Quiltingboard Forums - Montgomery Ward

I wish I could correct all the places on the internet that say that 15 clones are clones of 15-91. They are not clones of the 15-91. They are clones of the 15-90. Then there are 15 class machines which are not clones of the Singer 15s, but take 15 class bobbins and use 15x1 needles. The 15-91 has a potted motor and is gear driven by that built in motor, which is also known as a potted motor. Here is a picture of bkay's 15-91 that had been her mother's after bkay cleaned it up. Note the big bump that is in the back of the hand wheel which is the motor that drives the gear inside the hand wheel. https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...276.redjpg.jpg Okay - off my soap box, now.

Unfortunately, many of the vintage and antique machines do not have the documentation for dates and serial numbers like Singer had. However, sometimes you can get an approximate date from paper work that has come with a similar machine. It appears that it is probably near the mid 1950s. I'm basing that on a couple of threads here on QB. One is https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...e-t176125.html and then there is one specifically about URR188 at https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...8-t312327.html which has links to some other threads and also a link to the manual for 15-clone machines. The clones thread differently than many of the Singer 15s, such as Singer 15-90 or 15-91. There are some Singer 15s that do thread the same as the clones. Singer actually made some 15s into the latter part of the 1950s and then they made some nostalgia machines which according to https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/15 were made in the 1970s, but http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_...sses-1-99.html dates them 1982 or 1985-90.

Some consider some of the 15-clones as good as, if not better than the Singer 15s. I've only seen the nostalgia machines online and may not be as good and are noisier than the Japanese 15 clones.

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