When was the last time you did something

For the first time,
Mine was today, In my whole life I have never used a sewing Machine and, I still have not because, I bought a cheap one off ebay to make some curtains for my camper and, After spending a good few hours threading the cotton on the main spool and. then finding out there is another small spool underneath, Which I didn't know until today , Then the machine was and still is. running backwards, So now its in the shed and I'm learning how to fettle that so. Its been a very long and interesting day and more days to come from it,,
A major major skool day,,

I can tell you now threading needles and 71 year young eyes are a challenge in itself, After a while I worked out a way of doing it, I used 5am fuse wire and threaded that through the needle them formed a large loop in the fuse wire, put the tail end of the cotton in the loop and dragged it through, job done,

I think that small control on extreme right selects the direction of sewing.

Tom

There was one in the family from the 1960s and after you have threaded the needle, and loaded the shuttle, make sure you pull plenty of thread through, and pull the thread from the shuttle up and across the needle hole and start the process by hand, just turning the wheel slowly, and make sure the needle cotton and the shuttle cotton have linked together, starting the sewing process, and don't be in a hurry to press the pedal and get it buzzing, just use your hand and the wheel, until you get used to how it works.

You also might find that the shoo, needs to be adjusted regularly, because they tend to come loose

Like one of these

Tom

When you are threading the needle keep your foot away from the pedal, or else you will end up with a needle through your finger

Threading the needle can be a pain.

Ena the switch on the extreme right is the manual needle position mover, it will allow you to do as Tommy Tee says to pull the bottom spool up , the reverse selector is that black lever above the work surface,

I've not yet sussed why its working in reverse but, one of my early guesses was, reverse polarity , I came across this a few time in my heating days so, I inspected the plug and all was well so. I purposely reversed the polarity and, the machine still works in reverse so, I'm now thinking its a PCB or micro switch in the gubbins of the machine,
There will be only one winner in this challenge,,,

Round one
Machine 1- Tom 0

Tom

That reverse lever should operate a spring loaded clutch, and when the lever is pressed, which you do as the thing is sewing along, it goes into reverse, and it is just for finishing off a line of sewing, you let it go forward and backwards a couple of times, just too tie off or reinforce a line of sewing, if it is stuck in reverse, the clutch mechanism must be seized, which means it will need taking to bits and cleaning, oiling etc

Thanks Tommy tee, I'll be on that tomorrow and let you know what happens,,

You cannot reverse a single phase motor by reversing the line and neutral.

TT, some great advice there.
I used my grandma's Singer treadle machine for years when I was young. When my mam and dad were out for the evening I stayed with my grandma. She taught me to use the machine (which has a particular system including tension for the thickness of natural(. Anyway, loved sowing and she also taught me crochet and knitting!

JR

Me too, my grandma had a Singer treadle machine, which I liked treadling on, but as I was about 4 at the time, I was soon treadled off it.

As regards knitting, I learned myself to Knit, by watching me mum knit, and in the infant class at school, I was showing the teacher how I could Knit, and she showed me how to Crochet, using one of those hookey stick things, but my mum wasn't keen on me messing about with her wool, so the wool was locked away, and that was that

I solved the problem today but it was't what I thought but Tommy 2 strokes pointed me in the right direction with the reverse switch, The wheels are going in the right direction but as Tommy tee suggested, A linkage spring on the revere switch had broke and it was easily fixed by replacing it with a new spring, Now then a new problem arose when I found out the top cotton spool and bottom spool are not synchronized properly and because of this, It won't sew correctly so, It looks like another yed scatching day in the shed and the present score is
Machine 1 - Tom 1

Its double or quits tomorrow,,

Baggie fusty for a new suit

Tom,

Have you got the tensions balanced?

It either top or bottom thread has too little tension, relative to the other, the tensioning arm will be unable to pull the stitch into existence, and will leave loops on the opposite side of the material to the thread which lacks tension.

PS if really are out of sync, check the spool carrier (lower shuttle). make sure it is positioned securely and correctly.

With the cover off, turn the machine by hand, so you can see it make the stitch, or if it fails you will see what is failing to occur.

Thanks ena, I was surprised to find that, the lower spool is not fixed to a ' spline' , there are three screws to secure the bobbin holder to the shaft and this seems to me a recipe for ' clash' so, As you say I will be spending time using the manual wheel to get the needle in the pick up point at the right moment,
When you think about it, Wigan was a major player in Textiles in the day, Courthalls, Coops and many other Mills with thousands of sewing machines and mechanics to maintain them, They are laughing at me now because they will know the problem and the , Brew cabin in the heavens will be roaring as they are shaking their heads and saying,,, " stick to plumbing you old sewing know nowt "

No, lower spool cannot be fixed to a spline, as to make a stitch the upper thread has to pass around it.

A the needle descends, the tension arm drops, so there is now no tension in the top thread. As soon as the needle begins to rise, with no tension, and nothing to support the weight of the thread it will form a loop. You will see a hook on the mechanism which houses the lower spool, engage with this loop. As this structure partially rotates, it pulls this loop all around itself, resulting in the thread from the needle now having passed under the lower thread. The needle and tensioning arm then rise to remove any slack and pull the stitch into position.

Blimey, Its cleverer than a thermos flask, I can see me spending a lot of time observing , evaluating and eventually buying curtains for my camper or, getting Tonker to make me some blinds,,

I made a new cate fitted it and painted it while the weather was OK,