OurWorkbench

Leon

Leon has some good news to share and was able to get a few free machines.

I have retired. April 1 was my first day of freedom. I tried last years and didn't get away.

I had a bicycle friend offer me 3 machines for free. Well, maybe ( see I am slowing down) I asked for pictures. The one he had access to was a nice looking black 301 ( somehow I lost pic). I said, sure, I will take them. The others 2 were in cabinets and I didn't see them before they were mine. OK scored a nice Minnesota A in a parlor cabinet. Cabinet chain lift is not working and no innards for a treadle. Also got a Singer 66 in a rough cabinet. I am a happy guy. I have others in line so these guys will have to wait.

Two gigs coming up this month for my hand cranks.








Thanh

Thanh was able to get a machine after a few days after passing it over at first glance.

Just a short note from me this month regarding a purchase of a Singer 99K10:
I saw the ad for Singer 99 on FB Marketplace and didn't really think anything of it at first. The display photo was of the bentwood box which was painted red. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the ad a couple of days later to see the rest of the photos and was surprised to see a photo with the shiny white serial plate! I actually took a day to think about it before reaching out to the seller. I usually don't buy machines just because they're uncommon. Lucky for me, he didn't have a solid offer and I was able to pick it up the same day. This 99k was part of the first batch in August 1922; the serial number is Y722243. For comparison, the 99k weighs in at 18lbs with the base (no cover) while my Kenmore 1040 weighs 16 lbs.



In Closing

We enjoy posting the notes from our varied members each month. We want to thank them for their contributions and you for reading. See you next month.

OurWorkbench

The month of April showers hit Denver heavy this year. It has broken into the top 20 wettest Aprils with a record of 3.28 inches of precipitation. Turns out that it is well above the average of 1.68 inches. Evidently our members have been water logged as we only heard from Courtney and Janey.


Courtney
Most of my time this month has been devoted to speaking. The big one was on the 6th at the Southern Colorado Regional Quilt Show in Pueblo. I got home from Pueblo on Saturday night. I barely got my sewing machines put away before we had to pick up our daughter on Tuesday from the airport in Denver, and then the three of us took off for Portales New Mexico on Wednesday. We returned on Sunday and then had to drive down to Denver on Monday to put our daughter onto a plane home to California. Both in Pueblo and Portales, I met people who had older treadle machines that took a #20x1 needle. One was a Mason and the other a Husvennen. The Husvennen was interesting because it was a badged National machine which was sold by a Scandinavian language newspaper (The Decorah-Posten based in Decorah, Iowa). A one year subscription gave you a special discount on the sewing machine. Husvennen means “Friend of the House.” (see pictures) I did sent both owners the short explanation of how to fit a modern 15 x 1 needle in a machine that requires a 20 x 1 needle.

On the 25th I drove down to Parker and gave a short history of sewing machines and got to show off a few of my quilts to the Parker Piece Keepers Quilt Guild. I had a great time at the guild meeting everyone was quite friendly and I had several interesting conversations. It was rainy coming home Thursday night which continued through Saturday so I did not get everything brought in and put away until Sunday.

On three different occasions recently, when I have displayed some of my quilts, I have been surprised by the interest in both my Cowboy sugan and the flange binding I commonly use. I thought both the Sugan and binding were both well known.

My next quilting project is going to be a long one I am afraid. My daughter has a good friend who is an excellent quilter. About 6 or 7 years ago Cordy’s friend apparently bought a block of the month quilt kit from Craftsy (2017 Blazing Star). Unfortunately her long term partner was having some issues at this time and eventually passed. The interest in this quilt was lost and so she gave it to me. I have had it about two years now and have decided now is the time. I have been binge watching the videos on Craftsy so I will know what I should be doing. I have decided that I will at least get a start on the quilt in May.

Next week is History Fest at Centennial Village and I will be taking to mostly 4th graders about sewing machines. I also have them sign squares which I put into a small quilt. The theme for this upcoming quilt is Smokey the Bear. Smokey has been used for 80 years (since 1944) to make people aware of forest fires and how to prevent them. I was quite pleased when I found the focus fabric because I think the kids will like this theme and quilt!

My Featherweight maintenance workshops start up again on the 16th. I had quit in January so I would not have to fight bad weather but spring is here so time to get going again. I have been ordering materials so that I will have some on site and don’t have to panic ant the last minute. (Unfortunately, I always seem to forget something so there is always a small panic of some sort!)


Have a great month,

Courtney






Janey

I had a couple of sewing related events this month. I went to a shop in Denver that is called ReCreative Denver. It is a non-profit organization that according to there website "dedicated to promoting creativity, community and environmental stewardship through creative reuse & arts education." They accept donations of art supplies, including those for sewing. They had a few machines and some notions. I saw a buttonhole attachment that I hadn't seen before. I did get a few things that would fit into Singer attachment box. They had a blackside adjustable hemmer but wanted more than I wanted to pay for it.

The next day I went to visit my cousins in Loveland. They had their grandmother's machine - that had been restored - a very pretty 15 with Tiffany/Gingerbread decals . She had gotten some information from a shop that it was a 66 made in 1910. I then explained to her about the "G" serial numbers and was able to look up and it was from 1914. We were able to attach the treadle belt and I told her how to disengage the belt to put it back down in the cabinet.






In Closing

That is all for this month. We want to thank you for reading. See you next month.

OurWorkbench

While Colorado has had some rough weather, particularly Greeley which was hit with a hail storm and flash flooding yesterday, it hasn't been as bad as some of the other areas of the country. We do have a fairly light report this month.

Dianne

Dianne writes about a very nice machine that she was able to get by chance.

Singer 66 - 1922
G9352513
Motor BZ 10-8
Controller 196131

An early May trip to a mineral dealer’s open house brought us nearby the Brass Armadillo, an antique/vintage emporium in Denver. So, on a whim, husband Dan and I stopped by.
A machine was not on my radar; accessories and such were. But this machine caught our eye and she came home with us. Condition was the main reason, as the machine is excellent, with decals only rubbed where fabric slides on the bed. Side clamp feet sealed the deal. The 1950- 1960 case has some superficial water damage, but otherwise is good. We plugged the machine in at the sales counter and it ran fine. The motor and light would have been an upgrade at some point, but how this machine started out is a question. Treadle? Early electric? Hand crank?

Is there a dating list for Singer motors and/or controllers? That would be helpful.

The machine being very clean, little work was needed before trying it out. Motor greased. Machine oiled. Bobbin winder works fine. Needle turned incorrectly – odd. Tension settings perfect. Motor strong. Sews like a dream. All is well, except the light is missing its lens and flickered out. Hopefully not a big deal. Then it was noted the controller was definitely warmer than it should be after stitching just a bit. Ten minutes later, just sitting plugged in, the controller was getting hotter. Now we know why this machine ended up for sale.

Watching videos and reading about these controllers occupied a few days. The eight videos on these button controllers by AndyTube on Utube seemed the most complete and come about as close to holding your hand as possible. Electricity frightens me, and I’ve never done anything like this before.

Not wanting to trouble my busy husband, I disassembled the controller. It opened easily and looked very clean. The rubber feet looked new. Somebody had been inside this recently, it appeared. The wiring was not professional, as the wire was just split and circles formed of exposed copper. The only sign of use was some black carbon on the contacts. BUT, some parts were different from the controller in Andy’s video, most remarkably the part that is situated under the button and tightens up the carbon disks. This part was permanently attached to the base and hinged. The rest of the parts looked similar, with the addition of a glass (?) plate, and in the same position. So maybe the problem was in the ceramic piece that holds those 100+ disks. The end of it away from the button had the correct 1/8” clearance. The cement covering the screw heads was like concrete. Dan was taking a break, and used a dremel to unearth the screw heads. They are slightly damaged, but OK. The disks were spilled out, and were only slightly dusty. One had a tiny sliver gone from an edge. The disks were dusted, contacts cleaned and polished, and the ceramic unit reassembled. That part did not appear to be the cause of the heating problem. So it was time to reassemble the controller.

This did not go well. After several attempts which resulted in obvious problems, Dan happened by to see how things were going. He concurred that the way I had it, the way it had been initially, would not work. Dan had not watched any of the videos or seen the unit before it was disassembled; he was totally new to this. I explained how the disks were compressed gradually, increasing the flow of electricity until reaching a point where contact was made across two flaps and full power applied. After studying it a bit, Dan had an idea. He fiddled and put it together in a manner which was obviously not like I found it, but made sense to him and we figured either it would work…..or not.

Using a ground fault connector, we plugged it in – and it works! The adjustment isn’t quite as nice as the controller on my featherweight, but it is fine. Leaving it plugged in for hours resulted in a totally cool controller. No, normally it would not be left plugged in, but we wanted to check it out. So thanks to Dan’s ingenuity, the machine now sews nicely without undue heating of the controller, and I look forward to using it extensively. The light is the only remaining issue, needing a source for a 5/8” base small spherical bulb.






Thanh

Thanh wrote a short note about what he is looking forward to and a recent purchase.

We’re heading to Taos for an art workshop and then head to TN the following week for Shakerag workshops. I’m not doing Shakerag this year, just tagging along and working remotely.

Nothing to report except I did pick up the buttonholer. However,I was wrong about the clamp. It’s a top clamp buttonholer and not back clamp.


In Closing

Thank you for reading what we have for this month. We will post again next month.