Jeans Machine

After I determined that I would not be servicing the Necchi Lydia, I dove into the other 5 dollar machine I bought last Saturday.

There are things about this machine that I really like.  Its presser bar is manually adjustable.  The one on the Elgin is not.  It is a free arm, like the Elgin but it isn't as adorable.  It has some metal parts, but the important ones,  the shuttle gears, unfortunately,  are plastic on metal. The Elgin's shuttle gears are all metal and much better, in that respect.   It is a single belt, the Elgin is a dual belt which is supposed to give it more torque.  But the Elgin has an automatic presser bar adjustment, which is not so helpful,  Why?

The Elgin has an adorable little compartment for stuff just in front of the pillar.  This White had nothing like that and indeed, the "feet" are bent requiring a shim for stability.  Just the same I think this machine is an ok machine with some built in stretch and decorative stitches.

All of the stitches are tested and work.  OOPS I did not test the buttonholer. Nor didI test the fish and the duck. Seriously.  I did figure out how to adjust the stretch stitches so that the feed would go back and forth.  That was a good thing to learn.  The Elgin works the same way.  Just turn the nuts....TWSS

The Elgin has needle bar issues.  I think that it is a bit bent.  There is a definite lag and squeak when the needle bar goes up and down.  I think some lapping compound would help.  When Betsy gets home I am going to see if she has some.  I did a bold thing and tried to get the needle bar out of the Elgin.  I gave up and just left it.  Problem now, what is the correct height?  If we get the drag out of the needle bar I will worry about needle bar height then.  I just had to stop.  I had to cook dinner and feed the dogs.  So much for sewing today.