I haven't been looking many for years, but I see one about every month, for over two years now. I haven't studied them all that closely but I would have noticed a missing plate. The 1955 machine is an aluminum bodied? They don't have them. I haven't seen them all, and I don't know all the variations from 1928 to about 1954. Maybe they kept on the production of cast iron longer in the US?

Hi all, thank you for clearing up that stuff. The manual has pictures of one with the spool pin plate and one without, I would think maybe they wouldn't have a pic of one without if none came that way, but who knows for sure, just my assumption. It will work fine without it. I have only seen 1/2 dozen or so live 201s and they "all" had that plate on there, not much to go buy,eh? We have a couple of the aluminum ones, tan, so am glad they are made the same, I had wondered why they were so different looking. They changed and mixed up so much stuff, you guys must have brains like traps as you can keep that all in your head. You are so helpful. When I get it cleaned up for a pic I will post one. Needs dusted and oiled!

So my 201-3, Helen, was made in the UK. It was purchased new in 1951 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada when I was 5. It was my Grandmother Helens machine and my mother used it for years.

If an original Singer manual shows a cast iron version with out the spool plate there have to be some with out. I like the plate, it protects the paint, chrome is very hard. My 99 has a bit of wear after years of missing a spool felt.

Cast iron, serial #AM201327 9-9-1955.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]533127[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]533128[/ATTACH]
Forgive Elizabeths' smudgy finish, she's long overdue for another spa date but it will have to wait until my shop gets built early next year.

Cari

Your machine looks very nice Cari, I have to go for one with a potted motor next time I see one at the right price. Yours has two round metal bits, are both for spool pins? I haven't seen that before. The ones with the plate have a molded edge in the cast iron, making it totally flat for the plate to go on. There's three holes in mine, two are oil point and the one in the middle is for the spol pin. Maybe thats' the way to tell if a machine is missing the plate or was made differently?

Here is mine [ATTACH=CONFIG]533130[/ATTACH] it has the plate, and white cord (arghh). I am going to replace it with black as soon as I find the right size, maybe woven. The new white cord is the right width, but way to stiff too. I have to refinish the top of the table, the legs and drawers are much better condition. It has the more clunky looking spoked wheel, I think it was electrical from the start, never treadled. It runs very smootly and nice.

I like your spool pin set up. If the spoked wheel is original to the machine it probably was a treadle. Yours has the earlier decals than mine. There's been several discussions about the spool pin plate yours has on other groups over the years and lots of people have shown pics of theirs that look like mine, most are after 1952 or so.
I found Elizabeth in an ugly blond economy cabinet which has since been stripped of hardware to fix another cabinet. Elizabeth now resides in the cabinet I got my 404 in and it needs refinished and one side glued back on. It has the cool hidden drawer in the left side of it and has a knee lever which I love to use.

Cari

The U.S. factory never made aluminium 201s, they were only ever made in Scotland (the K factory)

I haven't decided on the transverse spool pin yet, I got it because I had trouble with the tread sort of twisting it's self while it unwounded from the spool when sewing. It was suppose to help with it, maybe it does, it keeps the spool in place at least. lt's a gnarly subject I haven't been able to make sense of, and it involves horizontal versus vertical spool pin, cross wound versus straight wound thread, and which way the spool unwounds (wich way it is put on the pin). I just live with it now either way.

My machine is a 1950 201K. I initially thought it had been a treadle too, but the owner said it always had been electrical. The table it's in is a sort of table that could have been fitted with a threadle, but there is no trace on it that should be there had the treadle parts ever been fitted. Not sure what has happened to this machine, it's in good cosmetic condition, not much wear. I like the electrical setup, works nicely, just needs a bit of attention on the wiring. I have a new lamp for it with a better switch, the old one can act up a bit.

I like some of the blond cabinets, but they often turn very yellow with age and need to be redone with a clear gloss
finish. These days I think there are wood treatments to prevent yellowing and darkening with age. Dark woods tend to fade with age, there is always something ;)