They Don't Make 'em Like They Used To - Part One

5 years ago I bought a 1972 Singer 413, in a table, for £1.00. I got it on eBay and it was only 2 streets away. It didn't stitch at all, which suited me perfectly because what I really wanted was a challenge. 

I certainly got one. I took off the top cover and found that one of the gears was totally perished.

That little brown thing is supposed to bigger and fluted but it had crumble to almost bare metal. A quick search online and £9.50 later and I had a lovely new one. Thank goodness Singer parts are relatively easy to get. 

Fitting the new one was a challenge, 2 hands aren't really enough to hold onto small parts and then fit them into a tight space, whilst holding other parts of the machine in place. I had to use pliers, a screw drive and haemostats just to reach into the machine. 

After much dropping and a bit of bad language I fitted the gear, put everything back in place and then had to adjust the timing. It took about 2 days of fiddling. The Internet was a massive help with this and I now have a fully working machine, with table for £10.50.