StephT

I finally have my FW "Olivia" sewing a good straight stitch.

Now I need to know how fast the machine should go. I have a Janome that is a year old and she sews very fast. Then I go use Olivia and she sews not as fast.

Also when I was in Idaho Falls I went into "Jones Sew and Vac" looking for some motor grease and the gal there that I talked to said their repair man was a Featherweight nut and knew a lot about them. Then he said he has featherweight shipped from all over the country. So I figured he was very knowledgeable. When I asked about the grease...he didn't have any tubes. But he said that regular oil is just fine. That sewing machine oil has come a long way and you only need to use a drop every 5 years.

Now the only thing stopping me from using my featherweight is I don't want to burn up the motor if I was given incorrect information and I need to purchase a tube of motor grease online.

What are your thoughts.

Caroline S

No, no, no, never oil the motor. Refer to the two links below.

http://www.featherweight221.com/fwrx/index.html

http://www.novamontgomery.com/featherweight-s.htm

Quote from the book, Featherweight 221, The Perfect Portable "Do not, under any circumstances, try to inject oil or anything similar into the motor's grease tubes. If you do, the oil will find its way onto the motor commutator or will saturate its brushes - they are made of carbon and must be kept bone dry for proper operation."

Order some Singer Motor Grease. Below are two links for you.
http://www.sew-classic.com/

http://www.april1930s.com/

Candace

I wouldn't trust this guy with any other questions.

IMO, Featherweights are not the fastest machines. They have a small amperage motor. If you compare it to other machines, you may notice a difference, but it should sew fast enough that it doesn't irk you. They are zippy enough machines to satisfy many sewers. If it's bothering you, that means there's something that needs cleaning, repair or adjusting.

mlmack

Note to self-

Never buy from Jones Sew and Vac.

leaha

note to self-

do not take my FW's into Jones Sew & Vac to be serviced!

J Miller

Sew-Classic is not currently listing Singer grease. There is two types of Singer grease.
The first, with the milky clear to amber grease that resembles petroleum jelly is for the motors.
The second, with the white grease is what Singer uses on their plastic gears. IT IS NOT FOR THE MOTORS.

You might hunt around for old stocks of Singer motor lube or you might do as some have said and use petroleum jelly as lube for the motors. I have read they are so close as to be indistinguishable. Although I do not speak from experience as I have a number of tubes of the Singer motor grease and use those on my Singer motors.

Joe

nanna-up-north

Would Tri-Flo grease work okay for the motors? I use it on the gears but haven't used it for the motor..... just wondering.

mlmack

I wouldn't use it. Just use Vaseline.

J Miller

What makes Tri-Flow grease great for gears is what makes it unsuitable for motors. T-F grease is synthetic based and does not get soft and flow with heat. This is what makes the Singer motor lube and Petroleum Jelly work for motors. When it gets hot, it gets soft and flows.

Stick with Singer Motor lube or Petroleum Jelly.

Joe

StephT

Thanks J Miller. I think I will do as you suggested.