Oiling the Singer 15K

Here is the view inside the back inspection plate.  This was before I got rid of all the nasty brown residue.

At the top of the shaft that goes down into the pillar there is a tuft of fluff sticking up.  At this stage it just looks like part of the general muckiness.

Now a view of the top of the machine.  Beside the spool pin there is an unusually large oil hole.

Turn the wheel so the the head of the shaft is directly beneath the hole.  Here I have put a cocktail stick into the hole to go down inside... 

... to the top of the shaft.  This is where the fluff was sticking up.  In fact it is another of those little felt oil wells, like the ones at the top of the presser bar and needlebar.  When oiling the machine the wheel has to be turned so that the oil well is directly beneath the hole.  This hole is big enough for you actually to see down inside so you can see when the top of the shaft is in the right position for oiling.

Although the last picture isn't fabulously clear, I'm sure you get the general idea, and you might even have noticed that the machine is considerably cleaner than in the first picture.  All that rubbish had to be cleaned off before the oil went on.