New Old Singer Portable with bullet bobbin
#1
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Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 2
New Old Singer Portable with bullet bobbin
Hi, I'm a new member and have this crazy obsession with old sewing machines. I have a few, but I just acquired another one that has me stumped. I would appreciate any help to identify the model and hopefully get it running with a new belt. Thanks for anything you can tell me.
Sheri
Sheri
#3
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,507
refurbished or electrified sewing machines from 1930s and 1940s
Link to info on refurbished sewing machines.
Link to info on refurbished sewing machines.
#4
Welcome!
You have a model 27, authorized from the factory on Aug 13, 1901. It probably had much fancier decals then. Rebuilt machines with modernized decals were common from the 30s thru the 50s. I may have a rebuilt machine manual for that model, but I think it is by a different refurb company. I will look this evening.
K
You have a model 27, authorized from the factory on Aug 13, 1901. It probably had much fancier decals then. Rebuilt machines with modernized decals were common from the 30s thru the 50s. I may have a rebuilt machine manual for that model, but I think it is by a different refurb company. I will look this evening.
K
#5
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Victorian Sweatshop Forum
Posts: 4,096
Before the war, and I believe for some time after, Singer stores were not allowed to refurbish or re sell any machines. The employees were required by Singer to destroy all trade ins regardless of brand. Refurbs done by Singer stores were only done during the war. Most refurbs were done by sewing stores other than Singer stores.
Cari
Cari
#6
Welcome!
You have a model 27, authorized from the factory on Aug 13, 1901. It probably had much fancier decals then. Rebuilt machines with modernized decals were common from the 30s thru the 50s. I may have a rebuilt machine manual for that model, but I think it is by a different refurb company. I will look this evening.
K
You have a model 27, authorized from the factory on Aug 13, 1901. It probably had much fancier decals then. Rebuilt machines with modernized decals were common from the 30s thru the 50s. I may have a rebuilt machine manual for that model, but I think it is by a different refurb company. I will look this evening.
K
The decals like that have been available for quite a few years.
Does your manual look like http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollect...0203/index.htm except for 27 127 maybe with MIDEB somewhere on it? I think that those might have been from 1944. I thought I knew where mine was, but can't find it. I know it is missing the cover page.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
#7
I can’t find my manual either. It has a plainer white cover, and I think it is from 1943 or so. I also have the USDA sewing machine repair bulletin no. 1944.
WARNING! BORING LEGAL STUFF AHEAD!
I would guess that Sheryl’s machine was “renewed” (as it states above the SN), before 1964 (when phone numbers changed to all digits) but after Singer v. Briley in 1953, when Singer regained their trademark (they lost it in an 1896 Supreme Court case, Singer v. June). After Briley, refurbishers could use the Singer name and decals only if they also marked the machine rebuilt, by whom, stated certain modifications (like electrifying the machine), identified former treadles as such, and if they used non-Singer parts, among other things. They were also only allowed to replace the decals which the same ones they took off, not modern ones. Jones has most of the required disclosures on this 27. They cheated on the decals, though. Those look like the “trefoil” set Singer used on 15s after 1930 (there’s one on the Ismacs decal page.
We now return you to your regularly enjoyable thread.
K
WARNING! BORING LEGAL STUFF AHEAD!
I would guess that Sheryl’s machine was “renewed” (as it states above the SN), before 1964 (when phone numbers changed to all digits) but after Singer v. Briley in 1953, when Singer regained their trademark (they lost it in an 1896 Supreme Court case, Singer v. June). After Briley, refurbishers could use the Singer name and decals only if they also marked the machine rebuilt, by whom, stated certain modifications (like electrifying the machine), identified former treadles as such, and if they used non-Singer parts, among other things. They were also only allowed to replace the decals which the same ones they took off, not modern ones. Jones has most of the required disclosures on this 27. They cheated on the decals, though. Those look like the “trefoil” set Singer used on 15s after 1930 (there’s one on the Ismacs decal page.
We now return you to your regularly enjoyable thread.
K
Last edited by Treadle&Gears; 06-14-2018 at 08:55 PM. Reason: Clarity.
#8
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Victorian Sweatshop Forum
Posts: 4,096
That makes absolute sense. I had a 1916 66 that had been refurbed at some point by a place in Chicago. They put the Revco reverse on it but didn't use Singer decals I think, that machine had the ugliest decals I've ever seen. The paint job was really bad, you could see the original decals under it.
Cari
Cari
#9
And just because it hasn't been mentioned, you have a vibrating shuttle machine. Make sure you oil all the pint above and below the deck Be gentle with the shuttle that holds the bobbins. dropping them on their pointy ends can casue serious problems..
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#10
Also be careful with the flat spring (the thin metal flap covering the front of the bullet shuttle). If this is or becomes bent or bowed, the machine won’t sew right. My Household 3x has the original, but the spring is warped - probably why the previous owner thought the machine didn’t work. I use a Boye replacement and the machine sews well.
And leonf is right. Oil, oil, oil! A Singer may run months between full oilings (depending how often and hard you use it), but never let it get “dry”.
With the long bobbin machines, there should be a tiny cup with a felt or rag (the wick) in it to keep oil on the race (the curved flat track under the slide plates that the shuttle moves against). Each pass, the flat side of the shuttle spreads the oil along the race. The wick needs to be clean and kept oiled. I replaced the rotten wick on the 127 I had with a section of a red spool felt cut to fit snug and about flush ithe the top of the hole.
K
And leonf is right. Oil, oil, oil! A Singer may run months between full oilings (depending how often and hard you use it), but never let it get “dry”.
With the long bobbin machines, there should be a tiny cup with a felt or rag (the wick) in it to keep oil on the race (the curved flat track under the slide plates that the shuttle moves against). Each pass, the flat side of the shuttle spreads the oil along the race. The wick needs to be clean and kept oiled. I replaced the rotten wick on the 127 I had with a section of a red spool felt cut to fit snug and about flush ithe the top of the hole.
K
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