parts 15 ooops maybe not.
 

So I saw this nasty 15 on CL. missing throat plate, faceplate/tensioner. Looked terrible.

Cabinet was not even worth dragging home. Then i noticed the RAF decal. ohoh. I'm am an old warbird fan and like British things. So I looked it over more carefully. It would turn a few degrees. It's bobbin case had bunches of thread trapped and would not let anything move under it. Compared it to a 15 clone Eureka and tore it apart. Fixed it. Presser bar was seriously stuck. PBlaster, a smaller hammer and a punch and an hour of tapping got it released and operating right. Borrowed a Singer face plate, the Eureka throat plate and it is stitching now. Hmm. How to power it??[ATTACH=CONFIG]587077[/ATTACH]



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Oh, I love the RAF decals! If there is one more machine i need, it is one with the RAF decals. I love WWII history and have been a British fan since high school. (Did you pick it up a couple of months ago in St Joe, MO? I think it was the one I was watching too!:D) Congratulations! So glad it went to a good home! You have clean it up so well. The decals look proud and shiny...

Picked it up yesterday in Olathe. Never saw the owner. He left if on the porch. I left $ under a brick.

Wow, missed that CL posting! I watch CL like a hawk too, not that I need anything or even want anything at the moment. It's a nice machine! Is there a way to make it a treadle maybe?

Nice score :) Great job, as usual, cleaning it up.

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

Oh wow, the decals are in great shape! It sure cleaned up well. It is like you can't kill a 15 even if you want to:D

Nice save Leon.

Cari

awesome cleanup/restoration!

This was just the amount of challenge I like. No pieces actually broken. head scratching for a bit. Tore apart a 15 bobbin race (actually 3, That may be another post.) to figure out why it was locked up. Lots of oil and the punch I used was a re-purposed 14" steel rod. Yes, NZQuilter, I could make it a hand crank. Thanks all.

You may have the one that the stitch length goes opposite the regular 15-30 goes, I have one too, and it's got a few differences - but I don't recall what the exact submodel is. These are uncommon enough, and in good enough condition that it should not be used as a parts machine. I expect most of the parts are the same, but some must be different for it to work differently.

Wow, I love the RAF decal. I had no idea you found those on sewing machines. I learn so much on QB

Awesome save!! My favorite treadle is my RAF 15. I had been wanting one for a long time when I came across it at a local antique shop last year. The stitches are impeccable.

Cathy, yes, Iris (GF) was surprised by the working of the stitch length regulator. I was too. I need to look at that a bit closer.

The RAF is dated 1934 so it is prior to WW II. I was quite pleased to bring it back to life.

I drove a Triumph Spitfire for quite a while and considered painting it with RAF insignia. Perhaps I may do that with a Raleigh 3 speed full fendered bicycle.

There was a RAF 15-90 (I think 15-90 - it was belt driven) on Dallas Craig's list yesterday, if anyone is interested.

bkay

I hope the chrome and bobbin winder cleans up a bit more, and it should be a fine machine. I don't mind a few signs of age and wear. If you have an older Singer 15 plate it might be more like the original, the pin stripes wasn't intruduced until 1950 as far as I know. There's a good chance yours was fitted with a motor early on in it's life. I have a 201K in a one drawer converted treadle cabinet. The machine dates to 1950 and the motor and lights are very much early 50s.

BTW - there are also some much later Singers with the RAF decal pattern. They look more like the 15-91 and are not the same as the older version.

It is a rather confusing thread at http://www.victoriansweatshop.com/po...001?&trail=100 but it has the RAF decals on machines that were made (according to serial numbers) after 1963 from Africa, Taiwan, maybe Canada and Peru. I think that when the Clydebank under went modernization in the early 1960s they may have sent parts and decals to those places.

bkay - I had to go look at https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/at...456895530.html I wish they had taken better pictures and serial number. I was trying to see if it had the drop feed dogs on bed. I wonder where they got the 15J-91 model number. It also looks like it may have been converted from treadle as it doesn't appear that the motor is a
Singer motor.

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

Leonf, what year is it? I have a 15-91 coming to me as a gift with the RAF decal set on it. I think it is a 1937 or thereabouts from what I remember.

I answered my own question when I read the serial number in your "before" photo and Ismacs says December 1936. It appears not to have a "reverse" function with the stitch length getting shorter as the stitch length lever is moved downward. There appears to be a motor mounting boss on the right side of the pillar, so it seems you could add a motor bracket, motor and belt with a controller to get it powered.

John Thomas in NC

Yes indeed, John Thomas. The boss is there . I could indeed electrify it. Still pondering it's fate.

If anyone is looking for a machine with RAF decals, heres a nice Singer 15K as a treadle.

https://dubuque.craigslist.org/art/d...464791207.html