My early Christmas present Minnesota B treadle
 

Saw this one on CL a couple of weeks ago, my DH says would you like this for Christmas, heck yes!

Meet Florence, named after my grandmother who was from Minnesota. She is fairly clean, runs well, has a load of accessories, bobbins and needles, but no manual.

Does anyone know the age? Serial number is D1484139 on the slide plate I think it may be a Davis sold by Sears?

Any info would be welcome...

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Sorry, don't know why my pictures are so big, that usually is not the case.

what a nice looking machine. beautiful cabinet. you will enjoy working with that.

Beautiful machine and cabinet. The "B" was made from roughly 1904-1909, yours is closer to the 1909. The "B" is a Davis model G and was precedented by "Burdick" and replaced by "Minnesota S". I always enjoy pics of old needle packs and the "Davis Long" (2" long) is the proper needle. Very nice Christmas present.

Jon

Yep, that's a Davis made Minnesota Model B as sold by Sears Boruck and Co. The notes in my record sheet for mine says they were made between 1902 and 1909.
Ah, I see Jon beat me to the posting. :)

Your DH did a good job finding that one.

I see you have some needles, that's good cos they take an oldie. The needles are: Davis Long or a Boye #10. The industrial MTx190 can be substituted but you'll have to orient the needle yourself as it's a round shank.

My Minnesota B was converted from treadle to electric eons ago and put in a home made base. Should I ever come across a treadle cabinet that fits, I'll put her back to treadle.

Here's a couple of oiling tips.
Under the front slide plate there is a large hole just to the left of the arched wall the shuttle rides against, about an inch in from the front of the machine. That should have a felt wad in it and it is an oil hole. There is a tiny cross drilled hole to the wall to lubricate the shuttle as it passes back and forth. You'll probably have to clean the big hold and the tiny cross hole out and put in some new felt. The one in my machine was a solidified mass and the cross hole was plugged.
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There's another hole just about an inch away from the needle plate, that is also an oil hole.
And there is a hole near the silver stud just to the left of the pillar base to oil the pivot for the shuttle arm.

Lots of places to oil these old ladies.

Joe

Thanks for the quick replies Jon and Joe! It looks like someone knew how to take care of this old lady at some point because the felt wick you show looks new but needs oil. The oil holes need to be cleaned out before I add oil but everything seems to move smoothly.

It looks like the bobbin winder runs off the belt? It lines up with the belt not the handwheel and has no rubber tire.

Someone replaced the cabinet hinges, but left 2 of the originals, maybe the 3rd one was broken or there were only 2 originally? The top of the cabinet is somewhat damaged, but looks like solid wood not veneer so I think it can be restored with sanding and new finish.

Here's a Davis manual for a similar model

Thank you!!

Jon,



Thanks, it does help having a manual to read.



Joe

Well hello from MN!!!