I have a similar model. It's a Singer 14SH754. Another similar model is the 14CG754, but I believe some of the 'workings' in that are plastic, rather than metal, which they are on mine. I bought it about five years ago, tried it out...decided to leave it in the box until I had more time to play with it. Five years went by and I'm only now having a go! I've found the old thread was easily snapped, so changing that has rectified the constant snapping. Also...if the stitches stop coming out properly, I just take all the threads out and rethread. This is SO much quicker than trying to save time (which it never does for me) by working upper and lower threads around each other in the hope of getting them all in the right order. YouTube videos really helped a lot. Worth watching people do this and giving tips as they go...and it's made me far less shy of ripping all the threads out on a whim. The right type of tweezers help with all the fiddly bits too. I can sort of see which tension is going wrong by looking at the actual stitches. The straight ones on the inside are the first and second needle, so are easy enough to work out, and the upper looper and lower looper actually correspond to the upper and lower wrapping pattern on your fabric. So...as you look down on your sewing, the upper looper thread will be showing. If you turn it over, you'll see the lower looper thread. These should meet on the very edge of your fabric, but if I'm just sewing a seam and the wrapping threads have done their job of binding, I'm happy enough. Trial and error is usually the most effective way to go. Different fabrics need different tensions. Plus the 'finger' has to be in the right place in order for the overlocking stitch you're trying out to be effective. The finger stops the threads wrapping the fabric too tightly if you just want a flat edge and not a more rolled one. There are so many factors to think about with these machines. One thing I usually forget to do is lower the presser foot, so the fabric seems to be moving forward okay, but the stitches aren't being created how they should be. Doh! The knife on mine has a very hard to press button on the left of its pivot point. I have to press that very hard in order for the knife to swivel nicely back. I also have to take the front panel off to do this. I hope I've helped some people. H

I have 5 machines. My old White treadle that I have forgotten how to use and really don't have the space to set up and learn again. I have my 1955 Featherweight which is a great machine, it has lots of attachments and sews great. I don't have the room to keep it set up so don't use it often. I have a My Lock serger which I would hate to be without but don't use it too often. It is great for sewing on clothing items and I use it to sew on borders of my quilts sometimes. I have my Janome 9000. It is a good machine with lots of the bells and whisles people talk about and is an embroidery machine. I was my main machine until last year and I still uses it for embroidery. I keep it set up. My current main machine is my Baby Locke Espire which is a luxuery with some great feature for quilting. eg. needle up/down, automatic thread cutting, bobbin low warning. push botton sewing (I have that on the Janome and would really miss it), many attachments and stitches. It also holds large cone spools of thread as well as the usual. Has a separate bobbin winder, a setting that permits you to pivit your fabric with out raising the presserfoot. I would like to have a long arm set up like the Gammal but I am too old and don't have the room, only the desire.Jayne

As Susie said, most machines are so cheaply made now and it often costs less to buy a new one rather than having one repaired. I have three machines and like all three. Each has its strong points. I'd love to have a machine that does it all, but I can't justify the cost. My sewing goes in spurts, because I do other crafts as well, mostly knit and crochet. I have Mom's Featherweight and while it doesn't do anything but straight stitch, it does that very well. When one of my other machines isn't functioning properly, I can rely on the old Featherweight. I did a bit of research last year and found that it was made in the late 1930's. Then there is Mom's Kenmore. A few fancy stitches and it can handle lots of thicknesses of material and batting. And then there is the new baby, the Brother CS6000i. It has 60 built-in stitches and while it is the lightweight in the house and mostly made of plastic, it is still fun to work with. I paid $143 for it on Amazon last year. We are lucky to have several sewing machine repair places in our area, but they aren't cheap. WalMart may not have a huge inventory of machines in their store, but you should check out their online store. Most times there is larger inventory and site to store shipping is free. You just order it and then pick it up when they tell you it has arrived.

I learned to sew at my Grandmothers knee and part of that education was how to clean, adjust and maintain any machine I used. I don't know who or when or how it was decided that a person needed to send their machine off for 3 weeks so somebody could take out 5 screws, apply oil at the appropriate points,reinsert those 5 screws and collect 150$. Maybe they were counting on people to just purchase a new machine? Anyway, here is a link to the service manual. http://www.manualslib.com/manual/847645/Brother-Xr9000.html It covers a total tear down,which is more than most people need. There is a clear section on oiling, belt replacement is more complicated but doable. If the machine is behaving fine then a clean out and oiling is all that is needed. I have the Brother SQ9000, a little over 5 years old and I sew the dickens out of that machine. Twice a year it gets popped open, cleaned and oiled. It still sews like new. In between tear downs it gets vacuumed out after every full bobbin is sewed through. For a 200$ machine you can't beat the functionality ,the one step button hole is right up there with sliced bread :)