The mystery box!
 

Hey all,

I posted a bit of the story about my adventures earlier in the week to go and pick up the Borletti treadle and the thrift store I found in the area that had a bunch of sewing machines for sale.

I left off one of the most exciting parts to the story but it wasn't Borletti related, so I thought I'd start this new thread. While I was in the back of the store, we were absorbed in looking at the Borletti and the lady was also showing me a beautiful HG Princess Palmer machine that she was coveting, we almost forgot to look at what else she had back there. I could see a bentwood case so I asked if I could see it. She brought it out but then quickly remembered that it was locked and they didn't have the key. I asked if she had tried a screwdriver but when I inspected the lock it was the type that has a pin in the middle. Still, it was a very exciting looking machine. Quite small. I tipped it back and could see a very small base plate set into the box and my heart started pounding...... There were a few amazing things it could have been but I really had no idea. I asked if she would sell it to me locked and she sold it to me along with the Borletti.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]464367[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]464368[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]464369[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]464371[/ATTACH]

When I got home I went straight for the keys to my Nan's old crystal cabinet and the kids' wardrobe. Needless to say, I'd really got myself all fired up about what it could be, especially as there were old shipping and customs labels peeling from the outside of the box....

Bingo with the wardrobe key! ..... and a bit of an interesting anticlimax - or maybe not so much disappointment as bemusement. I still don't quite know what I've got! It's a miniature-ish lockstitch machine badged Harris K. The only other marking on the body says 'FOREIGN' in gold on the back of the bed. The shuttle is marked D.R.G.M. and there is a serial number under the edge of the bed at the front. A bit meaningless without any makers mark. Here he is: "Harris the Handcrank". The head of the machine is about 23cm long (bed 29cm)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]464372[/ATTACH] ... and after a bit of 'Muv Luv'

[ATTACH=CONFIG]464373[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]464374[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]464381[/ATTACH] for scale. Next to a Singer 201.

Mechanism
 

I should also say it has a mechanism I haven't seen before, which is that the shuttle is mounted onto a horizontal bar and as the shaft rotates there's an arm that slides the shuttle back and forth along the bar. It doesn't swing in an arc like the other shuttle machines I've seen. I'm presuming it's either a machine designed for travel, or a child's machine. Instinctively I'd say it's more modern than it looks, just from the way the decals are applied and and the way the serial number has been etched onto the plate.

That's nifty. I like it.

Here's a picture of one:

http://needlebar.org/main/harris/k/index.html

Here's one with a case:

http://images.cloud.worthpoint.com/w...9f66c55a89.jpg

Looks sweet. Congrats.

Amelia,

Harris was just a distributor and not a manufacturer. It will be interesting to see who actually made this machine.
It sure is a cutie. It looks a lot like the Saxonia style. Maybe a late model Little Vesta. (A friend called my Saxonia a "low rider" because of it's low slung hand wheel.)

Cathy

Thanks heaps! I also found a bit more info at Worthpoint as well... Now that I know it's made by Haid & Neu, I can find similar machines by Googling which is fun :)

"1930's 1/2 size Saxonia Hand Crank Sewing Machine was manufactured in Germany by Haid & Neu of Karlsruhe, Durlach, Germany. Although it was made in German it was distributed in the United Kindom by W.J. Harris. This small saxonia style machine has a larger than normal balance wheel with a cut-out in the base to accomodate the larger wheel. This allowed a much smaller machine to have the sewing power of a standard sized machine.

The W. J. Harris company was based in London and distributed sewing machines to retailers all over the country. They never produce any sewing machines by themselves but would 'badged' machines made by many other companies with the Harris name. W.J. Harris sold machines from many German and American makers like Grimme Natalis, Stoewer, Frister & Rossmann, L.O. Dietrich, and the American companies New Home and National/Eldredge. They also sold some Japanese and British made machines. The Company operated from the 1870's until the 1960's."

Does anyone else own a half-size machine like this? I got it working but it seems to have a strange feed-dog mechanism as well and isn't feeding properly. It's also only got one set of teeth instead of two. If anyone is interested I'll put up more pics of the underside with the shuttle and feed mechanism so you can check it out.

That hand crank and wheel are pretty amazing. I think you did good!

I just Googled it and found one in the UK that was passed in on eBay for £4.99! Amazing, considering its cuteness.
Well, it's lovely and I'd love to see it :o
Your suggestion as it being a present for your boy is a good one. He seems like the type to be interested in machinery (potentially). He has a logical, Mr Spock type thing happening (I mean that as a good thing, seeing as I have that too). Oh hang on, that £4.99 one has 2 days left. Maybe one for the watch list (for interest only of course). http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Ha...-/181329782703

You sure are good at giving the Muv luv, Amelia. She looks spectacular.