Singer Golden Touch & Sew Deluxe Zig Zag Model 630

The title says it all. Ok, so maybe it doesn't, but we do know from Singer's name for this machine that it does zig zag stitches. What we don't know until we delve into it is that it has an electronic motor control, which has an automatic needle-up park feature. That's kind of cool. And it has very similar stitch controls to the much-revered Singer 401/500 series. And it has a built-in bobbin winding feature. You simply leave the bobbin in the machine, flip a lever, hit the gas, and don't let up until the bobbin is full. But enough of this. On to the photos, which by the way, were taken before I did anything to clean up the machine.

The carrying case leaves a little to be desired. Instead of gluing down the loose flaps, someone decided it was easier to just rip off the offending flaps. Bummer. But the big S is still proudly displayed.

This is what a 630 looks like. It's got a metal main case and top lid (cast aluminum or pot metal of some sort).

Oh, and I should mention, I picked this machine up at the local Goodwill during their Monday $1.29 pink tag sale. Anything with a pink tag was $1.29, and this machine happened to have one. Yep, less than two bucks for this sewing machine and case. I went to the store after work too (5 or 6 at night), so apparently it's a machine that not many people yearn for. I'll discuss that a little later though.

Here's a fuzzy photo of the foot control. It has a slider for SLOW-FAST adjustment.

Here we see the built-in stitch selection cams, very similar to the Singer 401.

The 'buttonhole' knob has a crack in it. I've since glued it together but don't know how well it will hold up. The stitch length lever on this machine (and others of the same vintage) seem to be out of place with their industrial look. All other knobs are nice looking but the stitch length lever just seems out of place, like its plastic handle is missing.

Pattern selector levers and stitch width lever.

The (old-fashioned) familiar Singer stitch length lever, plus an on/off switch.

Forgive the shavings. I didn't take time to clean up the machine prior to photographing it. The serial number on the tag below is the same as is stamped into the underside of the frame.

The left side door shows a handy upper thread threading diagram. And the presser foot tension knob.

This machine has, as I mentioned previously, an automatic bobbin winding mechanism. Simply flip the white knob with the bullseye to the left, somehow hold the end of the upper thread (I wrap it around the presser foot screw), and press on the foot control to start the process. I also put the stitch levers to AK-3 (straight stitch) so the needle isn't bounding from side to side unnecessarily.

Here's where a lot of people get hung up on these machines. The 630 has plastic gears (seen below near the center of the photo) that run the intermediate shaft between the upper main shaft the the lower shaft under the machine bed. I'll have to admit, if any of the four gears were broken, this machine would probably be destined for the dump. Some of the gears are easier to replace, but the ones that fit onto the two horizontal shafts would be a major undertaking to replace.

The stitch selector mechanism is quite similar to a Singer 401 and 500 but those machines use steel gears and steel cam plates, where this 630 uses plastic/nylon. It's still a fine machine though, and works very well.

I happened to have my Craftsman speed indicator handy from working on the Domestic Hi-Speed, so I thought I'd see how fast this 630 runs. After 5 seconds, the dial showed 77 revolutions, which equates to 924 stitches per minute (77*12=924). The Domestic was 732 SPM, so the two machines are fairly equal, which is pretty amazing considering the two machines were built 50 years apart.

This next photo shows how well the 630 did right out of the box, so to speak. These stitches were made prior to me doing any maintenance to the machine. It ran without a hitch. I even used the automatic bobbin winder to fill up the bobbin. I didn't try a buttonhole since the knob is cracked and the knob's shaft seems to be abnormally tight. That's something I'll need to work on at a future time.