Singer 128 Tension assembly

I took the tension assembly all the way apart on the 128, actually on both of them.  I started with Rusty, because I thought that I would part her out.   I then  realized that it is infinitely easier to keep the parts on the machine until you need them so that you can identify and find them more easily.  DUH.  Rusty's tension parts were, well, rusty.  They went into the Locktite rust remover bath.  The other 128 tension parts were in better shape.  I cleaned them with degreaser, then rinsed with rubbing alcohol and finally coated them with tri flow.

This piece is the equivalent of the set screw on the 66, I believe.

Check spring  I n this photo you can see that the check spring is sitting under the thread guide.   You want the check spring to be positioned between the two indentations on the opening in the machine

More like this.

So Carol asked how I did it.  I fiddled with it.  Honestly.  We are not building pianos here.
I could not exactly remember so today (1/31/12) I got the machine out and took it apart again and figured out what I did.

I took the stud and the check spring out and looked at them.  I noticed that the check spring has a smaller loop at its proximal end (the end that is nearest the body of the machine) That small loop needs to sit on the proximal end of the stud so that when the stud is tightened the spring is held fast and able to bounce in between the two indentations as seen above.

I put the check spring on the stud and the put the stud in the hole and tightened the stud while holding the check spring.  I actually found that it was easiest to do as the FIRST step in reassembling the tension assembly

Inevitably as I tightened the stud, the check spring would tighten in the same direction and end up wrong wrong wrong.  So I fiddled.  I loosened the stud and pulled on the check spring very gently:

I had to do this several times until I got the check spring aligned with the lower indentation.  Once all the way tight, the spring had consistent bounce and integrity.  Then I tucked the  thread guide behind the check spring and screwed it on.

The next photos are from the original post.  I can't change them at this point.

The tension discs are placed so that the convex sides face each other.  I tried to get a good shot of them.......Not in focus, I  apologize.

 Tension discs in place.  They are clean, just stained. (Sort of like my fingernails)

 This is the washer and the tension release piece.  This must be manually pressed to release the tension when you want to pull the thread through after making your seam.  Note the position of the check spring.  WRONG WRONG WRONG. 

Next comes the  tension spring.  

And finally the thumb nut.  In this photo I am demonstrating how the tension release works.

Here you can see how the check spring should be positioned at about nine thirty.  It must be correct because the stitches are just so nice.  I just fiddled with  it (see above)  and   the stud until it looked like the tension assembly on my 27.

This post has been updated from the original on January 31, 2012 thanks to a question from Carol from vintagesingers yahoo group.  I appreciate her question because it makes this post much more complete.  I also had a chance to fool around, some more, with Adobe Photoshop Elements 10.  Software that came with no manual.  Jeez.