Originally Posted by
Lostn51
In the antique and vintage sewing machine community if it does not have the Singer logo it is called a copy. A clone is a Chinese reproduction that has the Singer logo on it. Some of the Chinese machines were allotted by Singer and a lot of them are counterfeit. But if it looks like a Singer 15 with the dial on the faceplate and a different name on it then it is a copy, or better known as a Japanese 15. I have lots of company records from the Japanese based companies that made them and even in their records they are called "Model 15's". And I have probably the most information about the Japanese machines than anyone on the planet.
Billy
I learned that at Needlebar too...and I knew that when you were on Needlebar, you were gathering Japanese information...didn't know how far you'd gotten with it, didn't matter much really to me, but those of us that don't want to pretend that we're experts are actually ok with calling them "clones"...it works for us and we know what each other are talking about.
All I was trying to say before is that not every machine made in Japan is a 15...many aren't. Even having the tension on the faceplate does not necessarily make the machine a 15....it needs to also have the body style.