Basic Sewing Machine Base Tutorial
 

I mentioned I wanted to to a tutorial on assembling a base for a sewing machine that just about anyone could build with simple tools.
I'm not quite sure I achieved that goal. A tablesaw makes much of the cutting MUCH simpler though all the cuts I made can be done with hand tools.
I'm going to do this in three parts due to the amount of steps and pictures involved.
Here's what I came up with for a Singer 99 I have that needs a base.

Tools Needed.
Paper and Pencil
Sturdy work surface
Square
Ruler or Tape Measure
A saw. A table saw is preferred but you can get by with a chop saw, skil saw, jigsaw, hand saw or some combination of the above.
Hammer
Drill and Drill bits. If you're using Singer cabinet hinges like I did you'll need a flat bottomed bit 1 1/8" diameter and a tiny bit for predrilling your nail holes.
Wood Clamps
Chisels- I uses a narrow 1/4" chisel and a wider one
Sandpaper(could be put in materials)
A quick pic of at least most of the tools I used.
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Material needed:
Sewing Machine: You need to measure your sewing machine to get the right dimensions for your base. One size does not fit all.
Sewing Machine Hinges (optional): You don't need to make a base with hinges, The base gets simpler if the machine just drops into it. I chose to make mine with them. Different machines, different hinges, make your base to accommodate what you have.
8 ft 1x4 board (you won't use all of it) I used a hemlock trim board due to it was straight grained and had no knots. I also wanted something that should be in most hardware stores for the demo. Any species will work including cheap pine. Get the straightest one you can.

Small piece of thin plywood for the bottom. I used some 1/4" shop grade fir I had laying around. Again any species will work, or you can use masonite if you prefer. It can be any thickness you want.

Nails. 4d finish nails are about right for putting the sides together.

Brads. Brads are small (tiny) nails for nailing the bottom board on.

Wood Glue. Elmers white glue will do in a pinch. It's almost as strong but isn't water resistant like most
modern wood glues.

I think that's it for tools and materials. Now to get started.

Step 1: Make a measured drawing for your base. This is probably the toughest and most critical part.
I made my base so the machine is secured in the back by the hinges and sits on a recessed lip
in the front like on Singer sewing machine cabinets. I don't own any vintage cases to look at.
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Step 2: Cut 2 end boards to length. In my case it worked out to 8 1/8" long.
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I made the first cut with a handsaw to show it can be done this way. I admit I used my tablesaw for most cuts though.

Step 3: Cut your front and back boards to length. My board was 3/4" thick. I made my front and back
boards the length of the machine plus twice the thickness of my end boards for a total of
13 5/8" each.
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You should have 4 boards like this when you're done.

Step 4 (optional): Rip your boards down to what you want the finished depth of the case to be. In my
case I chose 2 3/4". I needed at least 2 1/2" below the machine to clear the moving
parts. You can leave the board full width if you choose too. No pics of this step.

Step 5: Cut your plywood to the finished size of your base. It worked out to 13 5/8 x 8 7/8" for mine.
You can also leave it just a tiny bit oversized and trim or sand to fit after the box is assembled
you like.
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I think this is a good stopping point for the first section.
Rodney

Part 2: We're at the point where we need to make everything fit together.
I designed this box using pinned half lap joints for a good combination of strength and simplicity. It's
certainly not the only way to put a box together but is strong and much simpler than a box joint to make.

Step 6: We need notches cut in the ends of the front and back boards cut to the thickness of your end boards by
1/2 the thickness. In this case 3/4"x 3/8".
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You can do it by hand as shown or use a tablesaw like I did for the rest of them.

Step 7: Label your front and back boards. They're different from here on.

Step8: Cut a notch in the inside top of your back board along its length 3/8" wide by 3/4" deep for your hinge support
board to sit in. Omit this step if you're not using hinges.
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I forgot to take a picture of the finished notch.

Step 9: Cut a notch in the top inside edge of your front board along it's length 1/8" deep by 1/4" wide. Your
machine's front will sit in this notch when the box is done.
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Step 10: Assemble the sides. PREDRILL YOUR NAIL HOLES! If you don't you run a real risk of splitting your boards.
Make sure the tops of your front and back boards are at the top. Glue each joint. Put 1 nail in each end
of the end boards at a very slight angle toward the center of your front and back boards.
Put 2 nails in at each corner from the front and back boards into the end boards. You should end up with 3 nails at each joint, 2 from the front or back and 1 from the side. This effectively locks the joint in place.
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Step 11: Glue and nail the bottom on. I used brass brads about 5/8" long on mine. They're small enough that no
predrilling is necessary.
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Step 12: Cut and install your hinge support board. Mine ended up at 1 3/8" wide by 12 7/8" long. Glue the notch in
back board that it sits in and the ends of the board. Nail thru the side boards into the ends of the support
board for added support.
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The above picture shows the nail in the end of the hinge support board and the nail in the end of the side into the back board.
I also nailed the support board to the back board from the back. Be careful not to nail into the area where your hinges will be like I almost did.
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This is a good stopping point for Part 2. The basic box is assembled and we just have a few details to finish it.
Rodney

Part 3: When we finished part 2 we had the basic box assembled at Step 12. On to the next step.

Step 13: Use a nail set to set all your nails below the surface. It just looks better.
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Step 14: Measure and mark carefully the location of your hinges.
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Step 15: Drill the holes for your hinges to the depth of the hinges. The Singer cabinet hinges I'm using are 1 1/8" diameter. The only bit I had that would work was an adjustable auger bit for an old hand brace. Even though I was as careful as possible I still had a little tear out next to the hole that I had to glue back down.
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Step 16: Using a narrow chisel cut out the slots for the hinge pins. Sorry, no picture for this step.

Step 17: If you're like me not all your joints are perfect. Trim or sand off the excess wood.
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Step 18: Fill the nail holes and sand the whole box. I haven't done this yet, but will.

You're basically done. All that is left is to finish the box to your liking. You can leave it natural, varnish or paint it, or cover it with whatever you like. I'm leaving that up to you.
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I hope this tutorial makes sense and that I haven't left out some important detail. Mostly though this isn't rocket science and I hope it encourages you to make your own.
Rodney

I just went in and had a second look at all the posts together. Some of it is harder to read than I intended due to where I hit the enter key. I apologize but it looks like it's past the time limit to edit out the typos that I missed.
Rodney

Very nicely done! Great job, and Thanks

Thanks Rodney. I will let my DH have a look at it. He is the woodworker. Great tutorial.

Nice job Rodney the only thing I would do differently is to rout out the bottom so the bottom would not show. It would then sit flush inside the frame. Great job on the tutorial.Skip

Very nice tutorial. All your pictures came up!!!

Thanks for the efforts to post all that. I'm not sure I'll ever tackle it, but it's nice to know I could:>

great info,thank you

Thanks Glenn and everyone else for your kind words.
I thought of it and did just that on the one I built for my daughter but in the interest of keeping things simple decided to just nail the bottom on for this one. Cutting out the rabbets that were necessary for even this simple box can be challenging without the right tools. They can be done with nothing more than a hammer and chisel but are much easier with a tablesaw or router.
I debated whether I should build this box with hinges or an even simpler box that the machine just drops in. In the end I decided that though it was more difficult it was worth the extra steps to show people how to install the hinges.

This base was intended to be only a base, it's good for machines intended for display or machines fitted with a hand crank. If you want a lid you would need to make the base longer on the wheel side to clear the wheel. That would give you the extra compartment for the electrical box that you see on many vintage machines. I decided to keep things as simple as I could and still end up with a decent looking functional base so I designed the base without it. There seems to be a lot more machines floating around than there are bases or cases to go with them and I hope this helps people to decide those machines are worth saving too.

I strive for perfection but never quite reach it. This box is full of flaws. I think though that it meets it's goal of showing people that they can do something like this for themselves if they want to.

I do have a question. I've been looking on the internet trying to find suitable coverings to give a vintage look like the original boxes used from the 40s until plastic took over. So far I'm drawing a blank. Any ideas out there?
Rodney

Rodney, your tutorial is so good any one will be able to make a base for any machine. We all strive for perfection but we never make it. :o I am also looking for a suitable covering for the tops but never found any I like. I did find some once in automotive upolstry fabric that was thin enough and looked like the old stuff. I have been known to use course canvas and then varnish the heck out of it and it looked really good on the case. You can always paint it in the appropriate color before shellacing or varnishing. Just a thought but it does work.

This is impressive! Excellent work and terrific tute!

You Rock Rodney ! ! !

The machine I learned on might have been an old 27 - for sure it was a hand crank. It has been just shy of 60 years. I also remember it was mounted on a couple 2X4s and then set on one of those old school desks that went in rows. The seat was in front but I stood behind there and hand cranked it. Then awhile back I picked up an old 27 mounted on 2X6s. Goes to show about anything is vintage appropriate... They improvised as needed, too. Maybe some old Yankee ingenuity was handed down to us.

nice job on it!

Nice Job! I have a 99 that I need to remount so this couldn't have come at a better time! Thanks for the legwork!

Canvas or fabric then paint or shellac isn't a bad idea. That might be the direction I end up going. It might be pretty close to what was done originally in some cases too.

Times change and it seems that the original covering materials used for vintage cases have gone the way of the dodo bird. I'm sure there's someone somewhere sitting on a pile of the stuff but I can't find them. I tried searching suitcase restoration and drew a blank there too.

Most of what I've seen in the way of fake leather and alligator have been too thick. I don't think they would be appropriate, not to mention it would be difficult to get the corners right on them. From what I've seen (not much I admit) the original covers were thin.
I need to see (and feel) some in person but there are some wallpapers out there that look like they come pretty close on the computer screen. Next time I'm somewhere that sells a selection I'll take a look at the samples.

This does bring up another issue. If you plan on adding a covering to the outside of the case allow for the thickness of whatever you use. The hinges on mine are a really close fit and may not want to seat in the holes properly if I add a covering.
Rodney

Miriam, like minds... this should be under "the machine I fiddles with today" well actually this weekend. Here is my version of a quick and easy base, will fit most old machines with a slight modification. Will post more later, also my own version of your necker nob, cuz I didn't want Corvette crossed flags on mine, (all they had)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]483051[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]483052[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]483053[/ATTACH] I have too many treadle heads, and too little time for fancy cabinetry right now. More later if there's any interest

This is what I was going to suggest. The "fabric" bonding agent on my old Riccar cover even smelled like old wallpaper paste...

Great job on this tute Rodney!! Thanks for taking the time to do lots of pics too. :)

One relatively pricey, but authentic covering is Tolex, like vinyl used to cover guitar amp cases. You can find is st PartsExpress. And other places.

Thanks Jim, I didn't even think about instrument cases.
I just took a quick look at Tolex. Some of it looks really close on the computer. The prices didn't seem too bad compared to other materials. On the site I looked at I saw it from about $6/yd and up. Average was around $12-15/yd. I've seen batiks sell for the same.

I think your base shows a difference in working styles. I work mainly with wood so I think in terms of wood. You do a lot more with metal than I do so you tend to think about and use those materials more. It looks like a nice functional base and no difficult cuts or assembly required. I know some of the antique machines had really neat undersides. Something like that would be a good way to show that off too.
That Defiance is a pretty machine.
Can you take your spinner knob apart and show all of us what you used? I think there are plenty of people here who would like to see it.
Rodney

Top notch job-anyone with simple tools should be able to complete this base as a weekend project!

Rodney in Ponchatoula,La

I will try and start a thread tonite w more detail, both for the "Miriam" style hc, the modular one size fits most, test base, as well as the hand crank from grinder/sharpener and the solar panel setup for demoing macines away from power...

I enjoy woodworking, just can't find room!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/chaekye6g5...2011.19.48.jpg

Looks like a really fun game of I Spy there.
My Singer 27 treadle is upside down on my workbench right now awaiting restoration. 1/2 my usable workspace is being eaten by that at the moment. I'm waiting to buy the veneer it needs before I get started for real. Meanwhile I'm working around it as best as I can.
Rodney

That looks better than my living room, Jim...

Okay, I'm going to put some things on another thread, so as to not further hijack Rodney's great tutoria. My post is going to be "Rube Goldberg solutions to problems of Minor Consequence"

That's a great job you did! I think it was 2 summers ago now, I made some boxes based on the dimensions of the existing case bottoms. I just used plywood offcuts and I think it was a ripped 2x4 for where the hinges mounted. I don't throw anything out, so somewhere around here I'll have written dimensions of the original cases if anyone wants them. For the bottom, I ended up putting a piece of plywood on, then using the belt sander to "round" the edges a little so that the bottom didn't transition as noticeably from the vertical pieces as it otherwise would have. It was a hack job, but for a gal who's never taken shop or anything, and learns by the seat of her pants, I was thrilled when the bases didn't self destruct in 2 years and counting. :D

Thanks Tammi. Can you post a picture of yours? It would be one more idea for people to use.
Rodney

Hey Rodney, I really didn't forget about this - life got in the way. Our roof sprung a leak all over my office wall last Thursday and I've been in panic roofing mode since. We're almost half done, but it's raining today, so I have time to take and post pics. ;)

Let's see how much I can remember about these boxes.

The "cushions" for the machines are just pieces of the 2x2 antifatigue mats you can buy everywhere.

I bought forstner bits for this but I don't recall atm what size I used for the small ones, I can measure though, or check the garage to see which bits have the pretty knocked off them.

I started out with the plastic pieces (you can see one on the smaller box) to secure the machines, but they snap too easily. I had one snap while the machine was in it, luckily I was using the hinges that day, so it just flopped down instead of hitting me.

The larger box is the dimensions of the common case you see some Singers in but more often a clone. It's the same size because I was going to replace a really hammered one that I had here with my 15-91 in it but I ended up selling the 15-91 instead.

The smaller box is a representation of the lemongrass and burgundy Singer boxes.

Originally, I'd thought I'd use these mostly to help service the loose heads, but I realised that when I tilted them back, the case would bite me, so I started leaving the machines loose on my turntable instead.

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ETA: Tools used would have been Hammer, el cheapo Black and Decker belt sander, table saw, chop saw (for the machine supports), forstner bits and a drill.

Those cases are nicely done. If you covered them with an appropriate material they would look original.
The corner blocks are a nice way to get around more complicated joints and give the plywood a lot more strength than otherwise too. The rubber pads for the corners are a nice touch.
Rodney

Thanks Rodney. I can't really take any credit for the design though. I had 2 rough cases that I was able to reverse engineer without disassembling and copy them pretty much as they were. They were really a proof of concept. I think if I were to make another one, it would be out of lumber, like the ones you made. These are nice for utility work, but most of my need for cases these days is for display.

I have photos of having glued and clamped these boxes. Then I nailed them together once the glue was dry. I was briefly looking for Tolex for exactly the reason you mention. The corner blocks let me get around some of the inaccuracy of my gluing job, and act as a support at the same time. ;)

here's another blog/tutorial i found online on SINGER SEWING MACHINE WOOD BASE .

Those are some nice bases. I love the idea of the mirror clip and heatshrink for the hold down.
Rodney

they are. i am also in the process of making a base for my 15-88 and i will combine all these ideas - from your tutorial and others. thanks for the tips.

I use the clips from Lowes that are used for storm window screens. they come in brown or gray but when I needed some they only this gray[ATTACH=CONFIG]486386[/ATTACH]