Sewing Machine Vent.

The stitch regulator has gone bad on my Singer 15-91. It's going to cost $400 to have it fixed; and I was thinking I could probably find another 15-91 in very good condition cheaper than that. I really love that machine.

Anyway, I'm looking at them on e-bay. Nearly every one is listed as an "industrial" machine. The page description shows pictures of them sewing through, like six pieces of naugahyde, or multiple pieces of denim, or leather or canvas. I was a little miffed by that, as I never considered my machine an industrial machine and would never have abused it in that way. It's a little workhorse, but IMO that's just plain abuse. I think they were originally marketed to 1950s housewives, NOT tentmakers and upholsterers.

Just a vent.

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry
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It's a common problem. 'Industrial strength' is a lie, and you are right: to do this regularly with such a machine is sewing machine abuse.

Have you thought of fixing your machine yourself? Try Cindy Peters or Helen Howe for parts, or Don Anderson...

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Look for some instructions here:
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Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Reply to
Polly Esther

That's what she's doing. She decides the stitch length now. Was tolerable up until sewing a binding on the other day and I think she started going for

150 per sq. inch. I had to baby her by very carefully feeding the quilt edge in, so there was no drag whatsoever just to get it finished.

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

I hadn't thought of it, but DH is as handy as a pocket on a shirt, as my granny used to say; he's really mechanically oriented. It sure wouldn't hurt to let him have a whirl at it. Thanks for the links!

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

I hadn't thought of it, but DH is as handy as a pocket on a shirt, as my granny used to say; he's really mechanically oriented. It sure wouldn't hurt to let him have a whirl at it. Thanks for the links!

Sherry

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Reply to
Taria

You mean like the Centennial 15-91 I picked up a few years ago at a yard sale for $10? New needle, some cleanup and oil and it's been doing fine since. Or the half dozen other 15s I've picked off curbs the night before trash pickup and cleaned up and gave away? Or the three others that have showed up in my driveway, ditto?

The 15 machines were among the most copied all over the world, and they're still plentiful, and still plenty easy to work on. If you'd like to tackle the job yourself, you might join the yahoo group "wefixit", where you'll get lots of encouragement, good advice, and sources for parts.

Parts chart:

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's manual is in the file section of Wefixit. Kay

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

Whoa. You've been lucky. So far I've found prices to be from $100- $300. Three hundred being recently rewired, overhauled, serviced, and guaranteed to be in 100% working order. The hundred-dollar ones not so much guaranteed. You got the mother of all bargains with the ten-dollar Centennial. Thanks for the link! Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

Everyone's right...probably fixable at $40 or less (NOT $00!) and/or replaceable at about that price. Check out Cindy Peters, WeFixIt on yahoo, and the link to the place with the repair manuals for the machines they send to needy folks overseas. You and/or your DH can probably get your old machine working just fine again.

First off: THOROUGH cleaning and oil! Maybe some lint has gotten into a linkage somewhere and is goofing up your feeddogs.

Dragonfly

- who is currently making costumes for "Seussical the Musical" on a 1990 elna serger and a 1960 elna automatic - but would be using the 1926 Jones Medium CS treadle for the "regular machine" stuff except it has too many things piled up on it right now.

Reply to
Dragonfly

You are absolutely right to vent, Sherry. Those 'Industrial Strength' sellers go way overboard, in my opinion. The 15-91 was designed to be a home DOMESTIC machine, and while certainly more 'heavy duty' than the Singers availale today is was definately not desgined to regularly sew - day in and day out - what some of those sellers claim it will.

The ironic thing is, some real industrials are designed to only sew lightweight fabrics such as lace or cotton and would choke on leather or sumbrella. The main difference with an industrial is they do primarily one task, and only that, all day long, and very fast. Plus, real industrials have off-board motors located under the sewing with an oil resivoir that flushes the motor with oil to keep it cool.

Exactly what is the symptom your machine is having? I can't imagine it costing that much money to get it fixed (says Irene, who has about

12 model 15s in her house right now).

-Irene

Reply to
IMS

Oh gosh. Here is the un-techical version. I don't know much about machines. The stitch regulator won't lock into a stitch. I can wiggle it around, get it where I want it. But when I throw that lever up that makes it sew backwards, it throws it off to a different stitch length when I lower it. I was getting along pretty well with that, until... Now if I try to sewing binding on a quilt, it completely wacks out the stitch regulator. I have to make sure there is NO DRAG whatsoever, and feed the edge in really carefully. If I don't, I get teeny teeny teeny stitches. But except for not being able to control the stitch *length*, otherwise everything is great. The stitches are nice, top and bottom. Both layers of fabric seem to feed evenly. Thanks for any tips! Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

Howdy!

My 15-91 is a beautiful machine in a well-worn cabinet, $75 at a Dallas junk shop, 6-7 yrs ago. Works just fine, light bulb & all. Husband has discovered how easy it is to work on, if it ever needs his services. I got the manual (free) online. No one notices the homely cabinet because the gold detailing on the machine distracts them.

Good luck!

R/Sandy

Reply to
Sandy E

Are the feed dogs worn down?

I have my MILs 15-91 and you can drop the feed dogs, or disengage them by loosening a thumb screw underneath the machine. It could have loosened all by itself. The one on my machine had never been loosened and I had to use Liquid Wrench to free it up.

Just a thought.

Give the "wefixit" group on Yahoo a try, be forewarned that site is addictive!

Bonnie, in Middletown, VA

Reply to
Bonnie Patterson

Bonnie, you beat me to the post, that's what I was going to suggest!

-Irene

Reply to
IMS

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