Best Singer made post WW- II to 1960/65 models
09-12-2015, 05:05 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 673
Hello all,
If you had just one Singer to pick, which one would it be. This question is for anyone that uses and not just collects machines. The machine would be frequently used, and is used for domestic sewing on cotton fabrics light and heavy weight. I am thinking about adding just one more machine
to the herd and would like a few user reviews. Thanks for your assistance.
Soman2
The other Rodney
If you had just one Singer to pick, which one would it be. This question is for anyone that uses and not just collects machines. The machine would be frequently used, and is used for domestic sewing on cotton fabrics light and heavy weight. I am thinking about adding just one more machine
to the herd and would like a few user reviews. Thanks for your assistance.Soman2
The other Rodney
If you wish to include models that were introduced earlier but continued to be made into the 1950s, you might want to check out the snazzy 15-125, really just a 15-91 dressed up for the prom in mint and sage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]530521[/ATTACH]
09-12-2015, 01:45 PM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Not Here
Posts: 3,817
I've had 2 431Gs here. I got rid of both of them and kept a 411G. The 431Gs both were persnickety machines. Both came to me with timing problems, one of them I had to time a second time and found set screws on the hook shaft/gear loose that I KNOW I tightened. The other one, I had to repair the hook on - MASSIVE needle strike damage right on the tip. I also had to change the throat plate pins on both of them. I just felt like the 411G was a tighter, better built, nicer running machine.
I agree that in general the German machines feel smoother and tighter. Quieter too somehow. Interestingly, I've also had abused 431Gs and 411Gs and never had one with stuck stitch selectors. Seriously borked tensioners, yes. Broken spool pins, a given. All of the stitch selector problems have always been on the American ones. I wonder why though? Same environment, maybe the German ones cost more and people took better care of them because of it?
09-12-2015, 03:27 PM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Far Northern California
Posts: 1,020
I've never sewn on a 401/403, but I LOVE my Rocketeer (500A). I confess I bought it purely based on the looks, but it's a great machine as well. It's the only machine in my herd that naturally has a perfect scant 1/4" seam allowance with my 1/4" foot - all the rest of them (new and vintage) need tweaking to get that. It runs smooth and the stitches are nice. I haven't used a lot of the decorative stuff but I DID use the blind hem stitch for the first time in my entire life on that machine and it went better than I anticipated.
I've become very fond of the slant needle, it's SO easy to see what's going on right at the needle. Plus it's easy to supply - takes standard size needle, class 66 bobbins, and the cams are everywhere.
I like a lot of my machines and deliberately make an effort to rotate through using all of them, but the Rocketeer gets the most use out of the vintage machines I have and I'm always happy to be sewing on it. (Even over my F-word machine, lol Miriam...)
I've become very fond of the slant needle, it's SO easy to see what's going on right at the needle. Plus it's easy to supply - takes standard size needle, class 66 bobbins, and the cams are everywhere.
I like a lot of my machines and deliberately make an effort to rotate through using all of them, but the Rocketeer gets the most use out of the vintage machines I have and I'm always happy to be sewing on it. (Even over my F-word machine, lol Miriam...)
09-13-2015, 09:48 AM
#34
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
Even if I didn't use it much I would love to find a 431G. I voted for the 401A because we have one. None of the slant needle zigzag Singers are overly intuitive to use but they're so capable that they're worth learning to use properly. I do think the 401A is smoother and more powerful than the Touch & Sews I've used. That's why I gave it to Olivia. I want her to have a really nice machine.
The only other zigzag machine I've used that compares in smoothness is the Brother I have here. It doesn't take cams so is much more limited though.
Rodney
The only other zigzag machine I've used that compares in smoothness is the Brother I have here. It doesn't take cams so is much more limited though.
Rodney
09-13-2015, 12:17 PM
#35
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
The best post-WWII Singer model is the 401 and (to keep Miriam's blood pressure within range) the 403. The 404 is an excellent straight-stitch-only machine, as is the slightly-prettier 301. Your only other real options for models introduced post WWII are the 500s with their fragile hinges or the 306/319s, with their oddball needles and cumbersome bobbin placement.
If you wish to include models that were introduced earlier but continued to be made into the 1950s, you might want to check out the snazzy 15-125, really just a 15-91 dressed up for the prom in mint and sage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]530521[/ATTACH]
If you wish to include models that were introduced earlier but continued to be made into the 1950s, you might want to check out the snazzy 15-125, really just a 15-91 dressed up for the prom in mint and sage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]530521[/ATTACH]
The 404s are nice, too. I bought about 20 of them one time.
I have a gutsy Singer 15-75 that I keep set up - it may not zz but it sews about anything - I also put on a heavy motor.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]530657[/ATTACH]
09-13-2015, 12:39 PM
#37
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Not Here
Posts: 3,817
I'll let you know if I come across another one then. I will warn you though - because they are truly uncommon, especially on this side of the world- they do tend to go for relatively high dollars. Check completed eBay sales. Serviced and fully working ones fetch good money. Even unserviced ones are higher than the average attic fresh "mid-century" machine. The one I sold was actually sold because the ad that I posted was put on a vintage machines FB group by one of the members (not me!) with a comment of "You don't see one of these everyday!" and one of the local members came and got it.
09-13-2015, 01:16 PM
#39
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
I picked up a Singer 431G in June, and I have used it one time. (My wife has used it one time also.) It got into a narrow jeans leg to mend a torn knee for me without having to take out the side seam. Although it saved me some work with that repair, at the rate that I’ve been using it, I’m glad that an old Singer 538 Stylist and an old Singer 834 Stylist took turns doing its work for nine years, or I could never have afforded the 431G. I’ve retired the 538 and 834. They earned their keep.
My wife’s go-to machines (one at home, one at the shop) are both Singer 401A machines. Between the two of us, we have 5 of them so that we’re never without one. I have a 403A as a backup for the backups too. Her quilting machine (piecing and FMQ) is a Singer 301A. My go-to machine for household-type sewing is a Singer 319W Treadle. About all of the household work that I do is mend jeans, including crotch seam repairs, reattaching the hip pocket corners, and reattaching belt loops. The 401A would do all of that for me, but I don’t have one set up as a treadle yet (have a 401G to experiment with someday), and I like to sew on treadles.
CD in Oklahoma
My wife’s go-to machines (one at home, one at the shop) are both Singer 401A machines. Between the two of us, we have 5 of them so that we’re never without one. I have a 403A as a backup for the backups too. Her quilting machine (piecing and FMQ) is a Singer 301A. My go-to machine for household-type sewing is a Singer 319W Treadle. About all of the household work that I do is mend jeans, including crotch seam repairs, reattaching the hip pocket corners, and reattaching belt loops. The 401A would do all of that for me, but I don’t have one set up as a treadle yet (have a 401G to experiment with someday), and I like to sew on treadles.
CD in Oklahoma
Last edited by ThayerRags; 09-13-2015 at 01:31 PM. Reason: Added a photo.
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