Here I am again, trying to do better than one blog post per month... 😅
The first topic for today is a bit of a weird one. Remember those mysterious paper circles ("confetti" with something inside) I found in a small box with the spare needles for the Minnesota? Here's the photo again, for a reminder:
I couldn't figure out what they were, so I asked somewhere online-- one of those helpful groups of people who enjoy identifying random things for random strangers-- and several people said they look like "ammunition" for an old-fashioned cap gun. I tried hitting one with a hammer (outside). There was no bang or smoke, but perhaps that's not so surprising, considering how old these may be. Maybe they've been exposed to too much humidity over the years, or maybe that one was just a dud. Either way, it definitely smelled like sulfur, and looking online for images of "round caps", I see some that look similar. I feel confident that's what these are.
How funny! I wonder how they ended up in this sewing machine cabinet, and when they were put there... Were they confiscated from some disappointed, misbehaving child? Or were they doled out a few at a time for good behavior? After all, there are also a few "gold star" stickers in that same box... We'll never know, but it's fun to imagine.
Also, more vintage Americana-- flags, the cross, and cap gun ammo! 😆
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From what I gather, most of the time there's a chain as part of the mechanism, and you can see it lying flat in a groove, when the table is open. With mine, it's not a chain, but a thin band (belt? strap? ribbon?) of metal. It works the same way a chain would, but it was bent out of shape and not lying flat when the table was open. I didn't want to do anything too rash, for fear of breaking something or making the table extension (which was nice and level) too tight to lie flat.
I enlisted Donald's help, and we gave the whole set-up a closer look. There was a bit of twisted wire linking the end of the band to the adjustable screw that attaches to the lift bar. The adjustable screw couldn't be adjusted enough to fix the problem. I'm not sure if this band is original or a repair, but it seems likely that at least the twist of wire might have been a repair, because it seemed to be too big, creating too much of a gap between the belt and the adjustable screw. It essentially rendered the adjustable screw useless.
(This is probably as clear as mud! Sorry!)
In the end, Donald cut off the old wire, and he replaced it with a smaller twist of wire. That enabled us to readjust the screw, and that-- combined with some judicious tweaking/bending of the metal band-- flattened the bulge considerably.
I also opened the little access panel on the back of the head and oiled the inner workings of the sewing machine. I don't know if it really needed it, but I'd seen that recommended, and given how long it's probably been since the machine was used, it seemed like a good idea.
So far (knock on wood) it's sewing very well. I'm much better at starting it than I was, though there's still room for improvement through practice. At least I haven't had trouble for a while with the wheel trying to roll backwards.
Here are some snaps from the past however-long-it's-been...
