How To Repair A Bobbin On A 1959 Singer Sewing Machine
Did you ever see a vintage sewing automobile at a flea market or thrift shop that made you stop in your tracks and want to take information technology home? You can see the beauty under all that dust and grime, only aren't sure about what it volition take to bring it back to its former glory.
For those of us who stitch, at that place is a special lure that a vintage sewing motorcar has that pulls us in to accept a closer await at the craftsmanship, ornate details, and overall simplicity of machines made years ago.
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How my love of vintage sewing machines started
One summertime, I saw an sometime Vocaliser sewing machine at a flea market – no cabinet, parts all rusted, and totally unusable. And I instantly savage in love with it. I didn't buy information technology, mainly because it was in terrible status, but I kept thinking nigh it!
A few months subsequently, I saw the vintage sewing machine pictured above at a local thrift shop. OMG I wanted that machine soooooo bad! It was was over-priced for the status it was in – and for my budget. But that didn't stop me from taking out my iPhone and snapping a few pics of information technology!
Do some preliminary research
I wasn't sure how much information technology would entail to restore information technology and didn't even know how old it was, so I figured I would practice a little research, and go back to the store if information technology was worth buying. What I did know, was that it was a directly drive machine- meaning that at that place was no safe belt to make it work – and therefore, a little less that could go wrong.
In-Depth Inquiry on a Vintage Sewing Machine
Armed with the photos from my iPhone, I hopped on the internet to start my research. I knew it was a Vocalist, that it was a direct bulldoze, and fortunately I caught a shot of the serial number.
Using Google for my research, I started by searching "vintage Vocaliser sewing machine" and went to the "Images" option for a search.
Y'all see that white toggle switch? From my enquiry, I learned that that item light switch feature – plus the direct drive – identified the machine equally a Vocaliser 201-two. Armed with that, I was able to dig a picayune deeper on Google.
I site said that this detail model was chosen the "Rolls Royce of Sewing Machines", due to the fact that Rolls Royce used these machines back in the day to sew the leather upholstery when manufacturing their cars. (Source) And then basically, this vintage machine is a sort of precursor to a modern industrial sewing machine.
And exactly what I need to sew leather and heavy upholstery cloth.
I went back to the thrift store to buy the motorcar just it was GONE! 🙁
Searching for a Vocalizer 201-2
Now that I knew what model I wanted to purchase, the chase began. From my research, I found prices on these machines ranging from about $xl to over $400. (Okay, $400 IS ridiculous, merely that was the asking price.)
A few weeks later, my friend asked if I wanted to go to the thrift shop with her. (Yes, the thrift store that had the machine the last time.) Not even thinking near the machine though, I went along for the ride. I didn't fifty-fifty see the motorcar until my friend pointed it out to me. It was tucked in with a row of ugly, beat up desks and I went over for a closer expect.
And there she was! THE PERFECT Car!!!!!!
Practice yous hear a chorus of angels singing? I certain did, even though she looked more like the kickoff photo – dirty with globs of dust all over the machine and chiffonier.
A Slight Hesitation
Me, not the machine. The request price was $45. Half of what they had priced the commencement machine they were selling a few months earlier. And this one was in much better status.
But how much piece of work would be needed to restore the car?
Here's what I based my purchase on:
- I do accept a working knowledge of sewing machines, having started sewing when I was 11 years old.
- The first machine I used was my mom's one-time, only-sewed-forwards-and-astern, all-metal, chugalug-drive machine.
- The second machine I used was similar, with the exception that it was "modernistic", chugalug-driven, and had a zig-zag stitch.
- I had that second automobile for thirty years, and did all the maintenance myself.
Then with that, I inspected this newly found Singer 201-2 a little closer.
Here'south what I did:
Vintage sewing motorcar checklist:
- Turn the manus wheel – does it movement freely?
- Any grinding noises when the hand wheel turns?
- Examine the power cord for cracks and brittleness.
- Tilt the machine back from the chiffonier, and examine the working mechanisms on the underside of the machine.
- How yucky does it look? Is it dry, or has it been greased recently? This is where yous tin can guess whether the auto was used fairly recently, and if so, is probably working okay.
- Does information technology run? At this point, I asked to have the car plugged it to come across if it worked.
- Flip the light switch. Does the light keep?
- Pull down the knee lever, and now for the Big Examination:
- Does the motor run?
- And does the car work?
- Hear whatever popping sounds or exercise all the lights in the building suddenly go off? (Yep, this was really something I idea nigh!)
The car passed the kickoff BIG test. At present what?
Now that I knew she worked, I inspected the:
decals to make sure they weren't scratched up or missing altogether;
inspected all the engraved parts;
fabricated certain the series number was legible;
went over the cabinet for scratches, dings and full general stability ;
took off the seat cushion to see if whatever of the original parts or manual were in there (they weren't)opened the drawer to look for parts, and to meet if the hinges were okay.
Test Score: 100!
She passed all my tests, and now she was declared SOLD!!!!! She was all mine.
My friend and I managed to get her loaded into the car, and get her into my house with only i small scratch. FYI, cast iron is heavy !!!
The clean-upwardly
Now that I got her home, my first task was to give her a bath. Poor baby was musty smelling, and literally caked with greasy grit. A bucket of warm water and Murphy's Oil Soap was just what she needed! I washed down the entire chiffonier, seat, yucky vinyl cushion embrace, and the auto itself. And then I dried everything with a soft rag.
A footling polishing
Next, I used Olde English language furniture shine – the kind with the dark stain added to information technology. I practical this liberally to the cabinet and wooden parts of the seat. OMG that stuff works miracles! As I buffed the walnut cabinet with a piece of flannel, all the gorgeous grain began to testify, and the little dings disappeared. She was looking gorgeous, and I was getting happier past the second.
To clean the engraved metallic and other metal parts of the car, I used Totally Awesome full-bodied cleaner. Similar the proper name says, this stuff is totally crawly for removing grease and grunge.
The last part to clean was the bandage fe auto itself. I sprayed a little Armor All onto a material and then buffed the auto with a clean piece of flannel.
Examine the mechanics
Now that the outside of the machine and cabinet were cleaned up, I tackled the mechanical parts. Notation: exist sure to use the correct size screwdrivers when removing screws, so you lot don't strip them!
Fortunately, with half-dozen x working sewing machines on mitt, I had a whole pile of screwdrivers to choose from. (Guess you could call me a sewing machine hoarder, huh?)
I took off the plate over the bobbin instance and cleaned out the mess that was in there. At that place must have been a yard of thread all defenseless up in the bobbin case! Some long handled tweezers, sewing machine brush , toothbrush and cotton wool swabs came into play to get all the innards cleaned upwards.
The yucky vinyl seat cushion re-do
The last matter to tackle was the horrible, pea dark-green vinyl seat absorber. I took information technology outside because information technology was so stinky, and worked on my gardening potting demote.
I used a sturdy screwdriver to pry up the staples, and so pliers to pull the staples out of the wood. The underside was stamped "Made in Yugoslavia", which you can sort of run across in the top right in the above pic.
New batting
Once the vinyl was off, I peeled the musty quondam batting off the woods and gave everything some other wipe downwardly with Spud'southward Oil Soap. After the wood stale, I cutting a double thickness of quilt batting to replace the old seat batting.
No need to fasten the batting to the forest, equally information technology easily stuck to the unfinished woods. A little trimming with scissors was all that was needed.
A little upholstery
Next up was the finishing touch of some dainty upholstery. I had only gotten some absurd pieces of upholstery at another austerity shop a few days before, and institute the perfect piece that fit the seat and matched the decor of the room where I was keeping the machine. The piece of fabric was in a pile of stuff I bought that was existence sold for $2/pound, and then the fabric for the seat merely cost $1!
I cut the fabric so there was at least 3″ all around and started on 1 side using just one staple. And then I pulled the cloth tight, and used one staple on the reverse side. Since I had never done this earlier, I took my time, and didn't trim the fabric too much.
When I got to the curved corners, I snipped off some fabric and so it would fit snugly into the seat frame and not be all bunched upward. A few staples secured the material in each corner, and I worked my way around the absorber frame pulling the fabric tight and securing with a staple.
Once the fabric was stapled all around, I trimmed it closely to the woods.
The seat was now reupholstered, and I am loving how information technology looks!
Simply will information technology sew together?
At this indicate, I didn't even have the machine threaded or had tried sewing on a piece of scrap textile. I remember I was afraid to do it! What if the machine didn't stitch? Well, at least I had a lovely piece of antique piece of furniture, correct?
Notice the possessor'due south manual
The next matter I did was search the internet for an owner'due south manual. SCORE!!! I found a site that had a pdf photocopy of the original transmission. Not only that, but from the serial number I found that the machine:
- was built in 1936
- in Elizabeth, New Jersey
- and is one of 8,000
How cool is that?
Brand a new bobbin
The first matter to do was to pull the onetime thread off the existing bobbin (in that location was but i in the drawer) and air current a new bobbin. Unfortunately, the bobbin winder part of the motorcar (pictured above) needs to be adapted in order to piece of work, so I wound the bobbin on 1 of my other machines.
The manual didn't indicate what size bobbin to use, but my Ninja sewing skills tell me that it'due south a Class 66 because it is curved instead of flat like the other classes of bobbins. Dandy, because I have about 50 spares to apply that are from my oldest working machine! Putting the bobbin into the example was equally easy as any other sewing machine, and so that was a plus.
Next, I changed the needle.
Ever. Change. the Needle.
Even if you think it looks fine, change information technology!
I got a spool of thread, and threaded her up. Very straight-forward method of threading, but no modernistic needle-threading lever to rely on, and so out came the magnifying/reading glasses to tackle threading the eye of the needle.
And I swear I was property my breath as I put the fleck fabric under the needle and pushed against the knee lever to starting time the test stitch.
SHE SEWS!!!!!!
Non simply does the car run up, but the motor sounds virtually like it is purring. No clunking, grinding, or loud sounds – just a contented purrrrrrrrr.
The stitches are perfectly fifty-fifty, and I didn't even have to arrange the tension. Someone manifestly used the machine, and took good care of her.
How she got her name
While I was cleaning out the little drawer of the cabinet, I found a plastic bag with some old buttons. The name "Elaine" was written on the bag, and I am guessing she must have been the former owner of the motorcar. Then I decided to call the automobile Elaine.
Elaine still needs a few more than finishing touches. Simply this morning, I read that I can try auto wax on the cast iron to really make it glow. And then there is the bobbin winder to arrange, just the how-to is all spelled out in the possessor's manual.
All cleaned up
Here is Elaine in her new dwelling – all cleaned up, smelling much better at present, and looking lovely. Await at the forest grain on the chiffonier drawer!
I consider this machine, cabinet and seat to be a steal , and total cost with cushion reupholstering was…..
pulsate whorl….
$46.
Yep. 40. Six. Dollars.
Isn't she gorgeous?
How about you? Do you accept a vintage motorcar that you have restored? Was it hard?
Do tell! I want to hear all most it in the comments below!
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Source: https://doityourselfskills.com/restoring-a-vintage-sewing-machine/
Posted by: jenkinscrushe2000.blogspot.com
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