Singer 401, 403, & 404 – Seductively Smooth.
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Note: If you are an eBay parasite who downloads free manuals and then sells $10 “electronic copies” of a file (that you neither scanned, printed, or bound) to unsuspecting people, rest assured that Santa will hear about it – and you’ll be sorry.
Sewing Dude 
i was very happy to find your site and an easy to use Manule But i still can not set the timming on the 403A do you have a u tube on just the 403 and timing or any help you can give me would be great
Thanks
Russ
Do you have a maintenance manual for 404 slant needle sewing machine? Thanks for the 401a manual it is very helpful.
Thanks very much, it will not be for resale but my personal use.
Thank you.
GOD BLESS YOU!! I have been struggling with the 401 a and this repair manual helped me see how the gear that slipped off actually went on and I was able to repair it in a few minutes and I have already spent over nine hours just trying to put the one part back. This was a money-saving stress saving download!
Thank you Donald, I just found you after receiving my Ebay Service Manual on a disk – but I’m STILL appreciating you! Just thought I’d leave the info for Andy Tube, a YouTuber. Of course, a lot of you people have found him, but he has a complete clean up series for the Singer 404. He takes it apart and goes through all the assemblies, each with their own video. He takes the machine apart slowly and cleans the old varnished oil and grease with Krud Cutter Concentrated Cleaner and Degreaser with stain Remover, then puts ’em back together. He has a video from, Shelly, a woman who cleaned her own machine the same way. I plan to do it too to one I picked up on Craigslist last week – and it is a mess. Andy Tube’s favorite machine is the 404, but he has MANY machines that he teaches. Make sure you watch his videos as he has some guidelines upon using the Krud Cutter and he also uses Tri Flo oil with PDFE and Tri Flo synthetic Clear Grease – instead of sewing machine oil/greases. Check out Andy, he’s the greatest!
is the 401 and 403 the same? I only see the manual for the 401.
Thank you for making this available. I have a 403A that I inherited from my mom. I’ve been fighting with a problem for days. This is amazingly helpful.
Thank you!
I’m trying to make sense out of the Needle position adjustment on a 403, my needle is centered only when the lever is set for far right. The lever is very difficult to operate and tough to get to the center position and refuses to go to the left position at all. Do you have the part of the 403 manual that deals with that?
BTW, I love you Manly way of approaching these machines! I tell people that if it has an electric motor and can draw blood if you put your finger in the wrong place, that means it is a power tool, and I would be ashamed to admit there is a power tool I can’t operate with a degree of skill!
Likely gummed up in the past, or still partially stuck.
Apply heat from a hair dryer, Tri_Flo oil and slowly work it a million times.
Someone probably knocked it out of alignment by forcing it when it was frozen. It may need to be re adjusted.
Thank you. You are more than welcome to use any of our manuals on Vintage Sewing Machines FB group that you need.
Hello! I see that this PDF is pages 125 on from the 400 class service manual, which apply to the 401 specifically. I have a 403A, and would love to have a copy of the section of the service manual that applies more generally to the 400 class. I believe this is pages 1-79, but any other relevant pages would be greatly appreciated. Do you have the general section of the 400 class manual? Personal use only, of course!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thanks very much for providing this manual at no charge. Who are you?! Guaranteed for my personal use only. Your generosity is appreciated!
Thank you for sharing these manuals very much appreciated. Personal use only. Thank you!!
Thank you for providing a free manual. I promise I will never sell a copy, I will print for my personal reference for the machine I’m working on, SN NA610878.
Thank you for making the 401a manual available, I bought a cabinet for my pfaff expression and to my delight it came with this machine. I am tasked with finding parts and info as it has no accessories, wish me luck.
Thanks for this free download, working on my mother’s machine!!!
Thank you so much for this!! I was gifted this machine by my Mother in Law and I am so excited to use it. But it looks as if it hasnt been used in years, so I want to look at it before I use it. And I hope that this is what I need!! I also got a professional buttonholer, so I downloaded the user manual for it to!! Your awesome!!
Looking for any information regarding using a knee lever on my singer 401A? Do all 401A’s take a knee lever? Where would i find one? Are they universal for all Singers or specific models have their own? When i do find it how does it attach? Thanks for any info!!
Hi,
Great that you have supplied the service manual of the Singer 401. Thanks very much for that.
I noticed that it starts at page 125 and I wonder if you have also the first 125 pages available. I am restoring a 401 that my mother (and I) used in the past. A full service manual would help me a lot in understanding all the bits and pieces.
Hope you can help me.
Best regards,
Rob
I so appreciate you putting this online for us! Seems more possible to do repairs on my machine.
Just purchased a Slant-O-Matic 401A
I love the older machine but it has no speed Have to get it going by hand turning it first, but goes very slow. Hope you can help me with the free fix it manual. I really enjoy fixing things my self if at all possible Thank you in advance
You probably have a lot of goo in the machine. Decades of 3-in-1 oil will make it sluggish.
Oil it well with actual sewing machine oil, and work it in. Tri-Flow is excellent oil too.
Good luck.