Necchi Esperia in treadle cabinet
 

Hi everyone,

One of my latest acquisitions (on behalf of my mother) is a Necchi Esperia - a model I can't find much info about.

It's got a few issues but I liked the fact that it's a Necchi and that the cabinet appears to be original. But the tension assembly looks wrong and it's missing the spring part of the bobbin winding mechanism. I'm not sure if I'll be able to rectify these things with original parts, but despite the fact that it had no thread guide Mike and I still got it to sew! You should see how dirty it was/is - absolutely unbelievable. It's nice to be able to bring this one back from the brink.

Some pics..

BEFORE & AFTER
[ATTACH=CONFIG]459814[/ATTACH]

The cabinet:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]459815[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]459816[/ATTACH]

Some fun cleaning pics: Gunk removal and what's underneath those (now) shiny needle and slide plates! LOL
[ATTACH=CONFIG]459817[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]459818[/ATTACH]

I'd love to hear from anyone else who's got one, or knows how tricky it might be to fix the bobbin winding mechanism?

Too bad there's no easy way to transmit sound through cyberspace. I'd love to hear that machine being treadled (if treadled isn't a word, maybe "pumped." We "pumped" my mother's treadle.) I'm sure it's a sweet purr.

That upper tension has to be after-market. No doubt the original is like other Necchis. The Necchi tensioners are one of their trademarks (and one of their appeals for me).

That cabinet is so nice.

Nice machine. I really like the cabinet. I have a Necchi BU and my latest acquisition is a Supernova Automatica which was only recently unfrozen. There is a yahoo group called necchisewingmachineclub that you can join to get more information about your machine. They're pretty strict on being on topic (and sign your posts!) but once you join and post an introduction you can join the "sister site" yahoo group called Necchi_Sewing_Circle. That group is for overflow files from the first group and in the files section, you can download a manual for your Esperia. There is also a service manual for the BU-BF machines which might have helpful information for your bobbin winder as it appears to be similar to my BU. You can also check the database on the first site as some members have parts for sale or trade.

Good luck in your search and with your machine. So far, I love my Necchis.

John

That's a handsome-looking machine. And the cabinet is beautiful! Good luck finding replacement parts. I'll bet you have a great time with it.

Leslie

Do you know what year that machine was made? Great Deco styling to the cabinet. I'm not sure when treadles stopped being an option but if that machine was made in the 30s or even 40s it was ahead of it's time.
Rodney

Ron, I totally agree... Necchi tensioners are actually sexy! LOL. I don't know how they do it, but they are so beautifully engineered.

Hey, thanks John. I am a member of the Necchi Sewing Circle but I don't really post there. I tried it once and got no replies. I also find the format really user-unfriendly. But having said that, the files section has been invaluable and I unfroze my Supernova Automatica using their cleaning instructions :) I'm very glad to belong to the groups and share what I learn about my machines, even if I haven't had much luck in the forums.

Rodney, I'm not sure. I think I might have found one reference that mentioned early 50's, it's quite hard to find out with the Necchis. All of the machines I love are late 40's early 50's so I'm sure it falls in there somewhere. It's confusing because I have a 1949-50 Necchi BU which has older looking styling but is a ZZ machine, and the Automatica is about 1953 I think and that machine does EVERYTHING... so it's hard to see why they would have manufactured this simple straight stitcher in between two more functional machines. Hardly any info around so I'll keep digging and keep everyone posted. It's certainly a workhorse! Despite the look of those feed dogs and having no thread guide, we still got it to stitch!!

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments and I agree, the cabinet is lovely. Will be giving it some TLC as soon as I can!

That tensioner looks like a 1960s Taiwanese one. Hope it's the same as several other Necchi models and that you can get one.

The thread guide is certainly the easiest part to make, and as long as it leads straight down to the correct side of the needle and is solid, it will work. I broke the thread guide to a machine I was selling a month or so ago (an '80s Pinnock, which is really a Brother) and after trying several others, resorted to desperate tactics and made one from a paper clip.
Tested it by running it at full speed, and it didn't drop a single stitch.

You've done a spectacular job of cleaning that machine. A beautiful result, and hard to believe considering what you paid for it (I'm not going to say) :shock:

I have a Necchi Esperia in pink w/original carrying case that looks new. Lovely machine. Sews a great straight stitch! Mine has a motor and purrs like a kitten. A friend of mine knew I liked old machines and picked it up at a garage sale for $5. I haven't had a minutes trouble from it since I cleaned and oiled it. I haven't been able to find much info on it. I use it to sew quilt blocks.
Mel

The Necchi Esperia was mfd circa 1959-62. It is a beautiful straight stitch machine. Enjoy yours!

Nice machine. I am in awe of how clean you got it! Don'tcha just want the people who let it go to see it now? I bet they would take it back in a hot minute!