Singer Golden Touch & Sew #750
 

I know these machines are very unreliable and not recommended but the lady sold me two with cases and foot pedals for a total of $5. I figured the cases and foot pedals were worth $5 if I couldn't get them to work. And sure enough when we went to service them the plastic gear that turns the bobbin holder broke on one and the belt broke on the other. So we salvaged all of the parts we could and then put them in the trash. Beautiful machines to look at but that is all they are good for.

You did the right thing, I had a touch and sew go thru my hands at one time too. Seems a shame but they just weren't made to last.

Those parts that broke, how old were they? 40, 50 years? Replacements are available and once fixed the machines will last another 40, 50 years. In my mind no machine is a lost cause if it can be repaired. Since I don't do it for a living the cost doesn't matter, it's the experience of saving it that counts.

Cari

The are some early all metal touch and sew, with out the riveted belt. I'm not totally against drivebelts and plastic gears, because some of my absolute favorite zigzaggers have them. A broken gear and timing belt are worth replace, at least when the machine looks like your, almost new. New replacement gears are of good quality and they last a long time. T&S have a bad reputation, but a lot of it has to do with getting to know the fancy bobbin functions, the golden touch and sew had the dial stitch selectors that was meant to make eveything very easy, and they have double cams and stretchy stitches. When they come at a good price and in good condition they might be worth it. In my book all metal gears and rods are a major pluss, and I'm willing to put quite a bit of time and effort to sort them out, less so with not that good engineering. Replacing a gear and timing belt is an easy job on some models, some are more tricky.

I remember about 1970, money was tight but I got a new golden touch and sew! I was in love ....for a year. The non metal gears wore out very quickly. I got to be a pretty good machine repair person, finally traded it in for my first Viking. Still love my Vikings! I think the GT&S were so pretty! My mother in law and I each bought one that year. She never used hers. Out daughter has it, still works but she does not use it either.

If the gears wear down that badly, they are either in a place where they take too much load or it's very bad plastic material. Comparing with Elna, Bernina, and Husqvarna, they last 40 years, and often still running on the original gears. Singer had some rather badly made models after the mid 60s and we have to sort out what's worth fixing and what's not. The touch and sews are tricky that way. It's odd, because good quality plastic isn't that expensive, just a bit more expensive.

The problem with the touch and sews is that there are too many plastic parts that get brittle over time. Even the feed dogs were plastic. The one that I had was just metal bars. The teeth had totally worn away and fallen off. When one thing is fixed another thing needs to be fixed like the gears inside. It is just too expensive to replace everything. After a while, it's still plastic. So much better to concentrate on the metal parts antique machines that keep on going and going.

We should note down the better touch and sews models. There are a few in the 600 numbers, (600 and 603) and I have read at least one good review of the later T&S models with a few plastic gears. Some use them regularly and like them, but there's no point if they can't be fixed up to last for regular use. Plastic feed dogs sounds like a bad idea, at least they stopped making those.

If I'm counting correctly, the 700 series of T&S has 2 sets of plastic gears. It has a rubber top on the feed dogs, which deteriorates with time, but it's an easy fix and not that expensive. Without a doubt, it is not as good as a 401 or a 501. However, it does a lot of things that the older slant machines won't do. I like the machines, as I have one I bought new. It hasn't seen much use, though. I love the bobbin filling thingy. I have three 750s that still work.

The replacement gears aren't that expensive if you can/will do the replacement yourself. It's only worth the time and money if you want to use the machine yourself. You certainly cannot recoup your investment in time and money when/if you try to sell them. I've heard the figure of $160.00 to have them replaced.

bkay