Saturday, December 6, 2014

New Plan for the Elna Plana

Sometimes I just marvel at how we help each other. Yesterday I got the cams and accessory box from Cindy on Facebook at the same time I got the new friction wheel. And then I had to go to work. Really, I had to work on a Saturday so I had to wait until I got home to tackle this project. There were so many warnings that came with the new wheel and the rented tool that I was afraid it was going to be a difficult task. So here are they steps:

Remove hand wheel. Use tool carefully to remove friction wheel. Replace with new wheel. Replace pin in center. Now you are done. Yup. That's it! Here are some photos to make the process look harder than it is:

This is a friction wheel with flat spot

Looking into the side of the Elna Plana










I'm glad it went back together so well and now there is no more thump. It was like driving a car with a flat tire. Well, it was a flat tire but on the sewing machine. This was a weakness with a series of Elna and it's very similar to the sewing machines that have this wheel on the outside so you can easily change the wheels. It happens when sewing machines are not used for long periods of time and the rubber wheel rests against the larger wheel and gravity does the flattening. With these Elnas the motor and wheel are all encase in the sleek housing so you have to open them up and use a special tool to make the job easier. Well worth renting the tool (and remembering to return in 30 days to cancel out my deposit) so all would fit together.

Here's collection of cams and accessory box with feet, tools, bobbins, all Elna:
20 cams!
It took some time to get her all oiled and humming along, adjusting the tension, learning how to thread this model with the tension discs on the bottom of the left side. I wasn't sure about the double sided cams working in a Plana but once I figured out how to insert them and use the automatic features, the stitches looked very good:

Just practicing
So here we are on a Saturday night, Elna and I were bonding while I learned all about her:
That could sound romantic, especially with the low lights, but it wasn't. It was just another adventure with a sewing machine I hadn't tried before. And now we are tired and need to sleep. Goodnight cams. Goodnight thread. Goodnight Elna, it's time for bed.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I always revive those rubber drives by running them on rough sand paper. You can do it by running the motor and then you've no need to remove the motor or anything. Just take care as you will be working with open covers and live electricity.

Karen said...

I'm afraid my rubber drive pulley was really, really flat so I'm not too sorry to have replaced it and I understand that if I disengage the wheel (like getting ready to wind a bobbin) it will also keep the wheel from flattening. Is that part of your practice, too?

Carolyn said...

Hi ....what is the model of the Elna in you blog???? mine says Elna Plana Automatic...where can I get a pdf manual for this machine...I'm having trouble with the tension on the bobbin...any help...2countrykids@gmail.com thanks...thanks....