Well. Instead of spending the past two weeks smashing out heaps of dolls to sell for lots of money and become a rich, famous toy artist (lol) I've learned a great deal about Singer 201s and, uh, hubris.

On the off chance that anyone else decides to pick up an old 201:
>don't fuck with the wormgears
>they were run-in at the factory 65+ years ago
>if you accidentally replace the gear one tooth mesh over and turn it, you'll trash the entire gear
>and maybe after 40+ hours of your life are gone
>you'll have a machine that can get a straight stitch on almost every fabric except for the single one that you necessarily use in all of your work

Anyway, I'm picking up another 201 next weekend and then selling both of mine.