Hi again! I recently posted pics of my new acquisition "Minnie", but have yet to introduce you guys to my older friend Lucy (so named due to the lady that used to own her). She's a Kenmore model 158.13570. She was born sometime in the 1960's as far as I can tell. The only issue she has is her pedal...it knows only one speed....fast. A friend of my husbands gave her to me about 5 years ago. I haven't sewn much on her, but hope to use her more in the future. I am seriously contemplating refinishing her table though. It's scratched and scuffed and in need of some love. If anyone has any cool anecdotes or information they're willing to share about a similar machine I'd love to hear them. I am so glad I found this forum. Vintage and Antique sewing machines seem to be a bit of a slippery slope......much like spinning wheels (I have 3). :p

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Oh, it's one of those! How in the world do you get it to start making the stretch stitches? I was turning the knobs on one but never found the right way.

The buttonhole scissors are unstuck! I was putting in oil and scraping out oily goo. It finally came to me. There is no japanning on scissors so using alcohol was Ok. I put alcohol in the little hollow with the screw and ALL the goo came out. Now the ratchet and pawl fold out and stop the scissor blades the way they are supposed to. The notches are numbered but the numbers only seem to be a guide to which notch is which and not the measurements of the buttonholes. The patent date is Jan. 1910. I found no good matches for it. I am sad though since there is a great patent for June 1910 for sensible scissors as complicated as a Swiss army knife. Just imagine those at a sewing expo today. She knew what tools a home sewist needed.

And I love these buttonhole scissors. I never knew that it was possible to cut buttonholes quickly. And a few weeks ago I bought a sewing box on Craigslist to get a Singer buttonholer so now those two will go together. :)

How is your Kenmore wired? If it has the dual outlet with a foot pedal it's possible you have the motor plugged into the wrong outlet. One outlet is on all the time for the light and the other is controlled by the pedal.
Rodney

It's all one unit. The power to the machine comes through the pedal. There's only one place to plug anything in under the base of the machine....which inconveniently is located under the table...lol.

Hi all. Just a FYI. I am working on a machine called "The Elgin". It was made in Rockford, Ills. (not a typo). It was missing both of it's slideplates. I tried a pair from a Singer 27, and they fit perfectly with no modifications. Here they are on the machine.
Grant.

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Nice decals on that one, Grant. It's good to see she's fallen into capable hands. Were the other parts that are missing in the picture missing, or have you just taken them off to work on them?

Rose_P, Thank you. The slideplates were the only things that were missing. If you look close you can see that I have already cleaned inside of the head and under the needleplate.
The decals are in good shape but the clearcoat is so thin that there is little cleaning I can do on the decals. I am trying my best though.
~Grant~

Grant, Is that a Free? I'm pretty sure that is the one, and I know the Singer 27/127 plates fit, as does the shuttle.

Yes, it is a Free badged as "The Elgin". I was amused at the printing on the top of the machine. It really wasn't a Sewing Machine Company, but a badged machine. And notice the Ills. :)
~Grant~

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Bear with me on this one.
Yesterday I watched something about the man that invented the Gas Mask. He also invented the Traffic light. His name was Garrett Morgan. Why am I posting this here? He was also a Sewing Machine Repairman. I thought that was interesting. Fascinating man.
~G~