Hi, I got this machine & cabinet from my son's girlfriend. Anyway I love the cabinet and will redo it but the sewing machine is really rusty and I don't know if fixable. Anyway anyone know what year it could be? When the sewing machine is down the front stays down and goes up when machine is put in place. Also a picture of some bobbins (I'm thinking they are bobbins) in drawer. Thanks & have a HAPPY EASTER

WOW!!!! I don't know how old it is but WOW!! It's beatiful. Will watch to see what others have to say about how old it is.

Wow, great acquisition - if the machine is beyond redemption, and I bet it could be brought back nicely, then you could always look for another to drop into that cabinet. That will clean up nicely with some TLC.

Visit the Vintage thread here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-43881-972.htm There are lots of very helpful people here.

I'm trying to read what it says on the treadle-I can make out "free" but that might be the clue to looking it up. Are the decals on the machine just worn off? I'll bet the machine is salvageable.

If nothing else, you are going to have a lovely cabinet once you clean it up or refinish it.

Can you find the serial number and then look it up for its birth date?

I would scrub, scrub and then oil, oil before giving up on her, she is gorgeous...don't give up on her please...she can be brought back to life...go for it...

It appears to be a Free sewing machine. There is a lot of info including a manual on the ISMACS site:
http://www.ismacs.net/free/home.html

Could be very beautiful! :)

It should be Free-Westinghouse...
and those are the bobbins...guard those...very hard to come by.

WOW, beautiful cabinet!

What is on top: Free Sewing Machine Co. Chicago. I also found a serial # M809178. The decals are ok in some areas. A couple of more pictures of a decal buy the plate and one on the inside of the arm.

She is a gorgeous machine, and probably salvageable. These early machines were all mechanical and if all the parts are there she most likely can be thoroughly cleaned and oiled to make her purr again. There are also places to buy most parts. Lostn51 has done a tutorial in the Vintage Machines portion of this board. I followed his instructions to bring my 1925 machine (I'm guessing yours is about that age) back to life. Restoring the machine was really easier than I thought using the tutorial. Have fun with her.

This one is really older...before Free-Westinghouse merged.

Have you checked to see if the bobbin shuttle mechanism is all there? It and the bobbins are the pieces that often get separated from the machine. My DH got into collecting old sewing machines a couple years ago. He has over 100, and about 20 are treadles. Now he is collecting coins. They take up much less space. Our daughter will not let hem store anymore machines in her sheds. By the way, anytime he comments on my fabric stash, and it is big, all I have to do is start talking about sewing machines. He actually agreed he may sell some of them soon. Whoopee.

Wow! I have never seen a cabinet styled like that one. It is beautiful.

I bet that machine can be saved..Don't give up because of the rust...Today I tackled my Grandmothers Singer 3/4 model 99 that sat in a damp basement forever...all the metal parts were rusted...Today I decided to give Brasso Metal cleaner a try and removed the parts that could be removed and soaked them in it for a couple of hrs and boy did they clean up like new...After soaking the 2 hrs Use very light grade steel wool with allot of brasso on it so not to scratch up the metal and go in an up and down direction not circles.
I taped off the machine to avoid getting Brasso on the black portions to get to rusted screws etc that I could not remove and again brought them back to life...I was so happy that Grandma could be rehabed...Now it's a good oiling and I think I'll be sewing with her before I know it.
Someone told me to use car wax on the body to get the shine back into her.

those are"long bobbins". they are hard to find. I found some many years ago for my DH(he has his Grandma's old treadle). We used to have a singer store here in town where you could find odd things like that.

beautiful!

That certainly is a nice treadle machine. Be certain to follow the links to the vintage machine shop within this board, as recommended, for full restoration information on the cabinet and the machine. Don't do anything to it until you've read about the products and methods used to care for it. If parts are necessary, the VMS folks will help you with that too. They're part of this board, so you know they're great people.

The machine has what is called a "vibrating shuttle". It is the case that those bobbins go into and it is essential that it be in the bobbin race for the bobbins to go into. That race goes back and forth under the throat plate. The bobbins are replaceable, you can get them online, quite a few suppliers on Ebay.

So happy for your find! Year's ago before I started to sew , we had one just like that in our porch..it was my late grandmother's. Needless to say it went to the dump!!!How I regret that now!

Thanks so much for posting these pics and starting this thread. When I bought my house last year, I found an old Singer Treadle machine in a barn, near an open window. My cabinet looks similar. I have it stored in my sewing room, and plan to make it my summer project to get it running again. All the input here is so helpful....thanks to all for the encouragement. Restoring a machine this old and damaged can be a daunting task, but ya'lls words and wisdom make it seem possible.

And I agree with the other posters.....give restoring it a try!!

She is definitely a beauty and I really don't see much that would be hard to fix up on her. A lot of elbow grease, a little oil and I am sure that she will be humming in no time

It's absolutely salvageable. Just need to be gentle when cleaning it. I've heard of machines that were totally frozen and the head was placed in a bucket of kerosene for a week to loosen up the gunk. These machines were made to LAST. No plastic to worry about. It would make a GREAT project, and you'll get a wonderful feeling of satisfaction when it's finished. :)

Yes, those are bobbins. My mom's machine had bobbins like that. Looks like you have a challenge!

It looks like machine I learned to sew on and yes, those are the bobbins - cool, aren't they!

I tried posting pictures of my Free sewing machine, but for some reason they didn't post. My machine looks like a sister to yours. Not much info on it. I have all the attachments and they have patented 7-91 stamped on them. ( Can this be 1891? ).

I restored an old singer years ago she was rusty inside and out she was siezed up but I oiled her inside and out -it took a while and several cans of 3-in-1 oil but she is absolutely beautiful and I still use her for all my heavy quilting She was found in the trunk of a car in the junk yard. I replaced her cord with a new cloth covered cord and she purrs

How pretty!

that is really old but the cabinet would be great shined up.

OH MY GOODNESS!! I have a No5 FREE machine in a cabinet identical to yours. I have the original instruction book also. Mine belonged to my husband's great grandmother. It is in very good condition. I have sewn several things w/ it. So happy to hear someone else has one also. I'm not sure what year it is but am thinking it might be 1910-1915.

Another surprise!! You only live about 20 miles from me!!

She is a BEAUTY.
Please don't toss her.
If you do TOSS HER MY WAY.

J J

Thanks! never thought to look there

I have a 1881 Victor that I am restoring. The straight bobbins, belts, etc. are available at sewingmachinesplus.com.
I got really good service.

Your machine head looks exactly like my mother's Singer #27 except for the decals.

I love your machine. Just be patient in restoring. It takes a lot of time. I have to take my head all apart and clean inside. I can see the grime through the access hole. Billy's (Lost51) instructions have been invaluable.

ask billy ,ask billy
he knows everything!

[quote=Lucy90]Hi, I got this machine & cabinet from my son's girlfriend. Anyway I love the cabinet and will redo it but the sewing machine is really rusty and I don't know if fixable. Anyway anyone know what year it could be? When the sewing machine is down the front stays down and goes up when machine is put in place. Also a picture of some bobbins (I'm thinking they are bobbins) in drawer. Thanks & have a HAPPY EASTER[I know it looks rough but with a lot of tlc I think she can be brought back to life just be patient and keep working on cleaning and oiling then let the oil set for a couple of days check out the cords if any just a safety thing first,but no matter she would be a keeper in my home working or not.]

Oh wow! I just bought one just like her on ebay what fun to get them back up and running. The site that one of the ladies suggested also has the manual on how to thread & oil and care for the machine as well as the history about her. Good luck with the restoration

It is a Free machine and should work very well once restored. There are alot of supporters in the vintage machine shop that will help you along with Billy's tutorials. Glenn has one for the cabinets also.

What a beautiful machine. Even if it doesn't sew, with a bit of TLC it will certainly be a showpiece.

beautiful machine working or not