Thursday, September 17, 2009

Sewing Machine Surgery

Monday, the bobbin winder on my new (less than 6 months) sewing machine decided to go on strike.

I stomped about, I cursed, I found my warranty information, I even attempted to call Singer. Since none of this helped I decided to try to fix it myself. Yes, I know, I am not a certified Singer repairman. There also isn't a single one in the state of Montana (according to Singer's website).

After poking around, trying to take it apart, I realized I needed a really long screwdriver. I put the entire project on hold for the week. Partly to prevent more stomping and cursing, partly so I could borrow a really long screwdriver.

Today, screwdriver and time met each other with desire. I was ready to disassemble a machine not intended to be disassembled by the owner. I prefer to ignore the "no user serviceable parts inside" warning. It is just a sewing machine.

After loosening what seemed an over abundance of screws, I managed to take off the back of the sewing machine. Now, I could look at the pesky bobbin winder and attempt to understand what was wrong. The problem was easily identified. It seems there was a screw acting as a pivot point. A screw that was no where to be found. Some rooting around in the computer room gave me a small screw that fit the bill.

Getting it back together didn't go as smoothly as possible. Evidently all those screws are needed to make sure the handle on the top of the machine doesn't attempt to run away.

At any rate, machine re-assembled and happily spinning bobbins again. If you look closely at the last picture, you can see the screw through the slot of the bobbin winder.

I can now go back to sewing without having to hand-wind a bobbin.

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