Hi Wendy -- Good for you for investing time and effort into restoring the old Singers. They were built like trucks. With care, they should last just about forever.
My grandmother had a treadle-operated Singer that I used to love to use. It would purr like a kitten after I oiled it up for her. Still, when the time came, we let it go from the family because we all had acquired newer machines in the interim, and they are more capable than the old machines were. My grandmother's machine did have a number of attachments, but she never used them. Without the attachments, you could thread a bobbin and adjust the length of the stitch, and that was about it. You can do a lot with just a basic stitch, though. I'm guessing that the machines you have probably just need the cords replaced. The motors are probably fine internally. On these old machines, the cords probably terminate in the motor housing and at the foot pedal on screw terminals rather than in soldered connections, but even if they are soldered in, a soldering gun would make replacement easy enough. You can buy lamp cord in spools or by the foot. The small motors don't pull enough power for the size of the cord to be of concern, so any lamp cord will do. If you look at the cord closely, you will see that either the plastic sheathing of the cord is marked in some way to allow you to know which wire is which, or the wires have a separate sheathe that is color coded. I doubt that in these older machines that polarity was observed, but you could replace the plugs with polarized ones and wire the switch (the foot pedal) with the hot wire from the polarized plug to make the wiring slightly safer than the original plugs. With a polarized plug, the plug only goes into the wall socket one way. the wider prong is the grounding prong. the narrower prong is the hot prong and should be connected to the wire that goes to the switch. Geoff Jones does appliance repair and I am sure he would be more than willing to give you a tutorial if you need one. He can be reached at 539-6434. Good luck! Joel At 09:54 AM 8/14/07 -0400, you wrote: >As you may know, a group of Ithaca-area sewing enthusiasts is on a quest to >establish "sustainable sewing" classes and refashioning workshops in the >community. As part of this activity, I have put out a call for free or cheap >serviceable sewing machines. Rashly, I accepted three vintage Singers, >dating from 1910-1925, rescued from a yard sale and not at all serviceable. >Once I got the dirt off them, though, they revealed their beauty. For the >most part, the mechanical workings are remarkably solid and smooth, but the >wiring on the motors looks treacherous. I'm looking for books or instruction >sheets on how to repair these babies, or better yet, someone who might want >to tutor me. I don't know how practical these machines are for teaching >sewing, but I have heard that many 100-year-old machines are still used and >loved. I am certainly in love with these graceful goddesses, now posing in >various states of dismantlement on my dining table. I'd love to get them >working again. What a great example of reuse of durable goods! > >Meahwhile, if you have a "serviceable" sewing machine, of any age, that you >would like to donate to the project, let me know. Also, our group (which is >discussing the formation of a sustainable sewing collective) is planning a >fabric and needle arts rummage sale in the fall to help support the sewing >classes. Maybe you could be thinking about something you could donate to the >sale. > >If you'd like more info on the nascent sewing collective, efforts to >organize classes, or another fashion reuse contest I'm cooking up, please >drop me a note. And, as always, sustainability collaborators, supporters, >and fellow travelers are welcome! > >Wendy >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >277-7611 > > >_______________________________________________ >RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >[email protected] >http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
