Singer 15-91 and treadle cabinet
 

I have my Mom's Singer 15-91. It needs some work but still runs. I have a treadle cabinet and was wondering if there is someway to get it to fit. I tried taking it out of the wooden carrying case but the pins on the machine wouldn't fit into the cabinet. Any suggestions?

by pins you mean the hinge pins. guessing it's not a singer treadle cabinet

You can relocate hinges re cut the opening, fill in what is left open..

Then kick your self for doing that, when you find the machine that fits the cabinet or did fit

I am no expert but recently moved a 15 out of a treadle cabinet and a 66-1 into it. The hinges on the 15 had two holes and the 66-1 had one hole hinges. I switched them out and the 66 fits fine except when I close it. Then I have to take the back plate off. If this isn't your situation with the hinges then I hope you find a workable solution.

I'd recommend searching Craigslist for Singer cabinet with same footprint which are very common. You'll probably get a new machine in the bargain.

Jon

There are screws on the bottom of the machine you can back out to release the machine from the hinge pins. No need to switch hinges from case to cabinet or cabinet to cabinet. As far as I know Singer was pretty standardized in their hinge placement on their full size machines, except on the fiddle bases. If it's a Singer treadle and a Singer machine they should fit.
The bigger issue is the 15-91 has a built in (potted) motor. I'm not sure how that will affect trying to convert it to treadle. It might be easier to leave the machine electric and find a machine with an external motor to convert.
Rodney

stitchnripper , You didn't have the change hinges to swap from a 15 to a 66

Well they had different holes and the ones that came with the 66 only had one screw hole. The cabinet has two screw holes. Maybe I'm not describing it correctly?

It is a Singer cabinet and Singer machine. The hinge pins on the machine were too big for the cabinet. I don't want to convert it to a treadle, I was just hoping to put it in the cabinet.

the pins are a part of the hinge. the hinge stays with the cabinet. so there isn't any hinge pins on the machine , There are holes for the pins in the machine

I have a feeling both of you are doing this by removing the hinge from the cabinet / case. which is wrong. lift the machine look under at the area where the hinge meets the machine body. at each end you will see a tiny screw. loosen both and pull the machine from the hinge, again the hinge stays attached to the cabinet.

singers where one size fits all starting about 1886/ 89

My 15-91 would not fit into treadle case I have. My answer was to get a 66. Fits perfectly. No adjusting, etc. The treadle case was my great grandmothers and I had it restored after my grandmother had done some 'decorative' finishing to it. No clue what happened to the machine that had been in it. It's probably in my father's attic and he has no clue. Still working on the 66 to get it into usable shape to put in there.

I guess I accomplished the same thing, and got to clean up both sets of hinges, which were really grungy. But, I always learn something from all of you.

We modified a cabinet to put a 15-91 in. The motor sticks up too far when put "away" for the support flaps to sit flat. We thinned out the backside of that part so it would go all the way down.

We also had to move a support bracket so the flywheel would clear.

You'll do best if you start with a Singer treadle cabinet, otherwise you may be in for doing a lot of modifications to get the machine to fit.

BTW - much older machines/cabinets have a different style mounting system. I've got several machines where the "Pin" stays with the machine, not the cabinet. I've got some that have hinges that that screw to both the machine and cabinet. Most of them have the typical pin that mounts to the cabinet, with set screws on the machine.

Though I have a few that don't have set screws as they don't tip, but the wood base lowers into the cabinet.

cathy's right, machines with motors, you can't fold down and close the lid

hinges attached to the machine body's are the coffin top type machine and don't fold down. those flip to the rear.

I'm putting in a series of photo's just taken to show you a 15-91 is a direct drop in fit, in two different singer treadle cabinets, one with one screw hinge, one with two screw hinge.

these 15- 91's will fold down with out any mods to the cabinet, the lid lay's flat as it should.

same thing using a 66 electric , but must have the thin style motor to close the lid.

this is a 15-91 one screw hinge, singe 6 / 7 drawer..note the lifter is missing, which has nothing to do with fitment of a machine head. normally houses a singer 27
for some reason most my photo's are not loading again
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now a 4 / 5 drawer cabinet two screw hinges. and a different 15-91 this cab is almost missing it's lifter
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hinges one and two hole/screw

one hole is an older style.. the hinge large round part is the same size, the pin same size, on these the difference is the length of the pin

dark hinge is very early hinge like a treadle, but the silver hinge might be a 60's to 70's version. if you look at the pin there a groove machined all the way around,, early pin had no groove, then later they machine a flat area on the bottom of the pin either hinge will fit all singer machines

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the site is not letting me load the photo's show the 15-91 and the 66 with a motor in the down position in these cabinets. they both will lay down and the lid closes. a 15-91's motor sticks out to the rear 1/2 " less than a standard motor ( 66) meaning a potted motor machine has room to spare. cord bolts on each clear just fine. zero reason the need any clearance for there handwheels

should the treadle cabinet have a hinge like the one being held, it's not a treadle hinge. These are a flat hinge and made for the electric cabinets they are bigger around, the pins are the same size.

the one above is also bigger around, chances you'll have that one would be very rare



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Thanks for the help. I've learned A LOT so I'm going to try putting it in again.

it won't load the photo of the 15-91 in the down position. it will lay down with the cord block and cords, the lid will close