FW ?'s & how can you tell if one was repainted?
I saw a FW 221 sitting in a shop. Took a quick look, altho I did not get the serial number, so I don't know the age of it. There was a small gold rectangle sticker on the back of the bed with a number 221? I remember a number 901 or 911 as part of the number. The sticker looked new. I do not think the light had the Singer logo on it tho. It had the metal end plate with the straight lines/grooves. It looked in good shape, had the bobbin case & electric foot pedal. It had the gold metal plate on the front, which look pretty new to me. I'm wondering if this machine was repainted & new decals/metal plate/etc put on. How do I tell if it was repainted?
The owner of the shop passed away. The shop is packed, has only a very narrow aisle, and had a several real old machines, including a Horne? treadle, Singers, lots of Montgomery Ward, White, etc. There was also a FW 222. Son is to see if he can find the case for the 221, figure a price he wants for it & call me. I don't know if he has the attachments/book/etc for it. I saw a few prices the owner had on some of the machines & felt they were way too high. The son mentioned the Horne treadle machine was worth $4000! It had a wood cover on it. The Son said he needed to do inventory & try to find someone to buy the whole shop out. The shop is full of sewing machines, parts, etc. This was just a shop where the owner tinkered with machines & you could get a machine repaired. He had no fabric/notions/etc for sale. It was sort of like an over packed garage. I think he bought old machines, parts, attachments, etc at sales, refurbished them & then resold them. I saw some of those little toy machines too. I didn't stay long, but wish I had taken a better look at things.
I'm not a collector of old machines, but thought it'd be nice to have a FW to do quilt piecing or teach my grand daughter on. I've never sewn on a FW. What do I look for in a FW? I've only ever bought brand new Bernina's, so I have no idea what I should look for in an old machine like this. I did not try the machine, but am sure it worked. It had a tag on it, but we couldn't read the price the owner had written on it.
What would a repainted machine go for? If it hasn't been repainted what's a decent price to pay or offer? I've tried reading thru the posts, but it's a tad confusing. Help!!!
Thanks,
Feather3