Kenmore Rotary Machine circa 1950's

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09-26-2013, 06:17 PM

nappyquilts1

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Kenmore Rotary Machine circa 1950's

I have Kenmore rotary machine, as the title states, very, very heavy duty with a straight stitch. I thought about using it to complete my very first quilt since it's in a cabinet I have limited space at the moment. The problem I ran into was trying to find attachments, such as quilting feet, for the machine. I tried ebay and a few other website but they only had the ones that I already have. I have a Kenmore 148 vintage machine which is also heavy duty so I figure I don't need two. I'm wondering if it's possible to swap the two and put the 148 in the cabinet. Although I think the rotary has a motor that is separate from the machine, as well as a knee lift. If i can't swap it, are people in the market for the machines? I just don't have the time to search high and low for the right attachments at this point. It's a very nice straight stich machine, but I'm wondering what would I need it for since I have another Kenmore HD and a Brother NX 600. Any thoughts?

09-27-2013, 11:14 AM

miriam

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Is that one of those creapy godzilla machines? Use it in your haunted house.

09-27-2013, 01:44 PM

Macybaby

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Kenmore did come out with some rather strange machines . . . not sure if I'd say they were "creapy" though - but maybe . . .

As to swapping them in the cabinet - since you've got them both - just give them both a good look and see if they will fit. I know a lot of the older machines had the same base size - however if you actually have an industrial machine, then all bets are off.

However I don't think Kenmore sold any industrial machines (they didn't make any machines, just put their name on someone else's), they were just heavy, and cumbersome looking - but not any more "heavy duty" than anybody else's at the time.

It's just that new machines have a tendency to be wimps in comparison - which is one reason we love the older machines!

Also, unless you have a very rare Kenmore, you don't have to search high and low - there are tons of them on Ebay at any given time, and you can get them rather cheaply if you watch for sellers that don't think theirs have gold in the middle.