So MiL bought my wife an old re-conditioned sewing machine recently and today something went "ping" inside it... Thought I'd take it apart and have a look.
The good news is that I found a plastic pawl that seems to have slid off it's locating lugs so wasn't turning - the bad news is that I can't find out what will stop it doing it again... However for now wifeys happy.
I have to say that they are quite an intersting engineering feat. Evil mad genious engineer who designed them, or what. This machine is a small one, so semi portable (all folds up, etc.) I suspect it was the last generation of purely machanical ones too, but it can do zig-zag stitching, buttonholes, and who knows what else. The cogs and levers and other mechanicals inside are a sight to behold.
The down-side is that they have quite a high pingfukkit quotient.
Gordon