Bradford from aprox.1968
 

I have just received back my Bradford sewing machine from the year 1968. the only info. I am able to find on the machine is as follows: molded into the underside of the bed is J C 23 . On a small plaque is: 00063649. there is some type of number on the motor but I think that pertains only to the motor. It was sold by the W. T. Grant co. and is probably made by Brother. It has cams and therefore does zigzag. It is 100% metal on the inside working parts but the outer shell is plastic. Can anyone suggest a site where I can find an instruction manual or any info. at all? It has been a lot of years since I have used it. Thanks for any help you can give. Topstitch

Sorry I can't help, just wanted you to know someone is reading your message! I've never even heard of a Bradford, sadly.

I'm not sure if JC23 is the same thing as a JA number. If it is, it might help you identify who made your machine. The plastic outside is a bit unusual. Most machines from that period were metal. Can you post a picture? Many times we may not know a particular brand but will recognize the machine itself. SewUSA carries a lot of manuals, they may have one that works even if it doesn't say "Bradford" on it.
.http://www.sewusa.com/Sewing_Machine...on_Manuals.htm
Rodney

I have found the model #. It is 1671 and is made in Japan. Also most of the body of the machine is metal with plastic used on both the door to the needle assembly and the cam department. I checked out the sewusa site and did not find anything even close to my machine. This machine has a screwlike/lever thingy that adjusts stitch lengths. I looked at all of the Brother machines listed under "manuals" and nothing came close. There was only one machine listed that had the lever in the same position as mine.

topstitch,

J-C - 23 indicates it was made by Toyota.

I have no idea where to get a manual for it. Wish I could help there. If you could post a picture or three we most likely could help.

Joe

I asked a friend to let me "study" her vintage Kenmore and found it to be very similar to my Bradford. really is reasonable when you consider both machines came from two of the biggest box stores of the day. My problems concerning the Bradford are solved. I will shortly be posting a question concerning another vintage machine, however. Thanks for trying to help me I would have loved to send pictures but have never been able to send pictures of this site.

Sometimes with badged machines when you need a manual looking at pics helps more than trying to find one by name. Bradford is indeed a Brother badge, I'm not saying another manufacturer couldn't have built it but every Bradford I've seen have been Brothers. I need to see a pic of it to tell you for sure. If you pm me I'll send you my email address and you can email a pic to me.

Cari

Same!!!
 

Did you figure out what model it is?! Mine has exact same markings and I cannot find it anywhere online! What did you find out? Thank you!

Cari doesn't post here anymore, as she has been banned. She's pretty much "the" Brother expert. If it's a Brother, you should be able to go to one of the big manual sites and look at photos until you find one that matches your machine.
bkay

We like pictures. In order to post pictures on Quilting Board, you will probably need to reduce or compress the picture to a file size that is smaller than 2MB. How to post images can be found at https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...020-01-17-.pdf
Don't forget to scroll over to the far right to find and click on the "Upload" button.

Since Bradford is the 'brand' sold by Grants, it is a "badged" machine so many other names could be on the basic same machine. Also there are probably many different machines with the same name that are not anything like your machine. One place I have looked for Japanese badged machines are
http://www.sewusa.com/Sewing_Machine...g_Machines.htm
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...s-t207880.html
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...s-t207877.html

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