My Craigslist hunting finally paid off!
 

So I am a notorious CL stalker; I have an RSS feed set up to funnel all those lovely machines to my inbox so I can jump on deals, and pass them on to you folks if I can't get them (like that lovely red-eye in a cabinet I found a week or so back). Well, it finally paid off for me today!

The CL ad read "vintage 1930's singer sewing machine" in the midst of a whole bunch of other neat vintage items. My ears perked up at that--you guys know that's a very neat era of machines, and plenty of chance for a FW or, be still my beating heart, the 201-2 I was actually looking for. I sent them a nice email with a picture of a FW and a 201, asking if the machine matched either picture (just in case they couldn't take pictures). Sure enough, about fifteen minutes after that initial email I got a reply with a picture.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae333/othshow/-1.jpg

Ayup, I'd say that's a 201-2! The seller does have the cabinet, but unfortunately I do not have the room for it. He said to make him an offer he couldn't refuse; I did him one better and made him an offer with a 1 page explanation of why I made that offer. You know, just to try and compress all the haggling and debating into a single email. It seemed to work, because I'm going to pick up my new, slightly battered but well loved baby tonight as soon as I get off of work.

I'm super excited because I've really wanted to have a machine I would be able to restore myself, and I think this bad girl is going to be the perfect candidate. I can't tell if the white spots are paint or chips in the paint, but I'll post pictures tonight. Now I just have to think of a name!

I think you did all right. But you should have got the cabinet too. You could always rearange the rest of the stuff.

The white spots look like paint to me, at least I hope they are.

Joe

Congrats! Finding just the right machine is always such a thrill!! Have fun with her.

How wonderful!! Your machine is beautiful and I can't wait to see her all spiffed up and ready to strut her stuff. You deserved to find this one!

Sweet!! We could all take CL lessons from you!

Laura

Ha ha, well, she's in a little worse shape than I thought. She turns over beautifully, but as we all know that's never a good way to determine functionality. Her paint's in awful shape, and she needs some good old metal polish on her shiny parts, but she's exactly what I hoped to find in a 201; a machine that would someday be lovely, but wouldn't mind just chugging along until I had the time and space to do right by her. She's going to be my summer machine project I think; I've got a hankering to repaint and do her decals, just to make her into the beautiful gal I know she used to be.

Some pictures for you all!

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000440copy.jpg
You can't see half the paper towels that died to clean her up--N-A-S-T-Y!

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000443copy.jpg
She's got some scratches, sure, but she's a lovely old gal.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000444copy.jpg
I even have Tony's autograph!

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000445copy.jpg
Gotta take the time to get her certificate from Singer!

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000446copy.jpg
Ick, nasty rust. Don't worry though, I'm getting some polishing compounds tomorrow or Saturday to clean her right up.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...000448copy.jpg
More rust and paint chipping; just going to have to wait for it to get warmer so I can repaint her!

So excited; she's going to be a great project machine!

She has lovely bones and will be a real beauty when your done with her. CONGRATS 0;-)

Happy find! I'm interested in knowing the paint process you plan to use. Is there a resource for reprinting these lovelies? I have a clone I'd love to fix a bit...not major. The paint resembles the metallic aqua of the 50's era. Please share your afters.

Thank you! I'm going back and forth on what color I want to paint her. While I think going for a hot rod red might be kind of cool, I think I would be beaten severely by my father (he has two antique Model A's) for tarting her up like a hussy. Ah well, I will content myself with a beautiful shiny black with new decals. Now to figure out how to do all this while living in an apartment... Might have to ask the guy I know who does vintage restorations if I could use his driveway for a weekend!

I'm planning on following the sew2go instructions (link: http://www.sew2go.com/adfwrestoration.htm), as it seems like they got a really nice result with their steps. My biggest problem is going to be finding the stripping agent they used; it seems to be Australia only, so I'm going to have to do some hunting to find an American equivalent. One thing I love about the 201 so far is that I feel like I can strip it down and out as much as I want without worrying about not getting things back together, so I think I'll be in good shape when the time comes to actually remove the paint.

I do wish I could save her paint, but it's just so badly chipped and flaking it's not worth it to try and save the original paint job. Besides, I have my lovely little FW in her original finish and condition to try Glen's shellac repair instructions on, I'd much rather take a stab at refinishing the 201 and posting the steps here for everyone to enjoy!