In the mid-1980s I purchased 2 Singer sergers- a 64U 4 spool and a 64U 5 sp ool- from SoFro. SoFro had a workbook for each model that the sales rep hel ped the customers create a sample of the stitches with the tension settings for each model. The booklets I had have been lost and I am unable to use t he sergers without the booklets and tension settings. The generic settings from the manuals do not work. I wonder if I could get or purchase the tens ion settings for these models or if someone had completed copies of the wor kbooks with the correct tension settings for each stitch for each of these
If the generic settings in the manuals are not working, that suggests the machines are now pretty worn, or dirty, or in need of a professional tuneup.
There's an older book called "Ultimate Serger Answer Guide" that can be picked up used pretty reasonably that shows samples of various stitches, what's going on with messed up stitches, and suggests corrections; that's the first book I'd probably send you to look at. Your local public library may even have copies. Couple that with color coded thread for each position, and you can probably get them going again without too much stress.
If your machines have been sitting for several years, they probably need a good cleaning and lubrication to remove old, stiffened lubricants. I don'tknow the features of your machine, but I might suggest that a more modern serger may be easier to use and have several features, like differential feed, that you may be lacking on the ones you have. This is a pretty good time of year to buy... the Brother 1034D is a basic, lightweight but fairly sturdy and well-liked serger that's selling in the $150-200 range; another good bargain 4 thread is the Juki 654DE in the $350-400 range. I sew on the Juki 655, a 5 thread (non-coverstitch) that offers a true safety stitch, which copes with much heavier fabrics than the Brother
1034. Given a basic serger service is $80-100 or more, that may actually be a more economical choice than trying to resurrect older machines with possibly poor part availability.
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