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1928 Singer Sewing Machine


Dar Kuma

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Recently I got given a 1928 Singer Sewing Machine, It has parts missing and its seized, I was thinking about restoring it but its just a piece of junk I may aswell just chuck it and find a working one.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t34.0-12/10981401_10155255590745441_4292743755826501735_n.jpg?oh=4351f95d6020cdc8190c652ff8b7e61c&oe=54E0FF45&__gda__=1424024426_36c841a5c14e01fe9d64c5ac96815a03

Edited by Dar Kuma
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My wife has mended a few.

She says take it to pieces, taking photos as you do, and soak in releasing fluid and oil.

When free clean and lightly oil.

You can identify the model and year of production from the serial number.

 

Parts can often be found, but it depends what's missing.

 

And the handle would have been fitted to the lid of the wooden cover it came with.

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is it really worth the time effort and money for this?

 

I could probably find a fully working 1 for around £30, hell of a lot cheaper than trying to fix this thing up.

 

and yeah, i just looked at the spares....

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Define "seized", please? Has the mechanism actually got corroded or rusted? Usually these things need onle small amounts of oil and cleaning to get everything running freely - if that can't be easily achieved, it sounds like a much less good specimen than many.

 

Also do you know what parts are missing? I suspect that may be the killer, if they are anything other than trivial.

 

We have quite a nice one, that used to be my Grandmothers, and it has now found a home on the "new" boat, and is actively being used to make furnishings - it works well!

 

But these Singer machines are not particularly expensive, unless a charity shop in a "poncy" town thinks it has picked up something a lot rarer than they are in reality. I would say you should easily be able to get a fully working one in fairly well presented condition, complete with case, for no more than £30, (and probably less).

 

If it is going to cost you anything like £30 to ge it going, I'd ditch this one, and look for another

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About 25 years ago I had to clear the house of an aunt who had died. Quite sad really. She obviousy knew she was dying and had virtually cleared it herself. However, she had a 1937 hand powered German sewing machine which was in a wooden case. It was in pristine condition, the gilt writing was as bright as the day applied. There was even a hand written, dated, receipt for five needles. I could not bring myself to dump it . It's in a cupboard to this day. Know it's not worth anything but it's a work of art.

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About 25 years ago I had to clear the house of an aunt who had died. Quite sad really. She obviousy knew she was dying and had virtually cleared it herself. However, she had a 1937 hand powered German sewing machine which was in a wooden case. It was in pristine condition, the gilt writing was as bright as the day applied. There was even a hand written, dated, receipt for five needles. I could not bring myself to dump it . It's in a cupboard to this day. Know it's not worth anything but it's a work of art.

Do you actually know it's worthless ? If it's collectable, it could well be worth something. You should at least do some research.

Jerry

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We've been clearing out Dave's dad house, and we've found Grandmother's sewing machine. She was an industrial sewing machinist. The machine is a Singer 201k. To the best of Dave's knowledge it's been out of it's box three times since 1986, and worked perfectly then. It has the instruction booklet, but I'm not sure what accessories are still there. It would be free to a good home, as long as whoever wants it can collect it from Manchester. We don't drive, so can't even bring it back to Macclesfield - it's quite heavy!

It looks identical to this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fantastic-Retro-Singer-201k-Heavy-Duty-Sewing-Machine-Leather-Upholstery-Canvas-/331479991524?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d2dbf44e4 but I don't know the serial number, I'm afraid.

If anyone's interested, let me know fairly quickly - the house should be up for sale in March, so we'd like to have found it a new home by then.

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If no one shouts my other half is interested...we are in the Midlands & although working in Manchester in April it would mean a special trip if it was sooner tho so if someone else is closer or quicker we quite understand. Definitely don't just get rid tho...these things need to be loved!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

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Hi, where about in Manchester?

 

Liam

You may know the answer to that by now, Liam!

 

If no one shouts my other half is interested...we are in the Midlands & although working in Manchester in April it would mean a special trip if it was sooner tho so if someone else is closer or quicker we quite understand. Definitely don't just get rid tho...these things need to be loved!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Sorry, Gareth, I'd barely hit "post" when I got a PM. Looks like Singer has a new, loving home!

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And look at the beautiful etching on the endplate of this one.

 

My mum had one virtually the same and I remember this pattern so well!

 

I LOVED playing with it as a child. It helped me with early development of my affinity and understanding of machines and mechanical devices.

 

$_57.JPG

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And look at the beautiful etching on the endplate of this one.

 

My mum had one virtually the same and I remember this pattern so well!

 

I LOVED playing with it as a child. It helped me with early development of my affinity and understanding of machines and mechanical devices.

 

$_57.JPG

 

Dave says that's identical to his gran's machine, though the endplate is a bit tarnished apparently. I so wish we could keep it, but I know it's going to a good home.

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I have an almost identical machine to the one in Mike's post.

gallery_1668_611_39121.jpg

 

 

£23.50 in 1935!!!!!!!

 

That's about 12% of the annual wage of a working man was (about £200pa) back then, so equivalent price now would be about £3,500 now as a proportion of income of say £30k.

 

MtB

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The 66K is a lovely machine (the K indicates they were made at Kilbowie in Scotland btw) and big, the 99K was the little sister and is about 6lb lighter. They are lovely machines when set up well. The 201K was the last straight stitch machine produced by Singer and is, in my view, the best straight stitch machine ever made, although I think the Bernina 830 with decorative stitches runs it close.

 

Setting up a 201K up to sew at their best requires a small amount of patience but well worth the effort. Setting the timing in particularly can be fiddly but perfectly doable. There are free service manuals available on t'internet to help you do this. Try the ISMACS.net site or go for wander, if I have time later I'll try to find them for you. I also have a tiny 12K from 1882 which is gorgeous, on a violin base, that's really taken some soaking in oil to get running again but works beautifully and a 27K which was the fore-runner of the 66K.

 

The most rare sewing machine known to have been manufactured for retail is the Husqvarna-Viking Nordstjernan of 1872. There are only a few examples extant but it is beautiful ...

 

http://needlebar.org/cm/displayimage.php?album=368&pid=1827#top_display_media

Edited by wrigglefingers
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