Purely by accident. I had a spare 10 minutes before the close of day at work and decided to give Craigs list for a browse. I found a garage sale 5 minutes from my office that listed 3 vintage singers. I gave her a call and asked what they were, she had no idea just said they were black with red and gold decals. I asked if they were electric or treadle, she said 1 electric and 2 treadle. I asked if I could come over right away - sure.
So ... off I went to look at a machine that I really was not in the market for, but I thought what the heck. No, I was not particularly looking for a vintage machine. I don't have the room for another machine, and I don't need another machine.
But this one was pretty :)
$40 and I have a cabinet with a working treadle base.
Machine needs lots of TLC. Did not get a manual or any other attachments. Nor did I get a belt but I knew from reading a few of the vintage posts on the board that belts were relatively easy to find - probably from Billy.
Something appears to be missing from the left side of the machine ... I see spot for a plate with screw holes. Plus there is a hole at the top of the left side under the wheel - is that hole supposed to be there? Is it supposed to have a plate over it?
Of the three machines, this one was the prettiest. They were all similar looking machines (66 Red Eye's I believe). The electric model was in poor condition (and I would have preferred electric) as the base had a big old rusted hole right in the middle. The other treadle wasn't in very good condition either and the table was in P!$$ poor condition. This was the best of the lot.
couldn't test it but I could turn the wheel a full cycle (it wasn't a smooth turn, but these machines were not "kept well").
couldn't go wrong for $40.
Clearly I'll be spending time on the vintage board figuring out how to clean and get it back into working order. Whether I keep it or not remains to be seen. But when I told my husband about the opportunity he sounded excited and really wanted to fix the treadle base as he's done lots of those in the past.
So the fun begins! A new voyage for me. Like I *needed* another project!!
I *think* it's a Model 66 Red Eye born in 1923.
ACK! Rust!!!
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What is the hole at the top? And is this a number/model plate that is missing?
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Guess they never believed in cleaning the bobbin area! EGADS!!
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Nothing a little elbow grease won't fix. I hope.
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