Rodney

Jon I really like that Pathfinder you posted. Too bad shipping often costs more than the machine. I don't troll Ebay much just for that reason.
Rodney

jlhmnj

Most of the fun is in the looking for me though I was a little tempted with Cathy's "Alliance" Rotary. If I was richer I'd be in trouble though.

Pic of the 2 Davis bullet shuttles. The 3/4 size is 48 mm long or roughly 1-7/8":


:

Macybaby

Thanks for the picture - it's good to know it's exactly like the regular Davis, only shorter.

Rodney

Are there two different size bobbins as well?
I'm asking because I don't know much about long bobbin machines and don't know how interchangeable the bobbins are.
Rodney

Glenn

I have a nice Pathfinder in a nice treadle but I think mine is made by New Home, although I have been told by some it is a Davis. I really don't think so. It is very much like my Ruby(New Home) It is a great little sewer.
Skip

jlhmnj

The Davis 3/4 sized machines also use 3/4 sized bobbins. Originals are tough to find but perhaps a longer bobbin could be made shorter more easily than hunting up a genuine bobbin.

Jon

jlhmnj

Hi Skip,
National bought some of the Davis assets in '24 and used there badge names as well as "Davis". I'd guess New Home or National would be the manufacturer.

Jon

mjhaess

A gem in the ruff...

Glenn

Thanks Jon,
I new it was a New Home or National just did not look right as a Davis. Thanks for the info.
Skip

Macybaby

Based on the top tension design, that one is a New Home.

So far, the Davis Treadles I've seen all have the belt on the outside of the flywheel. And the VS all have a square needle plate (this one is round). However Davis is not the only company with those two features . . . so having them does not prove it's Davis, but not having them kind of takes Davis out of the running.

Rodney, back in the early 1900's Boye Needle Company researched and came up with 12 different shuttle designs to meet most of the shuttle demand of the time.

And it's not all of them, just the most common.

They numbered them and the needles for each machine, and though there are few extra needles between some shuttle numbers, it's basically Odd for Shuttle and Even for needle. Note, very early sets have some numbers switched, this is the later (and more common) numbering. Be careful when buying by "number".

This is by MFG, not badged name.

1. Household
3. New Home
5. Standard
7. Domestic (before owned by White)
9. Davis
11. White (with pin)
13. National, Foley & Williams
15. Singer & Free
17. Demorest
19. New Royal (mfg by Free, but a very different made machine)
both 20 and 21 are needles
22. Eldredge (pre National)
25. Florence (new company, not the original "Florence")

I have a machine for each one except #22.

This is why I spent so much time looking at pictures and figuring out identifying differences. So many don't have the Mfg name them, so when I saw a machine I wasn't sure of, I'd spend a lot of time figuring it out.