Sewing Machine Maintenance

By

sings2high

I'm wondering when that quote was written. In the 1960's the concept of planned obsolescence hit the sewing machine market. This explains why the machines from the first half of that decade and before are still running like tops, while most machines built in the 70's and 80's are already in the dump - and because so much of them was made of plastic, there's not much that can reasonably be recycled! But machines from before the 60's can actually be maintained pretty easily by regular people. See TFSR.org for generic manuals.

By

T&T Grandma

DOes yours have a switch to change the clutch gears? I have HIGH and LOW for speeds.
Do you oil and maintain the dust factor? I left this info previous posts:

There is on the market--small tools to attach to the vaccum cleaner wand. I call this my Barbie vaccum cleaner set. Miniture extensions, brushes, etc. For the $8 they are handy for computers, sewing machines, electronics you need TINY for.
If you don't want to invest--try this.
Take the vaccum wand, use a small disposable bathroom cup-poke a hole in the end, insert a bendable straw--the bend part away from you. You may need to tape it in place. Put the cup over the end of the vaccum wand, and you have a mini throw away set. This works for short timed projects. The straw can get into many places.

Also another idea: Take it outside and use the air compressor on it to blow out the dust/lint then oil up the machine and you should be ready to go again. My latest machine is 20 years young and still running. My older machine is 45 years old and still running smooth. Thousands of hours and all types of materials from car seats, coat leathers, to the finest wedding dresses/baptismal gowns have come off these machines.
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It is a new machine? If not, find a sewing machine tech to take it too. It could be as easy as the neighborhood fix it person. Lots of women can do this as well as men, so don't overlook that.
When I bought my last machine, I stood in the store taking the machine apart, to see how long it would take me and if I would be able to do my own repairs.

By Jayne (Guest Post)

my sewing maching motor gets hot after about 10 minutes, what is wrong?