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Not so happy dance--I got a Singer 4622A

Greetings everyone,

In what might have become one of my dumbest moves of my life, I sold away a perfectly good Singer 5810 sewing machine, and got myself a Singer 4622A. Now, I am looking at the machine, I am looking at myself in the mirror, and I don't like what I see. Anybody got a gun? ;-)

Before I go any further, I was sold the machine under false pretenses. It was assured to me that it was new, almost never used. Since I trusted the person, I bought it. Rule number one: never buy a sewing machine from a family member!

However, things are not as bad as I make them appear so far. But I will need some help in transforming the lemon into lemonade. So here are my questions:

1) How can I oil the machine? I have downloaded the parts list for that machine, which offers diagrams of how all the parts fit together, but even with that, I am no closer to removing the top cover in order to oil the machine. As luck would have it, no mention of oiling is made in the instruction manual.

2) The special buttonholer foot. This foot is for the one-step buttonhole. What I want to know is if it's supposed to be that loose near the shank of the foot? The foot sways from left to right and that doesn't strike me as normal. This is a snap-on foot, which I dislike, and will probably replace it with a real foot eventually. Again, the marvelous instruction manual doesn't even mention that feature of the machine, or how to use it.

3) Not a complaint per se, but I am curious. How can someone break the bobbin case? The bobbin case in the machine is new, but I got the old broken one in the accessories. I understand it is plastic, but it was broken in places I didn't even know a needle could penetrate! :-)

Apart from that, I am quite surprised at the way the machine behaves. The tension is perfect, and the stitches are as perfect as I can hope for, which is very surprising, since that machine probably had some abuse in the past. That is why I am willing to try to save that machine, even if modern-day Singers are usually not worth the trouble. I am one of the rare people who had no problems with Singers made in the nineties (1990-1995).

It is true that a sewing machine service center will tune-up the machine for me, but I still need to know how to do basic maintenance. So if someone can help me on that matter, I will be grateful.

Basic info on the machine:

Singer 4622A

24 stitches/slant needle one-step buttonholer

Problems solved so far: Tension disk for the bobbin on top of the machine, restored a too loose thread cap, adjusted all tensions, cleaned it, and got the lint off.

Mario Landerman

Reply to
Dr. Landerstein
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Ease up on yourself. It is not that bad a machine. Actually it is quite a good one and the model run inculdes 2 more really popular models. For help you might want to try either of these groups. Both have resident mechanics and great helpful people.

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Hanna's mum, Still doing the 301A happy dance. Truly a great machine.

Reply to
Hanna's Mom

Greetings,

Thank you very much! I went there and suscribed. And I even believe I can supply a few things of my own there!

And thank you for the pep talk! I agree that this machine feels quite nice. I certainly didn't complain about the stitches! And another good thing is that I will get to spend some money on Ebay for slant needle sewing machine accessories! :-)

Thanks again!

Reply to
Dr. Landerstein

Give them a bit of time too. A couple of the OSMG's that hang out there do not get on every day. So do you need a zipper foot, or a straight stitch foot I have dozens.....gggggg Replaced a bunch of Stylists in the school here with Pfaffs and took all the extra feet. Well they were offered. You will absolutley love the Slant feature. It gives a very clear view of the sewing area. And it is what is stealing the Featherweight thunder amongst quilters. That and the fact that the stitch on the 301/A Slant is superior to the FW.

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Reply to
Hanna's Mom

If it's not mentioned then it's not required. Most new(er) machines have nylon or plastic gears that don't need oiling.

I can think of lots of ways.

Reply to
Ann Knight

Greetings,

As far as I checked internally, at least, as much as the cover could let me, everything was metal, with only one plastic gear in the dog feed assembly, apart from the bobbin case, of course. I would like to believe that I would not have to oil it, but metal with no oil equals a lot of trouble later on.

Speaking about the bobbin case...

It's really broken in places that I am sure no needle could be able to reach. That little thing make buying the machine worth it, somehow. I feel like a white knight rescuing a damsel in distress at the hands of a cruel, merciless ogre! :-) Of course, the fact that it sews beautifully seems to help matters a LOT!

Reply to
Dr. Landerstein

Greetings,

No worries about waiting for an answer. Sewing, and knitting, and crocheting have taught me at least to be patient before seeing the finished result! :-)

Yes, I do need both of those items. Even if the snap-on zipper foot supplied with the machine is better made than my older one, it's still plastic, and I distrust plastic for sewing feet. I can either buy them outright, or trade for less common feet for a low shank vertical needle sewing machine. I have quite a few feet that come from buying all those accessories boxes on Ebay, so I could trade for the zipper foot and the straight stitch foot quite handsomely. A ruffler, maybe? Or maybe we could arrange a deal outside of the newsgroup, as trades/sales aren't a good thing to discuss here, since this is not the proper place. My email is snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com, so feel free to use it.

Thanks for the offer!

Reply to
Dr. Landerstein

Your machine may have permanently lubricated joinings--best thing to do is to contact your local Singer dealer or Singer online and ask them. Since this is a brand new machine (if I remember correctly) this seems likely to me.

Reply to
Ann Knight

Don't forget

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and
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for presser feet for Singer slant needle machines. I have bought several from both and they come with directions for usage, too. NAYY, just a happy customer. Emily

Reply to
Emily

Greetings,

Thank you for suggesting those places. If they have lower prices than what I see here in Montreal, I may be tempted to order from them.

Reply to
Dr. Landerstein

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