Help identifying vintage singer model
 

Hello All,
I am new to the boards. I have become interested in sewing and quilting and was just gifted a vintage singer that my roommate found at and estate sale. It appears to be in pristine condition, there are hardly even any scratches on it! it came inlaid into in the portable (heavy) box. I have made an appointment to have it serviced, but I would like to be a little more ‘smart’ about my machine before I hit the doorstops of the service center. I believe it is a 1948 15-91 or 15-90. It does not have a belt looping down on the right side of the machine, it appears to be electric, but gear driven. Starts with JC for the serial number. I cannot see the underneath, as it is inlaid into the storage box. It has the gold seal on the front, and made in Canada across the top of the machine- the lettering is still bold and bright, as is most of the gold paint on it. I will attempt to upload a picture, and hopefully you may be able to help.

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You are right, it is a 15-91. Wonderful sewing machine. I have 2!:)

yes, a 15-91 as it has the potted motor. remember that service charge will run you $60-120. all you need to do is to oil it, clean out the dirt and you're good. the hard part about this potted motor is the wirings. if you think or see that the wirings to the motor, power, light, foot pedal are all good i don't think you need it serviced. here's the 15-91 MANUAL . read this first as it has all the maintenance you can do yourself like oiling. and here's the ADJUSTER's MANUAL . that's a nice machine. congrats. AND WELCOME TO THIS FORUM.

Thank you for your quick reply! I can’t wait to try it out! :-) Are there any quirks, I should know about? It was quite cold last night, so we just looked at it (just from the car ride it got super cold.) But it has been untouched for several decades. It is on year older than my mom in theory, based on the JC serial. I just love how it looks. Now to keep the toddler away from it. :-)

make sure you oil it first before running it. see my previous post as there's the link to the manual.

Perhaps I will have my uncle take a look at it first. He repaired several of these older machines when he was a kid for my grandmother and his grandmother. Will it take the modern plastic bobbin, or should I invest in the metal ones I have found on ebay?

that's great that your uncle can check it. it will save you a lot of money for servicing it. never use plastic bobbin. invest in an original metal one. it pays to have the real one.

15-91.

The plate on the bed under the "singer" medallion will have a serial number on it. If you go here: http://www.sewingshop.com/dateyourmachine.aspx you can look it up and find out when it was made.

Here's a 15-91 user manual: http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_...uals/15-91.pdf

A good look over to make sure it's mechanically sound and a couple drops of oil where indicated should be good for a test stitch...


edit: LOL, too slow typing it seems. Everyone beat me to the punch!

:)

Thanks all,
I am sure I will beback with more questions. I got pretty lucky as I was just going to make theplunge and get a machine to get over the fear of a sewing machine I have hadsince a horrible home ec experience in the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] grade. I had beenpreviously just hand sewing everything, but with a 2 year old running around-it is very difficult to get anything finished in between the time I get homefrom work , he goes to bed (7pm), his dad goes to work (around 8-9pm) and thetime I go to bed (10pm), and also get anything accomplished around the house.So I am very excited to have had this lovely machine practically fall into my lap.I have printed the manual and will be reading and re-reading it. I told my deargrandmother I was looking at the computerized ones- and I got quite the earful,and my grandma is pretty progressive. But this one she fully approves of. LOL.

Wise Grandmother...

Indysheart, you are so cute!:) And you must be sooo young. I was in the third grade when your machine was made.[ I'm so sorry that you had a bad experience in your home economics class. I was a home ec. teacher in the "stone age." ('63-'64)teeheehee. Home Ec. Ed has changed so much in the last decade or so. In fact, it is now called Human Resources. Of course, that's no excuse for someone ruining your early experiences in sewing. So start fresh and let the people on this board guide you. There is so much you can find online, you will be amazed. Lots of tutorials, patterns, etc. ] Good luck with your new machine.

indysheart,

Not to be argumentative, but there is more to servicing a potted motor machine than just oiling it. The motor and the drive gears need grease. There are two grease pots at the bottom of the motor with screw caps. To grease it you'll need to tilt the machine on it's back side, remove the screw in covers and using Singer Motor Lube ( grease - not the white stuff ) only, add grease to the grease pots. The grease pots lube both the motor bearings and the drive gear so you need to use the right grease. ( If you can't find the Singer Motor Lube in the tube, you can substitute petroleum jelly.

These machines are pretty bullet proof, but they do need to be maintained properly. Get an owners manual if you don't have one and read it.

Joe

grandma knows her stuff.

You are going to LOVE this machine! I have several vintage machines and a modern machine. If I had to give them all up but one, I would keep my 15-91, hands down. Awesome machine. Congrats!

You will love, love this machine. I have 4 of them. I need to sell at least 2 of them to someone who likes to sew.

Thanks so much for the adjusters manual. I can't wait to get my running!!! Waiting for rewiring...

Jp

I have read the manual and printed them both out to take tomy uncle, to refresh his memory. I have been looking on Ebay for additionalparts- like extra bobbins, etc.

Thank you Vmaniqui for the offer- however I am in frigidWisconsin. : )

I will sum up my home ec sewing experience as this: Mygrandma showed me how to use her machine recently. I didn’t know the bobbin wasa required part, because my home ec teacher would just let us all have bunchedup thread that we had to take out and start over with- without properlyexplaining how to fully thread the machine. So while I have a lovely pizzapillow that I made in the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] grade- I ended up hand sewing itbecause it had to get done, and there was no way I was going to get my machineworking. I think the teacher had the misconception that her students had allused/ seen a sewing machine before that point. And that we should just “know”these things.

And yes, my Grandma certainly does. I have a quilt she made(she made one for all her granddaughters). That thing is the heaviest, warmestquilt ever. I mean, it is so warm we only break it out if the heat goes off. Andalso I am afraid to get it too dirty- it’s dry clean only. She recently madeone of my cousins a flapper dress for a school dance, wedding dresses,bridesmaids dresses, etc. She’s been sewing for over 70 years.

Oooooooh, such a good read this morning. You lucky girl.....I would give my eye teeth (if I still had them) for one of these machines. My son and I have just been through a re-building process with one of these motors and it turned out great with all the help from some members of this board, and a suggestion of a tutorial to upload (download, whichever). They are so unbelievably quiet....For a comparison, someday when you are out on your own just messin' around, go in a sewing machine store and try out a few of the new ones. Just don't indicate that you are "just looking around"--the salespeople will suddenly not see you at all.....

Welcome aboard! Looks like you already have the help you need. Don't buy your bobbins off Ebay. Go to http://www.sew-classic.com/ instead. They have a very good reputation here and sell high quality bobbins. It does make a difference. In addition use only sewing machine oil or Tri-Flow oil on your machine. Other oils can gum it up over time. It's also worth mentioning your machine uses low shank feet and attachments, it also uses standard sewing machine needles. I researched my first machine quite a while before I figured that out. I think which feet a machine uses is one of those things that's so basic it doesn't get mentioned much.
Don't worry, the maintenance isn't hard and after the first thorough cleaning and oiling only takes a couple minutes. I do believe doing it yourself is best, you'll get more familiar with your machine that way. I don't own one yet but model 15s are pretty highly regarded here. I expect you'll enjoy using it.
Rodney

Thanks for the link Rodney. I went perusing through the sight last night. Lots of neat stuff.

Was looking at a pretty 15 today, she was asking $200 at an estate sale. These are people i got last three from and told her would give her $100 if it doesn't sell. Will know Sunday. Looks like a new machine it is so clean and cared for. What do others think of that price, too much or too little?

I wish I could find one here in Dallas. I'd grab it up.

if you're in my area there is a portable 201 being sold at CL for $60 and another 201 that needs cleaning for $50.

Well, tomorrow I am going to pick up my machine from my uncle. So I am making a little shopping list of things I need. Lol. Could someone be so kind as to share links for the bobbins they bought for this machine? For some reason that is giving me trouble. I went to sew classic and the ones I select gave notes that they can cause filament issue with the machine. My grandma was out of town, but she is back now and excited to show the tricks of this machine to me. :)