Kirby Classic Omega

this is my restored classic omega. its my favorite kirby. after 5 months i finally have all the attachments and boxes it came with and i restored it cosmetically myself. it was built in april of 1975. the bearings need a change soon, but not noticable as of yet until you turn it off. thats the only mechanical issue so far and it's an easy one for me to fix as i have all the specialty tools.

there is something unique about this omega though, because these bags were made of a thinner material, they have a tendancy to leak BAD after about 3 months of use, even after you wash it. so to curb this problem, i ordered 1 micron hepa filter felt, ripped all the seams out, and my friend made a pattern of the bag onto the felt, and sewed the felt into the original bag liner on his juke industrial. however you MUST use an industrial sewing machine (ie juke/kansai/consew) because of the heavy weight felt filter fabric and thread weight. DO NOT try this on a home machine!

after the liner was sewn in, i now have a hepa filtration shake bag! still not sure if i need to re-sew the bag spring in quite yet, as im going to try a large zip tie to replace the 3 smaller ones on it. when i shake the bag out, dust comes out a small part. only a little testing will tell wether the zip tie idea to secure the emtor is a viable idea or not.

other than that small tweak which needs some testing, the bag itself doesn't leak AT ALL and gets great airflow still. once the process is ironed out, we may sell this service to collectors so they can use thier original bags without fear of bad filtration anymore! i prefer shakebags because their airflow is far better than kirby's with paper bags, in my opinion.

Will Hemb


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Post# 173037 3/13/2012 at 01:25 (4,419 days old) by IL-Kirby-Fan ()
Checkrate/Likes Hi, I am new to this forum. I have been rebuilding Kirby's as a hobby for about twelve years and presently I am wanting to rebuild a Kirby Classic Omega as it's been a while since I have refurbished that model. Just wondered if anyone had any good storied about the Kirby Classic Omega to share or photos of reconditioned ones.

Post# 173049 , Reply# 1 3/13/2012 at 05:02 (4,419 days old) by bnsd60m9200 (Akron OH)
Checkrate/Likes *restored kirby with hepa filter felt lined shake bag.....* this is my restored classic omega. its my favorite kirby. after 5 months i finally have all the attachments and boxes it came with and i restored it cosmetically myself. it was built in april of 1975. the bearings need a change soon, but not noticable as of yet until you turn it off. thats the only mechanical issue so far and it's an easy one for me to fix as i have all the specialty tools. there is something unique about this omega though, because these bags were made of a thinner material, they have a tendancy to leak BAD after about 3 months of use, even after you wash it. so to curb this problem, i ordered 1 micron hepa filter felt, ripped all the seams out, and my friend made a pattern of the bag onto the felt, and sewed the felt into the original bag liner on his juke industrial. however you MUST use an industrial sewing machine (ie juke/kansai/consew) because of the heavy weight felt filter fabric and thread weight. DO NOT try this on a home machine! after the liner was sewn in, i now have a hepa filtration shake bag! still not sure if i need to re-sew the bag spring in quite yet, as im going to try a large zip tie to replace the 3 smaller ones on it. when i shake the bag out, dust comes out a small part. only a little testing will tell wether the zip tie idea to secure the emtor is a viable idea or not. other than that small tweak which needs some testing, the bag itself doesn't leak AT ALL and gets great airflow still. once the process is ironed out, we may sell this service to collectors so they can use thier original bags without fear of bad filtration anymore! i prefer shakebags because their airflow is far better than kirby's with paper bags, in my opinion. Will Hemb

Post# 173075 , Reply# 2 3/13/2012 at 10:53 (4,419 days old) by IL-Kirby-Fan ()
Checkrate/Likes Looks great Will! Glad to see you have the owner's manual too. Just yesterday I found an original owners manual in great shape for the Classic III. I was very excited.

Post# 173133 , Reply# 3 3/13/2012 at 20:24 (4,418 days old) by cparman (Wylie, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes Will, very nice classic omega.