sewing machine part missing

**gmcttr** · 07-18-2013, 18:55

I agree a local sewing machine repair shop is your best bet.

Here are two groups that can probably help...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintag...ewingmachines/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wefixit/

**robv60** · 07-18-2013, 19:49

Originally Posted by gmcttr

I agree a local sewing machine repair shop is your best bet.

Here are two groups that can probably help...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintag...ewingmachines/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wefixit/

Good call i joined both of those a couple of days ago. Ill probably head over there and drop a post shortly. About the only repair shop around here is a singee service center. They a good bit of older machines there, albeit all singers.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-18-2013, 21:30

There's an old joke that goes something like White is Singer spelled backwards. It seems the White machines are some what the reverse of a Singer in the direction they run. At least I think it is white,,,, might be something else. Anyway, the point is don't write off a Singer repair place for vintage parts. Lots of machines used the same or interchangeable pieces. It is definitely worth a try.

**robv60** · 07-19-2013, 17:07

Originally Posted by MacEntyre

Well worth taking that old timer to a good shop for parts as well as their tweaking and timing adjustments... every 20 or 30 years whether it needs it or not... it's a keeper!

- MacEntyre

Oof. I stopped by my local singer service center today. Real neat place. LOTS of old machines. Quite a few featherlights. Lots of money sitting there looking pretty. Its was like a museum. Really cool! I talked to the gentleman there, real nice guy btw, told him about my stitchuation....get it?....with the screw and he said he couldn't really tell me what i needed without bringing it in, Totally understandable but when i asked what the bench fee would be to look at it he explined to me how if i brought it in he would do a "basic tune up" that costs $90. Oof. Thats probably a great price but dang, that's almost 3x what i paid for the machine just to see if he has a screw that fits. Its sucks being cheap sometimes. Aaaaaanyway, The good news is that if push comes to shove i know he can service it. There's one more semi local guy i can call. Will try him next.

**MacEntyre** · 07-19-2013, 20:18

When I have bought old machines, I usually paid 50 to 60 bucks for the tuneup... which doubles the cost of acquisition. Well worth it for vintage iron!

- MacEntyre

**nothermark** · 07-19-2013, 20:48

If you do not have it the manual is free here:

http://www.singerco.com/uploads/down...hite-714-x.pdf

You need to start by knowing whether you are playing with SAE or metric threads. I would take one screw out of the machine. Preferably something like a cover screw. Go to a hardware store or the hardware section of Home Depot or equivalent and find a matching nut that screws on easily. That will tell you the thread type. Then you can go to a screw catalog and find out what the standard sizes are for that series. A little diameter eyeballing will put you on the track of the correct screw.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-19-2013, 21:01

Originally Posted by nothermark

If you do not have it the manual is free here:

http://www.singerco.com/uploads/down...hite-714-x.pdf

You need to start by knowing whether you are playing with SAE or metric threads. I would take one screw out of the machine. Preferably something like a cover screw. Go to a hardware store or the hardware section of Home Depot or equivalent and find a matching nut that screws on easily. That will tell you the thread type. Then you can go to a screw catalog and find out what the standard sizes are for that series. A little diameter eyeballing will put you on the track of the correct screw.

The only fly in that ointment is not all the screws are going to be the same size. Before you truck on down to the hardware store try the sample screw in the appropriate hole to make sure the threading is what you want.

**Ramblinrev** · 07-19-2013, 21:07

Originally Posted by robv60

Oof. Thats probably a great price but dang, that's almost 3x what i paid for the machine just to see if he has a screw that fits.

That's over simplifying what the basic tune up does. What you will get out is a machine that is brought back to its original specs for timing and other such variables as well as lubed appropriately and ready to go. In essence a machine that is likely "as good as new." That machine has seen some hard use if critical parts are missing. I would say it worth the cost. But that's just my opinion.

**MacEntyre** · 07-20-2013, 05:28

Originally Posted by Ramblinrev

I would say it worth the cost. But that's just my opinion.

It's my opinion as well. If the seller took the machine to the shop and then sold it as "recently serviced" then he would receive a lot more money for it. Comparable domestic machines cannot be purchased new; they are all junk, with plastic gears, and they cannot be serviced.

It's a rare find to purchase a vintage thread injector for less than $75 and discover that it runs like new. Out of my four domestic machines (3 Singers and 1 Necchi), only one is like that... cost me $15 at a YMCA flea market!

- MacEntyre

**nothermark** · 07-20-2013, 08:09

Originally Posted by Ramblinrev

The only fly in that ointment is not all the screws are going to be the same size. Before you truck on down to the hardware store try the sample screw in the appropriate hole to make sure the threading is what you want.

Not all the screws will be the same size but it will be a rare bird that mixes metric and SAE thread types. That was the first cut. Still need to find the diameter and thread pitch but the family cut the choices in half. One can try sizes all day in the wrong family and never find a match. It sounds like that is what is going on with samples from work. It can also be very hard to find fine thread pitches in either family. Some places have them and some do not bother.