The Sewing Place

Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's

Barnyard

Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« on: September 18, 2017, 18:21:36 PM »
I received a call from the local charity shop this morning, they had two old machines arrive for me to look at if I wanted to pop round. One was a very sad 99K that had been rotting somewhere very damp for a very long time and the other was this Brother "Westminster" machine. It was complete with foot control and cover and at £10 for the two machines I was soon heading home. 99k stripped for parts as it really did need a full restoration job that would mean a back to metal strip and repray / decal job that I just don't have the space to do right now. The Brother was not as bad but was full of fluff, lint, long dead spiders and thread wrapped around just about every moving part, even the motor pulley had a good collection of multi coloured threads wrapped around the armature. Every joint, bearing, pivot and shaft is caked in a thick residue of fluff and nasty oil that really freaked me out when I saw it. So now she is bathing in a bath of white spirit and singer oil. Tomorrow will hopefully be a day of removing the grime, the white spirit having dissolved the crud and singer oil moisturised them, then the stripdown and rebuild can begin. I have never seen this model before so I really want to get her up and running, more out of interest than anything but if anyone has info on this machine I would be grateful for any pointers or advice.

Pics to follow!

Barny

Surest1tch

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2017, 19:12:46 PM »
I think the charity shops up here must have someone savvy on the price of vintage machines as the only ones I've ever seen have been well over priced  :S

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2017, 22:43:55 PM »
Here it is. Dirty smelly and so full of fluff.










I was just about to call it a day and write the machine off and then I noticed my cloth on top of the bereau....



There it was, looking directly at the machine. Just a piece of cloth that had randomly formed some strange Frog face.
Close up of Frog face.



Now i'm looking at it, the cloth, looking at it, the machine and thinking I really should get out more.
Seeing frogs in cloth, silly man.

Barny

Surest1tch

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2017, 00:13:17 AM »
Will you come back and show s when it's finished?

b15erk

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2017, 08:52:42 AM »
I recently bought an Alfa (sp) in similar condition BY.  Mine didn't get half as much tlc as yours is getting - mainly because I bought it for the cabinet, not the machine.

Look forward to seeing the full restoration!

Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.

arrow

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2017, 20:19:09 PM »
Very dirty, but I've seen worse and it looks like it will clean up nicely from the pictures. My own experience is it can take days, and several turns to get it turning smoothly and old grime off. It looks very much like a model 15 under the base, but obviously a zigzagger with all those setting knobs. The all metal construction is a pluss and should make it worth it.

Madame Cholet

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2017, 20:42:05 PM »
Personally I very much enjoy cleaning dirty machines... the dirtier, the better!
I feel a tad embarrassed saying that... but it's true...
I find the whole stripping-ancient-machines-clear-of-filth utterly relaxing.
Please do post some 'during' and 'after' pics Barnyard  :)

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2017, 23:08:25 PM »
A few hours spent today removing the dust and grime. The white spirit / machine oil bath freed up all but the most tricky out of reach parts. These are now pretty clean too after copious Q tips and cocktail sticks this evening gently working away at the grime. I will leave the paintwork that is stained on the underside for now and concentrate on getting the machine running. The next job is the motor and the wiring. New cable ordered to match the original as close as I can and the motor stripdown will begin tomorrow evening. The lamp wiring might be a tricky number to do so that too for now might just have to wait. I do enjoy working on these old machines and a Madam Cholet commented there is a great deal of satisfaction to be had from giving them a proper clean and getting them running again. There are a couple of issues that I will ask you great people for advice on at a later date as for now just getting her up and running is the main priority, nuances can wait a while.  There is a serial number too J-A-28 (model number)? H76294029.
Should the replacement cable arrive as expected I would think that by Sunday or Monday she should be ready to play. I cannot wait!!

Barny

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2017, 21:24:59 PM »
It is alive and sewing! I spent a few more hours on her today and managed to get the few last (bar one) mechanical jobs sorted. The motor is in pieces awaiting a clean and rebuild so I installed a singer motor that I have and gently began to test her. I began with a soft cotton and worked my way through materials and densities and in the end she was zigzagging her way through double leather with no problem whatsoever.
Finding a manual has been a chore and although I managed to find one for a J-A-28 it is not the same model as mine. There are still many areas that need attention and cleaning but it is superficial paintwork etc and other than that and the rewire the machine as a whole is just about done.

There is one niggling problem and I will pop up a video as it's easier to show than explain but it is about the zig zag mech flapping about between 0 and number 2.

So far so good, 200+ Q tips and a bottle of white and methelated spirit later and I have a working machine that I very nearly dropped off at the local recycling centre. Cost of machine £5. Hours put in 20+. Satisfacion... Priceless

Barny

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2017, 20:13:25 PM »
A few more hours today trying to get into the nitty gritty parts and stripping the motor and foot control. The new cable has yet to arrive so I spent a while inspecting the existing wiring and although it both looks and tests as being perfectly fine I will still be replacing it. The motor stripdown was trying for want of a better word, but now it is cleaned and running very smoothly. The foot control had so much gunk and dead creatures in it I am glad I didnt plug it in before stripping it, talk about a fire hazard! Tomorrow will be the final lube and test of the machine as a whole. I shall do a quick video though I do regret not doing one before I started work on her.
I still have that one niggling problem with the zig zag and I will take time to try and show this on the video.

As yet I have not touched the wooden base, that will be a job to look at some time next week. For now I know she is running, the timing is correct and the stich quality is now spot on. I may well just pass this one on to my eldest for her to practice on whilst I work on her Christmas present machine...

Barny

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2017, 20:03:54 PM »
Much cleaner and working really well. The issue with the zig zag is still prevalent but to be honest how many times do you use the function? If I were to be totally pedantic I would remove all the old oil stains from the paintwork but in this case it has now had just about enough work applied. The machine sews and it sews well, very well. The motor has been rebuilt and every moving part has been cleaned of all the old sticky residue and now everything moves and functions as it should...with that one exception...grrr
 I will do a video, an opportune moment is all that is needed.

 








Madame Cholet

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2017, 20:27:53 PM »
That is an amazing improvement  :)
(... what is it about stitch width knobs lately, why are they ganging up on us and being difficult??!..  :S)

Barnyard

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2017, 21:00:39 PM »
That is an amazing improvement  :)
(... what is it about stitch width knobs lately, why are they ganging up on us and being difficult??!..  :S)

Just because they can, they know they have the upper hand and want to defeat us. But we know in the longer term we will overcome and repair. I had a Nova 900 sat here for a few years that was perfect other than a fully blown mainboard,  not the usual capacitor problem but a full mobo replacement was needed. It sat here ready and one day the donor arrived. Transplant done and machine running it was off to a new home. Now I am the very same situation again. Stunning machine with a blown mobo. The thing is, it does keep the interest alive and on the flip side one small component can mean the death of a machine and I would rather it sat waiting or becoming a doner machine than scrap it.

Barny

Madame Cholet

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2017, 21:05:38 PM »
What had gone on the mobo? Was it the usual capacitor??
Edit : duh.. I speed read/wrote... sorry...
had the capacitor taken everything else out with it? or was it a power surge blew everything kind of thing??



« Last Edit: September 24, 2017, 21:13:09 PM by Madame Cholet »

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Charity shop find. Brother "Wesminster" Made for Curry's
« Reply #14 on: September 24, 2017, 21:09:00 PM »
That looks super  :)