Janome and Husqvarna 250

I've had a long absence due to occurrences beyond my control.  However, last Saturday I had these two machines to work on.  I haven't sewn with either yet, depending on what happens I should be able to get to it on Saturday.

The Husqvarna is an Electronic model 250.  I can't easily take it apart but there was a big knot of thread in the bobbin area.

This machine is white and very reflective so it took very bad photos, I might try it outside on Saturday.

The other machine (and apparently they did come from the same owner) is a Janome.  It doesn't seem to have a model number but looks like it's somewhere between lovely old Janome and modern less than lovely Janome.  This one has some plastic cams.

Under the faceplate is pretty standard.

Interestingly this has one of the throat plates that automatically adjust for straight stitch or zigzag.

The bobbin area was slightly fluffy and it's a full-rotary machine as well.

From the front and showing stitch selection.

Hopefully I'll be able to get both these machines out for sale this week end!

Singer Super Stylist 533

I have had yet another machine donated this week!  Unfortunately it is very similar to last weeks machine - just in worse condition!  The new machine is a Singer Super Stylist 533 and very similar to the machine I learnt to sew on.  This machine also has plastic gears, one of which is a completely different colour and I suspect it may have been replaced.

The white gear on the right I think is new.

As you can see from the above photos the machine left a fair bit to be desired when it came to cleanliness!  The bobbin area was packed with lint, every time I thought it was finally clean I found another piece.

There is something not quite right with this machine, I think maybe it just needs the oil to sit for a while as it was very dry.  It's kind of sticky and the reverse was jammed, although I freed that up.  Under the top cover and faceplate all looked good and the cams all looked crack free, not that they are exactly easy to look at under the white selection disc!

Underneath apart from being dirty, dry and plastic everything looked good.

I annotated the photo above to give some idea of the layout of the machine.

From the front it's rather a ho-hum machine, it might look better if I had better photos and had remembered to take one AFTER I cleaned it!  This machine also has a hard cover, some accessories and an instruction manual, it's not all bad!

My mother made these very cute owl mittens for her sister.  They are Tunisian crochet and I think they are absolutely adorable, I love the green eyes.

Singer Stylist 437

Just a week ago I got a new machine at work.  For some reason it comes with an instruction manual for a Singer 427 but it is actually a Stylist 437.  It is actually rather a nice machine in a pleasing tan colour and comes with a cover, which is always nice!

 I have to say though, once I started taking it apart I decided I didn't want one, which is nice!  It is a belt drive connecting top and bottom and has two sets of plastic gears.  Amazingly both sets of gears look all right, for now at least, but they are just an accident waiting to happen.  We replaced a plastic gear on one of our machines once, cost us $20, almost more than the machine was worth and the machine never felt the same afterwards.  Below are pictures of the gears.

One thing I do like about this era of Singer machines is the hook area.  They are rather easy to take apart and oil.  This one had some minor fur-balls and needed a good oiling, it was slightly seized when I first started on it.

 There is very little under the top cover, apart from the blindstitch cam anyway.  It is also a free-arm machine and still has the flat-bed with it.  No accessories though.

 It does, however, have one of those dangerous pedals on it so I could yet not be selling it.

On Wednesday I got another machine in.  This one is a Globe overlocker.  I am not the world's greatest fan of overlockers, the only thing they seem to do remarkably well is not cooperate!  Unfortunately this one has the wrong pedal and I don't have one that will plug into it, so it looks like it is in for a long stay!

 And finally, a machine I sold recently was a very brightly coloured Brother.  I would definitely not like to own one of these but I love the bright red!

I do have some pictures lined up to post here and an Elna as well.

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!