rootboy 

I did all that too, 65 er, when I overhauled my 201, which also has the potted motor. New grease wicks, brushes, re-wired motor, everything.
Can't remember what I used for grease, but petroleum jelly rings a bell.

rootboy 

That's a nice story, Eschlwc. But I hope you didn't misinform your poor old ma as far as sewing machine stuff goes. If you were looking at any of the saddle bags I made, the old Singer wasn't involved. All hand- stitched.
But thanks for the shine.

eschlwc

^ b^)

dck

Here's the Singer Model 66 (1917) that I restored last year.

exmechanic89

Pretty cool thread. I guess I never thought about it much, but sewing machines certainly changed life in the US a lot. My (now passed) mom used to sew quite a bit when I was growing up, this thread invokes a lot of fond memories for me.

dim

my wife has a Singer Featherweight 222k which I bought at a carboot sale for £15 and in immaculate condition .... she hardly uses it but prices are pretty high for these and they are becoming very sought after ...

Sixty Fiver

The sewing machine changed the world like few other inventions.

LeicaLad 

+1, plus spectacles.

Sixty Fiver

Prior to the sewing machine becoming a fixture in most homes, garment making was extremely labour intensive and costly... a shirt would have taken a day to make by hand while a sewing machine could reduce that time to hours.

clubman 

Thrift store find for my wife, I suck at sewing. It's a totally Jetsons-esque retro '66 White model 764. I paid a local repair guy to clean and lube for $75 so total outlay was under $100. Weighs about 50lbs and she says it's the last one she'll ever own. Which is nonsense...we have at least 3 other singers including a 221 Featherweight. N+1 is universal. Except for maybe caskets...

thinktubes 

Speaking of thrift stores, I saw this Chandler in the local SA. Wanted to buy on looks alone.

Sixty Fiver

The Bernina / Chandler 217 industrial machine is very sought after and if they were only asking $149.99 I would have had this in the back of Jeep so fast... there is a version of this machine that is still in production so this helps with parts availability and the parts on a commercial machine are going to be spendier.

Consider that the usual price of admission for machines like this starts at $2000.00 (used) and can go up from there if they have their cam attachment.

ddeand 

I'm going to run this by those of you who have opinions. After doing some research and reading the posts here, I'm headed out today to do some errands including getting some stuff for my new machine (Singer 15-91). I checked the grease and it seems fine - not crusted or deteriorated - and the rest of the machine just needs wiping down and oiled. I'm thinking of using the Tri-Flow oil that I have in my shop (apparently it's used on sewing machines), but I need to get grease. I can go with the modern Singer grease or stop by an auto parts store and get the marine bearing grease - I won't be able to get to a marina. Alternatively, I can use some Vaseline that I already have. Mind you, I will only be doing light sewing to start with.

Suggestions?

Bicyclz

For Sixty Fiver: )


One of the Slants with chain-stitch facility, made in Milano, Italy.

clubman 

We recently picked up a 60's retro White, like this one. Powerful, smooth.

Bicyclz

The vintage Whites are very cool: )
We don't see many this side of the pond, but see plenty of classy Singers, which are my particular bag.
Slants, especially. I reckon they'll outdo the Featherwieights in the long run, in terms of popularity.

Sixty Fiver

These are the holy grail for many Singer collectors... the 431 is the same machine with a freearm and I have narrowly missed getting a couple of them.

Sixty Fiver

Vaseline is good for the motor wicks... Tri Flow is probably the best all round lube for sewing machines but not for motors or wicks as the teflon can cause blockages.

Sixty Fiver

My little sewing obsession has turned into a side business here and although I am still collecting machines I have also been servicing and selling quite a few and booking house calls to take care of machines like treadles that are hard to move around.

Recently picked up what is considered to be the best machine Singer ever made, which is the model 201 and this is the belt driven version which made upgrading the motor to a later sealed unit pretty simple.

It is also running with a little more power than it originally came with.

Sixty Fiver

The most popular machine Singer ever produced has to be the model 15, it's production life spanned nearly 100 years and although it had a few variations the basic mechanisms remained unchanged, it was also the most widely copied machine and most modern machines still use the bobbin system it introduced and the 15 by needle is standard on all but a few machines.

This is a 1952 Singer 15-88, the 88 designates that it was designed for a treadle although it could also be electrified or have a hand crank fitted which would make it a 15-89.

I love this machine, it is as smooth as butter on glass.

Sixty Fiver

This is a Singer 128 hand crank that was made in Canada between 1936 and 1948, Canadian date codes are a little vague but I think it is pre WW2 based on the decals and early tension mechanism.

It uses a different shuttle and bobbin than modern machines that dates back to the 1870's but was still manufactured into the 1950's by Singer and copied by many Japanese companies into the 1960's... they lay down a truly exceptional stitch.

slowtostart

At last, a topic at my level. I was learning to sew at the same time I was taking the training wheels off the solid rubber tire bicycle finally passed down to me, the youngest in my extended family. I remember a remnant of blue paint and lots of fun.

Singer moved their manufacturing plant to Elizabeth, NJ, my place of birth, in 1872. I enjoy my grandmother's treadle, a 201, 221, 301A, and 401A. The 201 and 401 are the most used here.

I have a 185J looking for a home. It needs a new belt.

STS

AlexCyclistRoch

My mom left her early 1960's Pfaff (my sister got her newer Swedish machine), and it still works fine. Just perfect for occasional repairs. My mom pieced her first 20-something quilts with this machine.

rootboy 

Glad to see this thread ressurected. Thread.....get it

Some beautiful machines here. The next foto I want to see, SixtyFiver is one of you sitting at one of these machines, going at it.

I've been doing some sewing lately, but hand stitching. Got on a jag collecting some more vintage Giorgio Armani neck ties from the 80's, to go with the ones I bought new back then when I was wearing them to the office. I consider the Armaini ties from that period small works of art. Strange but subtle patterns, hand-made, printed in limited batches and beautiful. Some of them need a little restoration of the slip stitching which holds the tie together in the back.

slowtostart

It's not an Armani, but the 185J is free for the taking.