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| Three Generations of Service  |
Went to town to pick up a couple of things, stopped by Goodwill on a whim. Never know what sort of doodads you might find. Spotted an OLD Singer sewing machine, table-top model with electric motor. Machine itself is the same as the older treadle models. Got interested in it as a parts donor for Yahd Aht. (NOT one of those goofy-looking "tractor" things...) Plus the variable speed AC motor and rheostat can be used for a lot of stuff. Figured for $7, what the hell, why not? Got it home and started messing with it. Took the motor apart, cleaned the commutator, made sure the brushes were free, oiled the bearings - runs like a watch. Wouldn't quite drive the machine tho. Hmmmmmmmm. Pulled off various access plates and lubed every pivot, roller and cam I could reach. Got it so it would run if I gave the flywheel a flip to start it. Looked up the serial number on line (what CAN'T you find on the innerwebz?) and it's much newer than I suspected. I figured teens or twenties. Serial number dates to 1951. Downloaded a PDF of the owner's manual (see comment about serial numbers...) changed a couple of settings and the darn thing runs like a watch! Might even go so far as to thread it up and see if it actually sews. The dilemma is...do I tune it up and keep it or resell it as a sewing machine, or do I go with my original reason for buying it and strip it for parts? Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | ||
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| Member |
With all the hipsters and vintage trend and whatnot I'd flip that puppy for as much as I could get for it. | |||
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Member |
1. Sell it 2. Keep it 3. Don't cannibalize I once bought an old Crosman 760 Pumpmaster for parts. It turned out to be 100% complete but only in need of resealing. Of course, I fixed it and now have two. | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money  |
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer: You win, either way!  "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
I'm leaning in that direction, need to do some research. It's a plain-jane model, no fancy paint or engraving. It's a table top or portable model and the cover is missing from the base/case. Other than that, it appears to be complete. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
Quick scan of Flea Bay shows complete machines with case and accessories going for $50-$100. Given that it's missing the case top and has NO accessories, I guess I'll keep it. Wifey has a perfectly good sewing machine she never uses, so I'll also probably cannibalize it if/when I see a use for a part. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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Nullus Anxietas |
My wife has one of those. She was going to use it to sew canvas. Those old machines are powerful. They can sew things that would choke new-fangled computer-controlled machines. I've a photo around, somewhere... This one's some wiring I had to re-do:  This one's the inside of the foot switch:  I took the former one for remembery. I took the latter one just because I hadn't seen anything like that since I was a kid, messing with electrical and electronic stuff. "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher | |||
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The Unmanned Writer |
My mom had something akin to that model (her's was also a Singer). One thing I distinctly remember is she'd typically need to "help" the flywheel get started. Seemed to be related ( as a 3 year-old) to what she was sewing - that is, the type of cloth. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. "If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own... | |||
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goodheart |
In Africa 50 years ago, there was no electricity, all the local seamstresses were using Berninas (!!!) set into old treadle machine bases. They did excellent work. _________________________ “Remember, remember the fifth of November!" | |||
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| Little ray of sunshine  |
Sell it. Those are powerful machines. My mom used her later 50's Singer until she quit sewing. Indestructible and powerful. Sell it, and buy a junker for the parts. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
You could be appointed the "Official Seamster of Sigforum". Maybe for life.  ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
Well, poop... Read the owner's manual, threaded up the machine and did a trial pass. Had to tighten up the thread tension a little, but the darn thing sews perfectly! Now I can't bring myself to cannibalize it, but looking on Fee Bay, it ain't worth spit either. Guess I'll have to take up sewing... Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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| My common sense is tingling  |
I concur with this. “You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.” - Robert Heinlein | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
You could always donate it. Find a local cause or deserving person that could make good use of the useful thing you brought back to life. That will feel better than $50 or more clutter. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
That's a thought. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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Member |
What model is it?? There should be a letter by the model number indicating the factory. Just like how coins have a letter indicating the mint. For some darn reason I started collecting Singers, thankfully I stopped at 4. The ones I have are all metal body and a drive shaft driven no belt. Thus jeans and canvas fly right through them. They sew great even though I don't really sew, too many other hobbies. I sold that 4th one, I was running out of space to store everything! __________________________ My door is always open to Sigforum members, and I'm always willing to help if I can. | |||
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| Three Generations of Service |
 It's a 128K, serial number indicates manufactured in 1951. Serial Number AK354238 Direct outgrowth of the Model 28 Treadle and in fact was available as a treadle driven machine. Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent. | |||
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| Member |
Like classic pistols from that era, there is quality in the design and workmanship that is hard to duplicate today. Pragmatism: the relentless pursuit of seeing things as they really are. | |||
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Character, above all else |
It's not a Featherweight, but Quilters LUUUUV these machines because they sew really straight lines when they are piecing a quilt together. Mrs. 'Hook has four in perfect working order... for the same reasons that she doesn't have just one pistol.  If you're feeling a little charitable, there are new quilters and some without many resources who would love to have a solid machine like that. Call a local quilt guild and ask if you could donate it to someone who would appreciate it. "The Truth, when first uttered, is always considered heresy." | |||
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| Member |
For the win! | |||
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