Oh, I feel your fruatration all the way up here in another country.

I too was once ready to throw Grandma's 1917 Singer into the scrap heap. I asked around a couple sewing shops to find someone who could service this antique and lo and behold I found someone in another town down the highway.

After a tune up, cleaning and a couple of new used parts, voila, I'm back sewing.

If for no other reason than to keep a smile on my mothers face knowing that her son is sewing with the same machine her mother made her school clothes with, I'm glad I went this route (even if secretly I wish I had a machine that did something more than straight stiches).