White Family Rotary

One of my most recent purchases was a machine that I have wanted for a very long time - ever since I passed up on one in a scrapyard, a White Rotary.  This beautiful machine comes in a lovely cabinet, unfortunately slightly water damaged, with a fantastic mechanism which lifts the machine as the top opens.  I have not yet found the time to work on it, other than removing a large thread lock from the race but I am looking forward to it!

From the back

From the front, unfortunately the word 'White' has rubbed off

The decal on the inside of the pillar

Showing faceplate and tension assembly

Patents are stamped on the uniquely shaped plate.

The latest patent on mine is 1913 so it could be almost 103 years old.  Not bad condition for a machine that has been around that long!

How is it possible?

I had a bad feeling about the coming year already, this hasn't helped.............

Butterick B5920.....

....my new favourite dress!  For the past few years I have made myself a dress in late November to wear to an end of year function.  My previous favourite was the rose pinafore that I made a couple of years ago.  However, I think it could have just been eclipsed by my latest creation.  I was short on time and even shorter on motivation when I started making it but it went together like a dream and fitted wonderfully.  I didn't take any construction images (too much of a hurry) but have some completed images.

 Instead of fussing about with a sheer and probably difficult material (and then having to make a slip as well) I went for a sensible cotton printed quilting material.  It happened to be on clearance when we bought it, fortunately given the price!  I made the belt from a scrap of red poplin I had over and used pretty bright red shank buttons, although you can't see them in the picture.

From the front

From the side. I'm in love with those shoes btw!

Collar detail before buttons added

I used my Singer 66 (not yet posted about here) for the general construction, set into the 206's table so I could use the clutch motor.  However, my 66 is one of the earlier ones and has the earlier presser bar which requires special feet.  As a consequence I did the buttonholes on my industrial buttonholer, the 71-30.

Finally, today is Loretta Young's birthday and I cannot resist a few lovely photographs....

Those sleeves.....

Oiling and Cleaning a Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machine

Recently I have acquired a number of new machines, including two vibrating shuttle machines.  I decided to create a post detailing how to oil and clean one, particularly in the case of the machine being seized through being left to sit.

From the front

The machine used below is called The Valley B.G. and is made in Germany.  I suspect it could be a re-badged Vesta.  It should be noted not all machines are identical although most parts operate in a fairly similar fashion.  A White vibrating shuttle, for example, has a different mechanism for operating the shuttle movement.  If the machine is seized, gently clean the oil holes to try an reduce the amount of dust likely to fall inside and apply oil to all oil holes on the arm of the machine, see below:

Oil holes on arm of machine

There is another oil hole just out of frame which lubricates the main shaft as it leaves the head and is attached to the hand-wheel.  This machine had no oil holes on the bed but some machines do, so check yours and oil if need be.

Now turn the machine on its back so that you can see underneath.  Referring to the diagram below oil the machine, applying grease to the roller and its track (see close up below).  Use all oil holes but if there doesn't seem to be one just drip or spray oil into the join between two moving parts as much as possible.  The top left hand arrow in the picture which says 'grease' should actually say 'oil' instead.  Using steel wool and oil, you can clean all the rods, being sure to remove any rust and wiping the parts clean with a rag afterwards.

Underneath of machine showing oiling and greasing

Oil hole in shuttle mechanism

Showing where to grease roller for shuttle mechanism

Remove the back plate on the machine and thoroughly grease the cam and fork and the rocking mechanism, as indicated in the image below.

Showing greasing under back plate.

Now remove the face-plate, needle, foot and throat plate.  Take note of which way the needle was inserted and if in doubt about whether it is a standard size, hang on to it for later comparisons.  If the machine is still seized and with the needle down, removing the needle may be impossible, in which case the throatplate will not come off either.  However, if you have oiled the machine as above, some gentle force may help your cause.  Sometimes you will have to repeat oil them and leave them to sit for a few days before they will yield.

Shows screws to remove throatplate, needle and foot

Now turn your attention to under the faceplate (the metal cover that sits on your left if you are facing the machine).  Underneath you will have the needlebar, presser bar, take-up lever and other delights which won't concern us yet.  Clean the needle and presser bars well with oil and steel wool and then evenly oil so that they glide smoothly up and down.

Under the faceplate

Both the take-up lever (seen above) and the needle bar are moved up and down by a cam stud roller following a cam.  These rollers and cams need to be well greased so that the move freely without dragging.  The rollers are supposed to rotate as they travel around the cam so they do not drag an wear it.  This can be hard to test though, watching closely with a torch is your best bet.  Below are close-up images showing these rollers and their cams in relation to the surrounding parts and showing where to grease.

Take-up lever operation from under face-plate

Take-up lever roller and track from front

Roller for moving needlebar up and down from under face-plate

Now turn the machine upside down again and clean the arch of the shuttle's track well with steel wool and oil.  Once clean, smear a film of grease across it using your finger.  This is to lubricate the shuttle as it runs across.

Shuttle track, clean and grease.

Shows shuttle sitting on its track

 Now dismantle the tension assembly carefully.  Remove the thumbnut all the way and then carefully take the pieces off, laying them in order so that you know how to replace them.  Leave the take-up spring on the shaft and clean the threads with a soft wire brush and some oil.  Clean the tension discs well so that they don't snag thread and ensure the tension spring is put back on with the final loop facing downwards.

After removal of tension assembly

Parts of tension assembly in order of reassembly

Showing correct placement of tension spring

Now turn your attention to the shuttle.  You should remove the tension spring and clean it well with steel wool and oil and clean the shuttle thoroughly in the same way.  Tension on the thread is adjusted using the screw you remove to take out the spring.

Removing tension spring

Tension spring and screw, before cleaning

Showing lint under spring which will interfere with tension regulation

Once reassembled, grease flat edges of shuttle lightly.

Where to grease shuttle

Now you can thread the shuttle with a long bobbin.  Using two hands, hold the shuttle in one ( the left if you are right-handed) and the bobbin in the other, so that the bobbin thread is across the bobbin and the end is on the right, as below but I only had one hand spare!

Showing bobbin thread direction and cut in shuttle.

Now drop the bobbin into the shuttle, dragging the thread down the cut in the side until it reaches the end and moves up the other side.

Thread at end of cut

Now pull the thread to the left until it goes under the finger on the tension spring.

Showing thread under finger

Bring thread back to the right over the finger and your shuttle is ready to go into the machine.

Finished threading

To insert the shuttle into the machine, place it point first into the shuttle carrier and drop the other end gently guiding it to sit straight and evenly into it, as below:

Inserting the shuttle

Hopefully the above can serve as a starting point to anyone wishing to work on a vibrating shuttle sewing machine.  Any questions feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help.

Elna Contessa 400 Threading Diagram

Recently I was asked how to thread the Elna Contessa 400.  As I result I created some diagrams, which I thought might be of use to others so I will share them here.

Threading - overview

Close-up of needle threading

In the top threading images above, the red arrows point to the thread guides and the black line shows the approximate path of the thread.  Click on the images to see them and the instructions larger.

How to wind a bobbin

The path of the thread for bobbin winding is show in blue.  There was actually no bobbin winder on this machine when the image was taken, consequently the grey block that I added is where it should be.

The bobbin case of this machine threads as they do on most machines, hold the bobbin case in your left hand, with the open end facing to the right.  Hold the bobbin in your right hand with the end of the thread going away from you.  Put the bobbin in the bobbin case and pull the thread through the slot in the bobbin case and under the tension spring.  That's the bobbin case threaded.

As usual, if you have any questions, drop me a line and I will do my best to answer them!

Re-timing the Singer 320K

I have had a few enquiries about re-timing or removing the hook on the 320.  After the removal of the throatplate, the instructions would be the same for a Singer 306 and 319 and probably a 206, although I've never re-timed mine.  This method can be followed to re-time the machines to take standard needles instead of their special size, just use a needle of the size you wish when actually timing the hook.

Just to refresh your memory, the Singer 320 is the green free-arm with a wooden flatbed.

Singer 320 from front

Before you commence this operation ensure that no cams are engaged (all the 'keys' on top are lying down), that the width is set to zero and needle position is in the centre of the throatplate.  If you don't, the timing will be off when you come to stitch zig-zag with it and you run the risk of hitting your hook, which is bad for both hook and needle.

Firstly you will have this:

Remove the bobbin case, foot and needle before going in further.  Keep the needle handy because you will need it again to re-time the machine.  Now remove the throatplate.  For those of you not familiar with this, take a narrow flat-head screwdriver and slide it into the depression on the LHS of the free arm, between the body and the throatplate of the machine.  Gently twist the screwdriver and the throatplate will pop off.  See image below if my instructions are bad!

Now you will have something that looks like this:

Next remove the feed dogs by unscrewing the screws circled in red in the image above.

For the next step use a fine point black marker to put marks on the machine as indicated by the arrows above.  Make sure that the needle is at a point you will remember, ie. at the top or bottom of its cycle, when you do the markings on the hook assembly.  These markings will give you a vague idea of how to fit things back together.  Even though we are altering the timing and thus the marks on the assembly will not line up when we've finished, it gives an idea of approximately where the hook should be.

If you do not intend on removing the hook assembly and just wish to re-time the machine, skip the marking and just loosen the two grub screws holding the hook assembly on the shaft.

Once you have marked the machine, completely remove the screw holding the crooked piece of metal on and remove that piece too.  Now loosen the grub screws holding the hook assembly on enough that you can slide the whole assembly off in your hand.  You will need to wiggle it gently to ease it off.

The arrow in the image points to the hook.

You can now clean out the assembly and dismantle it further using the screws and metal clips on the side.  When it comes to re-assembly, place the hook assembly back on the shaft, ensuring needle is in the appropriate position for the marks and replace the crooked piece of metal, aligning it with your marks and screw it into place.  We can now re-time the machine.

For those of you who just want to re-time their machine, join us again here.  Now put a needle in your machine.  If you want to re-time your machine to take a standard needle, put a standard needle in your machine, flat to back.  Gently rotate the machine until the needle is in its lowest position and just starting to ascend.  Now hold the needle still and rotate the hook assembly by hand until the hook is tip is just near the edge of the needle and about 1/2 way across it.  The arrows in the images below point to the hook and the eye of the needle.

A bit too far away, the hook is not passing near enough to the eye of the needle

The hook is passing close to the needle and closer to the eye.

You do not necessarily push the hook assembly onto the shaft as far as it will go, you can pull it out slightly so that it is closer to the needle.  However, make it too close and the slightest deflection caused by sewing will cause the needle to scrape the hook.

Once you have the hook positioned to your liking, tighten the grub screws tightly.  You should be able to reach one with the hook in that position, tighten it hard and then very gently rotate the machine until you can reach the other and tighten that hard too.  Once you have tightened the screws, carefully rotate the machine ensuring that the needle is not hitting or being deflected by any part of the hook assembly.  Now set the machine to the widest zig-zag and do the same, ensuring there is adequate clearance at all times between the hook and the needle of the machine.  And that's it!  Screw the feed dogs back on and carefully press the throatplate back into position.  Sew a test swatch and check that the machine is picking up properly on all needle widths and you're done.  

Don't worry if you stuff up your first attempts, whilst it's irritating to have to pull the thing apart and start again, once it's timed properly it will be a joy to sew on.