Old sewing machines (pic heavy)

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Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,214
367
73
SE Wales
@dave53, let me know what model you need the info for and I'll see if I've got the book for it here.......I've got quite a few and I'm happy to photocopy and send it out to you.....which model?.

@ ashby 001, Those are what most people agree are the last of the really classic solid Singers, many of them made in the 40's and 50's and brought/sent from the states as part of the help given by the Americans at the end of WW2.............often brought over by various military outfits too, but considered too expensive to ship home and sold off as surplus......If you put the ser. no. into the Singer database you'll get the date andplace of manufacture. The colour is common to each of the sites where they were made.

During the war, a lot of the Singer factory facilities were given over to making high-quality pistols and all sorts of other stuff because of the engineering skills available; If you can find one, they are worth a king's ransom
to collectors and considered amongst the finest hand weapons ever produced......................atb mac
 

swotty

Full Member
Apr 25, 2009
1,878
246
Somerset

ashby001

Forager
May 24, 2013
103
0
Faversham
@dave53, let me know what model you need the info for and I'll see if I've got the book for it here.......I've got quite a few and I'm happy to photocopy and send it out to you.....which model?.

@ ashby 001, Those are what most people agree are the last of the really classic solid Singers, many of them made in the 40's and 50's and brought/sent from the states as part of the help given by the Americans at the end of WW2.............often brought over by various military outfits too, but considered too expensive to ship home and sold off as surplus......If you put the ser. no. into the Singer database you'll get the date andplace of manufacture. The colour is common to each of the sites where they were made.

During the war, a lot of the Singer factory facilities were given over to making high-quality pistols and all sorts of other stuff because of the engineering skills available; If you can find one, they are worth a king's ransom
to collectors and considered amongst the finest hand weapons ever produced......................atb mac

I can only find the serial number for america and that says it was made in 1903!!! Now that doesn't make sense :/
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,214
367
73
SE Wales
@ dave53, see if this diagram works for you;

Singer 185 Threading Diagram

Free Threading Diagrams From www.Sewusa.com Complete manual is available
Sewusa wishes you lots of luck with your machine!


I tried to link to the page but it hasn't worked, but there's the web address you need, they've got great clear diagrams for upper and lower threading.

I'm a bit confused by your post - if you know that it's a 185k, then it was built in Kilbowie in Scotland..........can't work out how you know it's that model without having either the handbook or the serial number?

If you do a search, you'll find a pdf handbook for it for free; hope some of this is of use to you,.....................atb mac
 

dave53

On a new journey
Jan 30, 2010
2,993
11
70
wales
hi macaroon the model no for the hand turning one is a 28k 1937
the electric one is a 99k 1951 som pics
this is the 1937 hand crank
IMG_0491_zps4071c31f.jpg


this is the 1957 model
IMG_0495_zps1bb10267.jpg


and the back of it
IMG_0496_zpsed20f537.jpg

if you have the manuals i would appreciate them thank you
twodogs the utube vids were great I've bookmarked a few regards to all for your help dave
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,214
367
73
SE Wales
@ dave53 - I've got the manuals for the 99k, one for the motor and t'other for the machine - PM your address and I'll post them off to you next week................The 28k I don't have but you'll get it on ebay if you keep your eye out, and for not much money..............or try the linky-thing above for sewusa.com..................atb mac

I'm sorry I got the names a bit muddled in the above posts, but I guess you'll work it out; hope some of this is helpfull,..............atb mac
 

BILLy

Full Member
Apr 16, 2005
734
0
57
NORTH WALES
Some nice looking machines out there.
Does anyone have a belt for a singer 99K? or know where to get one
Cheers
Bill
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Here's mine;



Electric conversion with the treadle plate operating the motor and a light at the back in fetching brown plastic.



The table has been painted white to show the coffee rings and pen marks better :) It'll be proper "shabby chic" in a few more years.



In true 1920's style, it doubles as a laptop table.


Brilliant things that sew neat stitches through the thinnest parachute nylon up to 6mm of leather and thick webbing.
 

TurboGirl

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 8, 2011
2,326
1
Leicestershire
www.king4wd.co.uk
if you have the manuals i would appreciate them thank you
Singermachines is great, they have lots of the manuals on their site for free download :)

The ISMACS site is fab for serial nos on Singers, theres a great model description and a decals identifying page too.

If you need a one off part, Helen Howes site is worth a looksee too :)

Tools For Self Reliance do indeed collect machines (and lots of other tools) to refurb and send out to Africa. HOWEVER please DO NOT GIFT THEM A BULLET/FLYING SHUTTLE MACHINE!!!! They can only take the round bobbin ones and the rest get tipped- I sheet you not, the local collecters round here didn't even bother weighing them in for scrap, they were just tipped. It's a brilliant charity but the amount of beautiful old machines that have been junked is a complete crime. Here's a list and ident guide to ones they DO send and theres contact numbers for the charity on their website too :)

I'm loving the Jones machines most at the moment... they're not Singers, but they're a solid and vastly unvalued English machine. You got some cooooool machines, guys :) Thanks for sharing, I can't believe I've not stumbled across this thread before!

You can buy the treadle belts on a roll, tis much cheaper than someone else cutting you 72" off their roll ;) They're readily available on the Bay and other places, our Leicester sewing machine shops all keep a roll for the outworkers.
 
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Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
Tools For Self Reliance do indeed collect machines (and lots of other tools) to refurb and send out to Africa. HOWEVER please DO NOT GIFT THEM A BULLET/FLYING SHUTTLE MACHINE!!!! They can only take the round bobbin ones and the rest get tipped- I sheet you not, the local collecters round here didn't even bother weighing them in for scrap, they were just tipped. It's a brilliant charity but the amount of beautiful old machines that have been junked is a complete crime. Here's a list and ident guide to ones they DO send and theres contact numbers for the charity on their website too :)

I second this. I actually bought my machine in a charity shop to donate to them, but they wouldn't accept it as it is a shuttle machine. Then my wife saw it and decided she wanted it anyway.

As for the thread, Turbogirl, you inspired it! :) And thanks for the links.
 
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