterday.  This is what I found.

The needlebar and presser bar are completely clean.  There wasn't even any fluff in there, and none of the dried up residue of oil that is usually lurking behind the faceplate.

In this picture I have used a torch, so you can see there is a very thin yellowish film on the bars, so it must have been oiled at least once.  But I doubt that it was regularly oiled, because there is no trace of residue underneath the machine either.

This is where the oil needs to be applied.  The tops of the needlebar and presser bar are tubular and have wads of felt inside, which act as a reservoir for the oil.

Today I will be giving a generous soaking of oil to the felt at the top of the bars.

So if the machine was dry of oil behind the faceplate and underneath, why did it turn so well when I bought it?  All will be revealed tomorrow...

Oiling the Shuttle Race on a Long Bobbin Machine

This morning I nipped in to Cordial and Grace and oiled the shuttle race on Maria's Jones CS machine - the one thing I had forgotten when I cleaned it up.  Too much tea and cake must have been distracting me.

To the left of the shuttle there is a little round well stuffed with old felt.  

On some machines the felt has disappeared, on others it is so grimy and mucky it needs replacing, in which case you can stuff a tiny wad of cotton wool or fluffy cotton knitting yarn in there in its place. This picture shows one of my Singers where I have used cotton yarn.

At the base of the oil well is a tiny hole through which the oil gradually seeps, keeping the shuttle race lightly lubricated.  This prevents friction and wear on the side of the shuttle and eases movement.  On this photograph of Maria's machine I have used a long pin to show where the hole is.

The wad of felt needs to be kept soaked with oil.  Just let a couple of drops fall onto it, wipe away the excess, and the job is done.

Help from the Willcox and Gibbs Manual and Youtube

It's always a thrill when you find that an old machine has the manual with it.  If I haven't got the manual I just oil every obvious place.  I let the machine soak up the oil for a couple of days, turning the wheel now and again to check progress.

With this machine the real fun came with the threading, because it is so unlike all my other machines.  Luckily I found this video, which brought the instructions to life.  It shows the same model of machine in a treadle.  I just sat there wondering why other manufacturers didn't incorporate a brake on the treadle.  Ingenious stuff.

Call in the Goblins...

... good, efficient little goblins, as shown in the Vesta manual, who will oil your machine for you when you are not looking.

Then they will thread the shuttle, and go and beat up the naughty elves who tangle up threads in bobbin tins when you forget to secure them with wire tags.

Oiling a Vesta Sewing Machine

Nothing could be easier.  This photograph shows the Little Vesta, and a previous post showed the same feature on the Vesta Transverse Shuttle machine.  You just find the holes edged in red and put the oil in there.  It saved an awful of of explanation in the manual, if you even have one.

More Pretty Decals

This picture of the Vesta shows a very helpful feature that Vesta included on their machines.  The holes for lubricating the machine were outlined in red, so there was no chance of wasting oil by ramming it down the wrong hole.

Welcome back to Kmalmquist, and hello Lala!