Featherweight Rescue

Update: So, this page has been dead for a while now. I got pulled away from the Featherweight work because I had to chase my primary profession (away from home) on the railroads during the whole Covid calamity. Took me quite a while to recover and return to somewhat normalcy. I have many interests besides Featherweights but at some point in time, I will pick it back up. I do collect them so there is that too. Just thought a page update should be made to explain. Right now Gardening is my major obsession due to our quickly deteriorating food supply in the U.S.

A good read with lots of good photos...American made Featherweights. http://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-1/

Shopping for Featherweights!! We all love to do it right? Here are some tips to avoid trouble. Look for any signs of malpractice on the maintenance side. If you see outward signs that someone doing work on the FW was just winging it, there are likely deeper problems that may exist. Electrical is a big one as it can cause injury and require a lot of specialized repairs. The "S" plug in the photo has the protruding contacts from the face of it....this happens frequently and indicates the internal contacts are installed backwards. Along with being backwards, likely the connections are of poor quality and/or entirely incorrect. The protruding electrodes present a shock hazard should anyone come into contact while the cord is plugged in. The other thing is look for signs of severe misuse or neglect. The other photo shows a cracked motor housing at the mounting location (top center of photo). This could be maintenance malpractice perhaps, over-tightening or wrong fastener installed, but possibly the machine took a fall or hit. It's an indicator that you may find more damages such as bent or broken components. Aluminum can develop internal cracks if treated too harshly. These little trouble signs must be considered strongly as you don't want to buy a machine that is going to be nothing but trouble. You want to oil and grease and get busy with beautiful projects!! And by all means, if you're shopping online and someone doesn't respond when you ask for additional pictures of this or that, might be good reason to look elsewhere. I hope your creativity takes you to new heights today!!!