sewverybusy

I have a black and a white featerweight. Both are great. The white one is not older than the black, it's newer and it was made in England for Singer. Which one you decide to buy you will love. Ever so often you will have a problem with it jaming up. When this happens, take out the part where the bobbin goes in and unwind the thread that got wound around in there. It's easy to do and doesn't need to be to a repair man. YOU CAN DO IT.
Sewverybusy

jyoti

Singer's machines such as those made in 70s with zigzag are good, and durable but are not made by the original Singer company, Singer stop sewing machine business after world war 2, but some older model has continue in production up to 50s by remaining factories. It is probably of this reason that older Singer machines has been cloned legally in many countries.

The modern domestic (with exception of industrial) white plastic Singers are produce by some reputable company but some are not, regardless they are designed to be disposable, which required frequent service and not build to last.

sewverybusy

Thanks for your input. I guess I'm lucky because mine is a white metal one, in a green and cream box. I was told it was made in Britain so I assumed it was made for Singer, which is where I went wrong. You should never assume. It works like my black one, so I keep one in NJ and the other here in Texas, so I'm always prepared.

writerwomen

Before going on another assumption from a response regarding machines not made by Singer do some serious research.
First go to the Singer Website, serial numbers, then enter yor serial number and search for your machine by serial number. There is a great deal of misinformation available so you need to actually reasearch before accepting someones remark. We deal in used and vintage sewiing machines and are constantly researching. The amount of misinformation we hear from people who haven't done their homework is overwhelming and many refuse to believe the truth. Almost all the sewing machine companies have been sold out to a competitor at least once. It's a round robbin. Also using a serial number as IDing the date is an approximation. Serial numbers where issued from the head office in a range of, lets say 1-5000. Those numbers were sent to the factory and when they were set they would begin production. When those sold more numbers were issued based on whether or not they felt continuing production of that model was profitable. The dates associated with the serial numbers is the date the numbers were issued to the factories.
Just before WWII a number of bodies (heads) for machines were cast and stamped with serial numbers. Production was set to the side as the factories were perfect for making , guns bombs, etc to help in the war effort. Following the war the heads were put back into production and completed. It has been found that there are some who know infatically their machine was brand new on purchase following the war but have a serial number predating WWII. Their claims were verified as true due to the war effort. Have fun

libber

Singer had a factory in Kilbowie, Scotland. You can even find the birthdate by looking at the serial #. It was not made "for", it was made "by" Singer. I have a Singer that is 65 years old, the other one is 50 years old. They both sew like a dream. How do I know, because I have Singer I bought about 10 years ago just for zig-zag, didn't pay much. It is 'plastic' and I mean that in a negative way. I took the thing apart to do some maintenance. Some of the innards are plastic where my old machines are finely machined metal. Libber

jyoti

I have inherited 2 vintage machines, one a Singer 15k and the other Singer 44 crone / adaptation by "Typical" of china, during their faithful service to my grandmother and mother in their lifetimes, they have never needed any repair by anyone. My zigzag machine made in the 70s by Toyota have a sturdiness that is only comparable by contemporary machines of that time, regardless of brand, it is all metal (alluminium), but still cannot compare to the toughness of the chassis of the old Singer, also the Singer's internal mechanism is much simpler (no gears), and naturally less liable for problems.

annieshane

I have a FW and a 301. Both are awesome machines! Would definitely spend a little extra and get the more dependable machine! Good luck with your hunt and be sure to keep us posted!