On Jun 13, 10:47*pm, "newshound" wrote:

Thanks for the useful pointers. It's probably about 10 years old, vertical
axis shuttle.

Looking at the pics, I'd expect it to be a badge-engineer job,
probably a Janome underneath (maybe Toyota, as I think they sell more
as re-badges), and I'd be amazed if it wasn't the cheapo Japanese
front-loader oscillating shuttle. If you flip two little plastic
clips, can you take the shuttle out?

I wanted to make sure I'd located all the oil holes,

There aren't many. Trace the mechanism from end to end, not stripping
down anything that isn't plastic and held on with no more than two
screws. If it isn't a drilled hole with a countersink, it's not a
regular oil hole. Less is more.

also how to check the thread tensions.

Get the threading right, then leave it alone. You set the top tension
to the middle of the dial, then look at stitch formation as it sews,
adjusting until perfect. For some materials and some threads, you
knock it a division or two either way. If that's not enough, you;'ve
mis-threaded it, or put the bobbin in backwards. If that's the base
machine that I think it is, 90% of faults are caused by it throwing
its thread off the top arm through the "easy threading" slot.

It's got me wondering what sewing machine oil is too;

Don't even think about it. You care about viscosity, you care about
the crud it leaves behind, but mostly you care about it never
oxidising. Go to the shop and buy the right stuff.

I wouldn't expect this machine to need much servicing, or to wear out
before it's thrown away.