Sewing Machine Repair #2- Clutch Bypass

 I was trying to repair my grandmother's old White 565 sewing machine with the bobbin winder that didn't work. I replaced the rubber o-ring, but the clutch was slipping. It was stuck partially engaged. There's probably a better way to fix the clutch, but I don't want to put much money into this repair. Having it looked at by a professional would cost more than half the price of a new low-end machine.

I used a piece of copper wire with a screw pressing it against the inside of the handwheel. This keeps the clutch permanently engaged without slipping (but can still slip if needed). The screw can be removed if I ever decide to have it professionally repaired. 

Sewing Machine Repair- Bobbin Winder

 

I was working on repairing my grandmother's old White 565 sewing machine. The bobbin winder didn't work. The rubber o-ring that provides the friction to engage the bobbin winder had crumbled. Like any really old tire, it dry rotted. 

This type of rubber ring is used by many sewing machine models, so it might not be that difficult to buy a new one. But I found a different solution using what I already had- Lego tires!

I found a tire that was the right size, popped it on, and now the bobbin winder works. The tire I used is part number 2346 which might be the same as 56897.

Headphone Covers

 My VR headset has cushioned headphones. They are made of perforated pleather over foam, which can get sweaty, but aren't easy to clean. I bought some commercially available washable fabric covers, but the material was too fuzzy/scratchy. So I decided to make my own out of soft t-shirt material. I had some very thin elastic left over from masks, and bought some slightly wider when that ran out.

First, I used a saucer as a template to cut out a circle of fabric. The size of circle I needed was larger than you might think because I needed to be able to fold over the edge to make a channel for the elastic.

It was difficult to figure out how to fold over the edge evenly. The circumference of the outer circle is more than the circumference of the sewing line, which means it had to be gathered or pleated. My mom helped with the folding. Instead of using millions of pins, she decided to use a glue stick. With the underside of the saucer as a guide, she made a thin circle of glue about an inch from the edge, and then folded the edge back a little bit at a time around the whole circle. 

I sewed two lines of stitching around the edge to secure it and form a tunnel for the elastic. It's more of a polygon than a perfect circle. The folds aren't very even, but that won't show once the elastic is in place.

I used a safety pin to thread the elastic through the tunnel, and then sewed the ends of the elastic together. Finally, I stretched out the elastic to distribute it evenly around the edges.  I made more sets so I can have a clean one while the other set is in the wash. I hope this will make the headphones last longer. The fabric is thin enough that it doesn't interfere with the sound.

Repair- Dental Tool Charging Base

 My dentist knows I like to work with electronics, and sometimes will save up a box of projects for me. This was a cordless dental tool that wouldn't charge. The base looks similar to a cordless toothbrush or a cordless phone. I think it's actually a polisher.

The dentist was worried that the rechargeable battery inside might have gone bad. After examining it, I found that one of the contact pins on the charging base wasn't there.

 Looking inside, I saw that it hadn't actually broken. The plastic pin that should have been melted to secure it was either missing or broken. 

I added hot glue to secure it. 

I put it back together, and now the charge light comes on when the tool is on the base and it seems to work fine.