Mickey2

Very interesting info manalto. I guess by the time the 201 enters the pictures the 115 becomes too similar, and model 15 kept its' popularity for a very long time for some reason. I don't know why the rotary models are more expensive in production, but with model 201 the reason for stopping production was too high costs compared to others. Closer to 1960s most were looking for swing needle zigzaggers anyway. Other US made brands had their rotary models, and I think that might be a reason Singer invested their efforts in their model 66, 99 and the 201 in the prewar years. I think the production of model 128 was kept up for a long time, along with model 15 though. (not to mention the early zigzaggers like 306 or the introduciton of slant shanks in the 50s).

Manalto

Between the 115 and the 201 was the wonderful 101, another not-very-successful rotary, but to my eye, the most elegant of the black-and-gold Singers.

My mechanical ability is so lousy I make sure I don't have to use a can opener before I buy beer, so I certainly can't explain the difference between production costs for rotary and oscillating mechanisms. I wonder, though, if the rotary mechanism is a bit of over-engineering, suitable for the high speeds of commercial sewing machines, but unnecessary at domestic speeds.

The popularity of the 15, however, is no mystery to me at all. It's the most forgiving machine I've ever encountered. You can thread it incorrectly, put the bobbin in backwards and use the wrong needle and it will still produce an even, perfect stitch. It's no wonder they're still being made (of a lower quality, I'm told, than in their heyday) in Asia.

I have a gorgeous 115 outfitted with a handcrank, which I'll never use because it makes me feel like an amputee. I'd like to put it in a treadle and see how it does with free motion - one of these days. Here's a "glamour shot" of its faceplate:

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purplefiend

Manalto,
The 115 is wonderful for free motion.
Sharon

Mickey2

The 201 is a bit special with its' three sets of meshing gears, I'm not exactly sure how the internals of the 115 is, or the 101. I don't think a rotary machine was considered over the top for a domestic machine; I'm thinking of the White and Wheeler and Wilson machines in the last half of the 1800s, they were rather popular and highly regarded models. Some brands kept "rotary" as part of it's name up into the 1950s, so it was a rather established technology. I have seen high speed (relatively at least) industrial Singers with out the meshing gears, more hinged together like model 66. I guess the race and hook has to be rotary to do a lot of stitches per minute? Industrials are a bit differently made, quite a bit larger and a lot of cast iron to absorb any vibration. The 115 stands out as one of the more interesting models.

miriam

My 115 is also HC after getting a shock...
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It sews just fine.