Every picture tells a story....

Except that I am fresh out of photos.

I upgraded and have a new Mac Book Pro.  It is fast, light and powerful.  No disc drive.  I can't upload Photo Shop Elements, my editing program, yet.  No external disc drive until just today.

So, until I can get it together to do that, no photos.  (OK for all of you computer geeks: Yes, it is possible to down load the program from the internet.  I live in the country.  I don't have unlimited bandwidth and we are near our "quota" of use for March.  So I am going to do it the old fashioned way.  From something plastic, on a little round disc.)

I must say this.  Betsy came over yesterday and we worked on machines.  She worked on a very nice Japanese badge Necchi Alco.  I worked on the Singer 5808C. 

I couldn't get the tension right.  Turns out, the tension assembly wouldn't work.   I finally gave up, called it a goner and declared it done.  Betsy left for home and I went back to the Quilt Zoo (QZ) to return Barb's machine.  I explained the dilemma and  told her that I couldn't fix it.  She suggested she buy a Kenmore from us and arranged to come over to look.  I went home, hopeful for a sale. 

"There's a message on the machine, honey"  declared TBHITW last night just after dinner.

I saw the blinking light.

".....HI, it's me.  I figured it out. That tension assembly just pops out.  It's plastic.  Just be careful that you don't break it..."

I called her back. She had looked at the Singer 5817 we now own (broken gears, not worth fixing but very similar to the 5808) and removed the tension assembly.  I could tell that she really, really wanted me to fix that machine. 

"OK I will call Barb and let her know that we might be able to salvage her machine after all."

Betsy brought the 5817 over this morning on her way out of town. She also brought over two Kenmores to show Barb if she did call.

So, when Barb did, indeed, call today I explained the whole story to her. 

"What do you think?" she asked. 

Honestly.  I was pretty sick of the  5808C   but I hate to give up. If we could fix it, I could re-coup some of my investment in effort.  I advised that she should bring the machine over and if we can fix it, great.  If not, she can look at the machines we have. 

She brought the 5808C back.  She pulled the old assembly out and we popped the used one from the 5817 in.   It makes a nice stitch, every stitch.  It has stretch stitches and zz and a built in button hole.  But the presser foot lifter was FUNKY.

I handed her the screw drivers and she took the top and the needle bar covers off.  I figured I had spent enough time on that machine.  She looked at the 5817, figured out what was wrong and I looked at the 5808C and agreed.  We fixed it.  She put the machine back together and that, my friends was that. 

"Oh, I love this stuff."  she declared. 

Good.  I may have infected another with SMAD.

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.