Singer 72w19 Hemstitcher rescue
 

When you see an OLD machine in decent shape and the price is VERY low, you have to move quickly.

In this case the seller had two replies in the first 30 minutes, me and a person who wanted to make "art" with it... The seller said that because i included the link to my collection online, she decided to sell it to me even though I was not first in line.

So, on Friday with Cathy's (Mizkaki) assistance we drove to the south bay and picked up this amazing machine.

This is my new $75 Singer Hemstitcher from the first year of it's production (1911 as best as I can tell)

Everything works but stiffly. I have cleaned the top half (3 hour obsession Friday night) and hopefully will get the underside cleaned up within the next day or so.

Even more so, I am hoping Cathy still wants it. It's cool, but outside of my collections "focus"

The Head as arrived:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481953[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481954[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481955[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481957[/ATTACH]

after cleaning
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481958[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481959[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481960[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]481961[/ATTACH]

in the table
[ATTACH=CONFIG]481962[/ATTACH]

Totally cool! So glad it passed through your capable hands!

That is so, so neat! I'd have grabbed that with both hands too! For some reason, I have a fascination with hemstitchers.

Me too, and I have never actually seen one work!!! hehe it is just cool looking. This one has one of the two needle broken, so I will be replacing that tonight as well.

Wow! I'm glad the seller had enough respect for the machine to sell it to you instead of the other person. It would have been a real shame for it to end up as a tractor in someone's yard.
Rodney

Ditto! Glad it has a new life.

Ditto from me also. What a shame it would have been to go to the other interested person. You did a nice job as usual both cleaning it up and just plain saving it from some "artist".

Thanks for posting these pictures. I have one and didn't know they had decals. Mine are gone from my machine.

you are very welcome.

Very cool. My 31-15 has that decal set.

Glad you got it!! My son found one for me. It is froze and no base. Haven't done much with it yet. I can't lift it, must weigh 50 or 60 lbs. We soaked it with oil for now.

Ethel

Yeah buddy.... that is the heaviest machine I own currently. It is even heaver than the 241-12

I got the beast CLEAN!!!! the underside as a nightmare, but cleaned up really well.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]485393[/ATTACH]

As pretty as the outside was, she was still frozen, but now she just zooms.

Now to get it up on CL.... and out of my house...

Wow! I've never seen one before - Thanks for showing us!! :)

You did a spectacular job on that machine! She looks brand new in the photo.

Looks fun! I suppose something like that beast might be too costly to ship. . . oh wait, the heaviest box DH and I shipped was about 90 lbs . . .

I'd be more than willing to crate this baby up for ya, hehe.

Steve, that is such a nifty machine, and you did such a fantasic job cleaning it! Also, a good deed to the universe by saving it from becoming Lawn Trash.

Would you be willing to stitch a bit with it and show photos? I am curious as to what kind of a stitch it makes, with the twin-everything business going on!

Thanks :-)

I so agree! This is a really cool machine and it would be such a shame to see it a rusted mess with some hunk of metal welded to it...glad you rescued it!

You betcha. I am giving the base a good cleaning tonight and taking the CL photos. I have never even touched a two thread/needle machine before this one so it should be an interesting experience.

pics tomorrow, wish me luck.

Good luck!

I’ve been following this thread, and wishing that I hadn’t sold the one that I had. I never even got it cleaned it up or used it, but it had extra needles and piercers in a bag with it, so the new owners probably got it going. I haven’t ever heard any more from them. They’re the ones that I have mentioned before that drove straight through and back from Salt Lake City to pick it up here in Oklahoma. The middle-aged couple was in a minivan, and nearly worn out here at the half-way mark. They said that those straight-through road trips that they used to enjoy were more fun back when they were younger. LOL!

CD in Oklahoma

LOL That is EXACTLY what I said when I went and picked up my Grover and Baker in Washington! the 36 hour road trip that in my 20-30's would have been no biggie was a butt kicker...

Cool pic, mine is missing the drawer. Based on the age of the head I suspect that this is a later base that it was "upgraded" into

The head is a 1935. What's yours?

CD in Oklahoma


ETA: Ooops! I see it's a 1911.

doing the happy dance here in SD!!!!

Getting a Hemmer?

CD in Oklahoma

for those waiting for pictures of the machine working, you'll have to wait a bit more . . . I'm so very excited about this machine - I seriously love hemstitchers and have quite an assortment of attachments for regular machines. When SteveH posted it was going on CL - my heart skipped a few beats.

I wonder if he'll send it back with some of the packing used to send him machines. Some of that packing has already made the trip more than once LOL!!

Steve shipped a White, I shipped the Polytype (he found and bought that one, I just picked up and shipped) then Steve shipped me the GE Sewhandy, and then I sent him the Davis VF low arm. Now he's sending the hemmer.

Sort of like playing tag . . .

That is the most complex underside of a machine that I've seen so far. Very cool!
Macybaby congrats on being able to work out a deal with Steve on it. It's nice to see it's going to stay in good hands.
Rodney

Well, the head is packed in the same box I got from Cathy... This was an Outer box when you sent it to me, now it will be the inner box. Off the the hardware store for the outer....

HELP! Steve H. I'm Starting to Restore a Singer 72W19
 

Dear Steve:

I have read and followed your thread - which gave me hope to find my own vintage hemstitcher at an affordable price. My husband is willing and very mechanically inclined...we just need a starting place!

We found a one-owner 1929 Singer 72W19 machine in Canada and just brought it home for my birthday this weekend. Originally purchased in Hudson Bay, B.C.

Would you be willing to outline for us where to start, what products to use, step-by-step to work on restoring the machine, cabinet and treadle? It's not in bad shape, but has been unused for 40 years. And I've seen restored/repainted cast iron legs and treadle that are beautiful! I know we can do this together, if we knew what to use and had guidance on how to get started to remove old paint and prep, etc. What wax is best to shine up the machine head? After cleaning do we grease or oil it all up again? What is the process for this?

My daughter and I will be keeping this and doing our own personal projects on it and hope to keep it in our family. Also the machine came with a handwritten log book with all jobs since 1930 and it also has a beautiful vintage tin case with many foot attachments. Many are for different sized rolled hems and one may possibly be a ruffler or a walking foot? Another has a measuring guide. How would I learn to use these?

Looking forward to your kind guidance, help and expertise!

Best regards,
Barbara

I don't know how often Steve still pops in here, but you're more likely to get regular contact over at his forum, the Victorian Sweatshop.

http://www.victoriansweatshop.com/?forum=501752

Cari

You are a great "cleaner upper". Thank you for saving it from becoming art.

Hi Barbara,

Welcome. The 72W19 is quite an impressive piece of machinery. Here's the owners and adjusters manual if you don't have it already.

http://parts.singerco.com/IPinstManuals/72W19.pdf

Jon

Love that machine. I would sure love to see how one works. There is one on CL for 650 bucks.

BarbeeQ - Cool machine. Sorry for the delay in responding. I am spending most of my time on the VSS forum. Not sure how much help I can be since mine just required cleaning, and then cleaning, and then some more cleaning...

I use Sewing Machine Oil on the painted parts and brasso and/or 0000 Steel wool on the metal bits.

I would be glad to try to answer any questions you may have after reviewing the documents that Jon shared the links to.

The key is clean, and no particulates...

Holey Frenkenferter! I can just hear the gears going "Mmm, gimme your unsuspecting fingers and bits of clothes, om nom nom!"

Looks really great! Thanks for saving it, both you and Cathy. It couldn't have ended up with better people.