I just discovered a Blog-Along and here I am making my small attempt to take part.
I have had various sewing machines since I was about 10 years old! The first one I bought for myself was in a Salvation Army Store in Selkirk, Manitoba. I saw it in the window of the store during lunch hour early in the school year when I was in grade nine. It was $10. I went into the store and told the lady I would buy it but I couldn't come get it until my Dad could bring the Truck on Saturday Morning--so she put my name on the machine and said to come back and I could pay for it then... It was a "I don't know how old" treadle singer. My Dad worked in a factory and his job title was OILER. He oiled all the factory machines so they would keep running smoothly and no one had to stop work cause the machine seized up -- he was an important fellow in the factory... So, lucky me, I had an expert teacher to show me how to look after that wonderful old machine. Of course, my Dad looked it over before I handed over my hard earned $10 to the 2nd hand store lady -- he pronounced it to be in good working condition! Great!
At home, My Dad, insisted I learn about my new machine -- first thing he did and insisted I watch and even had me hold and observe how thing fit together, was to turn the machine over. He showed me how the bobbin shuttle moved back and forth, we studied how the shuttle was connected to a moving arm that then was connected to a kind of "U" shaped joint, that was connected to another shaft that went up the post part of the machine. We oiled every joint that moved. Turned upright, we found small "oil holes" in various places on the top of the machine. My Dad said they were there because there was a joint directly beneath it that needed oil, but because it was inside it would not be easy to get at, so I should carefully drop a drop of oil into each of those tiny holes. We took the front fancy work steel plate off the front end of the machine and again found various tiny holes when the pieces of metal joined to create movable connections. All those needed a drop of oil.
Now, not only did all those little bits get a drop of oil but also all the shafts and inside, bottom, top, wheel, machine bed and anything that could be reached should be wiped down with a small piece of chamois that my Dad gave me. My Dad said that I should pick a day every month and put oil in all the right spots and wipe down the machine. Since my birthday was the 24th of December, I decided that I would clean my machine on the 24th day of every month.
I used that machine all through school and into my first few years of working... Today, I don't know what happened to that machine, I think my mom gave it to a younger cousin, but now I can't remember. I have had many machines since then and every single one needs oil at sometime or another and mostly, I have stuck to the 24th day of each month to do that little bit of maintenance. It is a cleaning job that I absolutely LOVE to do -- I actually look forward to it!
Now today, I use, mostly a Janome 6600P, and it gets a good going over as regularly as any previous machine I have had -- now there are different "rules" to a electronic machine, but there is STILL all those same or rather mostly those same basic joints to make the needle go up and down and contrary to the sewing store, I have taken my Janome apart to find those joints and I still clean my own machine. I would not recommend that you do that though, it costs too much to fix it if you do something wrong. I am not a repair person, but since it is MY machine, I take the chance. I have been doing it now for about 3 years and probably 20 or 30 take aparts to clean -- I have never taken it to the sewing machine repair guy and have never had it "properly" cleaned -- I trust my self and thank my Dad for teaching me his "tricks" to OILING. Now don't tell me I shouldn't or something dire will transpire, cause like any dangerous sport, I accept the risks and do it anyway... I love my machine, but I love doing my own cleaning more...
