We got a couple of snow storms in March one really heavy in places and with a lot of moisture. E Denver got 10 inches but with some areas of the foothills getting over 3 feet of snow - biggest foothills snowstorm since March 2003, but Denver International Airport only reported 5.7 inches. Then on the 24th we got some thunder storms that turned to snow with Denver International Airport reporting 3.2 inches but Denver downtown got 6.5 inches. Then we had a weekend of high winds with a lot of power outages. The high winds brought a lot more tree branches down.
This month we got notes from Courtney, Dianne, Leon who is our member from Kansas and Thanh.
So let's get started.
Courtney
This month Courtney was able to help a young lady interested in a vintage sewing machine and has been doing some alterations to sewing machines to get them usable.
A while ago I mentioned that a young lady in the physics department was interested in a sewing machine. She was interested in one of the old black machines. I found an Singer 15-91 down in the basement. I cleaned it up and oiled it. It is running nice and smooth now. I have enclosed a picture of the young lady and her new (1947) machine.
I have an old Singer 201-2 who’s motor is completely shot, so I have been fiddling with ideas of how to make it useful again. After I removed the old potted motor, I grabbed one of the wooden balance wheels I had made for my 99 machines so I could use them as hand cranks with the kids. Of course a slotted balance wheel would have been better but they cost around $20 and I am cheap! I already had the ¾ inch MDF so all I had to do was cut out the circle and a quarter inch spacer. The wooden hand wheel worked well with a hand crank on both the 99 and 201. A real slotted balance wheel would have one advantage though, it could be used in a treadle and treadling with a 201 is a very smooth experience. For another try I removed the belt guard and balance wheel from an old model 15 clone. The holes in the model 15 belt guard do not match up with the holes for the potted motor on the 201 but I found that if I rotated the guard a bit clockwise it would rest on the screws that originally held the motor. I found when I tightened down the screws, the flange on the screws would hold the guard securely. I could then put on the balance wheel and my hand crank adapter and the machine would work nicely with a hand crank. If you wanted a motor driven machine it would be easy to remove the hand crank and adapter and hang a motor from the boss where the crank attached. While I don’t think it looks too bad, there is one problem, the bobbin winder would work but only to wind #15 bobbins and the 201 takes a 66 bobbin.
About 10 years ago I was given a distant relative’s old Singer 115 (it belonged to my wife’s grandmother’s sister’s son-in-law’s mother!) The machine was in a treadle but did not run well even after I had oiled it up. It has been sitting in a corner of the shop since then. I thought if nothing else I could use the spoked balance wheel for some other projects (like the 201 for example). When I went to dig it out I found that it was turning pretty well and when I oiled it up again the 115 was working quite nicely. I think someone had used 3in1 oil or something similar and the additives had gummed up the machine as it sat idle for 30 or 40 years. After I had originally oiled the machine, it sat (like most of us) through covid but the new oil was eventually able to dissolve or wash away some of the old crud. Now I will have to keep it well lubricated and I think it will work nicely. The 115 is a very smooth machine because I think it was Singer’s first domestic full rotary machine. The bobbin and bobbin case for the 115 is much different than a model 15 and are in short supply. Originals are rather costly, however when I looked at the bobbin it looked a lot like a modern “L” style bobbin. Since the 115 bobbin case does not have a positioning finger and the bobbin cases for the modern “semi-industrial” machines also do not have positioning fingers, I thought I would give a modern bobbin case and bobbin a try. I pulled a bobbin and bobbin case from a Janome 1600 machine and gave it a try. It worked! On my first try I was able to sew a seam about 4” long. I don’t know if it will work in the long run but at least it worked so far.
My remarks on quilting with antique and vintage sewing machines at the Southern Colorado Regional Quilt Show in Pueblo seemed to go well and be well received. A special thanks to all the members of our group for allowing me to interview them and giving me inspiration and ideas.
Until next month,
Courtney
to be continued...