"New" sewing machine

[spandit]

Fed up with my modern sewing machine that keeps losing timing - presumably due to the plastic gears - I have been after something stronger for a while. Plenty of industrial ones around but then found a Singer 201K on Shpock for £25 so thought it was worth a gamble. Bloke delivered it too (for £1!).

It's in a cabinet (folds out) and although it has the original treadle and flywheel, it's got an electric motor which is switched by the treadle. Wiring was a bit dodgy but with a bit of heatshrink and crimp terminals it's now secure.

Plan is to ditch the tiny motor and rig it up to an industrial sewing machine motor that's currently on my blind stitcher - should be fairly straightforward - or is this likely to be too much for a domestic machine, even though it's undoubtedly better made than the modern stuff?

Want to be able to stitch light canvas and possibly some thin leather

 

[chas brookes]

Sonni is the main man for all things Singer 201 he has quite a few and has done total restorations on several

http://beneaththestars.net/my-singer-201-journey-spiral-into-lunacy/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Beneaththestars.leathercraft/posts/?ref=page_internal

the Singer 201 will handle canvas and leather quite well

 

[spandit]

I didn't actually realise how popular these machines were - fantastic (and feeling a bit guilty for getting it so cheap)

 

[Mesquite]

Plan is to ditch the tiny motor and rig it up to an industrial sewing machine motor that's currently on my blind stitcher - should be fairly straightforward - or is this likely to be too much for a domestic machine, even though it's undoubtedly better made than the modern stuff?

Want to be able to stitch light canvas and possibly some thin leather

Rather than canabalise your industrial machine do this incredibly simple mod instead. £35 for everything is a real bargain for the improvement you'll get.

I didn't actually realise how popular these machines were - fantastic (and feeling a bit guilty for getting it so cheap)

Don't feel guilty... the cabinet versions always go cheaper because people want the cased models which can be put away when not in use.

 

[spandit]

Good video. Using my industrial motor wouldn't actually damage anything - it's only a case of using the belt on a different machine. Went through a spate of buying industrial sewing machines by accident and recently got my Singer 460/13 overlocker working - it's capable of 6,500 stitches per minute, which is a bit frightening! It has a 1/2hp motor - same as my lathe... - that's 372W - who needs a 90W motor?

Good to see plenty of people sewing leather with the 201 - I'm off to the workshop now to thread it and give it a whirl (if I can find something to actually get the oil in - think I have a syringe upstairs). Fortunately I bought 20,000 yards of thread this week so have plenty to practice with!

 

[chas brookes]

they are pretty bomb proof, an impressive piece of engineering I have a couple myself

Fed up with my modern sewing machine that keeps losing timing - presumably due to the plastic gears - I have been after something stronger for a while. Plenty of industrial ones around but then found a Singer 201K on Shpock for £25 so thought it was worth a gamble. Bloke delivered it too (for £1!).

It's in a cabinet (folds out) and although it has the original treadle and flywheel, it's got an electric motor which is switched by the treadle. Wiring was a bit dodgy but with a bit of heatshrink and crimp terminals it's now secure.

Plan is to ditch the tiny motor and rig it up to an industrial sewing machine motor that's currently on my blind stitcher - should be fairly straightforward - or is this likely to be too much for a domestic machine, even though it's undoubtedly better made than the modern stuff?

Want to be able to stitch light canvas and possibly some thin leather

http://creffield.com/pics/bushcraft/singer_201k.jpg [/IMG]

 

[Mesquite]

If you're planning on doing your own clothes then keep an eye out for the buttonholer attachment for it.

They do come up much cheaper than that one, I just linked it as that's the best model for the 201k. I snagged mine for £15 inc p&p and it came with the extra templates as well but it took over a couple years of searching for a good priced version but it's going to be worth it

 

[chas brookes]

If you want to date your machine you can find info here

http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mac...er-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html

 

[spandit]

Thanks all. Just been having a play with it and pleased to report that it does work! It's missing the lower thread pin which I'll need for threading new bobbins but it doesn't look like a difficult part to make (think it's threaded rather than hammer in) and not terribly critical. On the motor it's with it's really, really slow. Nice and controlled, which is good, but would be better to have a bit more speed and power in hand for when I need it, but as discussed above, there are options available.

It has a standard needle in it and had no difficulty in stitching two layers of 2mm veg tan (although the motor didn't cope so I had to turn the wheel by hand - not sure if the foot treadle would be any better but good to know that I might be able to use it in a power cut/EOTWAWKI ). Made a little pouch from some of the masses of plastic coated leather I acquired a few years ago - again, the motor wasn't up to the job and I had to help it a bit by hand but maybe with a bit of use the new oil will get round properly and free things up a bit as it did seem to stick a couple of times.

Sewing the canvas I have was no problem and the tent Nylon I tried too was effortless. It's exactly what I wanted - something to sew a basic straight stitch. Used it to sew some material I've just bought and then overlocked the seam afterwards - having it already stitched together makes things somewhat easier (as it's way too fast to use pins) so now I have another useless little bag to add to the collection

 

[Woody girl]

I have an old singer hand sewing machine and I love it. Power cuts are no problem I can keep going at least in daylight. It only does a straight stich but I'm on the lookout for a button hole foot and other attachments to give me greater flexibility . Do you know if they do one to enable a zig zag stitch?

 

[spandit]

I've seen a zig-zag attachment online

https://tomofholland.com/2011/09/09/my-singer-201k-treadle-sewing-machine/

Mine came with some attachments but haven't managed to see what they are yet - definitely don't have a buttonholer but not too worried about that for the moment. Just thrilled to have a machine that can handle the fabrics I want without breaking all the time

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks will have a look. It would up my sewing to have a zig zager.

 

[spandit]

My serial number is EF527736 which proves it is a 201K from 1949 (in an allotment of 65,000 so not terribly rare!)
It came with parts:
121632 - universal needle threader
120842 - 5/64 foot hemmer
35931 - adjustable hemmer
121547 - underbraider
35932 - quilting foot
121464 - binder foot
121441 - gathering/shirring foot (what is shirring?)
Something else which I was hoping was a zigzagger as it's got the same sort of crank, but it doesn't seem to move from side to side

 

[Woody girl]

Shirring as I understand is using elastic to gather a piece of material. You can buy Shirring elastic from any haberdashery . I've never had cause to use it hand sewing let alone on a machine. Tho I do use Shirring elastic when knitting the cuff on a sock.helps them stay up. It's like a thin elastic thread.

 

[Mesquite]

Something else which I was hoping was a zigzagger as it's got the same sort of crank, but it doesn't seem to move from side to side

None of the early Singers had the zigzag feature. I believe it wasn't until the late 60's that they started making machines that had it.

Instead their clever engineers made a seperate attachment like the buttonholer to overcome the problem

 

[spandit]

Think it's something for added a ruffled ribbon to the fabric, not something I can think of an immediate use for.
Anyway, tried edging some cotton with grosgrain using the binder foot which looked pretty good. Also sewed some seatbelt to see if I could and I can! Might finally get around to sewing the zip onto my lavuu...

 

[BushBob]

You might already know about this place but if you need stuff for your 201 you can get most parts from Helen Howes. Her business is in Norfolk she has a website and does mail order.Helen is extremely knowledgable and very helpful. Well worth a look in her site.