Found Singer 401A - Vintage?
#1
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 37
Found Singer 401A - Vintage?
Helping a neighbor clean our his mother's sewing room! Quilt guild will be receiving 15 bins for charity quilts. This machine looks in working order, but has a place for "cams" for the decorative stitches. Never did find the cams. Does this machine have any value as is?
#4
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
The 401 should have about 5 cams or disks with it. Great machine. There is a lot of information on QB about them. Just type Singer 401 up at the top left of this page then push search. If search gets too overwhelmed you can go to advanced search and look at just the post titles. There should be plenty of good information.
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Live Oak, Texas
Posts: 6,133
I bought mine new in 1958, it came with 5 cam's. You can do a lot of pretty stitches without the cam's. It sews thick fabrics like a dream. I use mine a lot more than my new one. I would never let mine get away from me.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: toronto
Posts: 824
My first machine was a 411 (the one with the chain stitch) bought in 1963. It is a workhorse and is now in the hands of my nonsewer daughter, But when I am there I use it and she still runs like before. It never ever needed service - NOT ONCE EVER!
#9
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
Did you manage to make your Singer 411 go on a treadle? They were made to do electric or treadle. Check the owner's manual.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Middle Tennessee
Posts: 360
Those are good machines. Don't let the nay sayers slow you down. Yes, it does have value. Cams are sold on Ebay, but beware of less than experienced sellers. Be sure they gurantee they will fit your machine. Don't hesitate to ask questions. You probably won't need them, but in case you do, go for it. A good cleaning is recommended. That is part of our obligation to our faithful sewing machines. We're all they have. You will havemany happy hours. By the way, I have a couple of machines that are worth less than the going rate for cleaning now. Unfortunate buy true for a lot of older machines 50 and newer. We are all waiting for the market to come back, but it probably won't. In the meantime we can just sew, sew, sew.
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miriam
For Vintage & Antique Machine Enthusiasts
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03-12-2014 07:43 AM