08 September 2013

Open-heart Sergery

I've broken a few needles on my serger lately trying to substitute brute force for precision and sheer determination for knowledge, and I haven't located quite all the shards. Plus I was politely corrected over at Did You Make That when I revealed that I cleaned my serger by blowing the dust around the room with a leaf blower, I mean canned air. So I decided it was time for an inspection and cleaning. I was right about the cleaning, at least!

IMG 0745

Yuck.

I wasn't (very) worried about taking the serger apart because it was half in pieces when I got it from Amazon. To be fair, I paid a bit less for it because the box was opened (and the tweezers were missing). I had to expose the motor, tighten up the electrical connection and put the belt back where it belonged to get it working, so I've been in there before. I removed all the parts of the plastic shell that I could, and brushed and dusted and (I admit) blew all the visible dirt away. Except for the shell, this baby is all heavy metal, unlike today's sewing machines which seem to be mostly plastic inside and out. Anyway, lookie how clean she is now!

IMG 0749

Best of all, she still stitches. I feel so empowered!

And now to serge up some renfrews to wear with my still-hypothetical pants.
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21 comments:

  1. BeaJay08 September, 2013 14:40

    Gee - taking the serger apart would scare the cr*p out of me! Still - I should take my lead from you and give it a good clean.

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    1. KC08 September, 2013 19:46

      I was a bit nervous, but since I had been forced to do it once I was braver about doing it again.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous08 September, 2013 15:20

    Nicely done!

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  3. ElleC08 September, 2013 15:52

    I bet she feels so much better too! I admit, my taking stuff apart abilities are somewhat lacking. No, wait, I can take stuff apart just fine, it's the getting it back together that is my problem.

    I bow my head to you Mistress Mechanical.

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    Replies
    1. KC08 September, 2013 19:44

      I have a clever system where I tape each screw next to the hole it came out of. Well, actually, it's a five-step system: I carefully remove the screw, drop it on the floor, get down on hands and knees and search for it, find it, then tape it next to the hole it fell out of. But it works.

      Delete
  4. Miasews09 September, 2013 07:45

    Good for you! I would never have the nerve. My system would break down when I removed the screw, dropped it on the floor, and it rolled away into infinity and beyond, never to be seen again.

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    1. KC09 September, 2013 16:20

      Ah, well there's your problem! My screws drop into unbelievably ugly late-60s brown shag carpet!

      Delete
  5. KC09 September, 2013 13:02

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. pegsewer09 September, 2013 14:57

    Thanks for your nice comment on my blog re the Fabric Mart contest. Yeah, I wish they would just choose winners and keep everybody around. Since I dislike the stress of competing since I retired, I have decided to try to complete all the challenges regardless of my "status" for my own enjoyment.

    Meant to congratulate you on the server surgery.....here I thought I was the engineer and not sure I could do it?

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    1. KC09 September, 2013 16:38

      Nonsense. Real engineering would involve taking off some of the metal do-jobbies. To be honest, I only take off the plastic so I can look at the cool chunky metal stuff.

      Delete
  7. Marie in the cave11 September, 2013 11:47

    When I remove screws, they usually fall into the machine (just like my pins use to do)!
    And I also use canned air, maybe I should overthink that!

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  8. Jane M12 September, 2013 19:05

    I drop a screw and must pick up a different one that won't fit:-) Bravo to you. I must do this!!

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  9. Lynn Hasty12 September, 2013 22:09

    Oooo, too funny! I can so relate. Broken a few needles lately, and also got wads of denim dust and debris from around the bobbin area. Whew! Came across you comment at Val Sparkle's and thought I'd drop in. :)

    XO
    Lynn

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    1. KC14 September, 2013 16:47

      Welcome, Lynn, thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  10. Katrina Blanchalle13 September, 2013 13:43

    Nice! I think this might be my Scary September challenge. I either need to face the fear of giving up one or both machines long enough for them to get serviced, or face the fear of doing it myself.
    Hypothetical pants? I think those might fit me better than the ones I have.

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    Replies
    1. KC14 September, 2013 16:47

      You may be right about hypothetical pants! Or maybe that's fear talking.

      Delete
  11. pegsewer19 September, 2013 14:17

    What a hilarious comment you just put on my blog! What are you up to these days? Peg

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  12. Urban Rustic05 October, 2013 03:03

    My overlocker (serger) is a temperamental beast at the best of times and has been out of action for at least 18 months.I have in that intervening period tried countless times to sort out the problem.I have oiled it,leaf blower-ed it,dusted it,sung to it,cajoled it,threatened it with a sledge hammer and pleaded on bended knee to it.All to no avail.Yesterday after reading this post I decided to give it one last chance before I threw it it out,literally,and miracle of miracles it now works.Quite why I don't know as I just did all the things to sort out the problem that I did before.Needless to say I now have a week-end packed full of non-stop overlocking ahead of me and you have also given me something to blog about.So a big THANK YOU to you!!

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