tate_elliott

Wait a second, do I understand that you guys are bellyaching because you have to have the lid up to sew? Don't any of you have the removable spool pin that fits into the hole on the outside of the lid?

Well, mine didn't come with one either. But I bought a nickel-sized wooden disk from the craft section at Joann. Then I drilled a hole in it and glued a thin wooden dowel through it. Voila! A removable spool pin. Oh, before gluing the dowel in, I used a pencil sharpener to put a point on the end that would be going into the lid. Done.

Now, when I sew, I can view the magnificence that is a Rocketeer. With the lid down.

Tate

Manalto

I put it in perspective; not quite as big a deal as the price of artichokes. To tell the truth, I had forgotten about the removable spool pin because I rarely use the 500 - it's scenery while I use the 401 - but I have mine! (Good workaround with the wooden contraption, though. That advice about wooden nickels doesn't always apply.)

sewbeadit

I also love these machines. This thread is getting funny! If I wanted to look at it I would put the lid down if it bothered me and put it back up again when start to sew again. This is a very pretty machine.

Rodney

I discovered commercial thread cones a while ago. I was given a few by a friend. Now I only use the little retail spools if I need to match a color or something. The giant cones are just more convenient to me. I built a wooden thread stand to use them with. Very simple and it works well.

I suppose there should be a point to this post. I don't worry too much about the spool pins on machines or whether I need to lift the lid or not. I don't use a spool pin that much anymore.
Rodney

amcatanzaro

I had one. It was nice enough but it never spoke to me either.

dreamboat

I have a 503. it still works too. I bought it brand new in august of 1963. it was my first sewing machine. but I now have 12 others.

Sewnoma

This post is nearly a poem!

I do have the top spool pin for mine but I only use it as a thread guide since I use cones only anyway. My thread sits behind the machine, and I loop the thread over that upper spool pin just to guide it over the machine and into the threading path properly. Otherwise the thread drags over the top of the machine and I just don't like that. It'll sew fine that way, I just don't like seeing the thread rubbing against the machine, I don't want to risk marring the paint.

Sunflowerzz

I will continue to sew with the cover raised because it is a unique design and that is what does it for me...maybe no one else but it works for me. And when I am finished sewing closing the lid ever so gently and with a sigh of closure for that sewing session is just.....so ...satisyfing. Just noticed my new machine has the same design...How about that? The cover must not have been a big concern because here it is on new modern computerized machines.

Manalto

I don't think a hinged cover was ever a big concern unless it broke off.

tate_elliott

I want to correct something I said. The wooden disk I used was the size of a quarter, not a nickel. And I didn't need to taper the end. So I thought that as long as I'm here, I'd post a photo. It's a little blurred, but you can see the similarity between the original (on the left) and my copy (on the right). The dowel is 3/16 of an inch.

Tate

[ATTACH=CONFIG]529118[/ATTACH]