Hi, my name is Laura. I have a question regarding the feed dog on my Kenmore 10. It is a used machine that I picked up and seems to run well except that fabrics, especially knits seem to want to catch on the feed dog which appears to be raised.

I picked up a Sears Kenmore model 148 as well the crank turns by hand if coaxed and the motor shows signs of life. Oiled the machine and checked the belts but still no action on the rotation. Very sad about this as this machine looked to be in pristine condition and thought I could have it up & running pretty fast. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Laura
LSpeasy@yahoo.com

Laura Speasmaker, October 2007

Hello Laura,
As far as your Kenmore 10 is concerned it is quite possible that the teeth may be a bit sharp on the edges, not a lot you can do about that, remember that sewing knitted fabrics is not easy anyway, I would suggest that sewing knitted fabrics, suede or leather or any silky fabrics that you use a toilet roll on your lap and feed the toilet roll under the fabric when sewing, can be a bit of a nuisance pulling out odd bits but it does work.
Your Kenmore 148, loosen the stop motion as if to wind a bobbin, put the foot control down gradually and see if it picks up speed, if it does then it is probably congealed oil on the machine over the years that is slowing it down in which case get some WD40 and and oil all moving parts, if the motor just runs slow I would check the foot control first, on the old foot control the resister was a coil of wire wrapped around a block and when you pressed on the control a small wheel moved up the block, what used to happen was the coil of wire used to wear away and break, unplug the machine and take the top off the foot control and check, if the wire is broken it will need a new foot control, any make of control will do, you can fit all makes, you have to decide whether it is worth spending the money on a new control.
Any problems you can contact me drivewithken@blueyonder.co.uk
Ken

drivewithken@blueyonder.co.uk, October 2007