Actually not quite everything I wanted to say on the subject. TLDW, A 96-10 hook body is a drop in replacement for the OEM. A 20U shuttle will fit the 96-10 hook body and is cut for zig zag. Of course the 20U bobbin case fits the shuttle it was designed for. The final step is to either thin the tip of the locating finger or open the locating notch in the shuttle. This leaves you with an entire hook assembly built from current production parts that will work with standard 15x1 needles when the machine is adjusted to OEM specs.

A machine that can stitch heavy webbing is essential for the projects I have in mind. But I have no need for a "one trick pony". Give me a workhorse that can also handle everything down to material just slightly more substantial than single ply toilet paper.

Making sure that my "one" machine can handle anything I might want to throw at it. I should probably have trimmed a few more minutes. Guess I need more editing practice.

I'm absolutely certain there will be at least one, sooner or later, who will tell me I missed one of the oiling points. Please keep in mind that my primary focus was trying to quiet it down.

Step one in preparing my test bed clunker to be my daily driver for the foreseeable future. The heart of a rotary hook machine is the hook assembly. I've used this machine to experiment with different hook and bobbin combinations. For long term heavy use I've decided on a new 96-10 industrial hook mated to a slightly modified 20U shuttle. I had already been using the shuttle to allow running 20U open top bobbin cases and generic L class bobbins. The stock 306 is known to be sensitive about the bobbins used and many of them require a bobbin case with an index notch at the five o'clock position. This modification resolves both issues and allows the use of standard 15 x 1 needles while set to the stock timing and without any permanent alterations to the machine.

I'll be returning to the Philippines early next year. Sadly, the global shipping situation is so messed up that instead of all my machines following me home in a cargo container, I have to pick one that will go in my checked bags. I'll be doing a series of videos on picking my travel companion and getting her ready to go.

Just got done cleaning and oiling this early 60's Singer and decided to video the final check before listing it on eBay

The latest machine to follow me home from a swap meet. I bought it for the treadle hardware, then just had to try it out before I tore it down. As near as I can tell the serial number puts it somewhere in the 1914-1917 range. Gonna put it up on eBay and try to find it a home.

Often I either don't have a motor to install on a machine I'm cleaning up, or just want to make sure the machine itself is in good working order before I put any more into it. I clamped some rails to a treadle I pulled out from under an old White rotary. It's nice to be able to hear everything the machine is doing.

Just got done cleaning and oiling this early 60's Singer and decided to video the final check before listing it on eBay.

Just when I thought my Singer 216g was a "one of a kind" find, another one showed up on an auction site. More or less out of reflex I bid (too much) on it and a few days later it landed on my doorstep. Unfortunately, I recently discovered my whole collection would have to go on the block before I return home to the Philippines.

There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding what needles this machine uses. I decided it was time for me to annoy the purists. This is the first in a series of videos on playing parts "mix n match" with this machine.

So what do you do when you get a bare industrial sewing head and have no idea if it's worth investing in a table and motor? I'd suggest hooking it up with whatever you have laying around. In this case that's a 1.0 amp motor and foot pedal I saved when scrapping the remains of an old Sears machine.

Just a short clip of a 96-10 going from 30 stitches per inch down to five and a half.

When high quality name brand needles are selling for less than twenty cents each in hundred lots, selling counterfeits is pretty lame. You not only need to sell total garbage to have a significant price advantage, you have to sell a cargo container of them for the profit margin to add up to anything worthwhile.

Some people can do accurate work while juggling material across a postage stamp sized sewing surface. I need every advantage I can get. Unfortunately, I didn't notice when my camera battery died. If the fans of watching glue dry insist I can recreate the missing stretch.

I have no idea how long this machine sat idle or where it was stored. The town I'm in is roughly a hundred miles from Death Valley, high desert, where summer temperatures regularly hit the triple digits. Fortunately, a little bit of isopropyl alcohol does a wonderful job of dissolving dried oil.

Unless you grew up in post WW2 Germany you have probably never seen one of these. We'll never know for sure but with the number of military bases in Southern California I'd bet it was a GI bring back, possibly with a bride attached.

A little bit about who I am and what I'm doing here.

A video I made back before anyone heard of Covid-19. A little bit of doom and gloom but over all intended as a message of hope.