Elna Supermatic

Due to the amount of studies I have had recently, I had about a week were I did not work.  When I went back in on a Saturday morning there were three machines awaiting me.  One was a modern Brother overlocker, with no pedal (I'm yet to decide what I'm going to do with it), one was a Singer 5528, the second of them I've had in as many months and I keep meaning to devote a post to them and the third was in a very square metal case.  There was only one machine I knew for sure came in a metal case (Elna model 1) and this was the wrong colour, so I was extremely excited when I took the machine out.  It was a gorgeous Elna Supermatic, complete with ~11 cams plus the buttonhole attachment, a few feet and the cover plates for the feed dogs.  Half of the case forms the flat bed for the machine and the machine is a knee control (I love knee controls!).  This machine is made in Switzerland and has all metal gears and parts, that I can see, the body is aluminium and consequently the machine is not all that heavy.

It wasn't until a week later I found time to take it home and look at it, there is no way I am selling this machine, I am BUYING it!

Firstly I removed the cover from the free arm and the throat-plate just sprung off, the bobbin loads from the back, I then removed the feed dogs so that I could get the bobbin holder and the hook apart, for ease of cleaning.  The surfaces here have been de-rusted at some period in time as the chrome is less than shiny in parts.

To get the bobbin holder free from the hook there are two little screws (with little springs coiled around them) that need to be removed, they are directly opposite each other and the holes can be seen in the photograph below.  Just be aware they are very springy and are very easy to lose if they spring away somewhere.

 
The next thing I did was remove the base of the machine (remove screws circled in red in image below) so I could see up the pillar, it is incredible.  The motor and all the necessary electrical parts to control the speed of the machine through the knee control are mounted in there.  The motor is geared into the machine much higher up the arm and cannot be seen in the following photographs.

Finally I checked and oiled all the moving parts under the faceplate and cam door.  The faceplate cannot be opened unless the foot is down.  The machine is threaded by passing the thread down the back of the faceplate, through the tension, from back to front, and then through the take-up lever and then as usual.

Whilst I was oiling this machine I noticed it had a hard spot, I thought maybe something wasn't oiled properly but despite oiling all the usual spots the noise persisted.  When I actually plugged the machine in and ran it the noise increased with the speed (as was to be expected) and the machine clunked dreadfully.  It wasn't until a couple of days later I found enough time to go and look at it again.

It came to my attention that the noise was not always in the same place in the machines rotation, this implied the motor was at fault.  Eventually I disengaged the machine from the motor as for bobbin winding and the clunking continued, definitely the motor.  With the base removed it became obvious that every time the machine clunked the entire motor was moving, which it definitely was not supposed to do.  The problem was, how to see up the arm to see the gears?  I did not have the appropriate circlip pliers to remove the handwheel and try and see in that way but eventually remember we had a camera for seeing in confined spaces.  This worked and I can now say that to all intents and purposes it looks as if the gears up there are chipped and resulting in the machine not running smoothly.  When I am finally finished for the year (another 4 weeks) I intend to go through the painstaking process of removing the motor and actually being able to personally see the extent of the damage.  It is annoying to have such a beautiful machine, complete with accessories and be completely unable to use it!!  At least I only have to pay $10 for it as it is completely unsaleable.....!

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!

Some more disasters!

I apologise for my long abscence, the last couple of weeks have been hectic.  I'm determined to get some (any) time to sew tonight, I want a new top to wear on Monday.

Today I spent a very unsuccessful couple of hours trying to make these machines behave.  They are both Janome's, in fact I think that makes a total of three Janome's I have had that have had this issue.  They both skip, one moderately the other so badly it's hilarious.  I decided that considering there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong it must be the timing, my first problem was being unable to find a timing mark.  Is it just me or do most machines not have a timing mark?  Anyway, I started with what I shall call Janome1, it is a front loading oscillating machine and to be truly honest I had no idea how to time it.  I looked at it a bit and decided that my best bet was disconnecting the connector rod that connects the top to the bottom, as per picture below.

I managed eventually to get it back together but it still doesn't want to play nice!  I think it's slightly better and I think maybe I just have to tweak it repeatedly until it works but I'm not over happy with it.
This machine was unfortunately made with plastic gears and cams but fortunately they're all in one piece so far.

Machine no 2 was another Janome, Janome2.  It is apparently a 'Heavy Duty' computerised machine, not that I thought those two phrases could exist comfortable together when talking about sewing machines!  It is a top loading full rotary machine.  For some reason the hook is actually striking the needle and the net result is something that looks like extra-long basting stitch.  Not all that practical when you're trying to sell a machine!  I'm wondering if I've got the needle in correctly but I have it mounted flat to back and I really can't see it differing.  I tried re-timing it by adjusting the belt that connects the top and bottom but it was mighty unsuccessful.

The little electronic bits fascinate me although I know they are an absolute pain if they break.

 I think this machine has had a bit of a beating, the throat-plate is badly hacked from needle strikes and the plastic base of the hook (which I forgot to take photos of) is scratched to shreds almost.

I'll try and post a bit more regularly again but finding the time is hard!