Old 01-19-2013, 03:14 AM
  #8  
Monroe
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New York
Posts: 1,571
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This Board is wonderful. Lots of good advice has already been posted. If the case isn't included or is damaged/smelly- definitely lower the price. Nice cases are hard to come by and expensive to buy. Just a replacement handle is about $20, though you can substitute a suitcase handle. Be sure the attaching links go east-west or north-south like the original. Latches are a tougher fix. Some folks just use a small wheeled hardsided suitcase or toolbox instead of a case. Smelly cases can be cleaned, and many times the odor is from old oil or mildew on the replaceable felt pad inside the bottom of the machine- a simple inexpensive fix. Good luck!

White FW's are definitely harder to come by, have a smaller folding bed, and are from the 60's. You can find the age of a Singer on the internet using the serial #. Older machines in good condition with intact decals tend to be pricier. Keep looking on Craigslist as well- search "Sewing machine" as well as "Featherweight" and "221" and you may be lucky enough to find one for dirt cheap listed as simply "old sewing machine".
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