Singer 328P sewing Machine

One of the many machines I have acquired recently is a Singer 328P.  When I first started at work we had a Singer 327 that I loved.  Unfortunately it had a cracked zig-zag cam and 327's are straight stitch and zig-zag only.  It was a beautiful chocolate colour and quite a streamlined shape and I set my heart on getting a 328, as they took interchangeable cams and looked the same.  When I saw this machine for sale I knew I had to have it, even though it was grey instead of chocolate brown.  It came with its instruction manual and some of its cams.  It takes the same cams as the 306 and 320 though, so I have plenty of cams that will fit it.  Apparently the previous owner had about 7 machines which her grandson found in various wardrobes, I bought the last two.  I wanted the 328 and got the other one (a Stylist I think it is) thrown in for a reduced price plus all the random bits he had left over.

This is how it looked when I brought it home

Just look at that streamlined shape!

There are unfortunately some chips on the paintwork but they are not rusted so do not look too bad.  The bobbin area was very fluffy, just about solid with lint I think. Cleaning bobbin arrangements like this is not my favourite pastime as they are very awkward but it is pretty good now.

Bobbin area before cleaning.

I have not taken the base off a machine like this for a while and I had to guess with it, you simply unscrew the screws circled in the below photograph.

Base, showing which screws to remove.

Under the base cover is fairly typical for a drop in bobbin with oscillating hook.

Bobbin area from underneath, before cleaning.

Under the base cover, showing bobbin and feed mechanisms.

Under the face plate was not too dirty but was very dry.

Under faceplate before cleaning.

The gears under the top cover had been very well greased and the surrounds were liberally sprayed in grey!

Finally I wiped the machine down with a cloth dipped in methylated spirits.

Beautiful 328 after cleaning

Showing cam mounting and follower.

The machine is very quiet when it runs and it stitches very nicely.  I cannot wait to have enough time to be able to sew something on it!

Singer 320K Machine

I have acquired rather a number of machines over the past few weeks, it does not matter how hard I try, I always find more to buy!  One of these machines is the Singer 320K, a free arm version of the Singer 319K (which I also own).  Getting this one was an incredible stroke of luck as the vendor told me it was already sold, before contacting me a week later to say I could have it.  For $25 complete with instruction manual, all cams, all throat plates and various feet, I was extremely happy!  Today I got around to looking at it.  It was very dirty, particularly on the outside and had some damage, mainly from misuse.

The wooden base forms the flat bed.  This is before cleaning.

The bobbin area was very felted and I took the whole hook assembly apart.  When I re-assembled it I retimed the hook for a standard needle, thus doing two jobs at once.

Bobbin area before cleaning

Bobbin assembly dismantled before cleaning

The cleaned bobbin area and feed dogs reassembled

The outside of the machine was stained with lots of old oil.  I have found methylated spirits to be very good for cleaning machines, so long as you check you are not removing the colour as well.

Cam selection keys, before cleaning

Zigzag arm, before cleaning

The back of the machine after I took the motor off, before cleaning.

The zigzag arm and back of the machine arm after cleaning.

Under the faceplate was not too bad, the worst bit was oiling everything with my wayward spray lubricant.  I was getting more oil in my face than the machine was.

I always remove the needle, foot and bobbin/bobbin case before I begin to clean any machine.  Consequently they are the last items I clean and replace on the machine.  When I cam to clean this machines bobbin case I was horrified by the number of needle strikes on it.  It has at some time been incorrectly positioned and the needle has struck the case about fifty times.  As a result the case was misshapen and starting to fracture.  We carefully beat it back into shape and filed the sharp edges off and it seems to work okay.

Bobbin case showing the needle strikes

The pedal innards also required some work, as they had at some stage been assembled incorrectly.  However when I got this machine up and stitching I was very pleased!  It is very quiet, other than the clacking of the throat plate (I must see if I can quieten that down a bit as it is rather irritating) and put up with been run at top speed backwards and forwards without skipping a single stitch.  No mean feat for one of these machines, which tend to be super sensitive.

Lovely and clean, showing fee arm

Clean back of the machine.

All in all, not a bad days work and a very worthwhile $25 I think!