AngeliaNR

I love reading this forum, but I never planned to enter the vintage machine fray myself. The best laid plans...

I have been given a machine. It doesn't work, it was free, so I figure, "What damage could I do?"

I am having some trouble finding info, but I'm still plugging away (searching "free" as in the Free company, is problematic--I keep getting "free" as in no cost!).

I will post pictures as soon as she agrees to a photo shoot. For now, she was manufactured by Free, electrified by Westinghouse, and badged "The Lark." I have a number from a plate, but I don't know if it is model or serial. I'd like to get her working and maybe mount her as a treadle--I'm no electrician!

Thanks for all the info here--I'm so looking forward to cleaning her up.

quiltingcandy

Sounds like you got bitten by the Vintage bug, just know that if you scratch, the collection will spread from room to room.

bkay

If I had a really old machine, I'd consider posting to the victorian sweatshop forum. They are really good with the old stuff.

bkay

OurWorkbench

Boy, do I understand about searching for info that has kind of a double meaning.
Here are a couple searches that are site specific about the sewing machine.
for quiltingboard <hot link
for needlebar <hot link
There are quite a few results on the above links, a lot to wade through, but at least they are mainly about "Free" & "Westinghouse"

and then here are a couple at ismacs specifically for Free
http://ismacs.net/free/manuals/freevs-c-e-ce-manual.pdf
http://ismacs.net/free/home.html

The stickey about cleaning
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...v-t167789.html basically is wiping with cotton balls and sewing machine oil. Some patience may be needed to get it going again, but cleaning and oiling is a good start.

I did see that "Lark" was a badged name for both Free and Davis on Needlebar. I didn't see with a quick glance through the search results for pictures of the Free Lark.
Have fun getting your machine going again.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

AngeliaNR

My cousin just found a manual! Yay! We aren't sure just who this belonged to or when--I feel like Miss Marple!

AngeliaNR

Thanks so much. I'm in new territory here. (And if I stutter, it's the *blessed* autocorrect.)

AngeliaNR

I know--one more virus I REALLY don't need! But, she is so pretty!

jlhmnj

Sounds like you have something close to this by Free:

https://offerupnow.com/item/detail/1...g-machine-Lark

I have a Waltham M that is the same model and is missing it's shuttle. If you could take a pic of the shuttle when you get around to taking pics I'd be grateful.

Jon

Watson58

I 'obtained' a Free sewing machine last year from friends. It's ser is 890292. Apparently I also didn't find much info on it as I tagged it as pre 1930, long shuttle and peacock decals. It was a nice addition to my collection.

Watson58

I see we are both in SW MO.