vintagemotif

Nancy, I knew you would love that Davis. The decals look to be in very good condition. Typical of Davis NVF having that crackling which is why I state only sewing machine oil.

Your Davis is the first that I have seen with that decal of Bruce Sewing Machine Co., interesting.

I'm so happy you are the new owner of this machine. Enjoy!

Davis machines are excellent machines for straight stitch quilting, and they love flannels.
The thicker the material the better the stitches; they love to work!

purplefiend

Very pretty machine, too bad its got that the cabinet has that 70s "antiqued green paint on it. YUck!!!!

miriam

I love it when people come over. I have a lot of fun. I forgot to tell you all, when Wilbur came in to the shop, I grabbed a screwdriver and took the top off the machine. He shook his head and said srewdiver, srewdiver Grandma. So I let him look inside the machine. He didn't say a word but he sure did look hard. Grandpa had a good hold on him.
Joe, that Alden 606 is one fine machine. I'm thinking there is another class of clones. I have a bum shoulder, I should shoot some pics though. (bum shoulder is doing about 75% better) Melinda's yellow, my boss' red machine seem to one of those other kind of clone. Anybody know much?
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I should shoot some additional pics - I think there are more like that.
The tension is in front but the bobbin is under just like a 15 clone.
I need to put some side by side and look. Maybe shoot pics of the innards - see if they match.
I don't have anything that says Pfaff - I suspect a couple Kenmore machines have something in common...
I have some Elna machines that are going to go on CL some time.
Glenn isn't so much into the modern machines, but he did keep wandering around back there... I need to give the place a clean up - that involves lifting machines onto shelves. H.E.A.V.Y...

J Miller

Nancy,

Thanks for the pics of the two tone 301. Joey likie . We're going to Indy next week to pick up some machines from GW so were planning on meeting up with Miriam. Hopefully she'll let me stick my nose in her work shop. That should be interesting.

That Davis is nice too, but I've never seen on in the flesh to figure them out.

Joe

BoJangles

Monica, I have tried several times to put the binding on very large quilts using 'Betty' my Davis Vertical Feed (you found her for me). Each time I used Betty, I had to go around the quilt twice! As you know, when doing a 100 + by 100+ quilt that is a lot of work using a treadle. I did it anyway, but have never been happy with Betty's stitches. You remember how long it took me - almost 2 months - to even get that Davis to work? I was getting so frustrated with her - ready to give up - when I finally got a good stitch! She has a perfect stitch through two layers, but adding the quilt sandwhich - 3 layers more - when doing bindings doesn't work for her! I thought it was the quilt pulling, but it isn't that - I have tried and tried to feed her 5 layers - the stitch goes to heck in a hand basket - hence I go around twice! Well, I got tired of that jazz so I don't use her any more to put bindings on!

I have been hesitating about taking Betty out of her treadle and putting in the younger version, but I am really excited to try this new Vertical Feed to see how it does with a binding and quilting! Does your Davis have reverse and that extra knob to lighten the pressure on the foot? This new Davis really amazes me, but I am very partial to my old Davis - I am dragging my feet about doing the switch out! And, yes sewing machine oil for me - I learned on my first Davis what cleaning does to those Davis decals! The old one has no decals left after I cleaned her up a couple years ago!

Nancy

BoJangles

Thank you Joe! I think that 2-tone 301 is really cute too!

Candace, when you FM with your 301's, what hopping/FM foot do you use? I just ordered a darning/FM foot from Sew Classic yesterday. I am curious to try one of the 301's for FM work! Do you have any problems, tricks you can tell me when using the 301 for FM? Do you have a walking foot for the slants? I think I remember you saying the new walking foot does not work right with the slants - something to do with not working with the feed dogs correctly? I want to try FM on the 301, but I also have my Pfaff 1222e that does great with FM - I have done queen sized quilts with it, and I have the Pfaff Grand Quilter with the larger throat space - besides, my long arm. I thought it would be fun to FM small projects with the 301, though!

Nancy

Charlee

Yep...it looks like a decal to me. In this picture, the Bruce decal covers the original Davis decal... I found this on a genealogy forum, it's an answer about the Bruce Sewing machine company by a descendant:

Bonnie Bruce Baker wrote at 2007-06-04 23:44:59
I am Bonnie Bruce Baker. I was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois. My great grandfather, Cicero C. Bruce began selling sewing machines in the Virginia area after being released from the Confederacy. My grandfather was born in 1866 and, when old enough, helped his father. Eventually they put thir own name on the sewing machines, selling them under the Bruce label. In 1899 they left Roane County in TN and moved to Springfield, IL where The Bruce Co. was begun. My father continued the tradition but dropped sewing machines about the time televisions became popular. Pianos, organs and appliances were also sold. My father died in 1981 and also The Bruce Co. I would greatly enjoy hearing from any owners of Bruce Sewing Machines.

Candace

I would make sure you try some kind of 'sharp' type needle, not a universal etc. or you may see skipped stitches. You also may have to play with the pressure on the foot so that you don't see skipping. I've been told microtex sharps are the way to go, to avoid skipping but I'm trying to use up what I have. I have the plastic foot from SewClassic and others. It's noisy but does the job. I do have an original, slant walking foot for my 401, but it doesn't fit the feed dogs on the 301. Right, none of the walking feet available (new or vintage) will work as engineered for the 301. So, don't waste your money. The walking feet are made for wider zig zag machines and don't line up properly with the the narrow, straight stitch feed dogs of the 301. You'll see people claim they work great, but just because the foot is pushing fabric through, doesn't mean it's doing what it should;> Many people just release a bit of pressure on the foot and quilt without a walking foot. If I were you, Nancy, I'd just use one of my other machines for machine quilting and stick to the 301 for piecing and FMQing. Though, you may find you prefer your 1222 for FMQing. I like to put my 301's in my card table for FMQing so that it's one flat surface.

vintagemotif

Nancy, All the Davis NVF that I have seen are designed and come with that second pressure lever and the back tack or reverse. If the machine doesn't have those items, then someone has removed them.

Follow the Davis yahoo groups's excellent directions on cleaning up the machine behind the plate. That makes a huge difference in the quality of the stitch and using the back tack. I have found that when the shuttle bobbin is too full or when getting to the end the stitching will not always be pretty (mainly at the end), a clue that I'm at the end of my bobbin.

Charlee, That is interesting findings. Thanks for sharing with us!

J Miller

Miriam,

I'm glad that Sew More 606 is as nice as I thought it would be. I'll get one for my collection some day.
I have several of that type of machine. Tension in the front, bobbin being an end loading vertical type.
Those I have, (I'd have to look at them to be sure which ones they are) are some of the quietest running and nicest sewing machines I have. Much quieter than any of the Singers from the same time frame.

As an aside there is two different types of the clones that are like you posted.
The one we are talking about that uses the end loading bobbin and the other that uses a front loading bobbin.
Both are vertical bobbins, but the end loading machines have the bobbin move with the needle as it ZZs. The front loading machines use a stationary bobbin and the bobbin case has a very wide slot in it for the needle to move in as it ZZs.

They are both excellent machines.

Joe