Candace

Ha...and of course, what happens to it in a year or few years when the mystery substance locks it up again. :> Please tell me it's not aquanet hairspray. LOL.

ThayerRags

HaHaHa! Could happen!

But then, since the machine appears to have set out unprotected through several seasons of thunderstorms, dirt storms, snow storms and ice storms, and is hopelessly locked up now, I doubt that this mystery substance could lock it up much worse. LOL!

No, it’s not Aquanet hairspray, and thanks for the guess, but we can eliminate that one. Although, I have heard that some hair sprays don’t hold very well, so maybe we should be looking at them as a lubricant instead?......LOL

CD in Oklahoma

nanna-up-north

Too funny..... can't wait to see the results.

You all in Texas don't know what cold is..... -14 here this morning. But it will be above freezing later in the week..... a heat wave. This has been one cold winter so far.

I'm thinking I know what lub you are using. All the tractor guys around here call it sheep guts.... probably because it stinks so bad. But I've used it to unlock machines a few times and it's not so bad to use.... as long as it's outside where you don't have to smell it.

purplefiend

I wanna see how this comes out too.
Sharon W.

Watson58

I'm waiting for the result. Don't make us wait too long!

ThayerRags

I’ve got to have patience and let it soak. After all, this is only day 2. Peeking at it now would be like peeking under the Aluminum Foil to see if the turkey is roasting, or opening the freezer at the beginning of a power outage to see if the food is still frozen.


In our “real time” world of today, doesn’t it seem strange to wait on something that takes some “real time” to get done?


I did listen to it with my ear close to the bag, and I’m almost sure that I heard some faint gurgling. The mystery potion is either working..... or.... I’ve had enough coffee to drink this morning.....I’m not sure which. I’ll give it another listen later.


CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

After a week of soaking (this is the 8th day), I decided to take a look at the Singer 31-15 that was undergoing the mystery oil soak. I didn’t get the results that I was looking for. I was looking for “juicy”, but it looks as dry now as it did when I sprayed the dickens out of it with the aerosol spray lubricant. There was a nice pool of oil in the drip pan, so I don’t think that it evaporated. It must have just dripped off instead of coating it. The name of the mystery oil will remain a mystery, since it’s not good for my method of soaking machines, and I’m going back to using sewing machine oil. I had to give it a shot though.

I’ve already given the machine a drizzle treatment with Singer Sewing Machine Oil. I can keep the machine inside while using SM oil, so that’s another plus, and I don’t have to bag it up to keep dust and moisture away from it like I do when a machine has to be outside. I can watch the oil spread and coat the machine, and give it a spot treatment or two if I see dry areas.


CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

It’s only been 3 days since I started the sewing machine oil soak on my 1937 Singer 31-15. The oil that I drizzled on it has spread out over the machine nicely, and looks good and juicy. I decided to start the parts removal and see how easily or hard things would come apart. I want to get some oil deeper into things behind the plates and covers, so I needed to get them off.

I didn’t have any problem removing screws and getting the plates off, and I should have stopped there. But, I got a little rough with the presser tension adjustment screw, and ended up breaking the presser foot thumbscrew off flush with the bar in the process. That might be interesting to get out later, and it’s what I get for rushing things.

I took the liberty of swapping the large handwheel out with the small one that was on my Centennial Singer 31-15. Being made in 1951, it had the smaller #12358 power stand wheel on it that was more common by then. The larger balance wheel has a little bit larger pulley on it plus the added weight for momentum for treadling. With the same style of wheel on both, I should be able to swap my 1951 model out with my 1939 model in my MUTTIN treadle stand with no change needed to the belt. This 1937 model will be mounted in a power stand anyway, so it won't need the large #2135 wheel.

I’m going to let it soak for a while longer before I try anything else on it. So, I'm off to the shop to see what I can tear up there. I've about got my 1901 Singer 27K2 ready to do a test-sew.

CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

I’m making progress now on the rusted 1937 Singer 31-15. I got the broken Presser Foot Thumbscrew removed from the Presser Bar. There was just enough of the end of the screw sticking through to get a small pair of ViseGrips onto it and thread the screw on through the hole. Then with that done, I was able to remove the Presser Bar and Pressure Regulating Thumbscrew out through the top as one piece. The Thumbscrew is stuck tight to the Presser Bar, so it’s now soaking in Penetrating Oil.

It was time to begin isolating mechanisms to find what was causing the machine to be locked up. I disconnected the Rock Shaft Crank on top, and the Oscillating Shaft Crank below to isolate the upper and lower workings. I also backed the Needle Bar set screw out to take the bar out of action. Then with hand pressure forcefully rotating the Balance Wheel both ways, the upper shaft finally broke free. After working it back and forth for a while, the upper shaft will rotate freely about 350 degrees each way. I think there’s something out of whack with the Thread Take-up Linkage stopping full rotation. I’m not sure if it’s something bound-up, or something not timed correctly. I don’t see anything bound-up. The end of the Take-up Lever was broken off when I got the machine, so maybe a set screw let something move out of place when that happened. I’ll compare things with my working 31-15 that’s in my MUTTIN Treadle. Everything else is moving now except the lower shaft and the needle bar, so I’m a happy camper. I did move both the lower shaft and the Needle Bar just a tiny bit with a little “Impact Persuasion”, so the oil should be able to seep in now to free those parts up with a little more soaking time.

The sewing machine oil that I soaked the machine with is flushing the rust out like thin chocolate syrup. I’ll probably put this machine through a kerosene bath before it’s over. Not a dunk, but a cleaning with kerosene and a parts brush to flush as much of the contamination out of the moving parts as I can, and then re-oil it.

CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

Disclaimer: Don’t look at the following photos if you tend to be squeamish about forcing sewing machines into submission. I don’t recommend this treatment to others. It is my machine, and I had to get rough with the rusted lower shaft to get it free. The machine was of little value, if the shaft could not be broken free.

With the help of lots of sewing machine oil, lots of penetrating oil, plenty of heat, some ice, hammer, punch, ViseGrips, and muscles that I haven’t used for quite some time, I have good news on my 1937 Singer 31-15 basket case. I finally jarred the lower shaft loose! Everything on the machine is turning freely again except for the lower shaft, and it is turning, but stiff. I tried using a protective layer of leather between the jaws of the pliers and the shaft, but I ended up just chewing through the leather and marring the shaft anyway, with no sign of movement. That’s when I decided to go ahead and grip the shaft with bare jaws. It was the only way that I could get ahold of it tight enough to apply the force needed.

As for the other things that were stuck, I was able to unlock the Pressure Regulating Thumbscrew from the Presser Bar with no further damage. And I discovered that the reason for an incomplete full revolution was because it was inhibited by the lower shaft, and the position that it was locked in, so no additional attention was needed in the Thread Take-up area.

So now, providing that I didn’t bend the lower shaft and it continues to become freer with repetitive exercise, I think this machine may be able to be put back into use. I’m going to have some aches and pains in the morning, but I’m happy with the progress. I can’t turn the lower shaft with the balance wheel yet, so I’ll leave the pliers on the shaft for its routine daily “Exercise Thayerapy” for a few days.

Here's a "before and after" shot of the lower shaft area.

CD in Oklahoma