The Return of Rain

Readers, I'm a nice person and I'm always up for doing a friend a favor.  But like everyone, I have my limits.

Who do I hear from yesterday but Rain.  Surely you remember Rain, the man who restored my Singer 15-91 to like-new condition and correctly diagnosed the problem with my Featherweight hook assembly, helping me to get it working this winter?

While not a formal quid pro quo, I certainly felt like by gifting him my Singer 15-90 (a machine identical to the 15-91 but with a regular external motor and belt as opposed to the 15-91's "potted" motor), I had more than compensated him for his work, don't you?

So -- get this -- it turns out Rain now has a blog.

And he emails me yesterday -- ostensibly to tell me his email address has changed -- and just happens to mention the blog as if he weren't expecting I'd broadcast the news to MPB readers near and far.

Talk about chutzpah!

Here's the thing about Nicholas (Oops, I mean Rain).  Every time he contacts me, he has to throw in a little line about the health of my Singer machines -- like the town mortician asking about the health of your 102-year-old Aunt Babs, in the nursing home with pneumonia.  It's creepy.

Don't believe me?  These are direct quotes from two separate emails yesterday:

Are all your Singers running well?

(Hoping they AREN'T, Rain...???)

If one of your Singers gets sick, drop a line.

Friends, I'm over it.  If you must visit Rain's little blog, or follow it, just keep it to yourself, please. 

Can we change the subject?

Let's talk about YOUR blog!

P.S. -- Here's what Rain claims he did to my Singer 15-91.  What a show-off!

Motor leads replaced. New 18 AWG wiring soldered in, joint covered with heat-shrink insulation, leads tied into underwriter's knot prior to exiting housing (as per original Singer assembly) to provide strain relief. New ring connectors crimped on on the terminal end.

Commutator cleaned.

Brush tubes cleaned.

Worm degreased (old, cruddy grease removed inside and out) and repacked with fresh grease.

Grease pots degreased and repacked with fresh grease.

Grease wicks replaced.

Handwheel worm gear degreased and regreased.

Needlebar and presser bar cleaned and re-oiled.

Needlebar felt wick replaced.

Presser bar rotated for correct presser foot alignment (so needle is centered).

Presser bar height set to factory-specified 19/64".

Faceplate and inspection plate polished.

Light fixture wiring re-wrapped (not replaced, wiring was fine, spring contacts and connections were good).

Light fixture wiring terminals clipped and replaced with new ring connectors.

Stop motion wheel set screw replaced.

Tension assembly disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt.

Bobbin winder assembly rebuilt.

Bobbin winder large spring replaced (original was broken).

Bobbin winder stop latch re-bent for proper alignment during bobbin winding.

Bobbin winder tension assembly (on bed of machine) cleaned.

Stitch Length lever tension adjusted.

Stitch Length indicator plate numbers restored with gold paint.

Feed dogs cleaned.

Lint removed from underneath feed dog.

Happy weekend, everybody!

How about that Rain guy.....and aren't blogs so 2010?