May/June 2019 Marine Fabricator - 21

R E P L A C E "MORTALITY" P A R T S

B

asic sewing machine maintenance can go a long way toward ensuring an
uninterrupted workflow, bur regular replacement of machine parts-even

if they seem to be working fine-is also a way to avoid machine trouble, says
Steven L. Kaplan, owner of S. Kaplan Sewing Machine Co. Inc. in Newark, N.J.
"We refer to some parts as 'mortality parts,'" he explains."If you're using your
machine on a regular basis, once a year you should replace the feed dog, the
needle plate and the presser feet. Even if you think they don't look particularly
worn, spend the money, the $50 or $75. That will go a long way toward keeping
your machine out of a shop like mine for repair."

Photo: S. Kaplan Sewing Machine Co., Inc.

At the start of every project, Rick
Balabuck, owner of Good Vibrations
Canvas in Marina Del Rey, Calif., says
he goes over his machine to make sure
everything is working properly. "Then
I sew lots of little test pieces," he adds,
"making sure it's giving me the kind of
stitch I want."
Fabricators and dealers recommend
a quick cleaning of a machine every few
days, or even daily, depending on what's
recommended by the manufacturer and
how much the machine is being used,
using a brush and/or a canister of compressed air.
Regular oiling is critical as well, perhaps as often as daily. But don't overdo it,
cautions Faith Roberts, who has owned
Banner Canvas in Ham Lake, Minn.,
since 1987. "I oil every day, but when I
say that, I mean the machines get oiled
sparingly. I had a guy that worked for me
who would run around with an oil can,
and oil would be dripping off of things-
and of course that ruins product."
Frequency of maintenance is often
dependent on the materials being sewn,
Roberts explains. "I'm just finishing a
5,500-piece order of [sewn] books, so
I get all these fine little pieces of paper
that are embedding themselves in the
machine. I'm constantly blowing air to
get rid of it so it doesn't act like sandpaper. I've taken the machine apart to
clean twice already, and I've oiled it several times because I'm running at higher
speeds. And I'll do all that again when I
am done."
Used canvas that is being repaired
can also cause issues. "When you're
working on new, clean canvas, there aren't many problems," says Ben Lange,
owner of Wyoming Canvas in Wyoming,
Minn. "But when you're working on
repairs, the canvas can be really dirty or
sandy. That's when needles break and
machines get knocked out of time."
"If I'm using one of my machines on
an old dirty tarp, that machine has to be

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May/June 2019 Marine Fabricator

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