Macybaby

Now, I have not counted lately, but I've got about 100 or more different sets of attachment feet - over half are of the top clamp variety - and most are unique in some way.

There are two basic widths of the gap - 1/8" (I've measured .120 to .127)and 3/16" (I've measured .179 to .182). Free, and the machines they made, are the only ones I've found that take the narrow gap. All the rest take the wide gap. ** if you have a New Home that takes a narrow gapped foot, it was made after Free took them over - and about the only thing "New Home" about it is the name.

There are visually different - you can easily tell from a picture which one you are looking at. Pay attention to the ratio of metal on each side of the gap compared to the gap itself.



The next basic thing is distance from the front edge of the gap to the needle hole. If the hole is Centered, there are going to be two basic distances, 1/2" and 5/8" White is the only machine that take the larger distance.



There is one other difference, though it does not come into play that often - overall height of the foot.

Older Nationals are normally shorter than those for newer national machines, but I've not found it's a huge issue.

However, the far left is a foot for Standard. And while a National foot will fit and line up, when you lower the foot, it does not actually come in contact with the feed dogs.



The thickness of the metal of the foot is not important to the fit - the narrow hemmer foot and basic foot that would come with the machine often much thicker metal than the accessory set.

When you start adding in the earlier machines that didn't stay in business that long after 1900 (Demorest, Household, Domestic (before White got them), Florence, Davis) and some others, there are some other differences, most notably an offset of the needle hole to the left or right of the presser bar.

Macybaby

Another item of interest - if there is the slot cut in the gap towards the front - it actually lines up with the needle hole.

If you notice, the one second in from the left, that cut is not centered in the gap. That's not a mfg error, it's because the needle hole is offset from center. Also, having more metal on one side of the gap or the other does not appear to be of importance. I've seen a lot of variations with that - sometimes in the same set. It's how the gap and needle hole line up that matters.

Ok - of these four -which one fits the White? I have the needle holes lined up for the picture.



I'd have to dig through my notes to see what that fits - I'm pulling these pictures off my photo-bucket album and some I took a long time ago

Macybaby

And one more Disclaimer - I am referring to MFG of machine, not the Badged name, So please don't tell me that your "New Queen" also takes the wider distance.

In fact, what feet fit can be one of the easier ways to identify who the MFG was.

SteveH

Far right is White?

jlhmnj

I recall someone from a different group made a spreadsheet with the different presser foot dimensions for each maker which I contributed to and thought was a fantastic idea. Unfortunately it was on photo sharing site that got bought out and viewing was no longer free. There might have been 4 or 5 differnt dimensions including slot width, offset width if any, height, and a few others.

Jon