Date: 8/25/06 5:49 PM

I got an old Emdeko machine made in Japan today from my local repair man. I had taken my Wal-mart special Brother machine it to get the timing reset and asked if he had any older all metal geared machines that he could sale. He told me he had one that was a little rough looking, but sewed smooth. He told me he sould sale it for $15.00. I jumped at that. I spent a total of $35.00 and that included getting my machine fixed.

He told me that an elderly lady had brought it in for him to clean and oil it for her, but when he called to tell her it was ready to be picked up her family told him she had passed away. They also told him he could keep the machine. He told me he has had it for a couple of years and has used it himself on occasion.

I called my DH and told him I bought a new machine and he actually told me if this new one would hold up to the heavy duty sewing that I was trying to do without getting out of time so often, it was worth more than what I paid for it. YAY!

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/25/06 6:01 PM

Well, I hope you have many, many hours of sewing enjoyment with your 'new' machine. It sounds great!

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/25/06 6:01 PM

Well, I hope you have many, many hours of sewing enjoyment with your 'new' machine. It sounds great!

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/25/06 6:38 PM

Wow!! How fortunate. What a lucky day for you..enjoy.

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/25/06 7:29 PM

Yet another one get bits by the vintage machine bug!

Congratulations!

JennyG

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http://blog.sew-classic.com/
www.Sew-Classic.com

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Date: 8/25/06 10:28 PM

Listen to it when you sew, I'm sure you will hear it "purring". Congrats!
Susan

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/25/06 11:14 PM

There are a couple of Vintage Japanese Sewing Machine user groups on Yahoo that I've run across before. You could try doing a search on the "groups" page at Yahoo.com. Or, I'm pretty sure the wefixit group has a link to at least one of them in their files. I LOVE the Yahoo user groups for old machines. Great sources for troubleshooting, finding parts, making simple home repairs, learning how to reset your OWN timing on mechanicals, etc.

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I am going for a level of perfection that is only mine... Most of the pleasure is in getting that last little piece perfect...Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just keep showing up and doing the work.

Chuck Close, painter, printmaker, photographer

Hope has two lovely daughters: Anger and Courage

St. Augustine

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Reply to tlmck3
Date: 8/26/06 7:25 AM

That's a great point Terry. One of the many things that I personaly like about the vintage machines is that if you have the desire, you CAN repair and service them yourself. The yahoo groups are one of severl good sources for getting started. Couple that desire with a little mechanical skill and some fool hardy bravery, and you will be able to do more than you thought.

Here's another site that can help explain the basics:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/sewing-machine2.htm

A fellow by the name of Ray White holds SM repair classes throughout the country. If you are able to spend the time and money, these are well worth it.

Or, you can buy one that has already been serviced from your local SM shop, or a collector thinning their herd.

In my experience the VAST majority of machines that I have bought at garage sales, thrift stores, ebay, etc... were in need of some sort of servicing. Many have required some actual repair. Rewiring, dissaembling and/or repiars to the tension assembly, missing parts, being stuck with varnished up oiled in the guts are the most common problems. The hook timing. hook/ needle clearance and needle depth are less common problems. Some models have plastic gears that are NG, and that's a good sized job.

I picked up a Bernin 1630 at a yard sale. It is a computerized machine, and I wouldn't dare attempt a repair on that! In fact, I'm not even sure why I bought it. It seems to work just fine (The SS & ZZ at least), but I am a bit overwhlmed by all the features and functions. I doubt that I will keep it.

JennyG

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http://blog.sew-classic.com/
www.Sew-Classic.com

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Reply to momof2girls
Date: 8/26/06 11:53 AM

Too cool! I advocate the extreme care and feeding of local machine repair persons

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http://www.thestitchery.wordpress.com
http://www.thesewingdivas.wordpress.com

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Reply to MaryBeth
Date: 8/26/06 4:04 PM

Thats a good point Marybeth. If the machine is expensive or valuable, it is probably NOT a good canidate for learning to wrench sm's. But, If you pick up an old kenmore for instance at a garage sale for $5, and you just want to try your hand at working on it, then just use good safey sense and have at it.


I don't work on any of my computerized machines apart from the maintenence items specified in the owners manual. I am always at my local SM shop to buy parts and chat. The tech is a real nice guy, and I think he gets a kick out of my tinkering with my own machines. He has told me many times that if I ever run into a tough spot on a machine- just give him a call and he'll talk me through it. I don't repair other people machines, except for close friends and family.

JennyG

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http://blog.sew-classic.com/
www.Sew-Classic.com

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