Sewing Machine Rehab

[peacock]

Hello, my name is Peacock and I am addicted to sewing machines.  LOL!  Is there a 12-step program for this?

Sorry . . . that's just what popped into my mind when I wrote "Rehab."  What I really mean is rehabbing the machines.  I keep seeing these cool vintage machines at yard sales, rummage sales and because I do truly love sewing, I want to snap them up and fix them up, get them running well, polish them and SELL them.

I've bought 4 of them within the last month - three vintage Singers including a treadle (but I'm keeping that one) and a vintage Viking.  I'm sure they're worth a lot more than I paid, which was nearly nothing.  But my question is this -- how does one learn how to work on sewing machines? 

Hubby is quite mechanically adept, but this is my project, and I am not.  But I could learn.  I just don't know how to go about learning.  Ideas?  Books?  Videos?  Thanks!

[FleaQueen]

If you could find a book that went with one of these machines -- the kind that tells you how to work it, with a diagram of the parts and, hopefully, a section on troubleshooting, you could probably work backwards from there.  That would at least get you started.

Also, try YouTube.  There are oodles of instructional videos there.

OR you could take a machine to one of those sew & vac places (the ones that fix both), have the guy fix one, and then ask him how exactly he did it.  He might balk at this; on the other hand, he might be one of those people who LOVE to talk about how they fix things.

www.fullservicebohemian.blogspot.com

[Jay2TheRescue]

Sewing machines...  My mother suffers from the same affliction.  Because mom has so many of them, and the local shop was charging her $50 for a basic cleaning/oiling/adjustment she had dad take a class on it.  There was an adult education class that met at the local high school in the evenings.  For less than the price she would pay to have one machine done in the shop, dad can do all that she finds. 

Check with your local high school or community college for their adult education offerings. 

[peacock]

Oh and I also want to add that I know sewing machines aren't worth a whole lot as a collectible - some people think those old black Singers are valuable but there are still so many of them around that they aren't worth much unless they're in nearly mint condition.  As with the other things that interest me, I'm more into their value as usable retro.  People who like retro may enjoy sewing on a well-maintained retro machine. 

Me, I prefer my new Scandinavia, but whatever

[Jay2TheRescue]

There are certain models that are collectible.  301's and featherweights come to mind very quickly.  These machines are prized by quilters, and people in those circles will pay good money if the machine is in nice condition.