Friday, March 14, 2014

Singer 5808C


Today I went to the new quilt shop in my neighborhood.  It is only 7.4 miles from my home.  All the other fabric stores are far away.  This one opened up a few weeks ago.  I am delighted.

Nina and Bonnie run the Quilt Zoo in Worcester NY.  It has a lovely selection of fabric.  But more importantly, it has a great class room.  On Fridays, Nina and Bonnie open the classroom to sewists who want to hang out and get help with projects.  I drove over, intending to just drop in for a bit.  Instead I drove back home, picked up a machine and went back.  We had a blast.  It is just so much more fun to sew with others.

While there, I picked up a machine for service.  Barb told me she had an old Kenmore.  My eyes lit up.  She went upstairs to fetch it and came back with a Singer.

"I know it hasn't been run in this century."  She proclaimed.

"Oh, we just had one of these in the shop.  The gears in that machine were cracked.  I will check it out and if the gears are good, I will clean it all up for you.  It isn't a Kenmore but it will be serviceable for you."

My intent was to delve into it tomorrow morning.  Instead, I couldn't resist.  I wanted to check out those plastic gears.

You can't see from this photo, but the gears are good.   They were covered with a white grease.  It was moist, not hardened.  I wiped enough away to assess the situation. No cracks that I could see.   Guess I will be cleaning it up in the morning.

The needle bar area is pretty clean but there are some plastic parts.  The light is also in the way.  I think I can work around it. 
It's a drop in, class 66 bobbin. I think it uses the Apollo bobbin case.    I wanted to check out the shuttle mechanism before I went in for dinner.   I popped off the bottom.  All righty then. 
The belt is in good shape.  I don't see too much to do in here.  I blew out the dust bunnies.  Makes my job simple.

 To be sure, I did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I saw this machine in the first place.  I can guarantee that there will be no SMROs either as I work on this machine.  Just the same, I think that it will be OK for her.  She is just beginning to sew and is using a computerized Brother embroidery machine now.
It looked like this one.
http://www.brother-usa.com/homesewing/ModelDetail.aspx?ProductID=SE270D#.UyOXVF6sPjF

This Singer is simpler and, as Nina suggested, would be good to use for piecing.  That way Barb can save the Brother for Embroidery.  (Frankly I think the Singer is better looking than the Brother.  But that is like saying Winston Churchill is better looking than W. C. Fields)

 
 But, boy, I sure wish it had been a Kenmore. 

9 comments:

  1. I don't know, I think maybe Fields looks better than Churchill. And I was loving the Kenmore's better than Singer's until I got my 201-2 all fixed up. This week I brought home a Singer 128 and have fiddled still not enough with the tension spring up top, and last running saw some little sparking and smoking out of the motor. I have thrown the coffin lid back over it and shoved it back under a table for the time being. Godzilla Beast it is being, time out for you!

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  2. So it sounds like we'll know where to find you out partying on Friday nights now.

    Sounds nice to have a store that handy.

    Roger

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  3. "Kenmore" is a cutie, and he can sing and dance, too!

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    1. Yes. Yes he can. He is after all, An American in Paris.

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  4. I have a Singer Merritt 4530. I think it was made in the late 1980s. It's got adjustable needle position and a nice selection of utility stitches. I use mine for classes. I think it's a nice machine.

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  5. Hi Elizabeth, I have been working on a Singer Stylist with the nylon gear that feeds the bottom belt. It looks sort of like your Singer 5808C (the big yellow one on the right). I believe this big nylon gear is causing the belt's stop-n-go problem. I want to take it off for further inspection but I can't figure out how to remove it. I see the one on your machine has screw but mine doesn't have a screw of anything to hold it down. I have already removed the metal gear on the left and taken off the belt but the big nylon gear refused to budge. I tried to yank on it but it wouldn't give. Do you have any suggestions?

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    1. HI Alice. I do have a suggestion. It does not involve rescuing this machine. I would not even try to fix it. Sorry.

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    2. Oh LOL. I didn't know you disliked Stylist that much. It's a rescue so it won't hurt me one way or the other. Just want to give it a second chance. :-)

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  6. Please, what year was singer 5808c made?

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