Singer Sew & Touch model 758

With my quilting machine in the shop, I needed to do some basic sewing and while there are about 14 sewing machines in this house, none of them work!  I pulled out my Wal-Mart special, Singer machine, but it sounded pretty bad and wasn't making a good stitch.  I knew it needed a really good cleaning and oiling, but it would cost more to put it in the shop that it had cost new.

So I went to the next machine.  I have two Singer Sew & Touch, models 758 & 750 (my mom's old machine).  Both were having tension and hook problems.  The needle was hitting metal as it went down into the bobbin and therefore not pulling any thread up.  I've tried taking them to the repair shop but after a few hours of sewing, suffered the same problems again.  One repair shop offered to trash my mother's machine for me.  I wasn't ready to give up just yet.

I took my Janome Memory Craft machine to Sewing Machine & Things in Franklin, TN (near the Cool Springs Mall).  They had serviced the machine right before Mom got sick.  It was in a very bad need of cleaning and oiling.  That was it.  Mom used to service her own machines, so I figured that I needed to figure out how to do that too and save myself lots of time and money.

How do you learn to work on sewing machines?  Trial and Error!

So I opened up the model 758 and started oiling and cleaning everything first.  

Here's a view from the top of the machine.  I oiled all the moving parts and cleaned the dust with a can of air spray.  The repair shop man told me that these machines weren't worth fixing if there were any plastic parts.  There are a few plastic pieces in this one.

Here's the bottom view.  One hint the repairman told me was to not use the air spray unless the dust can fall completely away from the machine.  That was the problem with my Janome.  I was blowing the dust deep into the enclosed machine.

So after all the dust was gone and all moving parts oiled with sewing machine oil (not just any old oil), I Googled YouTube videos on how to adjust the timing.  They were helpful, but it was still trial and error.

This is the main crank shaft (don't ask me if that is the right term, but the knob on the side of the machine moves this long bar).  See that black, grooved thing right in the center?  That little metal thing beside it has to be adjusted.  It takes a special screw driver, that thankfully, my husband had.  It's really tiny.  Sorry for the picture quality, but you can see that it's not your average screwdriver.  I had to use the trial and error method on this too, to find the right size.

I loosened this up and went too far.  It stopped my feed dogs from operating, so I had to tighten it back up some.

Then I adjusted this area.  See that white plastic, grooved thingy, with the adjustment, silvery thing beside it?  That also had to be loosen and then tightened.  This moves the bobbin case hook portion.  I had to play with these two adjustments until finally it all started working together.

Back together again, no extra pieces left over, and she is back up and running!  I still have a little issue with the tension, but that is just going to have to be played with a little more.  For now, it stitching a fairly nice stitch.

Now to work on the 750 model, which literally had pieces falling out of it when I opened the bottom.  This one may take a little more time!