"New to me" Singer 319W.
01-23-2014, 06:07 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 160
"New to me" Singer 319W.
Hello all. This is my first post on the board and it's going to be a bit long so I hope you have a coffee handy.
I'm not a quilter, nor a "seamstress". I'm an auto technician, and aviation technician and a Flight Engineer in the RCAF. I do "sew", but my jobs are limited to an industrial Juki and the work is usually aircraft seat restraint webbing or building/modifying aircraft covers.
I do home projects from time to time and sew things like covers for my equipment and light upholstery work, but dislike modern plastic machines for these tasks. I'm always returning them in stark disappointment or borrowing a friend’s because I don't want to buy another plastic wonder that can't sew more than lightweight materials without jamming, dropping stitches or breaking needles.
My missus isn't a stitcher either, but the ladies in her family have a long history of quilting. She has decided it is something she wants to learn, so we needed a decent quality home machine.
Problem is: I can't really pop the 800 and up prices for a machine that I would actually want to own. Even then, there would be far more plastic bits than I would really want to deal with. Walmart specials and the like are out of the question. So I decided to buy something used, old and solidly built.
I'm also more a "mechanic" than a sewer, the missus is the opposite. So I would find, buy and fix the machine (which I enjoy doing), she would primarily just use it.
I'm currently away on a business trip and ran across a couple machines on Kijiji (like Craig's list for Canada) since where I'm currently stationed has next to nothing new or used. I had targeted something like a Singer 15-90 or 15-91. Solid, reliable, simple, easy to work on and would do the basic things we wanted. Something in a portable case I could slip in to the empty piece of luggage I had brought with me for the flight home. All the ones I found were either overpriced or needed far more work than I wanted to put into them. I almost bought a distressed 99K in a cabinet, but it sold before I could look at it. It was in poor to moderate shape from the pictures, but it was also only 25 bucks. Easy come, easy go....
I was looking at a 319W in the ads as well. Advertised at $150 with "lots of extras". A bit too much for what I wanted spend, but the industrial-ness look of it appealed to my love of all things mechanical. No frilly flowers or scrolling, just green and an all business look. It had the look of the 50’s, which is always a good look to my eye. Nice, but too much and too big for luggage transport IMHO.
The next day the ad dropped to 100 bucks. That was enough to make me want to look at it even with it’s perchant for "odd" needles. I borrow Mom’s car and drive the 2 hours across the province, eventually pulling up to an old farm house. A quick convo reveals the father (passed away) was a collector of machines and they were clearing out the house. They led me to the 319W in an unheated back porch.
First impressions are a (really)beat up old table, but at least it's a (I think) Singer table. I flip it open and the spring supports work, hinges are tight and smooth and the table just feels solid overall. I flip up the machine and it looks in really good shape, probably a cosmetic cleaning and not much more. The foot peddle is mounted up in the cabinet and there's a "knee bar" that folds down and works it. A quick examination of the installed needle reveals a good sign: 206x13.
The gent tells me they think it was owned by a seamstress who bought it new and worked in a shop the next town over until their father bought it. "Leopold's" was the name of the place and they had found some cloth tags in the drawers with the same name.
A quick look over the electrical to see it’s good, plug it in and I run a couple straight stitches. It's surprisingly quiet and dead smooth. Just a good, solid, quality feel and sound not present in modern machines. Stitch looks loose, but no skips. Flip it over and the bottom is loose as all heck and looped, but they're all there. I note the tensioner is threaded wrong, set at “0” and surmise that is the source of the problem. I don’t restring the tensioner thinking the poor stitching might be a good bargaining chip if I needed it. I don't bother running any zig zag stiches.
Then it's on to the accessories. There are three drawers and the accessories are pretty much just dumped in all of them. I start collecting it all up.
First thing I spot (and was looking for) is a clear plastic box. All the fashion discs are there, a complete box except for the one disc in the machine already. Score!
Then a Kenmore button holer attachment with all its shape cams. 7 in total. Not needed for what we plan, but a nice bit to have.
Some 206x13 needles, but only 3.
Counting the bobbin in the machine, there’s a total of 7.
Then a dizzying array of presser feet. All of them are there from L/R zipper feet to rufflers. No walking foot, but you can’t have everything I guess.
Up pops two more throat plates for embroidering and I forget what the other is but it’s Simanco and original I believe.
Tools, brushes, stitch gauges and assorted other brickabrak appear along with a horrendous amount of rusted straight pins and spools of thread. There’s even a roll of vintage hat band material buried in the bottom. A nice find since I also have a selection of vintage fedoras I enjoy wearing.
The manual is also there and in good shape except for a bit of dog-earing on the cover and having pulled through the stapes.
Last little gem to surface is an original 13/4 double needle. Nice, since I understand they are no longer made. I may use it as a sample to build a few more rather than risk breaking an original and the only one I’ll probably ever have. Forgot to mention I’m also a machinist and building these wouldn’t be hard for me with the proper 206x13 needles to work with.
I decide at this point that the 100 bucks is a fair price for all of this and pass the gent some greenbacks. I got the impression I could have squeezed him down a bit more, but somehow it just didn’t feel right to “go there”. They seemed simple, fair, honest folks and I thought the price was fair for what I was getting.
Then we load it into my Mom's tiny car (had to remove the back seat lower cushion and put it in upside down), we shake hands and part ways.
I drive back to Mom’s and start a more thorough inventory of what’s in the drawers and toss the stuff that is useless or ruined. Yep, it's all there just like when it was delivered as far as I can tell. The table is in bad shape cosmetically, but that just a weekend woodworking project for me. It’s gone past the preserve stage, I’ll have to strip it and refinish as well as find some new veneer for a couple surfaces.
Pictures:
Now I've got a choice to make: leave the table at mom's and just take the machine or find a way to take it all.
The machine itself is easy enough: it fits in carry on and is just below the weight limit with the motor removed.
The table? Well, that's not fitting in checked luggage......right?
Nope, I know a way to get it in my bags.
I pull the machine out of the table and flip it over. All screws and brackets, that’s easy to deal with. Lots of wedges, but the glue looks all cracked and dry. Sure doesn't look like wood glue either.
Since this post is getting really long in instead of just long I’ll skip the woodworking bit and say that after an hour of easy work the whole table is flattened and in two check bag luggage pieces:
Ready for the flight home. 20 bucks for an extra bag and we'll be off.
If you remember back to earlier in the post I said the tailor shop was "Leopold's". Well, while I was taking the desk apart, I found a hand written signature under one of the drawers: "Nancy Leopold, 1958” and a number “590". I find another handwritten“590” on the underside of another drawer. Nice, a bit of provenance and confirmation of what I was told. I'm thinking that would explain its great condition. It was probably religiously maintained since it was a seamstress’s money making tool so that’s another plus.
I’ve already started corralling items like needles (12, 14 and found some 16’s) and bobbin carriers off the internet and have downloaded the Singer 306/319 service manual to go with the owner’s manual.
Pretty happy with the purchase so far. More work to come once I get it home and all put back together and running “tip top”.
I'm not a quilter, nor a "seamstress". I'm an auto technician, and aviation technician and a Flight Engineer in the RCAF. I do "sew", but my jobs are limited to an industrial Juki and the work is usually aircraft seat restraint webbing or building/modifying aircraft covers.
I do home projects from time to time and sew things like covers for my equipment and light upholstery work, but dislike modern plastic machines for these tasks. I'm always returning them in stark disappointment or borrowing a friend’s because I don't want to buy another plastic wonder that can't sew more than lightweight materials without jamming, dropping stitches or breaking needles.
My missus isn't a stitcher either, but the ladies in her family have a long history of quilting. She has decided it is something she wants to learn, so we needed a decent quality home machine.
Problem is: I can't really pop the 800 and up prices for a machine that I would actually want to own. Even then, there would be far more plastic bits than I would really want to deal with. Walmart specials and the like are out of the question. So I decided to buy something used, old and solidly built.
I'm also more a "mechanic" than a sewer, the missus is the opposite. So I would find, buy and fix the machine (which I enjoy doing), she would primarily just use it.
I'm currently away on a business trip and ran across a couple machines on Kijiji (like Craig's list for Canada) since where I'm currently stationed has next to nothing new or used. I had targeted something like a Singer 15-90 or 15-91. Solid, reliable, simple, easy to work on and would do the basic things we wanted. Something in a portable case I could slip in to the empty piece of luggage I had brought with me for the flight home. All the ones I found were either overpriced or needed far more work than I wanted to put into them. I almost bought a distressed 99K in a cabinet, but it sold before I could look at it. It was in poor to moderate shape from the pictures, but it was also only 25 bucks. Easy come, easy go....
I was looking at a 319W in the ads as well. Advertised at $150 with "lots of extras". A bit too much for what I wanted spend, but the industrial-ness look of it appealed to my love of all things mechanical. No frilly flowers or scrolling, just green and an all business look. It had the look of the 50’s, which is always a good look to my eye. Nice, but too much and too big for luggage transport IMHO.
The next day the ad dropped to 100 bucks. That was enough to make me want to look at it even with it’s perchant for "odd" needles. I borrow Mom’s car and drive the 2 hours across the province, eventually pulling up to an old farm house. A quick convo reveals the father (passed away) was a collector of machines and they were clearing out the house. They led me to the 319W in an unheated back porch.
First impressions are a (really)beat up old table, but at least it's a (I think) Singer table. I flip it open and the spring supports work, hinges are tight and smooth and the table just feels solid overall. I flip up the machine and it looks in really good shape, probably a cosmetic cleaning and not much more. The foot peddle is mounted up in the cabinet and there's a "knee bar" that folds down and works it. A quick examination of the installed needle reveals a good sign: 206x13.
The gent tells me they think it was owned by a seamstress who bought it new and worked in a shop the next town over until their father bought it. "Leopold's" was the name of the place and they had found some cloth tags in the drawers with the same name.
A quick look over the electrical to see it’s good, plug it in and I run a couple straight stitches. It's surprisingly quiet and dead smooth. Just a good, solid, quality feel and sound not present in modern machines. Stitch looks loose, but no skips. Flip it over and the bottom is loose as all heck and looped, but they're all there. I note the tensioner is threaded wrong, set at “0” and surmise that is the source of the problem. I don’t restring the tensioner thinking the poor stitching might be a good bargaining chip if I needed it. I don't bother running any zig zag stiches.
Then it's on to the accessories. There are three drawers and the accessories are pretty much just dumped in all of them. I start collecting it all up.
First thing I spot (and was looking for) is a clear plastic box. All the fashion discs are there, a complete box except for the one disc in the machine already. Score!
Then a Kenmore button holer attachment with all its shape cams. 7 in total. Not needed for what we plan, but a nice bit to have.
Some 206x13 needles, but only 3.
Counting the bobbin in the machine, there’s a total of 7.
Then a dizzying array of presser feet. All of them are there from L/R zipper feet to rufflers. No walking foot, but you can’t have everything I guess.
Up pops two more throat plates for embroidering and I forget what the other is but it’s Simanco and original I believe.
Tools, brushes, stitch gauges and assorted other brickabrak appear along with a horrendous amount of rusted straight pins and spools of thread. There’s even a roll of vintage hat band material buried in the bottom. A nice find since I also have a selection of vintage fedoras I enjoy wearing.
The manual is also there and in good shape except for a bit of dog-earing on the cover and having pulled through the stapes.
Last little gem to surface is an original 13/4 double needle. Nice, since I understand they are no longer made. I may use it as a sample to build a few more rather than risk breaking an original and the only one I’ll probably ever have. Forgot to mention I’m also a machinist and building these wouldn’t be hard for me with the proper 206x13 needles to work with.
I decide at this point that the 100 bucks is a fair price for all of this and pass the gent some greenbacks. I got the impression I could have squeezed him down a bit more, but somehow it just didn’t feel right to “go there”. They seemed simple, fair, honest folks and I thought the price was fair for what I was getting.
Then we load it into my Mom's tiny car (had to remove the back seat lower cushion and put it in upside down), we shake hands and part ways.
I drive back to Mom’s and start a more thorough inventory of what’s in the drawers and toss the stuff that is useless or ruined. Yep, it's all there just like when it was delivered as far as I can tell. The table is in bad shape cosmetically, but that just a weekend woodworking project for me. It’s gone past the preserve stage, I’ll have to strip it and refinish as well as find some new veneer for a couple surfaces.
Pictures:
Now I've got a choice to make: leave the table at mom's and just take the machine or find a way to take it all.
The machine itself is easy enough: it fits in carry on and is just below the weight limit with the motor removed.
The table? Well, that's not fitting in checked luggage......right?
Nope, I know a way to get it in my bags.
I pull the machine out of the table and flip it over. All screws and brackets, that’s easy to deal with. Lots of wedges, but the glue looks all cracked and dry. Sure doesn't look like wood glue either.
Since this post is getting really long in instead of just long I’ll skip the woodworking bit and say that after an hour of easy work the whole table is flattened and in two check bag luggage pieces:
Ready for the flight home. 20 bucks for an extra bag and we'll be off.
If you remember back to earlier in the post I said the tailor shop was "Leopold's". Well, while I was taking the desk apart, I found a hand written signature under one of the drawers: "Nancy Leopold, 1958” and a number “590". I find another handwritten“590” on the underside of another drawer. Nice, a bit of provenance and confirmation of what I was told. I'm thinking that would explain its great condition. It was probably religiously maintained since it was a seamstress’s money making tool so that’s another plus.
I’ve already started corralling items like needles (12, 14 and found some 16’s) and bobbin carriers off the internet and have downloaded the Singer 306/319 service manual to go with the owner’s manual.
Pretty happy with the purchase so far. More work to come once I get it home and all put back together and running “tip top”.
01-24-2014, 07:34 AM
#3
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
Great story! Careful, given your background and feelings about modern plastic marvels you just might get hooked on these old machines. A 319 is on my ever-growing wish list just because of the typewriter key stitch selector. I didn't know they came in green too, until now I've only seen black ones.
Rodney
Rodney
01-24-2014, 07:43 AM
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: North Dakota
Posts: 2,633
What a nice haul you made, she is a keeper. She should be able to do anything and everything you want with it. Lots of nice accessories also. You will like being on this board. We are all a bunch of enablers. old machines are our passion. And the main thing is you can service them yourself. Welcome from North Dakota.
01-24-2014, 08:13 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 8,091
great white,
Welcome to the QB.
For a $100.00 I think you have a really good deal. My wife's 319 is a portable and is one of her favorites. (( I want a black one.))
It's not going to be too hard to refinish that cabinet, I fixed one that had been used as an aquarium stand. What a mess.
Joe
Welcome to the QB.
For a $100.00 I think you have a really good deal. My wife's 319 is a portable and is one of her favorites. (( I want a black one.))
It's not going to be too hard to refinish that cabinet, I fixed one that had been used as an aquarium stand. What a mess.
Joe
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