A Princess!

I got a new machine come in on Thursday! It is very heavy and one of the Japanese zig zag machines. This one goes under the name 'Princess' and is a pretty two tone brown. It was supposed to be in working order so I was rather looking forward to playing with it. The only complication was, I hadn't been playing with it five minutes when the zig-zag knob dropped off in my hand! I figured the screw just needed tightening so I replaced the knob and put the machine away until Saturday.

 Saturday morning was lovely, we had rain and a thunderstorm and going to work was lovely!

 Anyhow, back to the Princess. She was moderately dirty under the feed and around the race but not excessively so. I gave every moving part a good lubrication and then set about investigating the knob situation. Basically it was as I thought, the screw needed tightening to keep it on the shaft. However when I came to adjust the stitch length I discovered that the stitch length knob had suffered a similar fate. Once these were all tightened though she was ready to go.

underneath

under the cover on top

under the side-door

So know for the picture of the actual machine.

It has a big plastic cover, which isn't cracked, unusually.

Unfortunately the image of the width lever has dropped off, although that doesn't affect function, obviously!

When sewing it has a very quiet and smooth action, I really like it!  The zig-zag width is adjusted by moving the lever, which is spring loaded and then tightening the knob to the right of the lever.  If you don't tighten the knob, creating patterns by moving the width lever is very easy.  It makes a fairly decent stitch too.  I suspect it would be nicer if I spent more time playing with the tension but I'm not about to do that!  It did stitch through two layers of fleece without a pause or skipped stitch though.

from the right side

from the wrong side

I wish I could justify owning this machine......but I really don't need it!

Instruction manuals

Here are some of the instruction manuals I've had for a while.

Husqvarna 6230 continued

Anyone who has been following this blog since my first post may remember that it concerned a Husqvarna 6230.  

At the time I raised concerns about the cracks in the cams, which were quite substantial.  When I came to sew with it I found that the machine was swapping which stitch it did on which setting, a sure sign you have cam issues.  When the cam stack was removed the two cracked black cams literally dropped to pieces.  It would appear that the plastic shrank and cracked because when reassembled the cams won't fit around the shaft they are supposed to.

Not a healthy cam!

If anyone is considering buying one of these machines, make sure the gears and cams are all intact, plastic is dodgy!!

More Janomes!

I have had two Janomes to work on within the space of three days and apparently there is another machine of unknown make coming soon too.  The first, Janome XL-II was donated without a pedal but fortunately I had a spare.  I have to confess that I fell head over heels in love with this machine at first sight.  I love the colour scheme, the long (fold-up) flat-bed, the window for ease of bobbin changing and just about everything else about it.  I didn't realise until after I had started taking the machine apart that all the feet were hidden under the top.  Unfortunately it is also missing the standard foot and the shank that the feet clip onto.  Inside the machine is mind boggling!  There are lots and lots of parts all layered on top of eachother.  I didn't have my camera with me when I took the machine apart so sadly there are no photos of the insides at the moment.  Very sadly in the process of servicing the machine I discovered that the bobbin gear is badly cracked so I'm not sure I'll be able to sell it.  I did do some stitching with it today, it feels a little sticky which I'm not sure it's supposed to but it makes a reasonable stitch.

Front view

This machine has a lot of stitches, some I haven't even seen before!

Press the button once you get this handy chart...

...press the button twice and all the accessories appear!

The second Janome is very similar to the one I had timing issues with a few weeks ago.  Fortunately this one is absolutely fine in that department.  Interestingly when I received it, it had a jammed feed mechanism.  I first noticed that the reverse wasn't working and in trying to find out what was wrong with it discovered that it wasn't feeding at all.  I ended up pulling a similar machine out and looking at how everything should work and then looking at what wasn't in my current machine.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me then either so no pictures.  Eventually the application of plenty of lubricant and force had the reverse lever springing backwards and forwards and the machine feeding nicely.  This machine also came with a flat bed which is handy, they often don't.  For $40- someone will have a nice machine!

Front view, all clean and shiny!

Back view, I remembered not to smudge the writing with metho!

I'll leave you with this lovely picture from the garden yesterday morning.  It's an Autumn Snowflake, a bit early but maybe it is saying we won't have any more hot weather!

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!

A small present

A friend is having a birthday soon and I was very unsure what to do for her.  Eventually I settled on machine embroidered pillow cases.  Using two of her favourite colours I came up with these.

I used the Singer 306 again because of its interchangeably cams.  It was actually remarkably well behaved.  It really didn't like the downward triangles but I had some lightweight interfacing underneath and that helped.

Downward triangles, or upward I suppose if turned up the other way!

I think perhaps I need to play with the tension a bit more but it worked and that's all I'm concerned about!

Oooohhhh tension!

These were really rather neat, I quite liked them.

This has to be one of the more interesting renditions of sideways triangles...

A close up of the cam on the Singer 306

The beautiful Singer 306

The Singer 306 has to be one of the most beautiful machines, in my opinion anyway!  I know a lot of people don't like them and to be truly honest if I'm not feeling patient I prefer not to use them.  They take a shorter needle than your standard sewing machine and have a front loading full-rotary bobbin.  The timing on these machines seems to slip quite easily and unless they are perfectly timed they go from difficult to impossible.  Unless you are sewing slightly rigid, heavy weight, woven material at exactly the right speed they are likely to skip stitches quite frequently, no amount of anything seems to completely rid them of this trait.  I found through testing with my 206 (the pre-cursor to the 306) that they like a spotless and well oiled bobbin and foot area.  Changing the bobbin (which by the way, is flatter than your standard bobbin!) requires you to tilt the machine backwards in its box or stand, no mean feat considering the weight of a 206!  However the one-piece throat-plate is handy because there is little for your thread or material to catch in.  I totally love the zig-zag and needle position adjuster knob though, I've always found it fascinating.  The final catch with these machines is that internally they have a 'cloth' belt which apparently is not particularly robust although in my three they are fine.  I have found a lot of more modern machines use these crimped belts as well but I suspect they may be stronger than the ones used in the 206/306/319 clan.  If sourcing bobbins and needles for these machines is difficult there are a few solutions.  You can re-time the machine to take standard sewing machine needles, some people disagree with this but my 206 is re-timed and works fine.  The machines will sew with standard metal Husqvarna bobbins although they won't wind them.  I buy the Husqvarna bobbins and wind them on a stand-alone bobbin winder, it's easier.  If someone is offering you one of the clan I would say yes and have fun going completely barmy!  They are great if you have patience!  When they're good they're very, very good but when they're bad they're horrid!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.....

Some more sea-side pictures today.  The only thing this weather is fit for is swimming!  Although Shirley has found a new occupation in singing to the air-conditioner and whatever music I am listening to.

I'll finish with a slightly appropriate song from Queen.

Queen - Seven Seas of Rhye