Can you please explain "Clones?"
 

I am new to this vintage sewing machine addiction, but have caught it good!

I keep coming across the term "clone" here and am trying to figure it out. I would have thought a clone was not a good thing, but it appears they are good, as there are many beautiful ones posted. A lot of these do not look like their "original" ones, like the 15s I have been looking at here. What makes a clone, and what makes it good or not?

SD,

The term "clone" as used here refers to the Japanese, and sometimes Chinese and Indian made copies of the Singer Model 15 machines. After WWII Singer's patents on the model 15 had expired and when our government relaxed tariff laws so our former enemies could rebuild there economies at our expense, the Japanese used the Singer 15 as a pattern and went on to embellish it. Many of them were made in colors whereas Singer only made the original style of 15s in black. Other minor changes such as the bed mounted knob to lower the feed dogs were incorporated.
Some machines are not exact duplicates of the Singer 15 but share enough characteristics to be considered clones.
What makes one clone better than the other is up to conjecture. I have a bunch of them and they are all good.
They Japanese made them by the millions for anybody and everybody.

If you look at my avatar pic, that is a JUKI made, HOTHER badged 15 clone. It is one of the best. It's been in my family for as long as I can remember and I'm 61. It was my mom's machine for many many years.

Machines like some of the Free Westinghouse and others that have the top tension on the left face plate and the stitch length lever on the front of the pillar are sometimes mistakenly called clones. They are not as they were of different designs and were contemporaries of the Singer model 15s. At the time they were made Singer still owned the patents on the 15 and would have sued their pants off had they made them like the Japanese did after WW II.

I hope this helps a bit.

Joe

or you can read through this THREAD

That is a good thread to read all the way through.

Thank you, Joe.

The thread "Will the REAL 15 clone please stand up" is what I was reading that got me even more puzzled because of the variety of appearance. I only got partway through yesterday, and will continue on to see if there is more explanation there.

Apparently someone new like me would need to see the insides of the machines and know the years/location (Japan) of manufacture to know it was a clone of the 15 and not a lesser machine design?

I'll keep reading, now... :)

SD,

Singer changed the 15 somewhere in the 50s or 60s to a more modern design. So any Japanese machine that is patterned after that is still considered a clone.

There is also clones of the 66 / 201s and the 99s.

Here is a traditional black clone:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]473854[/ATTACH]
This is my Commadore

Here is a really pretty clone:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]473857[/ATTACH]
This is an Ambassador

Here is a different shaped clone:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]473862[/ATTACH]
This is my Coronado Princess, sold by the old Gambles Dept Store

Here is a couple non 15 clones:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]473864[/ATTACH]
This is my SEWMOR 404. It's a clone of the Singer 66 with a bit of 201 in the mix.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]473865[/ATTACH]
This is my SEWMOR 303. It's a Xerox clone of the 20s vintage Singer 99K-10 aluminum machine.

So, there are tons of clones out there. They are a fun way to collect different machines.

Joe

On the first page there is an explanation and a few links - you may need to read the links if you don't understand:
Here are a couple good articles on the Clones if you would like more information.
http://blog.sew-classic.com/2008/12/...-15-clone.aspx
http://sewing-machines.blogspot.com/...s-and-60s.html
After working on many many 15 clones they are all pretty much alike on the inside but not totally. There are slightly different bobbin race holders. The tension is on the side rather than on the front. The tensions may vary wildly. They are still always on the side. There are some older model machines that have tensions on the side front but the 15s are on the side toward the back. The bobbin is always accessed from the side, too. There are other type clones but that is a different discussion. As far as years of manufacture, the clones mainly are after WWII. The Singer 15s are mainly before that.

Joe there are other 66 clones. I think some are sort of half 15 and half 201 clones. Then there are long bobbin clones. Just to keep it clean lets just try to clear up the Singer 15 clones.

Thank you so much for the photos and further info. I had no idea of the variety of vintage machines, or of how much there is to learn!

The pictures of the machines are beautiful too. The Japanese made some fantastic chromed atomic stuff in the 1950s and some of the 15 clones are just dripping with it (if you like that sort of thing which I obviously do)