It was listed as a curb side rescue. I grabbed the boy and we headed down to Newington, about 35 minutes to the south. I wasn't all that certain that it would still be on the curb since the post was two hours old when I saw it. But I guess people searching CL for fee sewing machines isn't that competitive of an activity.
The first thing noticable was that it was in the cheapest sewing machine table I've ever seen. It's like particle board with shelf paper as veneer. The machine was spectacularly grimy and as frozen as the VS2.
I had originally thought it could go right up into the sewing room, but that changed when I gave it a once over when we got it home.
It also turned chilly again yesterday afternoon so I decided to bring it into the house to give it a look over.
At fist look I thought maybe it was frozen because it had not been oiled or greased in a few decades. All the moving parts were bone dry.
Also possible was that the motor was locked up. So to test that theory I pulled the motor out of the case. If you have never pulled a motor out of the 400/500 (possibly 600s too, but I'll never know. I won't take anything that new), it can be a little tricky. The motor is only held in by one screw that holds the retaining plate. Also, if the motor has never been removed before it may still held in by some lock-tite type substance that needs to be broken free by gently twisting the motor. It may have have to be pried a bit as well, using a screw driver between the machine case and the METAL part of the motor, not the plastic. Giving the screwdriver a slight twist should be enough effort to loosen it.
Once I had the motor out I connected it back to the power and foot pedal. Giving it juice produced a very pretty shower of sparks. YAY.
Further disassembly revealed that someone had oiled the brushes. Wow, I thought that was just something people kidded about to make fun of possible newbie mistakes. But no, somebody had oiled this guy up pretty good. I spent about thirty minutes cleaning and drying out the motor. After getting the oil out and oh yeah, pulling this guy out of the armature...
..the motor spurn up like new. You just have to wonder how many generations had this machine passed on to them with that thing wedged in it.
With the motor out I checked the rest of the motion and it was all free.
Since I had already started parting it out I decided to give it a cleaning. The hook area is always a mess on the other 400 series I've gotten so I started with that.
The feed dogs come out the same as any other machine, just two screws. The bobbin carrier is held in place by the black clip. If you never removed one, you simply lift the clip and push it to the right, it snaps out of the way and the bobbin carrier lifts out. The clip itself is removed after the bobbin carrier by lifting and pulling it to the left (which you can't do with the bobbin carrier in place).
Once those pieces are free you can then remove the hook and the position finger by loosening their respective set screws and gently tapping them free. You need to make note of the two drive gear teeth locations in relation to each other so you get them back together exactly as they were. Also the gear on the hook shaft will fall free when you pull the hook out.
Once the hook and finger are out of the way the 60 years of gross crusties are there for the picking. The convoluted process of getting the hook out, as well as the dozens of nooks and crannies in the 400s are one of the reasons I really don't like these newer machines as well as the classic black machines.
At this point I just decided to strip as much as I could off the machine and give it a scrubbing. The metal stick in the motor wasn't the only bit of extranious material. I found several pins wedges in different places as well.
I started the head cleaning with CitraSolve, but it became apparent very quickly that it wasn't up to the task at hand.
So I pulled out the Gojo and began smearing away.
The gunk cutting of the Gojo is even more obvious on the beige machines than it is on black machines. At this point I think I'm just going to quit trying other cleaners. Except for the faux paint decals on the VS2. That's getting straight kerosene.
I didn't go into a detailed disassembly on the level I do with black machines. Other than the hook, tension assembly and motor, the mechanicals were just brushed free of dust bunnies in place.
Of course all the pretty cleanliness in the world isn't worth a hoot if it can't sew. I'm happy to report that once back together it sewed pretty okay. The motor is strong and fast. Not as fast as the 301 of course, but I'm pretty sure it outpaces the 401 and 403. Stitches are also better than the other 400s. As expected since this is a straight stitch only. Getting really picky I'd have to say the stitches are maybe, slightly, almost, a tiny sliver not as good as the 301, but then again maybe I'm just playing favorites since the 301 is black.
The stitches are better than the 221s and 328. Overall a rescue I am happy to have gotten.
Included were a few accessories and a superfluous drive belt. The age of the belt kind of leads me to believe that someone tried to 'fix' this machine sometime in the 80s or earlier. It might very well have been sitting, unused for the last 30 plus years. A shame.
Checking the dates, it's a May 1960 machine. That makes it the second newest of my Singers. Three years older than the 328K and a year newer than the 401 and 403.
I'm not exactly sure where it's going to fit in the rotation. It's light enough to be a portable along with the 221s and 301. So it may get to use at the library charity sewing group. While in the sewing room it is going to be in a different table, that's a certainty. The one it came in is probably destined to be firewood next winter.
(March 2020 update: One of my son's scoutmates wanted a sewing machine to learn on, so the 404 has been vacationing down in West Hartford for the past year. I'm getting antsy to get it back though. The sewing room feels so empty with one of the 30+ machines up there missing.)
Thanks, I enjoyed your post. DIdn't know how useful GOJO was, so I learned something.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found it useful :)
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