As a hobby, I restore vintage sewing machines.
A lot of the Singer bentwood cases that I come across are missing a piece of hardware that I’m having trouble replacing, machine screws.
The sewing machine head is held in place in the lower portion of the case by two pin hinges. The pin hinges are held in place by machine screws from the bottom.
The problem is that, often one or both machine screws are missing. The Singer Manufacturing Company had their own standard for machine threads before standards were introduced, and so standard screws readily available in any hardware store will not fit the hinges.
I see three options:
- get new screws made by a machine shop
- buy an oversized standard screw and cut new threads on that
- drill out the existing threads in the hinge and re-tap them for a standard thread
I wonder what a metal worker would suggest as the best solution for a hobbyist? Please contact terrymcclean@rogers.com
