Ventilation

Betsy yelled at me Thursday night as we were leaving work.

"What are you doing, working with acetone in a non ventilated room?"

"Ummmm, geeee, Ummmm."

"And with a cough and a cold, no less.  You KNOW better."

And she is right.  I do know better.  But really, I wasn't working with A LOT of acetone.  And the container was all sealed up tight.

So today, when I went out to work with the ATFacetone mix, I opened the window.  That should keep her happy.

I don't know that the miracle mix was all that spectacular.  I put the lifter roller  in the vice and blew the hair dryer straight onto it (as they say here in Otsego County) for five minutes.  I also had the little heater warming my feet, until the circuit breaker flipped and I had to choose between the two.  (Me and Carole King).    I chose the hair dryer because I really really wanted to get that OTHER 201 back together.  I am about 201d out. The roller was still stuck.  No magic here.  I dribbled some Tri flow and applied heat some more.

I set to work cleaning other parts as I heated the lifter roller.  The bobbin case retaining ring was pretty gooey.  I used Krud Kutter on it and rinsed with denatured alcohol.

Hmmmm,  I wonder if Krud Kutter would work on the lifter roller?  Worth a try, nothing else has seemed to work.

I dribbled some Krud Kutter on it and heated it up some more and then grabbed the plyers. I know that this was risky.  I could really bugger up the roller with those metal teeth.  But, something gave, every so slightly.  And I just kept turning and turning and wiping Krud off the edge of the roller and finally I could turn it with my fingers.    I rinsed everything in denatrued alcohol and applied copious amounts of Tri Flow.  I kept turning the rollers until the exudate from around the roller was clear.  Nice and smooth now.  And reinstalled.

Honestly, it likely was a combination of all the solvents and the heat, rather than just one thing that got that roller rolling.  

The machine sews nicely.  I don't think there is any difference in speed.  But at least I know that no one would be wearing a flat spot on the roller when the machine is in use.  Plus, now I know how to adjust feed dog height on a 201-2.  Might be useful to know.