<Ping> Ron

will provide the necessary information to allow me to swap a part out of a > 500 into a 401A? My brother bought a used 401A on my recommendation, but > the A-L dial was locked up. I soaked it in oil overnight, and when I tried > to move it next day, it did move, but I discovered a broken piece below > the apparatus for connecting to the cam stack. I have two 500s I don't > particularly want, so I'm willing to make a stab at swapping the parts, > but I need to know if that manual will have good enough diagrams to guide > me.

I doubt it goes into that much in the manual, Usually they are for basic adjustments. Not really for parts replacement. That is where training come in. I hardly ever use a service manual and never on a Singer machine other than for something in electronics diagnostics like on your 5000. That said if you have identified the part and it is exactly the same on the

500 and it may well be. I can tell you if you send me photo's or some other identification . It is quite likely I did take the photo's down as there was no need for them any longer.

Thanks, Ron, pics are on the way. However, looking at the close-ups I took, I doubt this is a part-swap I'll tackle, it appears that the entire upper mechanism has to be removed from the case in order to get at the screw for the broken part.

I wish you WERE HERE! ;-}

Update on the used sewing machine saga:

The shop wanted $150.00 to swap the broken cam finger between the 500 and the 401A. I told them I was pretty sure my brother, who paid $80.00 for the 401A and a table, would not be willing to pay that, so I would come pick up both machines, intending to gove the 500 to my DSIL. The service guy said they had another 401A which had just been traded in, and I could maybe make a deal for it, they were asking $190 (serviced and with a 90 day warrantee). When I got there, I asked what kind of deal they would make if I traded them the broken 401A (for parts) plus the 500 in good working condition. They brought the price (unserviced) down to $100 and gave me a $50 trade-in allowance for the two machines. DEAL! I plugged it in at the store to be sure it was operating, everything seemed okay, although tight, it obviously needed a good cleaning and oiling. It had some of the feet and a couple of the Special cams AND the hard cover.

Just spent a couple of hours oiling, swabbing, lubing, wiping down, Q-tip cleaning the nooks and crannies, and adjusted the tension. Threaded it up, et voila, works perfectly! I called DB to tell him it was ready to pick up.

I love saving these old beauties. And I really wanted my DSIL to have the 401A, so that if she ran into difficulties she could call me and we'd be looking at the same machine.

Now I'm going to do some quick alterations (shorten three T-shirts and a pair of slacks) for younger DD, and then make three rayon caftan-like dresses for me to wear when it turns hot again. I purchased batik-printed panels at the Highland games in gorgeous shades of teal, purple and green.

Isn't it interesting how much lint and pieces of thread you find in a machine that was just "serviced"? If they looked inside at all, they had to have seen it.

The deal I got was for an *unserviced* trade-in machine. I knew it was probably going to need a major dunning out, but since I'm capable of doing that I was happy not to pay the dealer/service folks to do it. It was actually quite clean, but I suspect it had been unused for a looong time, it needed some standing time with machine oil to loosen the cam fingers. I swabbed off all the gears and applied new lubrication, and oiled all the extra places Ron told us about. It purrs...

:-D

My DSIL hates and loathes the machine she has been struggling with for years, I think this will make a big difference. Now, both she and her daughter (and I) have the same machine, so they can share the buttonholer, etc.

That's much better than most of the stories I've heard. A good OSMG is worth his/her weight in gold, but they're not thick on the ground any more.

[...] I swabbed off all the gears and applied

Too stinkin' true! Today I just took my Babylock coverstitch machine to a shop 26 miles south of me, to an OSMG recommended by Kay L. Fingers crossed. This is the third time I have had it looked at. It works fine for a while after each service, then starts missing stitches, and no combination of new needles, different needle positions, re-thread-from-scratch, change all three or four cones, fiddle with the stitch length and/or differential feed settings makes it work right. I have several T-shirts to alter for younger DD, plus I hope to get a commission for several capes like the one I made for my sister. I HAVE to have the CS working right, a new costs >$1,500.00 that's not in the budget.

Beverly, Dull knives on a serger will cause skipped stitches. In fact it is probably the most common cause. Easy check on knives. Take a single strand of thread and lay in all the way back into the knives, turn by hand while watching if the thread is cut clean all is well. If it is pushed towards you they should be changed.

That $150.00 is high for me but probably about right in your neck of the woods.

Thanks as usual, Ron. The machine I'm presently dealing with is a coverstitch, not a serger, so no knives. ;-) But I have replaced the knives on my old Bernette MO2-3-4 serger.

I think $1,500.00 is high here as well. I have seen new Babylock BLCSes online in the neighborhood of $7-800.00. I am still hoping to have the existing one serviced and running right for under $200 (the estimate was $109 plus parts).

My bad I did not even think of a stand alone coverstitch machine. Many these days are convertibles. That stitch is one many if not most home sewing machine repair people are not familiar with. Takes specialized training to deal with that. I know Babylock provides that for the dealers but they actually have to attend.

The $150.00 I was talking about is for the 401/500 parts swap deal. I probably would have been in the $100.00 range. I am certain even with the amount of sewing you do you could not have worn out the CS machine.

I agree, $150 was a little steep asking price to make the parts swap. Their "minimum service charge" is $120.00, and that's just a basic cleaning and oiling job. Since they damaged my XL5000 I was reluctant to take the 401a/500 job to them, but I have very few options that don't include a couple of hours round trip. :-(

I use the coverstitch quite a lot, altering short-DD's T-shirts and making lots of fleece stuff. Handy little machine, I certainly hope I will not wear it out!

[...]

I also own the Huskylock 936 serger, which *can* be converted to coverstitch. I thought at the time I upgraded to it (I won a second 910 at the state fair, and paid to upgrade) that it would be super cool to serge along, and when it came time to do coverstitch I'd just leave all the cones in place and convert. However, I have never actually used the 936 as a coverstitch, the conversion seems (on paper) overly complicated. But that does remind me that I

*have* a coverstitch machine sitting in my sewing room, I may just try the conversion to finish DD's alterations while I await the Bablylock repair. Thanks!

I am relying on Kay's recommendation for this shop. Fingers crossed, we'll see...

Now I am going to make you all wish you were local to me. I get $50.00 for a basic clean and lube. Wow $120.00. I guess the cost of living is far higher on the west side. Easy to see why you all do it yourselves.

[...]

This is hardly the first time I have wished you were local to me! I would drive 100 miles each way to have your expertise servicing my machines.

Follow-up: I dug out the manual and converted the 936 for coverstitch today I was right about the conversion it's a PITA. No way could one switch from serging to coverstitch (and back again) easily and in fact I will probably never do it again.

I did manage to get DD's T-shirts altered. However, I was not 100% pleased with the result, it was wonky going over side seams, and I could not find the sweet spot for setting the differential feed (very stretchy rib-knit). I will be VERY HAPPY if the shop can get my Bablylock CS working right.