Vintage White Rotary 75, 1939
 

That notch is probably for the cord to fit into a table isn't it? It is a pretty machine. Or should I say "handsome".ha.

I'm loving the fact it has a stitch regulator for reverse! Very cool, Caroline.

I was wondering if anyone ever made an OD green machine. I like it.

You're gonna need a new friction drive wheel. That one is in pretty bad shape. You can remove the rubber and replace it with a section of rubber hose. I did that with a piece of transparent tubing from a hardware store on one of my extra drive wheels.

Joe

YES, I had forgotten OD. I still have my dad's OD raincoat that he wore in the Marines. I was thinking about you when I was turning the hand wheel and it was going clunkity clunk. It has more than one flat spots on the friction drive wheel. Check out the vintage safety pins that came with the cord. I do have a slide plate that I can rob from one of my other White Rotary machines. And I think I do have a extra cabinet the machine will fit in. Gotta test that. It is such a cool butt ugly machine I may take it to my OSMG to rewire. He just loves my oddball machines (sort of grumps at me because he is a Singer guy).

I just gave a similar type one away.

Yowza! That is trouble just waiting to happen.

That size friction pulley is still readily available. I just ordered 2 on ebay...& most online sewing supply places (sew & vacs, etc) have them. It's the pulley with the 1/4" hole....rubber has a 3/4" diameter. The price was $8.95 each. They fit perfectly on a White. Just do an ebay (or online) search for friction pulley.

One tip...After you replace the friction pulley, put something between the motor (if it's mounted on a spring) & the back of the machine that's thick enough to hold the rubber pulley slightly away from the hand wheel. I just use folded cloth. When the rubber is held against the hand wheel (& the machine isn't getting used frequently), a flat spot will form.

The only friction pulley I haven't been able to find are the one's that are tapered...where the rubber end nearest the motor is smaller than the outside edge. I make those from the one's I just bought...forming the taper with an emery board. I have 2 machines that take that type.

Your White takes the pulley that's still available....so that's good! The machines I have that use the tapered pulley are an old National Reversew & a Montgomery Wards Rotary.

And that notch in the bed is for the cord...that bakelite piece on the cord goes in there if the machine is in a cabinet....clarified a little further down!

And the plug that connects to the machine opens up so replacing the cord is pretty easy too. BUT, if you don't want to mess with making a new cord, look for a Kenmore 3 prong plug on ebay. There are always dozens of them...with & without foot pedals...new & used (yeah, they're still available new!). Don't pay any attention to the model #s that the sellers list...if the plug looks the same, it's the right one. That particular cord fits Kenmores, Whites, Domestics, & probably more so they can't list all the machines it fits. White used to make Kenmore & the power cords are the same. My White is a 77 Rotary...a little later model than yours but, looks pretty much the same. On mine the tension knob is on the front but the actual tension assembly is on the side. And my stitch length knobs are numbered instead of showing the #s in a window. That forward/reverse stitch length is neat too...you can backstitch with a tiny stitch to secure the threads better!

I bought my White at a yard sale a LONG time ago...I wanted the cabinet it was in for one of my Kenmores. So my Kenmore 158.17550 is in the cabinet...& my White is in a Kenmore case. When the White was in it's original cabinet, that bakelite piece was in the bed & the cord to the foot/knee control went thru that into the cabinet...the cord to the wall stayed outside. If you put it in a case, you won't be using it. BUT I kept it just in case I put it back into a cabinet.

Mine sews really nice. I think you'll like it when you get it running!