MeganMills

Yes - it is very similar to the top 5. I'm going there today so will take a couple of decent pictures. Including the dilemma I've got on how to get the machine out. The front slide plate is not all the way in - someone tried to put it but has only one side in under the "groove" for it in the bed so it is jammed. Unfortunately if I tried to pull it out in the treadle table it would gouge the wood. And I can see where someone else has already tried to do that (unless they marred the wood trying to put it in!). At any rate, I want to give it a basic clean and get the shuttle out to make sure it isn't deteriorating. It would be very nice to have the instructions for operating it. The other two machines in the sewing room have their manuals but this one only has the catalogue. I'll try to attach a pic now just to give a general idea - it's the one on the left but if anyone can ID it from this they deserve a medal!

MeganMills

Hopefully this little lot will help with a better ID and some idea of where I might find the appropriate catalogue. I took a guess at the threading and it looks like a knob of some sort is missing for adjusting stitch length. It could be in one of the drawers or somewhere else in the Sewing Room. If I know what it looks like I might be able to arrange a Family Reunion for it. :-)
Hmmm... the files are all well under 5MB and they're jpg files. But whichever one I try the upload fails. I'll do a bit of research in the threads and see if I can figure out why. Sorry.

MeganMills

Okay - tried again after reading FAQ but still no joy. So I'm going to see if I can share them with you all instead.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...u_?usp=sharing

With a bit of luck that will do the trick. :-)

OurWorkbench

It looks like it is a National VB-TT Type 4. It would take a 20x1 needle, but many have used 15x1 by dropping it a bit. https://www.ebay.com/str/Jacks-SM-Repair?_bkw=20x1

The picture file size needs to be smaller than 2MB, even though it says otherwise.

It looks like there are two paper products. Is the second one for attachments? It sure looks like the larger one would be an instruction manual.

I haven't seen any manuals for the top leaf tension machines. Probably there are some out there, somewhere.

Sewing machine oil is your friend when it comes to these antiques - Not 3-in-1 oil.

At least the front slide is there. Many times they end up missing.

In order to post pictures on Quilting Board, you will probably need to reduce or compress the picture to a file size that is smaller than 2MB. How to post images can be found at https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...020-01-17-.pdf
Don't forget to scroll over to the far right to find and click on the "Upload" button.

I have found that only the big red "Reply" button or "Quote" work to give me the paper clip icon to work for adding pictures.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...p-location.jpg

Some additional info regarding reducing images at post #4 and images for the scroll and upload button can be found at #5 of quilt block ID?

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Not affiliated with off-site link(s)

MeganMills

Janey - You are neat people. Very neat people! Thank you so much for all that info. I'll be sure if I want to post an image right in a thread from now on to make sure it is under 2MB.

The second document is the instructions on how to use a needle-threader. I think it was a Singer one but I'm not sure. The three machines in Sewing Room are that Belvidere, a Bonita and a Unity (that's the hand-crank). I was so excited when I first saw that green "manual" but on looking inside saw it was a catalogue of all the various cabinet styles etc you could get.

I can't remember if it had other Belvidere machine models in it as well but certainly it had no instructions at all. Luckily there are some 20x1 needles in the Sewing Room (quite a few of them) and, happily, that's what I put in the machine when I wanted to thread her up.

All the info you've provided is wonderful - thank you. Having a look at the treadle table it's in, do you know how I'd get the machine out? Are there, for example, likely to be grub screws like there are on the Singer, or is there something special about it? That threaded metal screw/bolt end sticking up from the front of the bed at the sewing end looks so wrong to me. It would catch on your work when you sew.

I agree about 3-in-1 too, if I want to loosen things up I use deodorized kerosene and if I want something to penetrate I use Kroil. (I'd love to try Blue Creeper but can't find it in New Zealand or any overseas seller who will ship it here. <<sigh>> I've heard it's a miracle worker) Aside from I only use pure, high quality sewing machine oil. (Except on gears that need grease, and I'm just as fussy about that. I can't Tri-Flow here - so I use grease from The Featherweight Shop. :-)

Well - that's enough of my burble. Now that I know just what machine it is I'll see if I can find anything useful online in terms of manuals or instructions. It makes a huge difference just properly knowing what to search for.

leonf

love your expression "triple-pronged tiara" Sonds much better than leaf tension assembly.

Does yours have this button on the base? If so if you push it down it may release a latch from the treadle.It will allow you to tilt teh machine back on the hinges. That will let you see if you have a shuttle, give you better access to your stuck slide,and give you access to the two set screws that should be holding the head to the hinges.
hmmm attachment is acting up. I will try the pic later.

leonf

yea I got it. oops I see your button is closer to your needle.

MeganMills

Thank you Leonf. Aah - so that thing that's closer to the needle that looks like it has threads on it - was that a button and it has perhaps lost a "smooth cap" that screwed on to it? If so I shall try pressing it down and tilting-back. That would be lovely if it is and does - that misaligned slide plate drives me batty every time I look at it. Why oh why would someone try to force it in when it isn't even lying flat in its channel? (The left side of the slide is "down", the right side is "up"! I would dearly love to just be able to lift it up some more and out to that right side but while it is "up" it is firmly "down" on the Japanning of the bed and I don't want to risk damaging the finish.)

Yes - the first time I saw the machines (the Bonita has that arrangement on top as well but you can't see that in any pics I've posted) I thought they must be regal females to be wearing tiaras like that.

leonf

ahhh , if it has threads, just unscrew it with your fingers and it should release for the tilt.


I have several tiara machines. Trying really hard not to buy another one this week. And it has a regal name. New England Queen. Maybe it's destiny, right?

MeganMills

Thank you Leonf. I'll (carefully) give it a try next time I'm there and see what happens. I'll let you if there are any exciting developments. (Hopefully of the happy kind...)

How has your resistance been doing? Has the call of destiny proved irresistible? :-)