Life is indeed a stitch!
Berryhill Heirlooms and Susie Gay present techniques, heirloom sewing, hand embroidery and other musings. Come and join in the fun with Susie, a Home Economist, and savor a little rest from your hectic day...and yes, it's a Degree she uses every day!

Friday, December 10, 2021

Singer Folding Table: Finished!

It was easy to put the table back together. I only had to watch out for the left and right brackets that hold the machine in place. They are ever-so-slightly different. Luckily I had taken photos of it all prior to taking the table apart

Painting the legs was interesting. I used a box and wooden dowels to hang the legs on to make it easy to paint.

I did have to stabilize the dowels with painter's tape so they wouldn't tip. I roughed up the paint with steel wool and sanding paper. Then had to wait to let the wind die down so I could spray paint outside using a Rustoleum Black Gloss spray paint with several quick, light coats, then let dry overnight. Then I repeated the procedure. It wasn't the best of jobs, but the legs look good.

After drying for at least a day I reinserted the legs into the hinges. The hinge pins, cleaned and ready to  go along with the painted washers, are long and require two steps to get them back into the hinge.

First tapping the hinge pin with a hammier.....

Then screwing it the rest of the way with a short screwdriver. 

Next on the list of restoration was waxing the legs to give them an extra layer of protection. I used the wax I had from The Featherweight Shop for my 1935 Featherweight. They have a new type for sale now. 
 Look at how beautiful the underside of the table looks!

 But after all of this work I ended up with a problem: one leg flops when supposedly closed.....it looks exactly the same as the others that stay closed when the table is folded up.
Hmmmmm........  I screwed the hinge pin in, no luck. 
I removed the pin and put it back in again. 
I checked the curved washer to make sure it was facing the right way: check. 
But the darned leg still flopped. 
There is a spring on the hinge....The Featherweight Shop suggested the problem might be the spring.
So I compared working springs with the floppy one: no luck so far but I ordered four new springs along with some vintage machine feet the machine did not have. 

I love The Featherweight Shop! Their products are great, they respond to email questions quickly, they're a wealth of knowledge easily tapped - free of course - and they ship quickly. Putting the new spring in was a little difficult because the curled end has to fit under a very tight screw in the hinge. But I was keeping my fingers crossed that this would solve the floppy problem. Soaking the screw with 3-in-1 oil and WD-40 overnight losened it enough to take the screw out, then insert the new spring.


After I installed the hinge pin and put it back together.....the leg still flopped. Darn!

Okay, so I re-examined the 'good' legs, and they did not wiggle back and forth when folded down. The floppy leg did, so that was the problem! Too much room between the leg and the hinge frame. Off to the hardware store to buy some washers same size as the original one (the washer laying on the table bottom below). I inserted the new washer between the leg and the frame closest to the hinge pin top (where the red arrow is pointing)

and YEAH! it worked!!!!


The table is finished...thank goodness!! Here's a photo of it all set up with the 221 Featherweight "Eva" and the feet, some old Singer grease (came with the machine...only for show, not to use), her case and the instructions that came with the machine. She's beautiful!

Incidentally, the instructions that came with her are for a tan Featherweight....wonder what the owner did with the original instructions that came with the machine??
It doesn't really matter to me. The machine sews beautifully, purrs like a kitten, so I'm very happy with both the machine and table. Now on to other projects after finishing the Singer Featherweight Folding Table. Happy stitching to everyone!



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