On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:44:04 -0400, dan/danl
wrote:

Any
recommendations/tips on a used sewing machine to look for?

If it's painted black and still works, nothing will kill it. If it
doesn't work, pick all the lint out of the innards, clean off the
varnish that used to be lubricant, oil it, put in a new needle, and
try again. (Check that it takes a standard needle.)

There were bad machines built in the black-paint era, but the few
surviving badly-designed machines are in museums, so you aren't likely
to get stuck with one.

Singer sewing machines peaked with the 400 series (beige, if I recall
correctly), tanked for a while (the 600 drove me INSANE), and are said
to be coming back.

Take samples of your favorite fabrics, and samples of fabrics that are
hard to sew (sheer, heavy, slick, fuzzy, stretchy . . .), and try
out the machines. Someone on Creative Machine recently commented
that you should also bring your own thread. (When I worked in a
Singer store, we demonstrated on heavily-starched sheer fabric that
*nothing* could make a bad stitch on. We also used very cheap thread,
because machines had not yet gotten picky about thread.)

I've been using the same machine since 1964, so I don't have a great
deal of shopping experience. Buying at a shop that does repairs is a
good idea.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

On Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:43:01 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote:

On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:44:04 -0400, dan/danl
wrote:

Any
recommendations/tips on a used sewing machine to look for?

If it's painted black and still works, nothing will kill it. If it
doesn't work, pick all the lint out of the innards, clean off the
varnish that used to be lubricant, oil it, put in a new needle, and
try again. (Check that it takes a standard needle.)

There were bad machines built in the black-paint era, but the few
surviving badly-designed machines are in museums, so you aren't likely
to get stuck with one.

Singer sewing machines peaked with the 400 series (beige, if I recall
correctly), tanked for a while (the 600 drove me INSANE), and are said
to be coming back.

Take samples of your favorite fabrics, and samples of fabrics that are
hard to sew (sheer, heavy, slick, fuzzy, stretchy . . .), and try
out the machines. Someone on Creative Machine recently commented
that you should also bring your own thread. (When I worked in a
Singer store, we demonstrated on heavily-starched sheer fabric that
*nothing* could make a bad stitch on. We also used very cheap thread,
because machines had not yet gotten picky about thread.)

I've been using the same machine since 1964, so I don't have a great
deal of shopping experience. Buying at a shop that does repairs is a
good idea.

Thank you fornthe advice!

A poster on the Creative Machine mailing list said that it's very
important to her that her machine do a good keyhole buttonhole, which
reminds me that I should have mentioned stitch variety.

Decide which stitches are vital and which are useful, and don't be
snowed by advertisements touting vast numbers of stitches. Which
stitches matters; total number doesn't. (Unless the total is smaller
than your list of must-haves.)

I do most of my work on an old straight-stitch treadle machine I
ransomed about ten years after I bought my electric machine, but when
I carry a job into the room where the zig-zag machine is, I'm very
glad that I've got it. I've forgotten how to make the Necchi do other
stitches, but the book and stitch chart are very clear; it wouldn't
take long to look up a fancy stitch if I wanted one.

Some folks are hipped on having a blind-hemming stitch, which sews a
few stitches straight, then makes one zig to the left to catch the
fold of the fabric. When I don't care enough to sew a hem by hand, I
top-stitch it. It's easier and more secure than the blind stitch, and
looks just as good. I might use my blind-hem stitch to make a shell
hem some day. (For that, you adjust the zig to fall off the fabric
entirely, which pulls the edge into a series of scallops.)

There are times when I wish that I had a three-step zig-zag: the
machine makes three straight stitches angling to the left, then three
angling to the right. The Necchi would do it if I put in the right
cams, but as far as I know, they stopped making new cams for this
machine before the three-step was invented.

If you have access to alt.sewing, it would probably be best to
continue this discussion there. (On the other hand, there isn't much
traffic on this channel, and this sub-thread is easy to skip.) (And
saying "what do you want in your new machine?" might stir up more
information than you wanted.)

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

"Joy Beeson" wrote in message
...

A poster on the Creative Machine mailing list said that
it's very
important to her that her machine do a good keyhole
buttonhole, which
reminds me that I should have mentioned stitch variety.

Decide which stitches are vital and which are useful, and
don't be
snowed by advertisements touting vast numbers of stitches.
Which
stitches matters; total number doesn't. (Unless the
total is smaller
than your list of must-haves.)

I do most of my work on an old straight-stitch treadle
machine I
ransomed about ten years after I bought my electric
machine, but when
I carry a job into the room where the zig-zag machine is,
I'm very
glad that I've got it. I've forgotten how to make the
Necchi do other
stitches, but the book and stitch chart are very clear; it
wouldn't
take long to look up a fancy stitch if I wanted one.

Some folks are hipped on having a blind-hemming stitch,
which sews a
few stitches straight, then makes one zig to the left to
catch the
fold of the fabric. When I don't care enough to sew a hem
by hand, I
top-stitch it. It's easier and more secure than the blind
stitch, and
looks just as good. I might use my blind-hem stitch to
make a shell
hem some day. (For that, you adjust the zig to fall off
the fabric
entirely, which pulls the edge into a series of scallops.)

There are times when I wish that I had a three-step
zig-zag: the
machine makes three straight stitches angling to the left,
then three
angling to the right. The Necchi would do it if I put in
the right
cams, but as far as I know, they stopped making new cams
for this
machine before the three-step was invented.

If you have access to alt.sewing, it would probably be
best to
continue this discussion there. (On the other hand, there
isn't much
traffic on this channel, and this sub-thread is easy to
skip.) (And
saying "what do you want in your new machine?" might stir
up more
information than you wanted.)

I for one find this fascinating. I had an aunt who was
a whiz with a sewing machine.
I think wax is often very hard to clean off because not
much dissolves it, particularly petroleum wax. Naphtha,
which is similar to white gasoline, may do it but I think
other solvents may need to be used. I had some luck recently
using disc brake cleaner. This is a mixture of solvents and
comes in spray cans. You can get it at automotive supply
stores. One must be careful because many solvents will
attack paint. Certainly xylol (AKA xylene) and acetone
will. You might even try kerosene or turpentine, both will
dissolve certain waxes.

--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL

On Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:42:58 -0700, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote:

You might even try kerosene or turpentine, both will
dissolve certain waxes.

We're back to the original topic -- to wrench the thread back to
sewing, when I bought the White Family Rotary treadle machine, my
spouse used kerosene to clean out its guts. Kerosene was cheap and
readily available at the time. But I don't know what kerosene would
do to paint. The varnish that old lubricants turn into is a great
deal like paint . . .

Even soap will wrinkle paint if it's concentrated and you let it set.
(But soap won't take paint out of a T-shirt, or even fade it.)

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

Joy Beeson wrote:
On Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:42:58 -0700, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote:

You might even try kerosene or turpentine, both will
dissolve certain waxes.

We're back to the original topic -- to wrench the thread back to
sewing, when I bought the White Family Rotary treadle machine, my
spouse used kerosene to clean out its guts. Kerosene was cheap and
readily available at the time. But I don't know what kerosene would
do to paint. The varnish that old lubricants turn into is a great
deal like paint . . .

Kero won't touch most good paint, not even lacquer. It's more or less the
same general family as naptha. It's a good choice for removing varnish from
old lubrication if you can get a brush or pipe cleaner in there. It's not
as aggressive as xylene or mek, both of which will damage paint but get
lube varnish off faster.

After cleaning up old equipment without disassembling it, you may still have
hidden varnish in places. One way of dealing with this is to use a synthetic
ester oil.... these oils have good solvent action and are pretty good at
dissolving that gunk in hidden corners. Just keep running it through until
it stops coming out yellow.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 15 Apr 2013 14:16:28 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Joy Beeson wrote:
On Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:42:58 -0700, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote:

You might even try kerosene or turpentine, both will
dissolve certain waxes.

We're back to the original topic -- to wrench the thread back to
sewing, when I bought the White Family Rotary treadle machine, my
spouse used kerosene to clean out its guts. Kerosene was cheap and
readily available at the time. But I don't know what kerosene would
do to paint. The varnish that old lubricants turn into is a great
deal like paint . . .

Kero won't touch most good paint, not even lacquer. It's more or less the
same general family as naptha. It's a good choice for removing varnish from
old lubrication if you can get a brush or pipe cleaner in there. It's not
as aggressive as xylene or mek, both of which will damage paint but get
lube varnish off faster.

After cleaning up old equipment without disassembling it, you may still have
hidden varnish in places. One way of dealing with this is to use a synthetic
ester oil.... these oils have good solvent action and are pretty good at
dissolving that gunk in hidden corners. Just keep running it through until
it stops coming out yellow.
--scott


If anyone uses MEK...Remember MEK goes right through the skin. The
skin is porous to it. It will pass right through the skin and that is
not good for you!!!

Dan