Spa Time

     No, not for me, for a sister in law of a quilting friend. Actually for her Featherweight she recently purchased. It was kind of grungy, not well cared for. Alarming was the white smoke that came out of the motor when I ran it. Yikes. I took the motor apart (thanks to Elizabeth for her great tutorial) after I found a bit small enough to get the set screw off the pulley. There was so much carbon residue in there that it looked like someone dumped a pencil sharpener in there. The one carbon brush was stuck in the tube which is why I attempted to take the motor apart. I am not usually brave enough to do that. I swabbed all the dust out, scraped it out of the grooves in the commutator, got it back together (miracle), and when it ran, it was incredibly fast for a 221!! 
     It got a new belt and an LED light bulb. It took copious elbow grease to clean the gears, polish the metal and paint. Also lots of rags.  Also cleaned the case. It looked entirely different than the beginning. I emailed the before and after photos to Carol, so I hope she likes it. 
     I get this great satisfaction to bringing an old, excellently manufactured machine back to use and looks. It sews marvelously. Ahh.

Dirty before

Oxidized, rough finish paint, partially disassembled 

Gunky gears, yuck

All pretty now! 

Look how much light that LED gives!

Clean and greased gears

Ready to sew!