Singer model 27 "Ella"
 

I decided to start a new thread regarding Ella, the Singer treadle machine that Kayluvstoquilt gave to me.
I'll be posting all questions and progress on her here from now on.
First thing is the serial #. I'll freely admit to having very little experience in this area but she has the smallest serial # on a Singer I've seen so far. If I'm reading it correctly, it's D6145. I didn't know Singer dropped the zeros on low numbers. Anyway, according to ISMACS that means Ella is one of 15000 Singer model 27s that were allocated for production on January 1, 1908. That would make Ella the oldest machine in my "collection".
I also have questions about a couple of the attachments that came with the machine but that's going to have to wait until I get new batteries in our camera.
Rodney

Rodney,

That's very interesting. To my knowledge Singer serial numbers were never less than 6 digits when following one or two letters. Possibly someone else can enlighten us on this subject. CD?

Cathy

This isn't the first time I've read a serial # wrong. Probably won't be the last either. I got a stronger light and took a better look. The real# is D614590. It's still a model 27 but the allocation date is now December 2, 1908.
Sorry for the mistake and bad eyesight.
Rodney

I'm gonna guess your two questionable attachments are the underbraider and the shirr plate. The problem with Singer's instructions, they don't actually show these two - because in the drawing showing them in use - they are UNDER the fabric. There are several styles of them though, so it will be fun to see which ones you have.

BTW - my 1907 attachment manual shows the style with the molded tray like what is attached to that drawer front.

This is the set that goes with it- but there are several variations. If you have this particular set, then it is likely that cabinet had the tray with the molded insert.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psb0d025c1.jpg

Macybaby, my set isn't nearly as complete.
It was the underbraider and shirr plate that I had questions on. My set has the same ruffler, shirr plate, underbraider and pintucker that you show. It also has a 2 pc. binder that needs the screw, the scissor guide, fabric guide and quilting bar.
It came with a small hemmer foot and a large one but they're different than your set. How do you attach and use your style hemmer and binders?
Rodney

This style has one foot (upper right above the needle case and below the quilt guide) that attaches to the machine - and these slide into it. This is a much less common set, most are the more typical where each can be attached to the machine by themselves.

I have this set for the 66 back clamp and the 27. I would expect there is a set made for the 15.

While the tucker and ruffler were used with other sets, including the later puzzle boxes, this particular type of underbraider and shirr plate - I've only seen in this type of set with the separate attachment foot. The more typical puzzle box shirr and underbraider are sort of similar in shape, but are much "plainer" looking than these.

There are a lot of variatoins in attachment sets in the earlier years, but not so much in later years.

Thank you, I just took another look and gave the large hemmer foot a good hard tug. It's the same as yours. It's two pieces. Cool!
My quilting bar is similar to the one on the upper right but doesn't have a screw. It looks less substantial and appears to be a friction fit for adjusting it.
What is the other bar in the lower right of your picture? It looks like it attaches like the hemmer feet.
Rodney

I have two quilting guides - the lower one clips into the foot like the hemmers. Interestingly- they Singer attachment manual show the upper type - and if you get the screw, it tightens down on the bar, so it won't move around on you.

This is the same style guide that came in Puzzle boxes, so there may be variations on it. The one in my picture is from a puzzle box, so maybe the one sent with the set (being newer) is a bit lighter weight.

The set that goes with the 66 has a different tucker and ruffler, so I figure that different quilt guide is more in line with what goes with the 66 than the 27.

Hi Rodney,
Do you or any one you know work on featherweight machines. My motor runs until you put a load on it. I would like to get it fixed.
Thanks,
Judy
PS I don't know how this works so my email is: jmsmbj@Comcast,net

Judy, I'm sorry but I haven't been inside one of these motors yet. If you start a new thread for your motor question there are some people here that can most likely tell you what's going on with it. One possibility I can think of is it needs new brushes. If they're worn out you might get that sort of issue.
Rodney

Quote from companion thread My Mother's Treadle needs someone to love it

I agree with maintaining the scars that these old machines end up with. It shows the history of the machine in my opinion, whether from use or abuse, and should be considered a valuable part of the machine. It’s part of their history.

I don’t care for wood work, so I’ve not ever re-done a wood cabinet, but I’ve re-painted a few metal stands, due to rust or simply to change the color of one. I re-painted a brown Singer straight-leg treadle black because the brown paint was peeling off from being stored in a wet area. I think machines and cabinets should be restored to good physical condition, mainly for their own protection from further damage, but stop at that point.

For example, I have a couple of Singer Series 29 treadle stands, and re-painted one black and replaced the gold accent on the logos. It looks nice, but it also looks “modified”, and I know that I covered up some history. The other stand is an ugly dark green color, much of it worn off to bare metal, and I’ve thought about re-painting it, but I can’t bring myself to do it. When I look at the black machine on the worn green treadle stand, I wonder when and how those two got together, and under what circumstances. I also see life’s struggles, for both the stand and the people who were associated with it through time. That looks real to me, and I like that.

CD in Oklahoma

I do this and I pay a lot of money for better eyesight. It doesn't seem to help though.

Macybaby has been helping me a lot with answering questions about the drawer and how it should fit via PM. Frankly, many times she's given me valuable information without me asking or knowing which questions to ask. She's been a huge help to me. It would be much harder to get things right without her knowledge.

I've learned that although the cabinets may look the same Singer made at least a couple sizes and at least a few variations on how the center drawer fits. If you find yourself looking for replacements take careful measurements, look at how things go together and if you're buying long distance be sure to ask the seller to do the same. I would never have known this except thru the hard way without Macybaby's help. This morning I woke up to 3 messages with pictures she found of the drawer guides and an explanation of where to measure for the fit.

Thank you Macybaby.
Rodney

I've finally started on this machine now that I found a donor treadle for the drawer. I'll post some pictures later today on my progress in hopes that it helps others with restoring their machines. So far it's not a lot.

It's a little early to worry about it but I do have a question. Do the moving parts on the treadle get oil or grease instead? I suspect oil but want to be sure. I've started taking it apart so I can repair the pitman arm and it's bone dry. The pitman arm is missing some wood from the bottom and has a very old repair. I'm splicing in some new wood but will also leave the repair plate in place. It was a good repair done with materials at hand a long time ago and it seems a shame to just toss it. I actually have a good arm from the parts treadle but want to do things the hard way instead.
Rodney

The start of the repair process. First off I'm starting repairs to the "new" drawer. It's simple. Work wood glue into the cracks where the veneer and applique are separating. It can take a while especially if you have a limited amount of clamps. Glue it up and find something else to do for the rest of the day while the glue dries. Repeat as needed until it's glued back together.
The first couple pictures are some of the damage wanting to be repaired.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]486106[/ATTACH]
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Forcing the glue in. I pried out the loose veneer gently, squirted in some glue and worked it in as much as I could with some thin cardboard.
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Clamp it and wipe off the excess. There's actually a few repairs being glued and clamped here. Some of the applique was lifting off too.
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Next up is the broken Pitman arm. This repair is a little more challenging.
The old repair. It was covered with old cloth friction tape when I was given the machine. Not bad as far as repairs go.
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The damage.
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The first step after looking it over is to trim back to good wood. You can't just cut off the end. End grain repairs are weak. This is what's left after trimming.
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I don't know the species of wood used in the original arm. I have some maple that I decided would work for the replacement wood. I found it easier to make two patches to glue to the arm to re-create the end.
Glued and clamped.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]486114[/ATTACH]
I'll continue tomorrow. It's been hot and muggy the last few days. I do a little in the morning then do my best to hide from the heat the rest of the day. I'm not getting much done.
Rodney

Rodney...thank you for starting this thread and for letting me see the process as you work on my mother's machine. This is absolutely fascinating. Looks like 'Ella' has found a really good home.

Blessings to you - Kay

I'm happy you think so. I'll do my best to live up to it. Someone-most likely one of your relatives-made the repair to the pitman arm many years ago. It's not my intent to get rid of it. I'm going to replace the missing wood and re-install the metal piece that was used originally. That will give the wood some additional strength. The end of the pitman arm is also missing some hardware that originally kept everything together. The metal patch will also work as a substitute for those pieces. I am very impressed with the engineering in Singer's treadles. The old designers came up with some really elegant ways of doing things.
I hope you're doing well.
Rodney

very nice, I will be watching this thread...

Not much to show today. I took the clamps off and shaped the pitman arm using a file and sandpaper to match what the original would have been as closely as I was able.
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I drilled the end to match the original keyhole shape as close as possible along with the hole thru the end so it is capable of accepting the Singer hardware. I expect the repair to be as strong as the original wood. The wood itself will fail before a joint made with modern wood glues. I still need to find some appropriate stain so it blends in with the rest of the arm.
Rodney

nice work Mr. Rodney.

I did a bit more this morning. The heat is finally coming to an end. It's a nice overcast 70* or so at the moment.
I started repairing the dress guard's veneer. The top edge had a strip of missing and loose veneer about 3" wide across the top.
Singer didn't spend money on fancy veneer where they didn't need to. The outer veneer is plain sawn instead of the fancier and more expensive quartersawn oak they used where it shows.
The first picture shows some badly weathered and dirty oak plywood that I peeled some veneer from to use for this repair. Maybe not ideal but it may actually match better than new clean veneer would.
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The repair patch. The veneer was already lifting off so I helped it along with a putty knife and made the cuts with a straightedge and singe edge razor blade.
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There are some little steel brads helping to hold things together. I carefully removed them with a set of end cutters. I'll reuse them when the repair is complete.
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I didn't take any pictures while I was working (sorry) but I trimmed off the damaged outer veneer saving it for other repairs. The loose veneer was a couple layers deep. I cleaned out all the dust that I could that had found it's way in over the years and did a rough patch job on the inner layer working glue between the layers that had separated and adding pieces of veneer where the original was missing. The outer layer needs a smooth base to glue it to or it won't look right. Here it is all clamped up with wax paper to keep the glue from sticking where it shouldn't. I used a board to apply even pressure all the way across. It's impossible to have too many clamps.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]486539[/ATTACH]
I'll continue after the glue dries by smoothing up the base layer and adding the outer veneer.
I'm hoping seeing these repairs will help people fix damaged parts when they can instead of having to find replacements though there are times when that's appropriate too.
Rodney

Sorry, no pics this morning. The batteries in the camera are dead. I removed the clamps and smoothed oput the inner veneer using some coarse sandpaper on a sanding block. I also removed some dried glue. After I decided the surface was prepped well enough I straightened the edge of the veneer patch until I was satisfied with the fit. No-it's not perfect. I'm not that good. I covered the entire surface of the area to be patched with glue and clamped the new veneer in place using a board to spread the force of the clamps. Tomorrow i hope to have batteries in the camera. I'll remove the clamps then and trim the veneer to fit. There are a few more areas on the dress guard needing repairs but the big part is done.
Rodney

I spent some time dismantling the treadle top. I was lucky. Singer put it all together with screws so I was able to take everything apart. It will be much easier now to do the necessary woodwork to restore it. The top of the lid has the most damage. The veneer is lifted and some is missing in the middle, most like as a result of spending time as a plant stand. There are also a lot of smaller missing pieces of veneer around the edges. My original plan was to replace all the veneer on that piece but now I'm thinking I'll patch it up instead. The veneer isn't highly figured so it shouldn't be difficult to blend in the patches. I think I can match the repairs enough that you would have to look closely to see them.
I have some quartersawn white oak boards here that I can cut some veneer from.
Rodney

Ella's going to be pretty when you're done.

CD in Oklahoma

Thanks CD. I hope so. I'm not trying to make her new again, just presentable. I don't mind if she shows her age a bit.
Rodney

I got some batteries for the camera and I'm still working on the repairs to the veneer. All the loose or missing wood on the dress guard is either glued back down or replaced now.
I also started work on the top of the lid. Here's the before, I love the iron imprint from long ago:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]486947[/ATTACH]
The first thing I did was cut a thin piece of white oak about 2 inches wide to use for some replacement veneer. Next I clamped a straight edge to the top and cut out a strip of the damaged veneer the same width as the patch using my dovetail saw.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]486942[/ATTACH]
The replacement strip and the missing veneer.
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There is also a bunch of lifted veneer in the middle where the potted plant was. My daughter and I carefully worked glue under the veneer there and in the hole where the new veneer is.
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I made some clamping cauls out of a piece of 2x4. I ripped it down to 3 roughly 1" boards then planed about 1/4" off each end to form a gentle arc along their length. These are clamped with the curve toward the lid to transfer the force of the clamps to the center of the lid where the clamps can't reach. There's some waxpaper so the glue doesn't stick to the plywood and cauls and a thin piece of plywood to help spread the clamping pressure evenly. I'm done with this piece until the glue dries.
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I also started cleaning up the main top of the table. I didn't get a before of it. Here it is wiped down with mineral spirits. I also spent some time removing some old spilled paint using a single edged razor blade to scrape it off.
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This is where the paint was after scraping.
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The rings from the (presumably) paint cans are caused by a reaction of the oak to the iron in the cans. The only way to remove them that I know is to bleach all the color out of the wood and start fresh. I'm not doing that so they're going to stay.
That's as far as I've gotten so far. There are a bunch of smaller repairs to make on the lid then the rest is just doing my best to stain and refinish the wood to make the repairs blend in.
Rodney

I'm still picking away at the veneer repairs, I've also started finishing the main part of the top. There are no decent woodworking supplies near me, just a Home Depot and a couple Aces. None of them carry dye stains, just the typical wipe on pigment stains. I prefer dye stains. They color wood much more evenly. I decided to use some Rit dark brown fabric dye on it. It actually works pretty well on wood though I'm not sure if it's as colorfast as regular aniline wood dyes. My daughter and I just finished the first coat of shellac on the top. Here's how it looks now.
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It looks just a little blotchy but I think that will go away as I build up the shellac coats.
I tested the original finish and it is shellac. That's a good thing because shellac is a very forgiving finish to work with and it will be difficult to tell old from new when I'm done.
Rodney

I'm still plugging away. I almost have all the veneer repairs completed on the lid and the rest of the top is shellacked. Yesterday I cleaned the irons with sewing machine oil and re-installed the pitman arm. I ended up replacing the missing hardware in the pitman arm. The steel plate on the original repair had enough slop in it that the treadle would occasionally make a banging noise in use. That might explain the friction tape that was covering the old repair. The banging would have gotten annoying very quickly.
As a side note, I've never seen conical bearings used anywhere but on sewing machines. As far as I'm concerned they're nothing short of genius in their simplicity of design and ease of adjustment. The treadle uses them on the flywheel's axle and I think the pedal as well (there was no need to take that apart).
Next I will be using some steel wool and wax on the shellacked surfaces to cut the shine back a bit. I think a softer satin sheen will be more appropriate given the wear and staining on the top. I also don't see any sign that there was ever a gloss finish on the drawers of the cabinet although there may have been on the top.
I'm getting very close to being able to put it all back together.
There really hasn't been any need for more pictures most of the work is just a repeat of what I've already shown.
Rodney

This is so amazing! Thank you so much for documenting "Ella's" resurrection. She went to good hands.
Kay - Ella's daughter.

Keep going Rodney, you are doing a great job. Yes I would cut down on the sheen a little.
thanks for showing us the process.
Skip

Glenn I think your processes may be more effective. This is just what I know how to do. I actually have her mostly assembled and moved into the LR at this point. I'm still repairing the lid. The top of it has all the veneer patches glued in but there's a big chunk missing from one corner then more shellac and it can go on.
I've got the machine in the cabinet and am starting on it. So far I know I have to rebuild the top tension. It looks like there's a spring missing and I need to get the stitch regulator freed up. The parts machine may be getting robbed here shortly.
I'm pretty pleased with her so far, she looks good in the LR and Olivia and I both are having fun treadling her even if we can't actually sew with her yet.
Rodney

My processes are just my method but they are many more and yours are just fine and work for you. No right or wrong way. The main thing is to enjoy the journey the destination is always not the important thing. You will have a nice looking machine in a very nice cabinet and will look great in any home.
Skip

I'm having tension problems.
The upper tension was all wrong and missing the cone shaped coil spring and the check spring was mangled. I robbed the other machine, cleaned everything as thoroughly as I could and put those parts in.
The machine stitches (Yay! no timing issues!)but the top thread is too tight. It's basically a straight line and is pulling enough to curl the test fabric.
So far I've checked the manual to make sure it was threaded correctly, reassembled the top tension a couple more times, tightened the shuttle tension as far as I could and have used two different threads on both the bobbin and top thread. The nut for the tension is backed almost all the way out.
I've also taken the cover plate off the end. I don't see anything to release the tension when the presser foot is up.
I think I'm missing something. I know some Singer tensions have a pin to release the pressure on the tension disks. It's very possible that I just don't see it. Does the 27 have that same setup?
Any help would be appreciated, I'll tackle it again in the morning. I'm very close to a working machine again.
Thanks,
Rodney

I think I have the problem solved. I switched out the shuttle and now I'm getting good stitches.
Rodney

I also figured out the tension release. There is no connection to the presser foot lever. Model 27s have a manual release. It's the thumb tab on the upper tension assembly.
One of those Doh! moments...
Rodney

shuttles get gummed up under the tension spring, and way inside the bore. clean and polish after disassy. Tension adj is about like any other. 1oz drop

I'll give that a shot. Even though I have a few I would still like that one to work too. IIRC both my 27s came with 2 shuttles. I'm grateful for that. They're not cheap to replace and it's always good to have a spare.
I just finished getting the stitch regulator freed up. It's still a little sticky on the longer stitch lengths but at least I can turn it with my fingers now. I think time and use will free it up the rest of the way.

Just an observation. This machine was well taken care of when it was new and in use based on the amount of dried oil I've found on it so far. Ella made it a point to oil her sewing machine regularly. It's also apparent based on the wear on the bed that Ella made a lot of things with it.
Rodney