Treadle On

In honor of the upcoming Central New York TOGA, I have decided to sew only on treadles.  Except for the serger.

I started out today sewing on the 15-91 and when I finished that project, I headed upstairs to get the 201-3 out of its treadle stand and move it out to the sewing loft.

I am used to hauling stuff all by myself.  Steven had been called to an emergency and I figured I could just do it.

The stand is not heavy.  It is the one that I refurbished last year.  It has no drawers so it is relatvely light.  Getting the machine out was no problem  I have a coil spring installed on this machine.   But it didnt really pop right out.  I had to take the hand wheel off.  The belt is 1/4 inch diameter.  I think it is too thick.  I must check to see if there is a smaller diameter coil spring.

Once I got the machine out  I wheeled it to the top of the stairs.  I inched it down each step, one at a time but it is an awkward thing.  The pitman rod popped off of the foot pedal.  But it didn't break.  That was when I thought to myself

"What is a 60 year old woman doing moving a 100 year old treadle stand down a set of stairs?"

I got it down without breaking the pitman and I wheeled it out to the bottom of the sewing loft stairs.

There it sat until Steven got home from his call.  Wilson watched over it.

Treadling is not too hard.  It takes practice and I know I don't have a good, easy rhythm.  But once I tightened the cone bearings and the pitman rod so that it wasn't so clunky, I found it easier to treadle with a consistent "stroke" .  The noise of the coil spring belt is not unpleasant.  When I finish a seam and stop there is a noise that sounds almost bird like.  Chirpy.

I actually like that sewing stool as a sewing chair.  It is just the right height.  I likely will revert to the office chair because it has wheels and I like to be able to easily move it back and forth.  But today I was feeling all vintage.

Singer 201-3 transformed to a treadle

We had a beautiful warm March day today.  The snow that fell mid week has melted, almost completely.  The sap was running and  I half expected to see a robin or two.  Spring was in the air.

After I cleaned up the dog yard (you know what shows up after snow melts, and there was a whole lot of it) I set to work on the Singer 201-3 Centennial that I found when I was in NC in February.

You all know that I love 201s.  Though I am rather sick of them.  The bobbin case is a PITA to remove because the retaining ring is tricky to get out and back in.  For more information on that process go here http://vssmb.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-remove-201-bobbin-case.html.   The potted motor on the 201-2s (common around here) almost always needs re-wiring.   A rewarding, though tedious task, IMHO.

This one is a 201-3; external motor.  No need for a motor when treadling.  I ditched it.  But I still had to service the thing. 

This treadle stand is the one that I rescued last summer.  It was in terrible shape.  I see that I must shim up the front piece so that it sits flush with the machine.  More to do.  Later, much later.

The belt is way too tight on this machine.  I ordered the coil spring belt tonight from McMaster Carr.  Once it comes I can set up one treadle stand for many machines.  I tried this machine in each of the four treadle stands that I have.  Each belt was too tight.  Even this one, that usually houses the 237.

Even thought the belts were all too tight, I did manage to stitch with this machine on the treadle out in the shop.   It makes a lovely stitch.  I was hoping to make something tonight but the belt is just too tight.  I could go out to the cold, lonely shop and treadle on the stand out there.  Instead I will sip wine, cuddle with poodles and tell you all about my day.

I took the hand wheel and the face plate off.  Then I took the slide plate off to expose the bobbin and race.

OOOOH LA LA .  CRUD and DUST every where.
I took the bobbin out to discover a piece of thread caught up in the bobbin case and around the hook

I was sure that I would have to take the hook out to get at this, but turns out, my dental pick lifted it right out.  I admit, I was disappointed.  I was up for the challenge.

I took the needle plate off and removed the feed dogs  next. 

Then I removed the retaining clip and the bobbin case. 

Which exposed a boat load of dirt and grime and lint and FUN !!! 

I knew I would need to get the hook out to do a proper job of cleaning. I removed the position bracket to get at the hook.  But the screw would not budge.  So I dropped some Tri Flow onto the screw and applied some heat with the hair dryer.  I put some more oil on and then left it.  I believe in the tincture of time.

While time was doing its thing with the hook screw, I next serviced the gears. The shuttle gears are harder to get to.  I cleaned them all up with a toothbrush and Kerosene the applied the Triflow grease by reaching up and around with the curved syringe.   It isn't exactly precise, but it worked.  That thread was just sitting there.  I still wonder how it got in there behind the gear cups (which are not shown in this photo)

The back gears are easier to access.  I gave them the same cleaning treatment.  After brushing with Kerosene, I applied some vaseline as well which I then wiped off.  Finally I applied a thin strip of Tri Flow grease and turned the handwheel to distribute it. 

See how it gobs up?  I just took that gob and put it on the gears and turned the hand wheel again.

Then I put the gear cups back on and cleaned up the bottom.

By now the hook screw was ready.

Next post, I promise.