Lemair 1781

I have had this machine sitting in the lounge waiting for me to have another look at it for a while.  Now that studies are finished for the year I decided to drag it out again.  It is made in Korea and extremely heavy.  Originally I brought it home because it needed a new pedal but then when I took it apart I realised that there was a problem with the bobbin winder.  The casting that has a groove cut into it for the spring to sit in is a trifle dodgy, as can be seen below.

This machine is, for the most part, well made but there are some hopeless blunders (cost cutting exercises?), obviously the casting on that piece for the bobbin winder is one, however there are two plastic pieces that I really don't like.  One is cracked and can be seen in the picture below, it is under the side cover, and the other is the cam follower on the rod that connects the top to the bottom of the machine, I'm sorry, I forgot to take a photo!

For some curious reason the inside of this machine is full of blue tinsel!  I have no idea what it was used for, sewing Christmas tree costumes or something??  Judging by the number of needle tips I also found, the machine didn't like it!  Another good thing about this machine is that it has metal cams and has one of my favourites, a side loading bobbin.  I would argue that a side loading bobbin gives greater precision for zig-zag stitching, however that is just a theory based on the fact that the bobbin moves with the needle and thus the hook always intercepts the needle at the same point in the rotation.

The tension assembly on this machine is woeful. There is one coarse spring inside and the discs have very poor surfaces. 

When actually stitching this machine is incredibly, beautifully quiet.  I love the stitch and it feels really lovely to use.  For $25 someone will have a bargain!  I wish I needed another sewing machine....

Tomorrow I'll see if I can post the manual for this.  I also had a real treasure waiting for me at work today which I'll share tomorrow.  Anyone who is obsessed with machines will love it!

Singer Fashion Mate 362

I got a new machine to work on on Wednesday.  To be frankly honest it's rather ugly but I was intrigued.  It was a Singer Fashion Mate 362 with a garish orange tinge rather reminiscent of faded curtains after a hot summer.  They look like and in design are similar to the Singer Hushmatic 242, equally unattractive I'm afraid!  The Fashion Mate 362 has completely plastic casing, not something I am overly fond of.  Let's get to the nitty-gritty and start to pull it apart.  First of all you need to get the top off, this is fairly simple, there are only two screws holding it on. The second is under the felt disc on the thread spool.

Arrows mark screw positions

 

Now take the belt cover of the side, it's only one screw and a bit of wiggling to get it free.  Next take the handwheel off.  It's the normal type, take the stop-screw out then unscrew, take washer off and slide handwheel off.  The belt will make it hard, just pull!  When you go to put it back on make sure you slip the belt back on the handwheel and then motor before attempting to get it back in position.  When you've taken the top of it'll look like this:

Under top cover

 

Notice the plastic gear nestled inbetween all the metal ones?  And the plastic cams?

 

Now take the back off.  You will need to take off the belt cover and handwheel as described previously.  To take the back off remove the screws marked in diagram.  Tip the machine up and remove the metal light bulb cover, it will only get in the way.  Make sure pressor foot is raised.

Remove screws indicated

 

Now comes the tricky bit.  The casing is plastic remember so you don't want to be careless.  Place your machine as illustrated above and GENTLY lever the left hand side from the base of the casing with a screwdriver.  At the same time (it may help to have two people) grab hold of the right side and pull it towards you.  You should now be able to gently push it to the left and it will come free.  Remember if it gets stuck DON'T FORCE IT, it WILL break.  Now your machine should look like this.

With the back off

 

Now clean and oil your machine.  This one was very dry and I had to give it a thorough oiling.  I also had to clean a lot of rust off the main shaft.  When it's all nice and clean and oiled put it back together again, being careful with that plastic.  Next I cleaned and oiled the base of the machine.  First of all I took it out of its plastic base, this is fairly simple, just remove the two grub screws holding the hinges to the machine.  Next I opened the bobbin plate and took the throat plate out allowing me to access the bobbin and hook area.  To get the bobbin case out lever the piece of metal on the right up and over the screw it is sitting over, as shown in the image below.

 

Now the bobbin case and hook can be cleaned properly.  This machines bobbin case was very rusted so I dealt with that before progressing.  Last of all I turned the machine upside down and cleaned and oiled the base.  These machines have a fabulous belt drive underneath and the belt on this one is in surprisingly good condition - it looks almost new.

Fabulous belt drive.

 

Now all I need to do to this machine is give it a very thorough cosmetic job.  I am guessing someone stored it in a shed or garage for a while because the hard cover and base are very dirty and the locks rusted stiff.  Nothing that a bit of TLC won't fix though!