stillclock

hi!

i have decided that a cabinet mounted machine should join my life to make machine quilting much less painful. my thinking is a cabinet mount would put the needle on the same plane as my quilt and would be easier than my current not-at-all fancy janome domestic machine set up. i know the harp is the same size, but i have myself convinced the extension table provided by the cabinet will be a vast improvement.

right now there are two for sale in my town that look like they might do the trick.

not sure i am allowed to post links to the sites themselves, so i'll try my best.

one is a 1954 singer, serial #JD600160. the owner has it listed for $125, i offered him $60 and he came back with $80.

the other is a singer stylist model 774 in the original cabinet which i might note is heinously unattractive. it has all the parts including the original manual and is listed for $60.

i have no idea what to look for, how to test them or even really how to research them.

can you guys help an absolute beginner here?

thanks!

aileen

J Miller

I'm not sure what model the JD machine is, ISMACS doesn't have a JD two letter prefix chart and Singer tells the date but no models.
I can tell you the 774 will most likely have plastic gears in it. I really wouldn't want to trust it for anything heavy like quilting. I've watched my wife blow two sets of plastic feed dog gears out of her Singer 538 and I've replaced the top vertical shaft gears on two 413s. If you can get a pic of the JD machine it would help with the ID.

I do agree with you about putting a machine in a cabinet for quilting. I'm doing two right now and using my HOTHER set on top another cabinet machine. I'm about ready to pull the cabinet machine out and put the HOTHER in.

Joe

Caroline S

I agree with Joe, don't go for plastic. I would consider the 1954 Singer.

I use a 24" X 48" plastic folding table to extend my quilting workspace when sewing or quilting with my cabinet sewing machines. I set it at a 90 degree angle to the cabinet leaf extension or at the back. It sure helps to support large projects.

thepolyparrot

Are there any pictures of the 1954 Singer on line that we could see? (if it's on craigslist, you can post a link to the ad)

I would definitely skip the Stylist.

stillclock

it's our version of craig's list!

http://london.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se...AdIdZ430580080

thepolyparrot

It looks like a 15-125! I would buy it in a heartbeat for $80!

I've never seen a beige one of these - only the two-tone light green.

The lightweight cabinet isn't going to be the greatest if you're wrangling large quilts, but this machine will fit into any standard Singer desk or cabinet, so maybe you'll find a big, heavy cabinet later if you find that you need it.

Littlebearquiltingboard

My guess would be an aluminium 201. I would buy it too!

See here if you scroll down the page.

http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/201/

Caroline S

I am thinking it is a Singer 185J or K, circa 1954. Go for it if you can get it for $80. Likely the K model as I have seen the J models only in green.

thepolyparrot

Ohmigosh - those three models look so much alike! But, it's definitely not a 15, because the tensioner is on the front, which I missed the first time I looked at it.

If it's a 201 and I wanted the machine primarily for quilting, I would skip it because of the much smaller and horizontal class 66 bobbin.

For quilting, the best domestic machines for quilting will take a large class 15 bobbin, oriented vertically. Even then, the bobbin is going to run out in 10-15 minutes of free-motion quilting.

If it's a 185, I would skip it because it's only 3/4 size - cute to add to your collection, but the OP seemed to want a working machine for quilting.

stillclock

i emailed to see if i can come by and give it a test drive.

what sort of things should i be looking for and testing?

you guys are incredibly helpful.

thanks so much!

aileen