Kenmore 1756~Update!

A few weeks ago, our friends J&D were out garage saling on a Friday afternoon, and saw this sewing machine. It was in a cabinet and marked $20.  J, bless her heart, told the seller about The Sewing Machine Project, and the seller said she would donate it if that is where the machine would be going. J&D loaded up the cabinet and machine and accessories. The seller then told her that it would sew for about five minutes, then there was ‘something wrong’. J told her, ‘Don’t worry, I think Michelle and Louie can fix it’.

The SMP does not accept machines in cabinets, so D took the machine out of the cabinet, and delivered the machine to me. I have had it for a week or so, and Sunday, decided to work on it. I didn’t try plugging it in and running it before I worked on it, and I’m glad I didn’t. I had turned the hand wheel, and found it hard to turn, and I could hear a ‘rubbing’ sound. I started oiling and investigating things, and in the process, started to remove the hand wheel. It was attached a little bit different than others I have worked on, in that, the machine has two belts. One goes from the hand wheel to a pulley, and the other belt goes from the same pulley, only on a different ‘track’ to the motor. I had a difficult time removing the hand wheel, and I decided I better loosen and move the bracket on the motor so I could remove the belt. That required the end panel coming off, because the hand wheel kind of sat in a ‘groove’ of that panel. I had a difficult time getting the panel off, because it seemed something was ‘pushing’ against the inside panel. When I finally freed the belt from the motor, look what was just sitting around on the inside. It should have been attached to a bracket.

I screwed the pulley back to the bracket and all seemed well. I finished oiling and freeing ‘stuck’ parts (do you see a theme here with these vintage machines?) and I ran the machine. It worked well for a few minutes, then I heard an awful sound, and guess what was lying inside the side cover again? Yep. The pulley was not turning, because it was ‘gummed up’, and the motor and belt unscrewed it from the bracket.

This called for ‘backup’. “Oh, Louieeeeeee!” He determined that the pulley wheel was not moving at all, so we got out Mr. Blow Dryer again, and applied some oil, and soon, it was freed. Louie took it apart farther, cleaned the shaft, greased it, put it back together, and screwed it back to the bracket, this time applying some ‘locktite’ to the screw. The pulley spun freely, the machine was oiled, and when that was all done, the mechanism that lowers the feed dogs had loosened and released, and I was on my way to doing some sample stitches.

She’s ready for The SMP. One down, five more to go…until I get some more! They seem to be multiplying! Thank you kind lady from the garage sale. I wish I had your name so I could donate your machine in your name. I will put a note on it crediting you. UPDATE: I now have the kind lady’s name, thanks to my good friend J, so this machine can be properly donated in her name. M** S** B****, thank you SEW much for helping this cause. You are an angel!

ps…I just wanted to say to those who faithfully read my blog posts and comment, thank you. I appreciate hearing from you. I bet you get tired of saying the same things over and over to me. I write these blog posts so I can keep track of the machines that I find, fix, and donate or keep, so I can look back and see what I did to them to make them work, in case I have to do it again, and just to remember the machines that went through my hands. I appreciate the comments, and I hope you don’t run away. Please don’t’ feel obligated to comment on each one (but you can if you want ) I’m not posting for a pat on the back, I’m just keeping a record of my ‘finds’ and ‘fixes’.

Have a wonderful week!

Michelle