Horizontal Arm Shaft (HAS) Removal–Part 2

Last time we covered loosening and/or removal nearly all the parts necessary to remove the Horizontal Arm Shaft (or HAS for short).  Today, we’ll actually take that bugger out!

The last thing that needs to be removed is the screw in the stop motion flanged bushing (the metal part that pokes out that holds the motor and balance wheel).

Now it is necessary to use a rod of some sort to tap out the HAS.  The Adjusters Manual recommends a “brass rod of the proper diameter”.  I used a 7/16” wooden dowel.  The key is, you don’t want to use something really hard that can damage the HAS – you want the bar your tapping with to be softer than the steel of the HAS. 

Place the rod or dowel against the shaft end by the clamp stop motion bushing and HAS bearing.  In this next photo I am pointing to the HAS and the spot where I placed the dowel.

I used a hammer to gently tap the dowel which helped push the HAS slowly out through the front of the machine.  As the end moved past the HAS bearing, the bearing was easily removed from the machine.

HAS Bearing removed 

As I continued to tap out the HAS, I kept an eye on my progress through the side arm hole (where the stitch indicator plate goes).  As the end of the shaft approached the feed cam & feed lifting eccentric, I held on to it with my bent nose pliers and then slowly pulled the HAS out from the front of the machine.  This prevented the feed cam & feed lifting eccentric to fall down and potentially get damaged.

Holding on to part through arm hole:

Feed cam & feed lifting eccentric removed: 

As the HAS continued to come out, I repeated the same procedure as above for the bevel gear

HAS bevel gear: 

HAS fully removed, with needle bar crank still attached.  I wasn’t able to remove the needle bar crank until after soaking the HAS in kerosene. 

Views of Ms. Rusty without her HAS –

Right Hand Side:and Left Hand Side:

Next I cleaned up all the parts that were removed in the HAS removal process using kerosene.  The parts that had exposed rust (like the thread take-up lever) were also treated with Evapo-rust.

Here is a close-up of the thread take-up lever assembly and needle bar link after cleaning:

HAS after cleaning:

Before putting the parts into storage, I put as many set screws back into place as possible so I wouldn’t forget where everything goes.

Next time – badges?  We don’t need no stinking badges!