Years of being stored and left alone leave machines in poor condition. The gears get gummed up from old grease, parts rust and the motor runs poorly.
Check out this Singer 201-2 machine I got a few weeks ago. It was painful for me to run the machine in this state but I wanted to show how much it is struggling. The machine is running at full speed here, it is slow and squeaky.
After a full days work of disassembling, re-wiring motor and power/pedal cords, cleaning, greasing and oiling the machine it is SO much happier!
PICTURES OF THE PROCESS
Removed bobbin winder assembly...
... and handwheel.
Take everything else off the machine.
Parts to be cleaned and metal polished. I have these parts in a tube so I can soak them in isopropyl alcohol The alcohol loosens the dirt and grime. Brush with a toothbrush and dry well with soft towel. Use BlueMagic to shine silver parts.
Bobbin winder assembly with rust...
...and bobbin winder assembly without rust. Interestingly enough, I used a wad of tinfoil with drops of lemon juice and rubbed the foil on the rusted parts and the chemical reaction removes the rust!
Motor and handwheel parts. Ready to be cleaned and new wires soldered in.
New motor wires.
Motor with new grease and grease wicks.
Carbon cleaned off motor armature.
Old, cracked foot pedal and power cords...
...replaced with new cords.
Tension assembly removed, parts cleaned and assembled.
Clean machine. I use q-tips for the interior parts and cotton balls for the exterior because they're both disposable and I go through a couple handful of each!
Old grease from the motor.
Now everything is cleaned and polished ready for assembly! I grease the gears with Tri-flow grease.
Motor and winder back on...
...now handwheel.
Motor wires cut to length and attached to terminal.
I oil all the oiling points with Tri-flow oil. The best oil for machines! If you don't have Tri-flow, use regular sewing machine oil and nothing else!
Use Singer brand lubricant for the motor gears - not Tri-flow. Tri-flow grease is for non-motor gears.
I used BlueMagic metal polish to buff and shine the silver metal pieces. This stuff is amazing! I brush the cream on with a tooth brush and clean and buff with cotton balls.
Here's the finished product inside one of the wooden sewing bases I made. See tutorial here of how I made the base.
If you don't know it by now, the Singer 201-2's are my favorite machine to work on! They're sexy and stealthy all at the same time... is that even possible?
If you're interested in re-furbishing your own machine, I have motor re-wiring kits for sale on Ebay.
