Question: You have a Singer 15-91 and all the wiring is junque ....
 

...... and you don't have the wiring, grommet, or ambition to rewire the motor.

Could you take the bobbin winder / belt guard, hand wheel, stop motion nob and washer along with the motor and wires and foot controller from a 15 clone and install it on the 15-91 ... and .... would the Frankenmachine work?

Stay tune to this channel for the next episode when J Miller will either make one running machine from two derelicts or have two junk machines.

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J :) e

Well, the answer is ...... yes.

Here is my 15-91 as I bought it Saturday before last:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...91asbought.jpg
Grungy, filthy, some rust, but complete and it turns fairly easily.

The wiring is toast. Most of the old latex insulation is missing from the motor and light wiring both outside and inside of the motor.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...attheblock.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...resinmotor.jpg
So since I don't have the proper wire or a grommet to do the rewire I decided to toss the motor parts into a tray and try an experiment:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...motorparts.jpg

I dug out my Edison an HA-1 / 15 clone and removed from it the hand wheel, stop motion nob, clutch washer, belt guard, motor, and light assembly.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...normachine.jpg

Having already removed these parts from the 15-91 to see what I'd need to do to rewire it I decided to see if these parts would swap from the clone to the Singer and actually work.
They did.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nkenclonef.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...nkencloner.jpg

Everything fit. Even the screws that hold the belt guard / bobbin winder to the machine's body threaded right in to the Singer.
The motor bracket screw did also.

I put a belt on it, plugged it in and tried it. It runs like a race horse.
So now I can answer the other members question from a day or so back, can you convert a 15-91 to a treadle or hand crank .... absolutely.

I've got to clean the machine up, it's still dirty, grungy and caked in ancient varnished oil, and of course I'll rewire the motor, but my curiosity is satisfied.

Joe

Joe, you never cease to amaze me.

Hopefully in a good way.

Joe

You are amazing! You've answered lots of questions! Great job!

The fun part is going to be putting it back to original when I get the wiring replaced. If the original potted motor runs as fast as the belt driven motor this machine is going to sew very fast. Should be interesting.

Joe

Just put the 15-91 in an old bedraggled case, threaded it up, plugged it in and ................. I'll be darned if it doesn't sew. Dirty, rusty bobbin case, rusted needle, filthy everywhere and the thing sews. Mater of fact the tension is all but perfect. The more I mess with these old machines the more they amaze me.

This one will be interesting when I get the potted motor rewired and back on it. I'm wondering if the potted motor will turn it as fast as the external motor does?

Joe

Joe, my 15 with the potted motor runs like it is in the Indy 500 so do not be surprised how fast these potted motors run.
Skip

Skip,

That sounds great. I've got so many projects in queue it will have to wait. But this is the first actual Singer 15 I've had so I'm sorta anticipating sewing with it.

I found my stash of electrical wires yesterday. I've got everything I need to do the rewire except some long heat shrink and a grommet. I'll get those directly.

I also found out the machine was originally wired as a cabinet model. When they removed it from the cabinet they cut the controller wires right at block. That made it look like a portable model.

Now I'm wondering if I should wire it as a cabinet model, I do have some cabinets, or as a portable. I have the parts to make a new cord set so I can do it either way.

Just trying to decide.

Joe