Husqvarna Viking 5710

A while back I had to replace a belt on my only zig-zag sewing machine. The only zig-zag machine that I have mind you,  during a week of sewing knits, and things that needed zig-zagging.

It was a terribly, long week needless to say.

While I was waiting for the belt to come by mail order, I did a lot of thinking dreaming about other machines that are able to do a zig-zag stitch... and embroidery...and coverstitching...and monograms.  I tend to gravitate towards the vintage ones, so when this lady showed up on ebay:

viking husqvarna 5710

I needed to have her.

Its like she's wearing red lipstick or something. I've always wanted one of these. I am drawn to the style of it mainly. The large symmetrical knobs, the color. 

(If you ever order a sewing machine through ebay,  or anywhere else where it's a private seller shipping it, make sure you tell or ask the seller if they are going to properly package the machine for shipping!! Some people think an air bag and newspaper are enough to cushion a 15lb machine. Or better yet, they think it's going to get hand carried the entire way.)

I did some quick maintenance, and started sewing. It worked alright.  I was able to get the tension set, and it stitched really nice. Felt a little sluggish, and dry though. I had lots of time over this weekend to really take it apart and look over all the pieces to see what was happening under there. I knew that it could run more smoothly, it's Swedish for crying out loud!

First off, when taking off the back panel, there are only 2 screws (Yay!), and you have to slide the panel upwards to pop it off. At first glance everything looked pretty cool. I greased, I oiled, and then greased and oiled again. Every time I turned that handcrank though, it just felt rough. Was a bolt cracked? Something off alignment?? What??

So with small quarter turns, and a good flashlight, I found my problem. 

do you even see that??

I'm not sure what part this is on this machine, but it is connected to the needle bar, and might even be the thread take up counter weight. Maybe. It sounds like I know what I'm talking about. I'm not one for technical names, so I rarely call parts their proper names. I just know how they're suppose to work.

But, do you even see that dark thread, wound tightly around that screw??

view from the front

There was no thread tail hanging at all, and I only found it because I had a flashlight that just barely caught a glimpse of the blue in the thread. This was by far the worst tangle I've ever dealt with. It took a razor blade, an awl, and a tapestry needle to get it off. (And no, it wasn't from me! I usually make a point to use white thread and dark fabric when testing machines out. And I don't even have blue thread.) It was like there was a full bobbin hiding in there.

Then I took apart the bobbin case, vacuumed it out, oiled it, I noticed it was encased, or enclosed so I would have to remove a lower back panel to oil and clean behind it.

Removing the bottom allows you access to the motor, which I have no business tooling around with, so I left that alone, and put the bottom back together.

(To remove the lower panel, you unscrew one screw and slide the panel to the right.)

behind the bobbin area. GROSS

Uh, gross. I know some people love seeing all the lint, but this was pretty gross. It was a LOT. The most I've ever cleaned out. It was so packed in there too poor thing.

Happy to report, it's smooth sewing. There is a nice quiet chime when I sew. I assume it's the bobbin rotating and while it's turning the metal pieces just kind of ring together.

I don't know much about when this was made, I presume mid 70's. It is an electric machine, der, and the foot pedal is electric also. Meaning it's pretty smooth, and I don't have to turn the handwheel to accurately move the needle in the down position, or up position if I'm moving the fabric. The foot pedal is also giant. It is a giant heavy thing, but it is so comfortable to keep your foot on.

The stitch cams inside are plastic, as well as the outside knobs, and there is a plastic roller to keep the motor belt in place (?), oh and the bobbin race cover. Other than that, the pieces are all metal, aluminum probably. 

It came with some different feet which was a surprise, and there was even a roller foot in there too, always wanted one of those! The feet do not interchange with my other machines, which is a little bummer, but no biggie. Off to sew!

Oh yea, 

if you haven't already, check out my giveaway that is still going on: HERE