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Gonktastic posted:A whopping $10 dollars. Nice Slant-o-matic. That's quite a deal. I just got the 401a in the original cabinet and accessories for $75. I got it from a guy who said it used to belong to his mother and she used it all the time and had it serviced religiously but it's been in the basement now for many years.    It was pretty dirty but I managed to get it cleaned up and oiled. It does a nice straight stitch but I can't get the knobs for the other stitches to move and the red lever will move the needle to the left but then it stays stuck there and I have to push it back into place with my hand. Hopefully I can figure out how to fix this myself. Other issue is that the rubber ring for the bobbin winder is all dried out and doesn't make contact with the wheel, but I figure that's easy enough to replace if I can find the part. Anyone know anything about fixing these things up?
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May 27, 2009 02:38
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Acc-Risk posted:Chances are that oiling it won't help. You need to find a way to dissolve the old oil and all the garbage that has attracted itself to it and get it out of there first. My best idea would be to use brake cleaner, from somewhere like Autozone or PepBoys. It has a nozzle to direct the spray and I'd blast every bit of gunk and grime out of there first. Then re-oil it. White can, red lettering that says "Brake Cleaner" Can't miss it. Thanks! I went back after my last post and re-oiled the offending parts and jiggled the knobs and eventually got it all moving but you're right....theres a ton of rusty, dusty, oily gunk in the cam selectors that just doesn't want to come out. The good news is that once the cam selectors were freed up the red lever started working normally. The brake cleaner will probably be a last resort if I can't find a sewing machine shop to do it for me. I'm usually all for DIY projects but I can barely clean the bathroom without breathing problems from the chemical fumes.
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May 27, 2009 14:32
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discordiaskitten posted:
It is possible but it could be difficult if the pattern is intricate. I'm no expert on the topic but there is a book I have called "Sew U" that is basically all about customizing patterns to fit your size/shape/style. It's written for beginners and actually comes with a bunch of basic shirt, pants, skirt, etc patterns for you to customize.
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Jun 5, 2009 19:57
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RichBomb posted:There's another one of these at the same Salvation Army, on Erie Blvd in Syracuse, New York if anybody wants it. It needs a fair bit of work but the needle moves. Sweet, I need to start checking Salvation Army shops again. On a similar note, if anyone is in the Chicago area Threads Etc Resale on Milwaukee (near California) has a Singer 401a in a cabinet for $80. It could use some TLC and the exterior paint looks a little rough but it still works. I'd be glad to offer assistance/advice in fixing it up now that I've successfully rehabbed mine.
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Jun 9, 2009 23:51
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Yahoo groups are good for getting a fast response to questions. I joined the WeFixIt group which is a general sewing machine repair/restoration group and SingerSlantSewing which deals specifically with machines like mine. There are quite a few sewing groups but I can't recommend any because I haven't joined them.
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Jun 11, 2009 06:25
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teknicolor posted:Does anyone have any tips for sewing chiffon? I've never really used it before, but it looks like it pulls easy. :/ Make sure you have a fresh, sharp needle of the correct size in the machine. Old needles can get dull tips or burrs that can snag the fabric. You might also need to adjust the foot pressure so that the feed dogs don't cause damage. Run a few test pieces through the machine beforehand and make all your adjustments before you start on the actual piece. If you have trouble cutting it, try pinning the chiffon down to some medium weight tissue paper first, then cut through both the fabric and the paper. Make sure your pins are clean and sharp. Good luck! My first experience with chiffon was a disaster, but I had no idea what I was doing either.
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Oct 8, 2009 22:57
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bethinator posted:I have the exact same machine/attachments purchased from a thrift store for $25. Some of the parts on mine started working better after a lot of oil, wiggling and patience. The winder on mine is dried out as well, but I found that there's a sweet spot where it'll make contact and catch, I just can't push too hard or it won't work. I found a sewing machine shop that sold the rubber winder wheel for 80 cents. You can just pop that dried out one off and pop a new one on and it'll work like new.
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Nov 1, 2009 03:12
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CutiePie posted:I have no idea what sewing machine to buy. I'm thinking of getting singer 8280 or one of the brother for similar prices. I have never use a sewing machine before but I'm going to plan to make dresses all day long once I have started. I have quite a few patterns I would like to try. I had a Singer 8280 and I kind of thought it was a piece of garbage. The bobbin was difficult to load and the bobbin thread jammed up a lot which just added to my frustration with bobbin loading. It also had a lot of difficulty going through thick fabric or more than 2-3 layers of normal fabric. I think it was a $90-100 machine when I bought it. My mom has one of the cheaper Brother machines and she doesn't really complain about it, but she also rarely uses it. I've only heard her say that she misses the old Pfaff machine she had for 20 years. I think these days if you want quality without the price you have to go with a used machine. Pre-1965 Singers are usually pretty good. I don't know a lot about other manufacturers. I paid $75 and $50 for my two Singer 401's and they're quite possibly the nicest machines I've ever used.
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Nov 24, 2009 17:13
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I've had to fix up both of my old Singers and I knew absolutely nothing about how to do it when I brought home the first one. There are lots of tutorials out there on how to clean them up and fix/replace parts. If you join the wefixit or singerslantsewing yahoo groups you can get access to all kinds of pdf manuals, diagrams and instructions for a lot of the popular old machines, and of course post all your questions. If you do buy used, manuals are pretty readily available. You can still buy hard copies of the manuals for many of Singer's old machines on their website. One of the 401's I bought actually still had the original manual with it. I also didn't mean to imply that the 8280 was total crap, it's just not something I would recommend using for anything more than small crafts and minor repairs. If you're a total beginner, the bobbin frustrations might be enough to drive you away from sewing completely. It worked OK when I was hemming some lightweight drapes, but I was trying to make a pair of pants with medium weight fabric and when I got to a part where I needed to sew through 4 layers I wanted to smash it. Those pants are still unfinished to this day because I was so unbelievably frustrated with that machine--all the visible stitching looks awful and will have to be taken out and redone if I ever want to finish it. I got my old machines off craigslist and in a thrift store, but if you live in/near a big city check to see if you have sewing machine shops or places that do repairs. I've seen some nice old machines for sale in a repair shop.
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Nov 25, 2009 04:59
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daggerdragon posted:
The old all-metal machines are more likely to just freeze up and stop moving than to have parts come off (aside from a piece of broken needle). The thing I'd look for to help you figure out how well cleaned it was is to find one of the places that you're supposed to oil regularly, take off the panel, and run your finger across the gears and see what you get. Thick brownish gunk = not recently cleaned, if it's clear or slightly yellow you're good. Check the manual for the places you're supposed to add oil or gear lube and follow the instructions for how frequently you should do it to prevent future freezing. If it's one of the models with an external motor/drive belt you need to check the belt for wear and cracks and replace it if necessary. Also, check any wiring to make sure the casing isn't cracking or becoming brittle (an all metal machine is a great conductor if live wires become exposed! ). The motor is the part you should worry the most about, if it burns out it can be expensive/difficult to get a replacement. It probably wouldn't hurt to take it somewhere to have the motor checked and/or serviced. If you're confident in your tinkering abilities there are tutorials online for taking the motor apart and servicing it.
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Dec 9, 2009 20:08
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dwoloz posted:
Save your $15, the regular owner's manual won't have instructions for timing adjustments. Those types of instructions are only distributed to Singer Authorized Service Reps. I've found generic sewing machine repair/maintenance guides at my local library or you could join the wefixit Yahoo! group and post your problem. They have a pretty big collection of pdfs and you might be able to find your timing adjustment instructions there. Typically, adjusting the timing isn't hard. You usually have to remove the panel above the needle and the bar that goes up and down will have 2 lines on it. There will be some sort of mechanism to adjust the bar and something the lines should line up with, you adjust the bar so that the top line matches up when the needle is in the correct down position and the bottom line matches up when the needle is in the correct up position. At least that's how it works on the Singer machines I've had.
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Dec 11, 2009 23:07
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Cross_ posted:What I notice with thin fabric or when sewing close to the edge is that the fabric sometimes gets pulled to the left. So assuming the fabric edge is perfectly lined up with the right side of the presser foot it will no longer be lined up once it's travelled under the needle- instead it has drifted a few millimeters to the left. In some situations I can compensate for that by forcefully pulling it to the right behind the presser foot or by lifting the foot and placing it back down. If the fabric is being pulled out of place as the needle goes down it's probably because your needle is too thick for the fabric you're using or it's too dull. If the needle isn't the right size or sharp enough the fabric gets pushed down into the hole in the needle plate before the needle goes through the fabric. Check the needle package, they usually will have a list of the types of fabric each size is designed for.
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Jan 15, 2010 16:27
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