KLO,

Very likely. Back in the 30s, 40s, 50s, they used aluminum wiring covered with latex insulation. Aluminum is an excellent conductor for electricity but it swells and shrinks due to heat. This breaks down the seal for the insulation, and can cause screw connections to loosen. A big cause of house fires.
Aluminum wiring is also prone to corrosion.
The latex insulation ( same stuff as surgical gloves ) has a limited life time and eventually deteriorates. Then it can turn gooey and melt .... ick, or dry out and crumble away. Sometimes, as in my 15-91, at the same time.

So any machine made from those eras needs a through electrical inspection and evaluation before being plugged in.
The results of bad wiring can be catastrophic at the worst, and exhilarating in a bad way at the least.

Joe

Thanks again. I looked at the sites you posted. I'm going to have to go at this slowly. ... and probably go to the hardware and the electrical supply. The wire to the foot pedal is the one that is crumbling badly. The others still look pretty good. I suppose I need to replace it all..... gotta work up my courage.

Along with all great advice, tutorials and information take photo's, make notes, and work slowly and you'll quickly have the bad wiring replaced. If you think of the operation as replacing old wire with good new wire it sort of puts things in perspective. A healthy fear or respect of electrical work is essential. Only the foolhardy plug in their 15-91's without first examining the wiring for safety.

Jon

Jean,

If the only wire that's bad is the foot controller wire, then it's an easy fix. Just pay attention to where the wires are connected and put the new ones where the old ones were. It's that easy.

Of course I could go on to say that I make the little rings on the machine end from the cord wire, and solder them so the screws hold good, or I could say I solder the connections on the controller ends for good strong connections too, but I've said that before so it would be repetitive ...... oops, I did it again ..... :)

Joe

Jean, here's some information about electricity:
http://www.archaicarcane.com/love-be...ewing-machine/

When I wire a motor, I use regular wire, singles stranded, so there's no deciding which is positive and which is negative.