Here for your consideration is a nice vintage Kenmore 117.841
zig-zag and cam sewing machine made in 1958. It was
manufactured in West Germany by the Gritzner Nahmaschinen
GmbH, and imported to the USA by the White Sewing Machine
Co., who at that time also provided sewing machines to Sears
Roebuck Co. Who was Gritzner? More information follows
further down the page.
All photos and descriptions are copyright by me and may not be
reproduced elsewhere, thanks.
This sample is in very good condition, with fairly low mileage,
and it is in good working condition, both inside and out. I have
given it a thorough cleaning, servicing, and inspection and have
test-sewed with it. It\'s ready for many more years of strong
and reliable service.
I have test sewn with a number of materials and provide details
further down the page.
This is a very, very rare beast in the world of home sewing
machines – It is one of the very few that will use industrial type
high-shank presser feet. Let’s look at industrial high shank
presser feet and find out if it might be a big deal for you…
The big majority of home sewing machines use low shank presser
feet, and have since the late 1800s. The choice and variety of
low-shank feet is vast, and yet it is dwarfed by the variety and
specialized choices available in the world of industrial high-shank
presser feet. Above is a photo of just a tiny assortment of high-
shank feet. The first six starting from the left are “plain” straight
stitch feet. The first is a very small, low friction foot designed
specifically to sew velvet and velveteen. Next is a narrow
straight-stitch foot designed for work in tight places, and to sew
zippers. Next is a “normal” straight stitch foot, followed by a
large one, and a larger one. Next is a true Teflon foot (not all
home Teflon feet are really made of super-slippery Teflon…
some are made of nylon). Next is a roller foot, for sewing
rubberized materials, leather, and vinyl. Next is a foot for sewing
in hidden zippers. Next is a spring-loaded left-compensating, and
the last one is a dual compensating foot.
Industrial presser feet are ruggedly constructed for years of heavy
duty daily use.
Most industrial sewing is straight-stitch. But Zig-Zag feet are also
available in high shank. From left to right you see a standard zig-
zag foot, a satin-stitch foot, a plastic, see-through satin stitch foot,
an overcasting foot, a narrow hemmer, a cording foot, and finally,
a left compensating foot that was originally a straight-stitch foot,
but that I ground out so I could use it for zig-zag. You can use
Necchi, Janome, and other brand Japanese high-shank zig-zag
presser feet with this machine.
Above, you can see one use for the left compensating foot, in
sewing a thick felled seam. There are dozens and dozens of
highly specialized industrial presser feet available right here on
every day, and you can choose them as singles, or in
assorted sets depending on your needs.
For example, above you see a full set of industrial high-shank
hemmer presser feet. The narrowest ones are common in the
world of low-shank presser feet, but I’ve never seen the ones
designed to produce wider hems on heaver fabrics.
Now, back to this Kenmore. It is an advanced zig-zag
machine capable of using decorative stitch cams. The machine
features a Left-Center-Right needle positioning control, and a
nice feed dog control feature, as well as the more common zig-
zag controls.
This is a very durable machine. It is robustly constructed with a
strong, heavy cast iron frame. The zig-zag and cam mechanisms
are compact, strong, and accessible at the top of the machine for
ease of maintenance. Nearly all of the parts are precision
machined from metal castings. There are very few (if any) parts
that are made from stamped sheet metal. Many of the oiling
points are marked with red paint as a reminder.
I admire many German sewing machines. Germany was Europe’s
center-of-gravity for sewing machine development. In the USA
we had Singer, and a handful of lesser manufacturers… White,
Domestic, New Home, Minnesota, Damascus, and so on. Singer
was the only one successful enough to produce zig-zag machines
as far as I can tell. In Germany, we had Gritzner, Anker, Adler,
Durkopp, Phoenix, Saalfeld, Haid & Neu, Meister, Kohler, and
Pfaff, to name a few.
In fact, before WWII, Singer had a factory at Wittenberg,
Germany, and Singer turned to their German crew to design their
first zig-zag machine, the Singer 206, way back in 1934 or so.
My experiences with German machines is that many were built
with less compromise, and higher quality on average than any
other machines. … It seems to me that in the thirties through the
fifties, German machines were to the world of sewing what
German automobiles, Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW, were to the
automotive world.
If you would like access to the versatile world of industrial presser
feet, you might want to consider this machine. There were only a
few home sewing machines I have ever found that were designed
to natively use industrial high-shank presser feet, and all were
made in Germany. This is one of them.
It should be noted that the Italian Necchi machines such as the
Supernovas and BU machines, as well as some Japanese high-
shank machines that emulated the Necchi designs, are NOT
natively able to use industrial high-shank presser feet. These
machines defaulted to a needle-left straight stitch. The industrial
high-shank standard is more like needle centered, but even when
a Necchi or similar Japanese machine was set to a needle-center
position (if available), they still do not align to the needle hole in
an industrial high-shank presser foot.
I am including an oiler (see below for oiling suggestions,) five
good quality class-15 bobbins, a small screwdriver for adjusting
the bobbin-thread tension, and a package of Schmetz
Universal needles in assorted sizes. These budget needles are
only good for lightweight jobs, but you can use them to practice
with to get to know this machine. I am also including a size 12
twin-needle to get you started with three-thread sewing. See
below for more information and suggestions about needles.
Included is the original set of decorative stitch cams, A through H.
Each cam has two stitches, so there are a total of 16 stitches
available in addition to the three that are built in to the machine.
The cams often get separated from the machine over the years, so
it is somewhat rare to be able to own a full set.
Also included are a nice set of industrial high shank presser feet.
There is a general purpose zig-zag foot, a satin stitch foot, a
decorative cording foot, a shirring foot, a button foot, a
buttonhole foot, a narrow hemmer, an edge-stitcher with guide,
and a quilting guide. All are the original G-K (Gritzner-Kayser)
presser feet except the satin-stitch foot, and the adjustable zipper /
cording / welting foot which was provided to Sears by Greist.
Greist was an independent manufacture of presser feet here in the
US, and provided a system of binders, rufflers, hemmers, and so
on, primarily to White and Sears. They sold these in high-shank
versions and these will work on this machine.
Also included is the original 64-page manual in good condition.
This machine was originally supplied with a Mercury wirewound
foot control. I have replace that with a later Kenmore 1.2 amp
carbon-stack control. These offer excellent low-speed needle control.
This Kenmore Gritzner machine uses a Class-15 bobbin system.
This is my favorite. The class-15 bobbins hold the most thread of
any of the bobbin systems found on home sewing machines, and
does the best job handling the heaviest threads.
In the later models like this one, Gritzner provided a large access
hatch in order to make changing out the class-15 bobbins easier.
The needle plate is in excellent condition, without significant
damage due to needle strikes around the needle-hole. To keep it
that way, avoid using Schemtz Universal needles except on
lightweight jobs. For heavier work, use stronger needles. See
below for advice on selecting and using needles.
As a part of my servicing routine, I clean around the bobbin,
shuttle, hook and feed dogs, and lightly lubricate the moving
parts.
This Kenmore is a very capable, advanced zig-zag machine. At
the top right of the machine you see the zig-zag width control,
allowing you to vary the zig-zag stitch width. “Zero” is straight-
stitch. To the left is the needle centering control. You can
locate the needle position anywhere inside the zig-zag needleplate
hole. It has three “click-stop” settings… Needle Left, Center, and
Right, but in practice it will also hold in-between settings so you
can place the needle just about anywhere you want it . This is a
great feature when using overcasting type presser feet or for
precise placement for picot edging.
Interesting and useful… If you set the stitch selector to straight
stitch, you can use the zig-zag width control to place the stitch
anywhere inside the needle hole. Very versatile.
Below that and to the right is the stitch length adjustment lever. It
will forward stitch in the down position, and you can swing it up
for reverse mode stitching in order to back-tack at the beginning
and ends of seams. The knob screws in or out if you want to
provide a stop so that the reverse stitch roughly matches the
length of the forward stitch.
Note that there was a decorative badge below the “Kenmore”
name… It is missing, but is a cosmetic item and won’t affect
function at all.
Below that, on the main deck, is the feed dog adjuster. Normal
position is 1, with feed dogs up. Position 2 drops the feed dogs
for darning or embroidery. Position 3 is spring loaded, you can
push the lever to 3 and it will temporarily drop the dogs which
can be useful for guiding fabric into place under the presser foot.
This is the only machine I’ve ever seen that has this convenient
control. It prevents you from forgetting that your dogs are down.
Interchangeable stitch cams are installed behind a small swing-
down door. Each cam has two stitches. In this case it is cam F.
The stitch selector is a rotary dial accessible through the top deck.
It is shown here with the top panel removed. You can see the
position for zig-zag, straight stitch, and “2” which is the setting
for the second stitch on the cam. There is also a setting just
visible down and right for the “running stitch” and hidden from
view is a “1” for the first stitch of whatever cam is installed. I
have removed the cam so you can better see the dial.
Above you can see the high-shank presser foot. I have cleaned the
needle clamp. If you over-oil the lower needle-bar bore, oil can
make its way down and foul the needle clamp, eventually
transferring oil to the material you are trying to sew. I immerse
the clamp in a small container of denatured alcohol to dissolve
away old oil so you can get a fresh, clean start on your work.
I was intitally skeptical of the motor on this machine. It was
manufactured by White, and is the same or similar to the motors
that White used on their many “White Rotary” machines. It
looked like an antique, and indeed it is… the motor design was
patented by White in 1927. My skepticism soon vanished. This
has become my favorite motor of all I’ve used, and I’ve used a
lot. I don’t mean “one of my favorites” … It is the motor I like
the best of all I’ve used.
I like this motor so much I went to the trouble to adapt one that I
can mount on other machines. It has a combination of strength,
smoothness, and quiet that I have never found in any other motor.
Older was often better. My favorite Singer motors were made in
the twenties and thirties as well. They are also smoother,
stronger, and quieter than many of the motors Singer made after
WWII.
A look under the machine reveals the clean condition. I have
serviced the gearbox hidden underneath the panel behind the
Class-15 hook, and have cleaned and lubricated the moving parts.
not copyright by me
So who was Gritzner?
not copyright by me
At one time, Gritzner was Germany’s largest selling sewing
machine manufacturer, and they were in there from the early days
in the 1800s.
not copyright by me
The quality and attention to detail is visible above in the early model “J”
not copyright by me
Above, an early Gritzner zig-zag, the “Extra.” The German
designer John Kayser is generally credited with manufacturing
the first practical zig-zag machine back in 1882. He later sold his
company and his zig-zag technology to Max Gritzner, and
Gritzner went on to become the most important innovator of the
zig-zag sewing machine. Guessing by its look, the “Extra” might
have reached market in the twenties.
not copyright by me
Gritzner also manufactured big industrial machines.
Above, a big, burly Gritzner Zig-Zag high-shank machine that was
available here in the USA under the White, Domestic, and Sears
Kenmore names, thanks to the White Sewing machine Company.
Due to their higher quality engineering and manufacturing,
German machines were expensive. When the Japanese entered
the sewing machine market in the late forties and fifties, they
were smart competitors, and thanks to manufacturer cooperation,
were able to undercut Singer and the Germans on price. By the
early sixties, almost all of the high quality German manufacturers
had to abandon the market and move to greener pastures.
Pfaff had a mutually beneficial working relationship with Gritzner,
and sold some Gritzner machines re-badged as Pfaff. They
purchased the company around 1964, and that, sadly, was the end
of Gritzner.
The sewing machine you are reading about here was one of
Gritzner’s last machines. It was developed in the early fifties.
The photo above shows a late version of the machine as it was
sold in Europe bearing the Gritzner name. Gritzner never
officially imported machines to the USA under their own name. I
acquired this one from a relative of a woman who brought it over
from Germany when she moved here in the sixties.
not copyright by me
Above is Gritzner’s straight-stitch only version of the machine. It
is the only straight-stitch home machine I’m aware of that uses
industrial high-shank presser feet.
Pfaff also sold a version of this same machine. The model similar
to this Kenmore, with interchangeable cams, was called the Pfaff
239, and the plain zig-zag model without cam capability was
called the Pfaff 139, as shown above.
The White sewing machine company, who supplied most of Sears
sewing machines in the thirties thru fifties, never developed a zig-
zag machine. So in order to supply Sears with zig-zag machines,
they turned to Gritzner.
White sold the Gritzner machine with a beautiful green paint job,
and also sold it under the Domestic name, which White also
owned, in a brown version.
not copyright by me
Sears sold the same machine, imported by White, in a blue paint
job.
The machine was apparently a good enough seller for Sears that
they commissioned Gritzner to rework the cosmetic styling of the
machine in order to distinguish it more distinctly from the
competing White, Domestic, and Pfaff versions. The top panel
and nose cover were restyled to give the machine a different look,
and the bed was re-proportioned to fit the White / Sears sewing
machine tables, but the main body casting and the machine’s
internal mechanisms remained the same “under the hood.”
And that’s what you’re looking at here. This sample has relatively
low mileage, and is in good operating condition. There are
numerous small scratches and scuffs from use. This machine also
has a number of paint flaws in the form of small chips and
scratches. These types of flaws are mostly handling flaws. Most
of these old machines have been unused for decades, and are just
waiting to be put back into service, but in handling and moving
they suffer in the way of paint dings and so on. This machine has
two bigger paint mars on the bed, near the back. The biggest one
is about 3/8 inch wide. These cosmetic marks have absolutely no
impact on the machine’s functionality.
This machine is only just broken in. These strong machines from
the thirties through the fifties were very durable, and this one
should provide another lifetime of full service if given routine
care and cleaning.
Now, finally, on to the sewing tests.
This test above in medium weight polyester shows the three basic
stitches that are built in to this machine. Starting from left, three
rows of straight stitches in varying lengths, followed by three
rows of zig-zag. Then two rows of the “running stitch.” This
stitch was a standard on many European machines in the fifties,
including Bernina. Then I tested for maneuverability. This
machine will do well on curved seams, pocket details, collars,
necklines, and so on.
Above are a few of the cam stitches. You can independently vary
the stitch width and length on the cam stitches.
Above are more cam stitches, this time in lightweight cotton, with
lighter thread and a smaller needle. The stitch quality is very nice.
Eight layers of canvas. The Gritzner handled it with ease.
This machine has three tension discs in the upper thread tensioner,
designed for sewing with two top threads using a twin needle.
Quality is very good.
For a denim test, I fold two layers of denim back under a felled
seam from a pair of jeans. This is a more difficult test than just
sewing plain layers. You will be able to sew or alter denim
clothes on this machine.
This machine did well sewing a piece of hard, thick, belt leather
using a size 16 Organ HLx5 round point needle and cotton
covered polyester thread. This machine is very strong and has
more than enough upper thread tension to handle heavier tasks.
Above, light garment weight leather, easy as could be. I had my
upper thread tension a bit too high for the top two rows. With a
few hours of experimentation you can learn how to adjust the
machine’s thread tensions for optimum results. See further down
the page for more helpful details on thread tensioning.
There you have it… This is a good quality, heavy duty, expensive
German sewing machine sold here in the USA by Sears back in
the fifties. I have fully serviced it to prepare it for a lifetime of
new work.
Is it worth it to take the time required to really overhaul a vintage
sewing machine? I hope so... If the government\'s inflation calculator
is current, these old machines, which may have cost $200-$300 or
more in the early sixties, would now cost well over $1500 in today\'s
dollars. And that is if anybody were building these excellent quality,
durable machines today. But they aren\'t. Corporations learned long
ago not to manufacture items that will last for your lifetime, and that
of your children as well. I can\'t imagine that we will ever again see
home sewing machines built to these standards of durability. Here is
one that has been carefully cleaned, and should provide many more
years of service if you give it a reasonable amount of care [cleaning
and lubrication]. If you buy one of these older machines that is in
good condition, I think you will get a much stronger, more durable,
more reliable machine for a lot less money than buying a new
machine.
Notes On Shipping
You will note that my shipping costs may seem higher than either of
us like. That is because it is difficult to ship a sewing machine
safely due to their weight. They are heavy, and yet also have
vulnerable small part such as thread guides, the take-up arm, spool
pins and so on that can be easily damaged and expensive, time-
consuming, or even practically impossible to replace.
Here is what one buyer said about my shipping and handling in his
response…
“…S&H high but worth every cent…”
I have purchased several sewing machines from sellers, and
have painful first-hand experience of seeing machines arriving
damaged to the point of having to be scrapped due to inadequate
boxing in the face of brutal handling at UPS distribution points.
Based on my experiences, I will not use UPS, I only use the US Post
Office. This is generally more costly, but they seem to treat
packages with much more respect than UPS. I use high quality,
strong boxes, and I pad the interior of box carefully and
thoughtfully. I individually wrap the foot control and any other
accessories include with the machine. I may temporarily remove
easy-to-install parts such as spool pins if they seem particularly
vulnerable.
I take care in preparing my machines for sale, and pride in my
workmanship, and neither of us want the machine to be damaged in
shipping. It takes quite a bit of time to package a machine for
shipping, and also costs quite a bit for good quality packing
materials.
Thanks for taking the time to look at it. Payment is due within 3 days
of end- of-sale. Contact me if you have any questions.
If you have time for more general information on needles, lubricants,
and thread tensioning, I ramble on below. If you are just interested
in the machine above, you can stop reading here...
Some home machine users do not pay very close attention to needles,
and some needle manufacturers take advantage of that fact and
market needles with lower quality than you might wish for. The
commonly available Schmetz \"Universal\" needles are not really
\"universal\" at all. If they were really “Universal,” Schmetz
wouldn’t need to produce “Denim,” “Microtex,” “Quilting,”
“Jersey,” “Embroidery,” and other types of needles for more
discriminating users.. The Schmetz “universal” are too soft in my
experience, and seem to be a bit of a \"budget quality\" needle due to
their softness. They have a light ball-point, and are only suitable for
lighter weight fabrics and knits, but they tend to flex and bend too
much for sewing tightly woven cotton fabrics, and I don\'t
recommend them at all for the heavier wovens such as denim or
canvas, or any job where you will be sewing thicker or heavy
seams.
My favorite sharp, strong needle is the Organ brand HLx5 quilting
needle. It is available in the full range of sizes from 9 to 18, and has
a reinforced blade. It is quite a bit stiffer than the Schmetz
\"Universal\" needle, and will not deflect as much as softer
needles.
When the needle is forced through thicker layers or seams, it may
bend slightly, causing it to strike the edge of the needle-plate hole
rather than passing cleanly through it. You can see the results in the
photos above, each needle- strike causing damage to the needle-
plate.
Each time the needle bends enough to strike the needleplate, it ruins
the point on the needle, and the needle should be replaced. If the
needle is blunted enough, you will hear a \"ticking\" sound each time
the needle is forced into the material. Blunted needles can damage
fabric. That means you need to stop your work, tie off your stitch,
install a new needle, and start up again. That is why industrial-
machine needles tend to be stronger than home-machine needles...
There is a lot of money to be made or lost in sewing factories, and
they cannot tolerate lost productivity due to needle damage.
Needle flexing is reduced by manufacturing the needle from harder
grades of higher-quality steel, and by forming reinforcing steps or
graduated tapers into the blade profile and these efforts increase the
cost of manufacturing the needle. Many home sewing machine
needles seem to be made of lower quality steel than industrial
quality needles, and so are prone to flexing, with the results shown
above. The use of higher quality needles will result in less needle
flexing, and less damage to your needles and your needleplate.
You can do your own semi-scientific flex tests by using a toothpick
inserted in the eye of a sewing machine needle to push on it. If you
are like me, you may be able to immediately feel the differences
between different brands and styles of needles. Compare apples to
apples by using the same size of needle, Brand A size 14 vs. Brand
B size 14, for example. The Organ HLx5 needle is the strongest
home sewing machine needle I have been able to locate. Organ calls
this a Quilting needle, but I use it for almost everything, including
leather. It is the only needle I use anymore for woven fabrics of any
weight, including denim and canvas. It also does a great job on light
leathers. Not only is it a better needle than the Schmetz \"Universal\"
needle (in my experience), it is also less costly. You won\'t find them
at Wal-Mart or Jo-Ann Fabrics, but there are several sellers here on
that make these needles available to us. They are available in
the standard [sharper] point in sizes 9 through 18, and the ball-point
version is available in sizes 9 throught 14 for sewing some
knits.
The above photo is a close-up of 7 home sewing machine needles, all
size 14 (metric size 90). The first one, on the left, is a Schmetz
\"Universal.\" The portion of the needle at (1) is called the \"blade\" of
the needle, and here you can see that the Schmetz Universal appears
to be the most poorly finished of all these needles, with machining /
milling marks visible on the blade. Ideally, the needle point, the eye,
and the blade will be mirror-smooth to reduce friction. At (2) you
can see that the Schmetz Universal needle has the longest point of
all the needles shown here. A long point reduces penetration
resistance, but also may be more susceptible to breakage at the eye
or scarf due to leverage. This needle has a light ball point. Schmetz
is a German company, but they have their needles manufactured in
different countries, and do not disclose the country of origin on the
packaging.
The second needle is an Organ HAx1, which is their \"standard\"
home sewing machine needle. You can see that the point is a bit
shorter than the Schmetz Universal, and it also appears to be a bit
stouter around the eye. This needle is also available in a ball-point,
designated HAx1-BP. This needle seems to me to be stiffer than the
Schmetz universal, which is a very good thing. All Organ branded
needles that I have seen so far are made in Japan, where there is a
strong cultural tradition of high quality iron and steel-work. Update:
Not long after the earthquake in Japan in 2011, some Organ needle
production was moved to Vietnam. I have not noticed a decline in
quality with these needles.
The next needle is an Organ HLx5. This is a premium quality needle.
You can see at (3) that the point is the shortest of all these needles,
and the eye is also shorter than any other needle shown here. This is
done to strengthen this area to reduce the likelihood of breaking the
needle here. The standard is a very light ball-point. HLx5 is also
available in a medium ball point. You may also notice that unlike
the first two needles, which have a slightly yellow color cast, this
needle is cool, or neutral gray in color. This is because this premium
quality needle is finished with a thick, hard chrome plating, which
increases the durability of the needle. Two other needles here are
premium needles with hard chrome finishes, the Groz-Beckert
Denim needle and the Singer 2001 Premium Ball-Point, but the
Organ HLx5 appears to have the smoothest, shiniest, lowest-friction
finish of the three. Lastly, you might not notice, but at (4) you can
see that the HLx5 has a stepped-thickness blade, and the area at (4)
is thicker and stronger. This is called a \"reinforced\" blade, and
virtually all industrial sewing machine needles are built with blade
reinforcement. This reduces the tendency of the needle to bend or
flex when sewing thick seams. It adds to the manufacturing cost of
the needle, and there are very very few home sewing machine
needles that have reinforced blades. The HLx5 is my favorite sharp
needle, and is also available in ball- points (HLx5-BP). If you shop
around you might find you can purchase this high-quality
needle for less money than you pay for the Schmetz Universal at
your local chain store. Just enter \"HLx5\" in the search engine,
and look for a seller that will allow you to “mix-n-match” the sizes
and quantitites you need.
Note however, that the HLx5 needle will not work well at all with
tight and stretchy knits where it will skip stitches [a lot].
For highly elastic knits I have had best results with Organ’s
specialized stretch needle, the Hax1SP-BP (Ball Point), better
results than the Schmetz Stretch needle.
Next is the Singer 2020 general purpose needle. This is a fresh
sample of current production. These needles are made in Brazil. It
features a very light ball-point, and according to my unscientific
flex-tests, it is stiffer than the Schmetz Universal. Note at (5) that
this sample appears to reveal some plating issues. This needle
appears slighty warm or yellowish in color, indicating it has a
nickel-plate finish. This type of plating is less costly to manufacture
than the thicker hard chrome plating, but is also less durable.
Next is a Groz-Beckert Denim needle. Groz-Beckert is a German
company, a big player in the world of industrial sewing machine
needles. Like Schmetz, they manufacture most of their needles
outside Germany. Their industrial needles are clearly marked with
country of origin, but not these home sewing machine needles. You
won\'t easily find these needles here in the USA, as Schmetz and
Singer seem to have a lock on the market, but I decided to show it
anyway. You can see at (6) that this needle has the sharpest point of
the group. In techno-talk this would be referred to as an \"acute sharp
point\" needle. Note also at (6) that the eye on this needle is
narrower than the others. This allows the metal on either side of the
eye to be thicker, and thus stronger. Note that this needle, though it
is marked as size 14, looks a little stouter than the others here, more
like a 16. By the way, if you want to learn more about needles, the
Groz-Beckert website is an excellent resource.
The sixth needle is a Singer 2001 Premium Ball-Point, not to be
confused with their 2045 ball point. This needle has a medium ball-
point, and a strong profile around the eye (7). It also has a hard
chrome finish, but it doesn\'t appear to be as smooth and \"polished\"
as the Organ HLx5. This is a premium needle, and the extra
manufacturing steps are reflected in the price. These cost about a
dollar apiece at retail. Ball-Point needles are called for when sewing
knit and stetch materials or materials with elastic content. The ball-
point pushes the material to the side rather than cutting through it. If
you cut knit or elastic materials they will start to unravel and self-
destruct.
The last needle I included as a curiosity. It is a Schmetz SKF ball
point. That is a very heavy ball-point. The needle is designed for
sewing materials made of woven elastics such as compression
bandages, girdles, and so on.
The Schmetz \"Jeans\" or \"Denim\" needle used to be my sharp needle
of choice, but several years ago they made a drastic change in that
needle design, switching it from an acute sharp point (1) to a
medium ball point (3), and reinforced the blade (2). Why the
changes? The stronger blade may be a response to competition from
the Organ HLx5? The change to a ball point may be a reflection of
changing fashions. The words \"jeans\" and \"denim\" were once
synonymous with tough Levi\'s 501 jeans, but the \"new\" denim
seems to be lighter, cheaper, softer, acid-washed and stone- washed,
and in some cases is stretch-denim with some elastic content.
Perhaps Schmetz decided to switch to a ball point to avoid the
unhappy users whose stretch denim jeans with elastic thread content
were being ruined by a sharp needle. A sharp needle will cut the
elastic threads and ruin the material. So the Schmetz jeans needle is
now a strong ball-point, but I like the hard-chrome plated Organ
HLx5 which may cost less than the Schmetz, and is available in
both \"almost sharp\" and ball-point varieties.
Please keep in mind that conditions change, and my observations
about needles, if true in the early part of 2012 may not be true later.
Please note also that there is another brand of needle, the Orange
brand manufactured in Korea. I think they are made by the Korean
branch of the same company that makes Organ needles in Japan.
They aren\'t widely available at retail locations in the USA, but can
be readily purchased from industrial suppliers here on at
attractive prices.
Another area where I stray from the beaten path is lubrication. If I
had only three words to say regarding \"sewing machine oil,\" I
would say Don\'t Use It. Sewing machine oil is an inexpensive oil
refined from fossil fuels and contains a lot of impurities including
sulfur.
It is OK on the fast moving parts of the machine, but on the slow-
moving parts where it isn\'t self-flushing, it tends to thicken and
harden in a process known as varnishing.
Over time, it loses its lubricating properties and becomes more like
glue, varnishing parts together until they are stuck-stuck-stuck. It
can be cleaned up but it is a time-consuming process, and it can take
many hours to thoroughly clean a machine using repeated localized
flushing with denatured alcohol and kerosene.
I have shown the picture above because the varnished sewing
machine oil is readily visible. Maybe you can imagine what happens
when this occurs to some or all of the sensitive slower moving parts
of a sewing machine. It can really gum up the works. The main
\"crankshaft\" and other parts of the sewing machine operate at higher
speed, and self-clean themselves, but cam systems may only operate
for example at one- fifteenth or one-twentieth the speed of the main
shaft and needle-bar. Other controls such as stitch-length, zig-zag
width, or stitch selection may only be operated several times per
session so they are very susceptible to the gumming and varnishing
action of sewing machine oil. Sewing machine oil was the most
suitable general purpose lubricant available for many years, but
fortunately,times have changed.
We now have available a pretty nice range of fully synthetic
lubricants that are very pure, and exhibit superior lubricating
properties, with much less tendency to varnish.
I like Exxon\'s Mobil 1 fully synthetic motor oil in it\'s thinnest
variant, called \"Mobil 1 Advanced Full Synthetic - Advanced Fuel
Economy - 0W-20\" which is similar to traditional sewing machine
oils. It is available at many auto parts stores. A quart might set you
back seven dollars or so but that is a lifetime supply for most
sewing machine users. Of course, if you prefer to stick with
traditional sewing machine oil, you may do so; the synthetic oils I
used when I lubed this machine are completely compatible with
conventional fossil fuel oils.
Oil shoul be applied sparingly. To this end, I am including a syringe
fitted with a curved applicator tip, as this makes an excellent
precision oiler. The faster moving parts should be oiled often, but
the slow moving parts should be oiled much less frequently.
In my own work, I actually use a number of lubricants depending on
which part of the machine I am oiling. I also use Mobil 1 15w-50
and Mobil 1 75w-90 which are heavier fully synthetic oils on the
larger or slower moving parts, but if I only had one oil to use it
would be the thinner 0W-20.
If your sewing machine has metal gears in it, you should use grease
rather than oil on those gears. I use either a standard, non-lithium
wheel-bearing grease, also available at auto parts stores, or an
aviation grade extended temperature grease called “Aeroshell 22”
wherever grease is recommended. I avoid lithium greases because
they have a poor reputation, and may stiffen and harden over time.
Below, there is more information of a general nature you may find
useful about thread tensioning.
Demystifying Thread Tensioning
Thread tension adjustment is a task that spooks many inexperienced
sewing machine operators, and even a few with experience. But the
skill of adjusting the thread tensions is necessary if you are going to
achieve a strong (balanced) stitch, whether you are sewing blue
jeans or lighter materials.
There are two threads in a lockstitch home sewing machine, an upper
thread, also called the needle thread, and a lower thread, commonly
referred to as the bobbin thread.
In both cases, the machine must control the flow of thread both
above and below, and this is called tensioning. For both the needle
thread above and the bobbin thread below, tensioning is
accomplished by squeezing the thread between two polished metal
surfaces, and as you apply more pressure, your are “increasing the
tension.” If you decrease the friction on the thread, allowing it to
flow more easily, you are “decreasing the tension.”
It is helpful to realize that the top thread, powered by the sewing
machine motor by way of the needle and needle bar mechanism, is
active and powerful, and does ALL the work. The lower, or bobbin
thread, is totally passive. It is just along for the ride, pulled upward
by the force of the needle thread.
For lightweight fabrics, using a small diameter needle, say a size 11,
and lightweight thread, the overall forces that the machine must
exert to pull the lightweight bobbin thread up through the flimsy
fabric are very small. In this case, the upper needle thread tension is
set to a very light setting, maybe two on the dial, and the lower
thread tension is set at the higher end of its tensioning range by
screwing the lower bobbin case adjustment screw clockwise, thus
pinching the thread more tightly and making it more difficult to pull
upwards. This is necessary because the friction of the light thread
and the thin needle through the delicate fabric are very small,
making it “too easy” for the powerful needle mechanism to pull the
bobbin thread upward.
At the other end of the scale, imagine you are sewing a heavy
material, such as a seam in a pair of denim jeans. In this case, you
have chosen a heavy thread and a large needle for strength. There is
a lot more friction involved, and it is much more difficult for the
needle mechanism to pull the heavy gauge bobbin thread upward
through several layers of thick and dense fabric. In this case, you are
wise to set your lower bobbin thread tension low, to make it easier
for the needle to pull it upwards. Likewise, you set the upper thread
tension way up, perhaps 7 or even higher in order to harness
[balance] the strength required to pull that lower bobbin thread
upward.
So, for light fabric, set the upper thread tension lower and the lower
thread tension higher.
For heavy materials, set the upper thread tension high, and decrease
the tension on the lower (bobbin) thread.
Another way to look at it is that the upper thread tensioner controls
the lower bobbin thread, and the bobbin tension controls the upper
thread. Give it a try…
This is a nice durable machine. I have cleaned it thoroughly,
lubricated it sparingly, sewn with it, and it is ready to go to work.
Payment is due within 3 days of end-of-sale. Contact me if you
have any questions, thanks for looking.
