Singer 237 Basic Maintenance

Рет қаралды 5,659

8 ай бұрын

As promised, here is the first installment of an in-depth look at the Singer 237. The 237 is arguably one of the best, if not the best, basic zig-zag models that Singer ever produced. It doesn't use cams, nor offer anything but straight and zig-zag stitches, but it does both of those extremely well. In this episode, we will look at cleaning and lubrication requirements (including cleaning the bobbin case), discuss the basics of the zig-zag mechanism, look at timing, and finally make the shuttle cap adjustment.
I have posted a cleaned up version of the 237 service manual on both the Sewing Machine Resource Group on Facebook, and on my website. In addition, I have also posted a tabloid size image with the exploded diagram (numbered) and full parts list. If you have access to a printer that can handle tabloid size (11x17 inches), or a local print shop that does, it makes a great reference and is suitable for framing if you are so inclined.
Sewing Machine Resource Group (Facebook)
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Singer 237 manual on my website:
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Singer 237 Exploded View with Parts List on my website:
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The feature on my web page - "My Recommended Tools, Materials, and Suppliers" can be found here:
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New manuals page on my website:
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If you have a nightmare story you would like to share, send me an email to argosybob@gmail.com with "My Worst Nightmare" in the subject line. Include lots of pictures if possible and let me know the gory details!
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Пікірлер: 44

@starrlara3109 23 күн бұрын

I’ve been searching for a video like this , so thank you so much. For some reason, oiling has been scaring me. Your hand hid some of the places that we need to oil.

@BobFowlerWorkshop 23 күн бұрын

Sorry about that. The service manual for the 237 is available as a free download on my website, it shows all of the oiling points: bobsvsmservice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Singer-237-Service-Manual.pdf

@jdhtyler 8 ай бұрын

I work in Clear plastic bag with my hands for small components, I once spent hours looking for a tiny screw with a magnet ;-)) For Circlips and others I now cover them with Vaseline and a magnet to stop them pinging off into the distance. Great for the clips that are deep inside the machine.

@meganshaw3065 5 күн бұрын

I found this machine on the side of the road about 10 yes back. My mom serviced it for me like six years ago when I moved after it sat in my basement storage unit, I now have it out and finally figured out using it. But the belt seems.. dry? I think it needs to be cleaned and piled but it’s intimidating, so I plan to come back to this, thank you :)

@ingridbodrato1999 2 ай бұрын

Thanks very much for the excellent and very helpful instructions! My old reliable 237 suddenly froze up on me and my repair man has retired. I followed every step in your post, let it sit after oiling for a few hours and my machine running like new.

@nataliamaldonado9246 Ай бұрын

Xq se me cae la aguja en la máquina singer 237

@dalesuhre6522 8 ай бұрын

I have two Singer 237s. They are a robust strong sewing machine. I just finished a dozen oven mitts with one. The finished project had four layers of cotton, four layers of insulbrite, and four layers of cotton batting. The sewing machine had no problem sewing them. The only difference between the two machines, is that one has the knob and rod to control to raise or lower the feed dogs and the other one doesn't.

@KelikakuCoutin 5 ай бұрын

I knew about that. I have an earlier one, without the feed dog control. There is suppose to be a needle plate that covers the feed dogs for darning, but I don't know if it's still available.

@SewingMachineRehab 8 ай бұрын

I have restored one 237 for a friend and it made the nicest zigzag that I have ever seen. Beautiful satin stitch if you want it. Heavy as heck but built like a tank! Thanks for the walkthrough!

@lindahancock466 6 ай бұрын

The manual is fantastic! Thank you so much!!

@meganmills6545 8 ай бұрын

No wonder you like these machines so much Bob - what a lovely piece of engineering! I really love the close-up shots and that zig-zag co-ordination of what the needle bar and hook assembly do. I don't know who came up with the idea but why on Earth didn't it stick around? (I'm not too fussed with the fancier stitches on machines - one of my computerised machines has hundreds of stitches, and you can even design your own, but about 99% of my sewing is straight stitch and another 0.9% is zig-zag so all those fancy stitches are pretty much wasted on me anyway! I even prefer the buttonholer attachment to the built-in buttonhole stitches on modern machines. No doubt because of precisely this difference you've shown between most zig-zag machines and how this 237 does it.) :-)

@sondragingery5949 8 ай бұрын

The adjustment of the race cap was interesting. Haven't run across that before.

@r.duroucher225 8 ай бұрын

What a fine video. Thank you.

@KathrynRose-schultz-qs6qw 8 ай бұрын

Another awesome video! Thanks for time and energy to share all those little tidbits of knowledge! Have a Super Great Day with your family and fur babies!

@Amritadivya54 8 ай бұрын

So helpful to get more details on this machine and I think will be helpful for other similar ones as well. You are the best!!!💪

@jdhtyler 8 ай бұрын

Janome new-home-574 does the same hook movement. I am in the UK and fixed one for a friend. We also have a few zigzag attachments to make a straight stitch machine move the material. I do admire the engineers that created these machines and accessories. I am currently using a Singer 631G after fixing it last year. Odd design change on the Singer 760G I have two of them I hade hoped they would be the same for spares BUT one is "belt drive" the other is "worm drive" I wanted the 631 and 760 for the chain stitch option / setup.

@chrystalhenthorne8209 8 ай бұрын

I love this machine, it's my everyday driver.

@jill552 8 ай бұрын

Great video. When you started with the wooden part of the swab, I said to myself, peg wood. Haha interesting machine.

@jomercer21113 2 ай бұрын

I use bamboo skewers for light abrasion in cramped spaces and tiny parts.

@RW-lb2vq 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for yet another excellent video Sir! The 237 is supposed to create an amazing satin stitch because of that zig-zag movement. It’s like the zig-zag movement of Necchi BU’s from the 50’s!

@Nunnally2007 3 ай бұрын

This is super helpful! I just rescued a singer 237 and 457 from the thrift store for $4 each. I'm going to try to revive them. Already getting down to cleaning their cases.

@pamackenzie 8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@bryancathey3242 3 ай бұрын

Bob, I love your stuff, especially now that i just picked up a really clean 237. I have a question about race cap adjustment. The service manual states the .010 clearance spec as you performed in this video (front of needle to race cap). There is quite a bit of sideways slop available as well from oversize width of slotted hole and actual screw diameter. How far should left side of needle (thread groove side of needle) be from race cap. Is there any advantage in running that dimension closer to needle or farther from needle ? Thanks in advance ! Bryan

@shirleybender 5 ай бұрын

I was able to tear apart oil it get as much rest removed as possible and I finally have the machine sewing now. Unfortunately it homes really loud when I first use the accelerator pedal and I have to hand turn it to get it started. Once it started, it’ll go. It just doesn’t have the force that I thought it would have. If I’m sewing three or four levels of fabric, it just really struggles to punch through it. Even with a leather or a denim needle it helps but it’s like the motor just doesn’t have the power that it probably once had… I did change the belt. I got me a new Bob and case and new bins because the ones that were inside the machine were so rusted….. I’m not sure if there’s something that still needs to be cleaned and lubricated, or if I need to switch out to a newer motor and just not sure financially if that’s worth doing or not

@BobFowlerWorkshop 5 ай бұрын

Hi Shirley. This may seem counter intuitive, but your belt might be too tight. When belts are too tight, it puts a big strain on the motor. There should be a bit of deflection on the belt when you press midway between the balance wheel and the motor pully.

@shirleybender 5 ай бұрын

@@BobFowlerWorkshop OK… I’ll give that a try

@dorastrussell7990 8 ай бұрын

I can not remember the resource, but where you put the oil wick, I have seen that there should be a wick there. My 237 does not have the wick either.

@KelikakuCoutin 5 ай бұрын

Subscribed. Okay I don't know if you're the right person to make this request to/of? The 237 is known to've been one of the last machines that could be adapted to work with a treadle. I'm wondering if either: you could make a video adapting your 237 to a treadle or; you could link to another creator's video that shows the process of removing the motor and installing the 237 into a treadle table or; another creator's video on fabricating a treadle table from an old treadle and installing a 237 into the table. I have a 237 and it's really great, especially since I swapped the old ceramic foot pedal for an electronic one. The e-pedal makes it into an entirely different machine, in a good way.My next upgrade was going to be a 1.2A motor or a treadle. I'm thinking that the treadle would be more of an upgrade than the more powerful motor, but probably at least the heavy duty motor is available and a step in that direction - especially combined with an e-pedal. I already have a bare treadle that I rescued from a dumpster. It's working, and I'm just waiting for a chance to use it. No table, just the treadle, flywheel, frame and crank. It cranks well, the pulley's in good shape. I'd like to build a table for it and get a belt, and hook my 237 to it. I just don't know enough on how exactly to do it. Thanks for the content. Keep up the good work. בס'ד

@BobFowlerWorkshop 5 ай бұрын

As a matter of fact... I had a customer last year with a 237 that needed a good service. When I delivered the machine, we took it out of the carry case, removed the electrics, and installed it in a treadle cabinet that had held an old 15-30. I fabricated a belt and she treadled very well. We didn't shoot video of the process (the lighting in that room wasn't suited for video), but the conversion only required the removal of the electrics - no change to the rest of the machine.

@KelikakuCoutin 5 ай бұрын

@@BobFowlerWorkshop Thanks. I fooled with it last year, when I changed the belt. It's not attached by too much, only a little bracket. The bracket doesn't offer a lot of adjustment either. I don't have the sophisticated belt that you show in your video.

@marianaccari8854 2 ай бұрын

Bob, when sowing, the bottom thread does not join with the top thread. Can you help?

@shirleybender 5 ай бұрын

Do you have a recommendation for which motor to buy to get better out of my machine… it will sew thin cotton fabric, but just Moans when pushed to so denim or thicker fabrics… I saw they do sell replacement on Amazon… I and trying to sew rope baskets.if it’s 4 mm and twisted cotton it can sew with some encouragement 😅

@BobFowlerWorkshop 5 ай бұрын

Before you go replacing motors, try changing your belt. I recommend a cogged type belt rather than an older style Vee belt. Also, too much tension is just as bad as not enough. The belt should have a bit of 'give' to it. You will want to try different tensions to see what works best. This is an example of the belt that I like on these: www.sewingpartsonline.com/products/singer-motor-belt-196388

@shirleybender 5 ай бұрын

Where do I buy a belt like that? What size too?

@BobFowlerWorkshop 5 ай бұрын

Hi Shirley, The belt is a #196388, which is 13 3/4" long. I like these: www.amazon.com/HONEYSEW-SINGER-SEWING-MACHINE-196388/dp/B01MSO9A4L/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1MIBVXSW0QR5N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sa3-wlkm6I7S3qlufqehg94M8pp0dmY8EheljUuUY_SYCypCnHGhQVJqhVnM30mr27_apfiRs7gJUIyy4plOFPYqK-fynQhA1doyjWZv7Bs26GPYYI9qB3tLquxshtlEZHA2MZiLoQu-Ne-E-1jg9qPU4OWGMCPjhc8WQ9Up7ZKaJYN-Z-AOoY9mzvy2xgrH9WQeIxUcDuivozxsp1JZF82yN_lIsEoDw4DOWgSztLc.wPHY26a6JhCuBWz4cpWe1ZnBlzwZk0BSm89en9Hx_eo&dib_tag=se&keywords=Sewing+machine+belt+196388&qid=1705460144&sprefix=sewing+machine+belt+196388%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-5

@shirleybender 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!

@jtlearn1 5 ай бұрын

Just bought one of these today for $40. Glad to hear they are good. I opened it up and thought it was dry there is almost no wear. Lubed her up and she works great. I want to check the timing that's how I found you. Thank you. Owners manual says 1965

@eugeneslagle7935 8 ай бұрын

Is all the gears metal or plastic?

@BobFowlerWorkshop 8 ай бұрын

All metal, she is a tank!

@eugeneslagle7935 8 ай бұрын

@BobFowlerWorkshop placed a bid on one on Ebay. I doubt that I'll win at the price I maxed at, but if I do, I guess I'll ask for forgiveness from my wife.

@KelikakuCoutin 5 ай бұрын

The bobbin race cover is plastic and the original design has a thin section on it that sometimes will crack. Replacement bobbin race covers nowadays are not metal but the new ones almost all have had that design flaw corrected, and that section is heavier and won't crack. It's not something that you would just replace unless it broke, but that said, I replaced mine just in case, ahead of time.

@BobFowlerWorkshop 5 ай бұрын

@@KelikakuCoutin I tend to keep a couple of 237 race covers on hand, just in case...