Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
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When someone says "they don't make 'em like they used to", it's especially true with sewing machines, and for very good reason - they can't afford to make them to that level of quality and durability anymore. There is something inherently beautiful about the mechanisms of our old gals, many wells over 100 years old, still producing perfect stitches. That is the essence of..
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
It’s been a little more than 24 hours, so I guess it’s safe to talk about it now…
I was editing my weekly video for my YouTube channel, it was episode 31 of Sunday Morning Quickies. I had been editing it for a little over 2 hours when my computer decided that I needed another heart attack.
The screen was black. Not even a BSOD, it… went… black…
I miss the days of reset buttons on computers. I also miss the days when a laptop battery could be removed from a hung computer to force it to power off. Hell, I miss built in optical drives and PCMCIA slots (am I showing my age?). Anyway,I was looking ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
As a service to the members of the Vintage Sewing Machine Community, I am now maintaining a new page on my website “My Recommended Tools, Materials, and Suppliers“. I’m doing this for a couple of reasons, one of which may be considered kind of selfish. First (the selfish one) I hope to minimize the amount of email I get with the subject line of “What kind of…” or “Where do you get…”, and second, to help newcomers get a firm grasp on what tools, equipment, and supplies we use (though not all will require everything).
Anyway… Take a peek at the lists when you get a chance. I’ll be updating them ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
The following images are companion pieces to my YouTube video “A Wiring Video for Debbie” posted on February 19th, 2022 ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
As I mentioned back in the middle of October, I had a second bout with Covid-19. As soon as I tested positive, my Primary Care Physician sent me to the Emergency Room of Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey for a monoclonal antibodies infusion. 17 hours later, the fever broke and I felt GREAT!
Feeling “great” lasted for all of 2 days.
I woke up that morning and my right arm was numb, VERY numb. I thought I must have slept in a weird position and maybe pinched a nerve. 2 more days passed and my arm wasn’t getting any better, in fact, it was getting decidedly worse! I had almost no ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
The picture shows the a before and after of the hook race / bobbin case and feed dogs of a Singer 15-30 from 1913. The machine belongs to a customer, now turned friend, who is just getting started in vintage sewing machines. I know technicians who, if they were presented this machine, would have said “Sorry, I don’t have the time to do THAT”…
Well… How much time HAS this machine taken? The rest of the machine was just as bad, if not worse. There was crud about 1/16″ thick on the rock shafts below the machine. The connecting rod and stitch length regulator fork were barely recognizable for the ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
Having Covid-19 sucks.
Having Covid-19 a second time, even after being fully vaccinated, sucks even more.
My favorite songwriters, Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote a song for Frank Sinatra- The Second Time Around, the sentiments of which are decidedly not, my friends the case with Covid-19.
On a brighter note, my primary care physician was able to get me in to the local hospital when I received the monoclonal antibody infusion. I don’t know if it did any good or not as my symptoms were even more severe after I had the treatment, but 16 hours later, the fever finally broke.
BTW – The first ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Sandy contacted me saying she tried rewiring the motor and lamp of her Singer 15-91, but was running into trouble with the motor. I told her to just send it on over to me and I’d have a look at it and see what the trouble was.
Sandy’s initial complaint was that the motor, even after rewiring, was moving real slow, and needed a push to get it going. I suspected either a bad field coil or a bad armature – both of which were the case. The field coil was way out of whack, so I suspected an internal short on one side, and the armature had an open winding, both had t ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
I was working on a 31-15 made in 1910 for my friend Brandi. This machine was absolutely filthy. I had gone with her to pick this machine up about 10 months or so ago, and when we arrived, it was sitting outside, under a tarp, in its table, and with clutch motor. Brandi paid for it, we loaded it up in my truck, and headed back on down the road.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I picked the machine up from Brandi’s house, still in as found condition. My intention was to use it as the subject for a couple of videos, and in the process, get it back in perfect sewing condition.
I did a substanti ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
It’s a cliche, I get it, but it’s also true; we live in an increasingly smaller world.
I had a phone call today from a woman named Brenda who said she was given my business card by an employee at the local JOANN Fabrics and Crafts store. She said she was a beginner and was having pretty bad tension issues and couldn’t seem to get anything to work correctly. I asked what machine she had and what class bobbin it uses. Brenda told me that it’s a Singer Simple, and uses Class 15 bobbins. She also said she’s had it for about 6 months.
Now I’m not a snob or anything, but I just don’t work on those c ..read more
Bob’s Vintage Sewing Machine Service Blog
2y ago
That’s what Camille, a repair customer of mine, said to me today when I asked her how she liked her “new to her” Singer 99 that I set her up with a couple of months ago.
Camille first contacted me to repair a family heirloom, a 1970’s Kenmore zigzag machine that had been languishing in a corner of her sewing room. It’s probably a stretch to call it a true heirloom, but I’ll use that term in its truest sense as it had been handed down by a family member and she really wanted to keep it running. The repairs were really quite simple, clean out an inordinate amount of packed in fluff, clean the th ..read more