Macybaby

the White VS2 are also not interchangeable with Singer. In fact, Singer was a rather unique looking shuttle, and shorter than most. Singer shuttles have an indentation in the middle (a waistline) so they are very easy to identify.

The White shuttle is unique in that it has a pin in the center and the bobbins are hollow. I've not gotten around to start experimenting to see if other shuttles would actually work - though the bobbin winder is designed to work with a hollow bobbin. In the early 1900's Boye examined the different shuttles companies used, and came up with 12 to cover the most common machines. I sort of take this as a good indication that a shuttle for one machine won't work in another or Boye would not have made different ones.

The Free VS machine does take the same shuttle as the Singer - however Singer made a change to it's shuttle carrier that resulted in a slight change to the shuttle - it's either downward compatible or upward (but not both) I don't' remember which way though.

Macybaby

this link is to a thread that shows all 12 of the Boye Shuttles - so you can see what the Singer and White both look like.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...e-t239625.html

Macybaby

and as to accessories - you can use any White top clamp if the machine as the top clamp part mounted to the presser bar. (if it doesn't, you can get one and put it on) They are both easy to find online (vintage, not new). but they do have to be for WHITE and there are a lot of variations out there that look similar but won't fit. If you have a set of side clamp feet - then they go with the Singer shuttle and don't fit this machine.

vdot

Thanks, SteveH. Of all the sites I've found any info on the White VS's, you seem to know the most about them. Mine seems to be a little bit of a hybrid...though original. It has the circular bobbin winder frame, and it drives via a rubber ring directly off the Hand Wheel (vs the drive belt). It has no inspection plate on the front left side, and the Serial No is not pounded into the cast housing (under the bobbin winder like others), but just stamped into the back shuttle race cover plate (behind where the presser foot lands). It has the stitch length adjuster as a brass wheel in the base down below and near the bobbin winder assembly, and the little metal plate around it is not marked (like others), but instead the brass wheel itself has numbers from 0 to 9 stamped in it.

I saw two posts on this site which you commented on (including this one) where someone appeared to have a VS-2, and mine looked similar (but with some of these differences) to both of them. Interestingly, the Serial number on mine was about mid-way between both of them, and the changes were not all kept in later model VS-2's. So it appears they were either using up parts they had left over, or they were experimenting on production models during this timeframe.

What do you think about all this?

Thanks again, Dave.

BTW - If you know anywhere I could get a shuttle, I'd really appreciate it, as without one, this unique machine is a big paperweight.

vdot

Yes ... the shuttle I was given with it has a "waistline." It seems too long to fit in the White's shuttle raceway.
Thanks for the info!
-Dave

vdot

My bobbin winder on this White is not like most I've seen. It has a full circular frame around it (vs a half-moon/bowl shaped frame), and it seems to hold the bobbins I was given (which look like Singer bobbins...ie: bobbins have a pin on each end).
The bobbin winder also runs directly off the Hand Wheel via a small wheel with a rubber doughnut (like a tire in a wheel). The "wheel"part of it looks like the normal wheel of other Whites that run the bobbin winder off the belt. But it has this solid rubber "tire" in it (roughly same diameter as the belt), and the tire aligns with outer edge of the hand wheel, not the belt.

vdot

CORRECTION (to the bobbin part of my post above only) -
I take it back. The one bobbin I was given has holes in the center at each end (plus a single small hole in the "mushroom" part of the bobbin at one end). The Bobbin winder has little pins which stick into the center holes at either end of the bobbin, and a little pin (to be able to "spin the bobbin") that fits into the small hole in the "mushroom."

Mariposa

Kudos on the great save!!

Macybaby

early Whites have the full circle winder, later ones do not. And they are easy enough to swap around, so sometimes owners did that. When you have a machine that is over 100 years old, some parts could have been interchanged at some point in time - maybe 75 years ago so it's not like they would ever look like a recent change. However the full circle should be original to your machine.

There isn't a lot of info online about those much less common early White VS machines. Most found are the "next generation" that is quite different looking - however they take the same attachments, shuttle and bobbins.

Macybaby

oh - as to shuttles, I may be able to help you if the eBay prices are too steep for you. I'll have to look as I've parted with a few already, but think I may have gotten another one in set of non- White attachments. I end up with all kinds of interesting items that come with boxes of Attachments that I'm after (including automotive points). I'm not in the business of selling, but I don't need to hang on to all the extras either.