Vintage Sewing Machine Shop.....Come on in and sit a spell
05-03-2011, 07:30 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: leavenworth, ks
Posts: 3,093
Perhaps all the addicted collectors of vintage machines, myself included, on this site are driving up the prices on EBay. Just a thought.
05-03-2011, 07:47 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 103
Originally Posted by Crossstitcher
Originally Posted by miriam
Originally Posted by irishrose
miriam, Is that Elna beige or gray? I'd say beige from the pic. If it is, it was made between 1959 and 1963. The grays were made in 63 and 64. It's a very nice looking machine. If it's half the machine my 1974 SU is, then you won't be disappointed. Mine is actually more beat up looking than yours, but it's done a lot in its years.
Mornigstar, My 1952 128 has a large hole just to the right of the spool spindle. My book says it is an oil hole. I would guessed from the size that it was a grease port, but apparently not.
Mornigstar, My 1952 128 has a large hole just to the right of the spool spindle. My book says it is an oil hole. I would guessed from the size that it was a grease port, but apparently not.
Yes she is beige - the lighting for her glamor picture was horrible. She is not all beat up and yes it sews very nice. She fit in an old cabinet I had in the garage. She is very light weight - probably about 10 pounds or so. I had fits with the discs until I figured out there are two kinds of single discs. I have 4 other Elna machines. None of them work. Two are green and two SU machines from 70s or so. I loved my old SU machine. I beat her to pieces and wore out the motor so many times it isn't funny. Then the zigzag gear broke. Someone gave me a Viking so she set around a while. Two green ones need timing - both are seriously out of timing and the little drive wheels are both shot.
I have just found info how to fix - just haven't had time. One is a transformer and the other is a super. The other SU one is in great cosmetic shape but has a broken gear somewhere. She was from CL with no parts or case but I have all the parts. I'm hoping to get her to work and then sell/part out the rest of them but not until I get one working.
05-03-2011, 08:11 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Cadillac, MI
Posts: 6,487
Elsie, the Grasshoppers are bright green and predate the Automatics by almost 20 years. I don't think any Grasshoppers had zigzag capabilities, but they are nice little machines.
05-03-2011, 08:17 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Some place where the wheat grows.
Posts: 996
Originally Posted by littleone
Originally Posted by miriam
That bottom Singer is a 414g? Looks like a 404 but made in Germany - those were most likely a 'beginner' machine a - just a simple to use straight stitch - a lot were probably used in schools late 50s and early 60s. They are a wonderful machine. They have the same slant needle as the 301, 401 & 500 so all of the accessories fit it too. It is easy to see the needle because of the slant and they have a very nice light. They are a straight stitch only. They are also light weight - about the same size and weight of the 301. BUT what I like is the drop in bobbin - so easy to use! It takes the class 66 bobbins. I bought out a school full of them a couple years ago. My grand daughters and great niece each sew with one. Some day they will graduate to 400's or 500's for the decorative stitches I'm sure.
05-03-2011, 08:28 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Northern California
Posts: 559
Originally Posted by chris_quilts
Perhaps all the addicted collectors of vintage machines, myself included, on this site are driving up the prices on EBay. Just a thought.
05-03-2011, 08:32 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: WA
Posts: 1,372
Originally Posted by chris_quilts
Perhaps all the addicted collectors of vintage machines, myself included, on this site are driving up the prices on EBay. Just a thought.
05-03-2011, 08:40 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: London, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,326
You gotta love our vintage ladies. Yesterday at my quilting group, my friend's machine quit. It was a Singer low end model (WalMart)that she totes around to classes and less than a year old. So she let me take it apart. The whole inside was plastic and I felt bad for her but the main gear was stripped. Since it costs more for a service call than she paid for the machine, it's going in the trash where it belongs. I harvested all the screws and "removeables" from it and then gave her my 1970's White Jeans Machine that was my backup machine. Since then though, I've brought home a Elna Supramatic and a Featherweight, so I really don't need three backup machines. My 80 yr old quilting buddy is thrilled. And now I know for sure that vintage is best!
05-03-2011, 08:50 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: North Carolina - But otherwise, NOTW
Posts: 7,940
Originally Posted by tjradj
You gotta love our vintage ladies. Yesterday at my quilting group, my friend's machine quit. It was a Singer low end model (WalMart)that she totes around to classes and less than a year old. So she let me take it apart. The whole inside was plastic and I felt bad for her but the main gear was stripped. Since it costs more for a service call than she paid for the machine, it's going in the trash where it belongs. I harvested all the screws and "removeables" from it and then gave her my 1970's White Jeans Machine that was my backup machine. Since then though, I've brought home a Elna Supramatic and a Featherweight, so I really don't need three backup machines. My 80 yr old quilting buddy is thrilled. And now I know for sure that vintage is best!
05-03-2011, 09:32 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Coastal Florida
Posts: 946
Originally Posted by jljack
Originally Posted by Suzi
Just picked this old girl up and cleaned the gunk off enough to check her decals which look super nice. Serial number is G (or C) 64514645 and she's totally complete except for a belt. All I know is that she's a red-eye so can anyone help me with further information? I waded through back pages in this thread and kept getting side-tracked by all the glorious pictures. She has a history which is great but no manual. Where can I find one? The Singer site claims that all records for this serial number have been lost .......
05-03-2011, 10:35 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Renton, WA
Posts: 2,045
My Red eye I got today is almost clean! Something I am finding is the decals are almost chunky and not very metalic and the badge has a copper look vs brass. It is serial #G7175575 and was in the July of 1919 batch. Helen is 1920 stock. Both are back clamp feet. Something else is the decal on the front under the badge is not centered. One of the up reaching swirls is under the badge instead of framing it. My son says that makes it worth more since it is a missprint. LOL. If only that were true! But the copper badge is the weirdest part. Anyone seen that? I took pics, but was so busy cleaning her, I haven't gotten them out of the camera yet.
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