Singer 2 - She Runs!

I received the cord and foot pedal today that I mentioned in the last post I had ordered. I was trying to prepare myself for the disappointment of not having the machine turn on when I plugged it in, but the light came on, and it ran! Slowly, I'll admit, but it ran, and that's a good starting point.

I've decided to see if I can clean up this machine, refurbish it, and give it a second chance at life - and learn something about sewing machine repair along the way. I opened it up last evening and spent an hour cleaning out its insides; I never knew the insides of sewing machines could be so fascinating - but then, I've never opened up a machine before either. :)

A few problems I found and things I'll be working on over the next few weeks:

• The wheel, the control that moves the needle "sticks". Not very badly, but once every few rotations around or so, it sticks and I have to bring it through with a little more muscle. I'm going to try some WD-40 in its insides today and see if that helps any.
• As I was cleaning it up when I brought it home a week ago, I was wondering about the dried reddish gunk all over the stitch control wheels. When I opened it up, I found a bunch of it inside, mainly over the gears. I have no idea what it is, but it can't be good for the machine when it's leaking out of the inside, so I cleaned up the big stuff and I'll get some more of it out tomorrow.
• I had one of those 'Tah-dah!' moments when I realized I won't even be able to try sewing with it right now because it's missing it's foot and presser foot screw to attach it to the shaft. So that, and a new metal feed dog to replace the awful black rubber one in there right now will be the next purchases.
•  This machine should have three settings: Off, slow, and fast. When I tried it, I got off, slow, and slow. :) I'm hoping that a little greasing and cleaning out the lint and like foreign objects will restore that 'fast' setting.

As I clean and refurbish this machine, I'll be writing regular updates and posting before, during, and after pictures. You are more than welcome to follow me and my machine on this journey!