Here are photos after the repair. I circled what I'm talking about because I know my terminology is lacking. On the A-J knob of this machine (as well as the earlier 401a example) the finger rests in a slot on the collar. As you can see the finger is now above the collar which is stuck on the bottom. I assume this isn't normal.

Oooh! One of the German machines! :) They sound better and seem to run better to me for some reason.

I'm going to take a good photo of what it's supposed to look like so you can take it in to the guy. If he's still open, call him right away to tell him it's coming and why. I'm also going to see if there's an "easy" way to disassemble and reassemble for you.

No, it's not normal, and I'm not sure how he did it. Let me check.

ETA: OK, I Know how to fix it, and what he likely did. I could talk you through it, but I don't know if I can write it.

Tammi, THANK YOU so much!! I hope to one day know enough to contribute something back to this board, but for now please know I appreciate it.

Also, I've been up since 3 am with work so I'm a little fuzzy - but I thought I opened the machine at the shop after the repair and saw that the finger was in the slot. Maybe I didn't. I left the screws at home because I had the top open and was afraid I would lose them. He had packing tape to hold the top on the machine, and I can't remember lifting the tape so maybe I didn't check. (No point to all of this, just trying to recount and hoping he did repair and it jumped out again.)

Ok, take 2. This is what you need to take to the repair guy. [ATTACH=CONFIG]501228[/ATTACH]

So sorry Joe, I can't resize on an Apple product. :(

I resize on my Mac. I googled a free site. I'm loving how this thread is going. My 401 still works fine after all of everyone's help and encouragement. I have a free motion foot for it and did do a little test stitching. It was fine but I haven't gotten back to trying something bigger than a mug rug.

Alyce, you're right - I should have been more specific - it's the iPad I can't figure out how to resize on.

I'm glad to hear you're liking that machine! It was worth the work I think. I also love seeing that you're able to FMQ on it. Most people look at me like a 4 headed alien when I say I can do it too.

I've had those apart, too. It is getting them back together that is 'fun' you need another one there so look at... Getting that screw loose and out can be a trick. I'm sorry your repair guy didn't know what he was doing. Likely he's never seen one. I have a 401 with a bent shaft. I took the whole thing apart tried to straighten that shaft and put it back since I didn't have a donor at the time. It is still around and still bent and not working.. but it doesn't look as bent... It's sitting on a shelf in shame... Look to be sure the shaft isn't bent before you go any farther... I'm also thinking you might want to see if you can find an adjuster's manual and read it. I now have another machine that is a donor I just haven't worked up the courage to take it down another time. There are a lot of parts and they have to go back just right. I was attempting to use a Singer 500 as the donor I did get the 500 back together just fine and it moves just fine but it was the donor and the donation didn't fit.

Since Miriam's added this thread to a "best of" list, I thought I'd follow up on the problem that Mywncmtns was having with the stitch selectors.

This will take care of it. (Youtube video) It took me one or two tries to get the adjustment loose enough but it's less than a 5 minute fix, even babbling to explain what I'm doing.

You are amazing, Tammi!