Restoring my Grandmother's Singer Sewing Machine

[Shangas]

At the flea-market today, I bought this...

It's a replacement tire for the bobbin-winder:

Cost me 10c.

 

[Shangas]

Today, I bought an original Singer Model 99 owner's instruction-manual!

Now I can chuck out that big, bulky, computer-printed, scanned-copy one, and use an original manual from the...1930s...I think this is!!

I also bought this neat little box of SINGER needles:

It's about the size of a matchbox, and there's a ton of needles inside!

All up for the two pieces, $5.

 

[TackCollector]

My machine's a Singer, but it was made in Scotland. Would that count as a 'European' machine? I don't think it's possible to BUY the extension-bed, so I'm hoping that I'll actually be able to *make* it instead.

I have measurements, and I've seen photographs. I don't think it'll be that tricky to knock one together. Or at least, a close-enough approximation.

There's a Yahoo Group "vintagesingers" and Treadle-On http://www.treadleon.net/ -- that guy is a woodworker as well as collects and restores machines. (I'm not sure whether or not I already gave those links but don't have time to go look.)


The other day, I went to the Salvation Army thrift shop. I hadn't been there for a couple of months. Same "Singer Centennial"-badged 15-91 in mahogany cabinet with the drawers stuffed full of vintage patterns, buttonholer, zigzagger, sewing notions, scissors, thimbles, and little magazines full of patterns for handwork-needlework that I am too Type-A to sit still for, was still there. It had been priced at $50 and I passed it by because I have no good place to put it. Well, they marked it down to only $5.00, cabinet and all. It runs, albeit a little slower than I'd like to see but I may be able to grease it and free up that "potted" motor a little. It's now in the bed of my truck, under the tonneau cover. LoL! I had to rescue that machine. It's in such nice condition and has all the extras AND a Centennial badge. I will probably put it up for sale, but that's better than having it go in the dumpster.

 

[59Lark]

Shangas; this is 59lark those needles might be industrial needles and therefore not the right one for your home machine, home machine needles came in packets of 5 usually, industrial needles with round shanks and all differnt lengths depending on the machine and the purpose wont fit home machine and that box looks like a industrial sewing machine box of 100 needles; 59lark

 

[Shangas]

Hi Lark, I figured that out at a later date, but yes, on closer inspection I believe you're correct. Nevertheless, I'll hold onto them. They might prove interesting anyway.

 

[Shangas]

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!

My grandmother's sewing-machine has been restored to 100% original condition!

All the missing parts have been found, spares have been sourced, and it's running like a top!

The final missing piece, the bed-extension table, has been found:



Along with three spare lightbulbs!

The complete lid, as displayed in the Singer handbook for the Model 99k:



The lid of my grandmother's machine as it now appears:



The box on the left contains a complete set of original, solid steel Singer attachments, accessories and equipment. However, due to the large number of them, the bobbins for this machine are stored elsewhere.

My Odyssey is complete!

What it looked like when this whole thing began:



When I hauled it out of the basement, the machine was missing every single part, piece and attachment that you could possibly name. Now, everything has been replaced and returned

 

[Foxer55]

Ya got a keeper there, Shangas.

 

[Shangas]

Yes I'm very happy with the results. Now I have a complete, and functional, family heirloom!

 

[a2jacketpatches]

I've got a Singer model 177-2, from what little info I can find, it was intended for use in barber shops for mending / darning towels and other items. I can't find needles, parts, or very much info on it, just the manual. From that I threaded the machine but couldn't get it to stitch. I'm pretty good with the common 66 series machines and can pretty much trouble shoot everything, I've been using them to stitch my patches for years but this 177-2 has me stumped. Any ideas? I'd like to use it for repairing vintage garments and applying patches to hard to reach places like cuffs and shoulders. Here's a few pictures.

 

[Shangas]

What happens when you try and sew with that machine? From what I can see, the thread-tension discs are all the way out. That would make the thread (and the sewing) extremely loose and floppy. It would jsut bunch up and make a god-awful mess. You need to push the two tension-discs back up against the machine, along with the spring, and then tighten up the tension-nut. Then try re-threading and testing the machine.

Is it physically NOT WORKING? Or is it functioning but just not doing what you want it to?

Here are more photographs of my grandmother's Singer. This series of pictures aims to show what the machine would've looked like, and the accessories it would've come with, when it was brand-new, ca. 1950:



The bentwood case. Tied to the end of the string is the original key for the lock on the case.



Here you can see EVERYTHING that the machine would've come with, when you purchased it brand-new. The original green oval-base oil-can, the original instruction manual and the installation-manual for the sewing-motor (the one with the white sticker on it), the black steel knee-bar, the green cardboard accessories box. On the top it says: "ATTACHMENTS FOR SINGER 99 MACHINE" (my grandmother's model).

There's also a tube of the original motor-grease (in front of the green box), and two Singer 99 bobbins. I have about two dozen vintage Singer 99 bobbins! They're all stored in a separate box.

And underneath the box and the oil-can and everything, is the bed-extension table. I can't tell you how hard I hunted, to track that one piece down! Now that I have it, everything is truly complete!

Some closeups:


The box contains a complete set of original steel Singer attachments, along with the original SINGER screwdrivers.



Not shown in this posting are the...

Zigzagger attachment.
Two buttonholer attachments.
A WHOLE HEAP OF BOBBINS!
A whole heap of spare parts and extra attachments.

And I'll throw this in for good measure:



I bought this Singer 28 handcrank machine in London. When I bought it, it had a whole heap of missing parts. It didn't have a case-lid, a slide-plate, a key, and half the accessories were all gone. I've since tracked down all the missing bits. Including the case-lid!

 

[Foxer55]

So, Shangas, can we now consider and promote you as the resident FL sewing machine expert? Send all FAQ to you?

 

[Shangas]

I would hardly call myself an 'expert' but I will certainly try.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Notice that the two tension disks are sandwiched together and the thread guide is directly vertical from them. It is the shape of the head that requires such an odd position for the tension. Again, I'm very familiar with machines like yours to the point where I modify them in various ways to suit my needs. I can tear them down and put them back, get a frozen / rusted hunk of junk running smoothly, whatever, as long as it functions properly and I can use it. I don't need all the parts and pretty much strip them to the bare bones, install a home made hand crank and use it. But this machine is tricky and I can't find the needles for it or anything other than the manual.

 

[Shangas]

Most Singer sewing machines use needles with a D-shaped shank. The flat side goes up against the neelde-bar, and the round side faces outwards. Usually, it's flat side to the right, the round side to the left. But there are some machines which use circular, O-shanked needles. I think these are mostly industrial-type machines, or the really early transverse-shuttle machines from the 1850s-60s.

I'm not sure how easy it is to find those O-shanked needles these days, so it's gonna be tricky.

In the photos, it looks like you already have a needle in the needle-bar. I suppose you're saying that you can't purchase extra needles, right?

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Yeah, there's a needle in there and the size is 177-1. I've had an auto search going on Ebay for 6 months and not a single hit for the machine or needles. Funny thing is that's where I got it, made an offer and drove a half hour to pick it up. This machine turns smoothly, no missing parts, needle is straight, but I can't get it to lock a stitch. It just seems futile at this point and I may even offer it on the market. All I really want is a machine that'll reach up a sleeve and stitch a patch on. With parts and info being so rare for this one, maybe it'll fund something that will work for me. BTW, I think this is from the 1920's

 

[Shangas]

Is it a possibility that it isn't the correct needle to begin with? Or that the needle, while correct, isn't properly seated in the needle-bar? Those are two possible reasons for it not sewing properly, provided that everything else is hunky-dory.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

That part is in the manual so i'm pretty sure I did it right, I'll give it another go and double check everything but I f needles aren't available for the future, I may just pass this on to a collector.

 

[TackCollector]

That tension mechanism doesn't look like it's properly assembled, to me. Join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintagesingers/ or check out http://www.ismacs.net/home.html There are or were retired sewing machine mechanics in both groups.

 

[TackCollector]

http://www.tfsr.org/pub/technical_info/sewing_machine_manual/Refurbishing_underside.pdf
First picture on page 2. It's the piece at upper left, up against the underside of the bed. Oil both ends of that well. Second arrow from left and 4th arrow from left.

That whole site http://www.tfsr.org/publications/technical_information/sewing_machine_manual/ is great for any Singer 66 or 99.

But that T piece up there under the bed is a part that many different models have some variant of, and it's always the driest and most bound-up and sqwaking part I have found on all Singers including the slant needle models.

 

[GHT]

What an amazing and uplifting story, a wonderful thread. Shangas, you seem as bitten by the Singer bug, as I was by the MG one, when I bought my classic car a few years ago. So I suggest that you look away now.
In the 1960's, I had a Saturday job at the Singer Shop in the east London district of Walthamstow. At the time the Scotland factory was being run down, Singer had transferred all their European production to Germany, or as we said in those days, West Germany. The machines that had been made on the Clyde, near Glasgow, were indeed indestructible. They were cast iron, and so strong that they would last forever. To that end, Singer sent out an edict that instructed all shops, accepting a part exchange of one of these Scottish built machines, to scrap it, by swinging a heavy hammer against the cast iron casing. It was a sacrilege, but as someone previously noted, Singer was chasing profit, and that meant no old machines as hand me downs. It explains why the bobbin cover plate on your machine was so difficult to source, and why you had to go for a reproduction part.

Some of those machines never did see the scrapyard though. If I gave five pounds for one, I would pay the money out of my pocket, and then take the machine home, my wife would make use of them. She made all our dance clothes, dancing was a hobby that we were seriously into at the time. Later, as work became ever more intrusive, those machines became collectables that adorned her sewing room. Fast forward to the present day and Singer no longer has the cache it once held in our house. But those machines still have pride of place in her sewing cabin. Here's a few of them. For non Brits, Kay & Co were a large mail order company. Anyone recognise the original manufacturer on their sewing machine? It looks like The American Sewing Machine Co., but there's no evidence of that on the actual machine.











I have only shown you a few, and the treadle was so laden with sewing knick-knacks that I left that machine in the down position.
And to bring it up to date this is her current machine and overlocker: