OurWorkbench

You will find "Sewing Machine Oil" many places. Tri-flow oil is good too.

Many in the know suggest n o t using 3-in-1 or WD40 to oil your machine.

KristinJ

Talked with my mom last night. It’s actually my great-great grandmothers so 1903 does make sense. I didn’t know by great grandmother had died at 28 years old shortly after giving birth to my grandmother. So my grandmother inherited the machine when her grandmother died. So my grandmother got the sewing machine when she was only 12. Things you learn when you try to learn more information! Thanks everyone for all the information!!!!!! It was so helpful.

Kristin

OurWorkbench

I hope you put that information with the machine. That is neat.

So many times we have wondered about the machines we have come across.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Rose_P

Just want to say welcome! You've come to the right place for information about your machine. I don't know much about them at all, but enjoy reading what the knowledgeable people post. Among the few things I've picked up as a newbie when it comes to antique machines is don't force anything. If you get that needle plate off and can't get it back on, be sure to ask somebody. The reason so many of them are lacking the plate is that people living out in remote farms on the prairie or wherever got stuck and didn't have internet pals to help them figure things like that out. There's probably a simple trick to it. Also, don't use anything to clean the black surface, or especially the decals without first checking here. There is a lot of information available about how to do things and where to get parts, and there always seems to be some generous and patient soul who will share knowledge.

It's wonderful that you know exactly who the original owner of the machine is. Be sure to type out that information and leave it in a drawer of the machine for posterity. In fact, maybe decoupage it inside the drawer (though some might cringe at that idea). Include her full name, dates and location. Someday your heirs will be grateful that you did. This machine might have been common in its day, and it may not even be very unusual now, but what makes it special as a keepsake is the connection to the history of your family, and that is worth preserving. Also, if parts are available and rust is prevented, it will still sew a hundred years from now. My computerized machine is a marvel, but I'm not placing any bets that it will sew a stitch 20 years from now.

Thanks, Janey, for the workaround for the search box glitch.

WIChix

You may want to throw out all that old thread. It doesn't hold up over time, and thread breakage can make you crazy thinking the sewing machine isn't "sewing right."

OurWorkbench

I, personally, would not throw it out. Probably a lot of it is not very good for sewing. I'm guessing that a lot of it is on wooden spools. I would imagine that some of those that have "2-spool machines" would want them to use on there machines. Since those machines can wind wooden spools, it would come in handy to have the right size spools to wind with modern thread. There are some that don't have those machines that have figured out how to wind wooden spools to use on their antique and vintage machines. Or they could be displayed in a large glass container.

I understand some thread is not very good to begin with, but sometimes I think that if that was the thread that used to make clothes and quilts that are still around today without popping seams, why wouldn't it be okay to use??

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Rose_P

I agree with Janey. I have a glass candy jar full of old wooden thread spools. Once in a great while if I don't have the right color except in that jar I have used those old threads for things like making a buttonhole in a kitchen towel (great for hanging) or to sew decorative stitches. I would be a little nervous about using it in seams, just because of all the words of caution that come up. A lot depends on how arid your climate might be. You can give thread a good yank and see whether it breaks easily. I haven't had problems with the machine while using it. If anything, it's less fuzzy than some modern cotton thread. I also have a little group of short spools of silk thread that my mother had for handmade buttonholes. I haven't found a use, but like the look of them. She would have been 100 years old this month, and learned every intricate detail of hand sewing in school as a child.