Help identifying vintage singer model
 

Hello All,
I am new to the boards. I have become interested in sewing and quilting and was just gifted a vintage singer that my roommate found at and estate sale. It appears to be in pristine condition, there are hardly even any scratches on it! it came inlaid into in the portable (heavy) box. I have made an appointment to have it serviced, but I would like to be a little more ‘smart’ about my machine before I hit the doorstops of the service center. I believe it is a 1948 15-91 or 15-90. It does not have a belt looping down on the right side of the machine, it appears to be electric, but gear driven. Starts with JC for the serial number. I cannot see the underneath, as it is inlaid into the storage box. It has the gold seal on the front, and made in Canada across the top of the machine- the lettering is still bold and bright, as is most of the gold paint on it. I will attempt to upload a picture, and hopefully you may be able to help.

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You are right, it is a 15-91. Wonderful sewing machine. I have 2!:)

yes, a 15-91 as it has the potted motor. remember that service charge will run you $60-120. all you need to do is to oil it, clean out the dirt and you're good. the hard part about this potted motor is the wirings. if you think or see that the wirings to the motor, power, light, foot pedal are all good i don't think you need it serviced. here's the 15-91 MANUAL . read this first as it has all the maintenance you can do yourself like oiling. and here's the ADJUSTER's MANUAL . that's a nice machine. congrats. AND WELCOME TO THIS FORUM.

Thank you for your quick reply! I can’t wait to try it out! :-) Are there any quirks, I should know about? It was quite cold last night, so we just looked at it (just from the car ride it got super cold.) But it has been untouched for several decades. It is on year older than my mom in theory, based on the JC serial. I just love how it looks. Now to keep the toddler away from it. :-)

make sure you oil it first before running it. see my previous post as there's the link to the manual.

Perhaps I will have my uncle take a look at it first. He repaired several of these older machines when he was a kid for my grandmother and his grandmother. Will it take the modern plastic bobbin, or should I invest in the metal ones I have found on ebay?

that's great that your uncle can check it. it will save you a lot of money for servicing it. never use plastic bobbin. invest in an original metal one. it pays to have the real one.

15-91.

The plate on the bed under the "singer" medallion will have a serial number on it. If you go here: http://www.sewingshop.com/dateyourmachine.aspx you can look it up and find out when it was made.

Here's a 15-91 user manual: http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_...uals/15-91.pdf

A good look over to make sure it's mechanically sound and a couple drops of oil where indicated should be good for a test stitch...


edit: LOL, too slow typing it seems. Everyone beat me to the punch!

:)

Thanks all,
I am sure I will beback with more questions. I got pretty lucky as I was just going to make theplunge and get a machine to get over the fear of a sewing machine I have hadsince a horrible home ec experience in the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] grade. I had beenpreviously just hand sewing everything, but with a 2 year old running around-it is very difficult to get anything finished in between the time I get homefrom work , he goes to bed (7pm), his dad goes to work (around 8-9pm) and thetime I go to bed (10pm), and also get anything accomplished around the house.So I am very excited to have had this lovely machine practically fall into my lap.I have printed the manual and will be reading and re-reading it. I told my deargrandmother I was looking at the computerized ones- and I got quite the earful,and my grandma is pretty progressive. But this one she fully approves of. LOL.

Wise Grandmother...