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What have I gotten myself into?

What have I gotten myself into?

Old 08-02-2012, 05:27 AM
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Default What have I gotten myself into?

My boyfriend has decided to take an interest in my sewing by learning how to clean and repair the machines...so I went on our local classified and found some cheapies for him to play with...I had to get this one because it is lavender, and purple is my favorite colour. It works. The foot pedal doesn't match. It is missing the faceplate. There are no markings to indicate a name or model. I think it might be Japanese made as the rubber band (I can't think of the proper term right now, too early in the morning) says "made in Japan". There looks like a "JA-4" and a "S1" are raised in the metal on the underneath but the "J" could be a Japanese letter because it's a pretty lame version of the letter J. Any insight would be great! The little helper is my daughter...she has to be involved! lol
Also, it came in this cabinet (same cabinet as my 1948 Singer) and is electric but has zigzag (which my 1948 Singer does not).
Any input, especially on where to get the missing faceplate (2.5"x3"), would be great!
Attached Thumbnails sewing-machine-002.jpg   sewing-machine-001.jpg   sewing-machine-003.jpg   sewing-machine-004.jpg   sewing-machine-005.jpg  

sewing-machine-006.jpg  
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Old 08-02-2012, 06:42 AM
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Check SewClassic.com for a faceplate. It looks like a Kenmore to me.
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Old 08-02-2012, 06:43 AM
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Judy,

It's definitely a Japanese made machine. The J-A 4 is the typical type of marking the Japanese industry puts on their machines. According to a chart I got from the Yahoo Japanese machines group it was possibly made by Maruzen/Jaguar. That company is the same one that made the 158- series Kenmores for Sears. Very good machines.

You might check for the bobbin cover / slide plate from Sew-Classics { http://www.shop.sew-classic.com/ }, at least it's a good place to start looking.

If that machine runs and sews, I would suggest restraining your BF from taking it apart. Removing the inspection plates on the top and rear and opening the face plate for a good cleaning and oiling is all it should need. They are not rocket science inside, but they are not as simple as they'd seem and can be knocked out of adjustment if you turn the wrong screws.
The bottom needs a good cleaning, but nothing intrusive. Just some good brushing down with oil or kerosene to remove the old varnished oil. That's the amber colored gunk on the all the parts. They are actually grey - silver under it.

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like it could be one of the machines that parks the needle to the left when on straight stitch. Your stitch width nob has a little lever sticking out from it that I think would be a lock to set it at the width you want for ZZ stitches. "0" would be straight stitch, and then the larger the number the wider the ZZ stitch.
It also looks to use high shank feet. I could be wrong on that though.
Uses standard class 15 bobbins and standard 15x1 needles.
The lever at the base of the pillar raises and lowers the feed dogs for FMQ and darning.
A very simple machine to use.
By varying the stitch length and width you can make all kinds of stitches.

The two tiny rivets in the flat space to the right of where the J- A 4 is stamped would have held a placard with the model number and brand on it. It looks to be gone. Without that the only way to know who originally sold it is to find one identical to it that's still marked.

Joe
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Old 08-02-2012, 06:51 AM
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Here you go...some photos of some identical Kenmores... http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=0Huzd6OgN1o

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SERVICED-VID...#ht_7903wt_973

It's very possible Kemore farmed out these machines to Japan.
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Old 08-02-2012, 06:56 AM
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It may also be one of the Japanese Universal Deluxe machines. If you want to spend a lot of time you can look for your machine at this link.
http://www.tias.com/stores/relics/ .

I have ordered several repro hard copy manuals from them. I like the repro hard copies because they are enlarge to 8 1/2 x 11 and are so easy to read. Their mailing service is excellent.
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Old 08-02-2012, 06:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Candace View Post
Here you go...some photos of some identical Kenmores... http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...mb=0Huzd6OgN1o

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SERVICED-VID...#ht_7903wt_973

It's very possible Kemore farmed out these machines to Japan.
Candace is so on top of this one. Oh dear, make me want a girl dressed in lavender.
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Old 08-02-2012, 07:03 AM
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Caroline, I've also seen a few of these types in gold/yellow. Which are also VERY nice:>
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Old 08-02-2012, 08:51 AM
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Beautiful machine and the cabinet is nice also.
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Old 08-02-2012, 01:18 PM
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Update:thank you for all your input! I went to my local repair shop to get the replacement plate ($5) and a high shank foot (yes Joe, you were right about that and the needle position being to the right). The cabinet is not original (I took it out of the cabinet and there were signs that it wasn't the original tenant) and the machine shop person pointed out that she has been very carefully painted lavender. So the foot pedal may be original (that pinkish brown),
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Old 08-02-2012, 01:32 PM
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Cool. I'll bet if you carefully removed the paint from the placard between the two rivets you'd have the model # and serial #.

Let us know how it sews.

Joe
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