pojo

I would buy it.

cathyvv

There are lots of old Singer fans on the board today!

I'm going to suggest that you not buy it unless your DH has committed to fixing it - unless you are really only buying it for the nostalgic value.

If not, then look on ebay and craigs list to see how they are priced, add what you think it will cost to fix it and then decide if it is worth purchasing.

Have fun with it!

charley26

I think it will clean up very well. The bobbin cover was probably lost, because the previous owner could not figure out how to put it back on when they moved it too far! But it is easy to get another. Mine cost £8.
Helen Howes is based in Norfolk, she has a very useful website and is very helpful, and Lizzie Lenard has lots of videos on You tube about cleaning these machines - in fact, she only uses vintage machines, and has a wonderful blog; she is also in the UK
My 99K is older than your intended purchase, it did cost £14 at a local auction, and it was quite messy; it cleaned up very nicely, and I gave it to my niece (she is very keen). It took me a few days to clean it up and get it working, but it is really nice.
I see a lot of hand cranks in various charity shops down here in Hereford, and also at local auctions, and I am constantly tempted to get another.

Jennifer23

I would buy it in a flash! The bentwood case and hand crank are worth over 30 pounds, at least in my area. Even if you can't get it working, I suspect you could sell it for the original price without too much difficulty. Of course, I enjoy cleaning and tinkering with old machines; if that isn't your thing, then maybe hold off.

Do you do any other sewing? I remember someone in the past said they keep a hand crank like this set up with a buttonholer attachment, and just use it to do all their buttonholes.

OurWorkbench

I agree - buy it. I would love to have a 99 hand crank machine. It would take some work to get it spiffed up and sewing, but for me that would be fun.

It does look like the stitch length is set at zero. Does it have a manual? I've seen some poorly scanned manuals on line.

There are a few threads here on QB that are about the 99 class machines. My thoughts would be to check a few in particular --
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...g-t195869.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...w-t272838.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t274177.html

I do not think that you have to take the needle plate off to get the bobbin cover plate back on. It can be a bit fiddly to get it on. I have used a fine screwdriver to lift the springs to get it started. Actually, if you clean unscrew the spring and clean and polish it first, it seems to go on a little easier.

Have fun, and I'm sure if you have any questions -- ask. Nice that you are able to post pictures as many times that helps.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Siodach

Hi again, and thank you everyone for your replies

Mickey 2 - that advice about not opening the bobbin mechanism is exactly the kind of advice and warning I was hoping for, thank you.

Cathyvv - my heart says buy for nostalgia alone, but my head says I don't have room for an ornamental machine, hence my wish to know if it can be fixed up. Seems likely that it can :-)) As for fixing, I have learned that DH doesn't trust me with tools

Charley26 - Oddly enough, I'm not so far away from you today! Whilst I live in Scotland, I'm currently in Stafford, heading to Birmingham for the weekend. I never see this sort of thing on sale in Scotland.... However there's very little room left in the boot of the car, which is another issue altogether

Jennifer23 - these days I mostly do quilting, but have been known to do other things in the past. I probably don't do enough buttonholes to need a machine dedicated to that, but I can see me using it for topstitching and suchlike. One of the main things I hear regularly about vintage machines is how nice a stitch they make... Also resale value might influence DH lol.

Janey and John, thanks for those links, I'll get looking into them later today :-)


So thank you again for your advice, It's much appreciated. I'll let you know how things go.....

Kate

Mickey2

With these cast iron machines you can almost always assume they clean up to a working condition. Parts are all metal, very durable, and if anything is missing it's usually bobbin case, cover, shuttle or something like that. Any missing part are usually obvious, they can usually be tracked down (it's generally a question of patience and price), a complete machine is always a pluss. The worst of wrecks can usually be brought back to life, even if it take a lot of effort to get them looking good again.

As for the cleaning of the race and shuttle, there's usually enough room to clean thoroughly when the bobbin case is out. There is access partly from above and the rest you reach from under the base. I tend to use loads of cotton buds, tooth picks and those velvety microfiber cloths.

Good luck with the machine :- )

leonf

Singer 66s and I think 15s use the same slide.

Siodach

So the saga at the moment is that I was unable to go into the shop this morning. I phoned them early instead, to ask them to put a reserve on the machine until sunday for me. Unfortunately they wouldn't agree to do that, so I have to sit back and wait until sunday morning and phone them again to see if they still have it.

Fingers crossed......

Kate

Innov8R

Your heart is telling you what you should do.