Singer puzzle Box
 

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OK is there any way to date them other than the "advertised" patented date??

I clean plated sewing machine parts and accessories in Hoppe's #9 gun cleaning solvent. It works great. Once clean wipe them down good and lightly oil them.

I don't know how to date one of those boxes.

Joe

Going on my fuzzy memory cells here: Most puzzle boxes carry a patent date of 1889 even though the boxes were built into the early 1900's. The earlier boxes had a small hook type closure. Newer boxes have the grooved out 'thumb lift' area.

The above is not gospel........ <wink!>

Shari

I have two puzzle boxes. One I found when I was young and stupid. It had all of the feet and accessories in perfect condition for $10. I gave the feet away because I just wanted the box. The second one came with my treadle but it doesn't have all of the accessories and feet and they aren't in nearly as good condition. Live and learn. I love the boxes still though.

My husband cleaned the presser feet with Naval Jelly a rust remover. Use gloves and a brush.

You got a decent price on it! :) I love puzzle boxes, and so far only have 3. One I got on ebay, had all of the feet, wrench, etc., one was a gift from my MIL...only had a few things in it, and one came with my 115, and had a TON of stuff in it, lots of extras.

The one you got is for one of the "15" models... see the two wires that kind of stick up? Those are for round bobbins. There's another style that holds the shuttle bobbins... :)

Does anyone know if there is a pattern out there that you can make your own sewing puzzle box?

The hinges are set into the wood and barely visivle, I have no idea how they did that???

All clean and purdy!! I think I have all the pieces except the 2 small screwdrivers on the left side.
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I am now the proud owner of a Singer Puzzle box! Does anyone out there have any instructions as to how to use the parts? I have the one with the shuttle bobbins, but think they both must work similarly. What I am wondering is how to use the attachments on the bar in the center of the box. Do they hook onto something, and if so, how? Thanks!
Janis

Janis,

I have no instructions, but the hemmers on the bar in the center attach to the presser foot that's at the very bottom just to the right of the bar. You can see the thumb screw on the foot on the left and the needle hole on the right as it's held by the box clamp.

I have on of the feet, but no hemmers for it.

Joe

Janis, you should have a foot in the box that looks like this one. The posts on the hemmers fits into the hole and the thumb screw secures them. :)[ATTACH=CONFIG]339007[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]339008[/ATTACH]

Thanks Joe for pointing out where in AZ's box the foot is. I had seen a couple of feet in the box I got, but just dismissed them as regular feet.
NOW that Charlee has displayed a picture of the foot, I went and looked again at what I have. I do have the foot!!! And now, I'm assuming that the different attachments will fold the fabric for different widths of hems. Is that right? I had thought that they might be for forming different widths of bias binding. How neat to have attachments that do the folding of a hem for us!!! Now to try them out.
My puzzle box came with the shuttles rather than the bobbins, but they look cute in the box, now that I have figured out where they go. I need to fix the holder back on the box. Do I need to use little screws or tiny nails to do it? I did download a instruction book for it, but it doe show how to use those feet, except the foot they attach to looks a little different from the one that is pictured above and the one I have. Thanks a lot for the help! Now to figure out what the flat things in the box do too.
These old attachments are just so much fun to try and use!! I'm learning! :)

Janis, the hemmers will fold for you, but I always press the initial hem (just the first fold) into the fabric first...just seems to work better for me!

Here are some You Tube videos that show how to use different attachments, I searched for the hemmers, and got this:
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc....0.m-iCmYlA8cY

I think I saw one or two of Muv's videos there...hers ROCK! :)

Thanks Charlee for the videos. It takes me a while to download them so I can see them, I still have that old dial-up, (but at least I have that!) but it is worth the time waiting to see them.

Doing the happy dance here. I have either DMIL's or her mom's puzzle box. It must have held shuttle bobbins as where you picture the round bobbins I have 5 metal fingers that kind of look like they could hold a battery. Not that it was made for that purpose of course. It looks like everything is there except the large screw driver and the screw to hold the seem width thing in place. I also have something that looks like a long hollow needle cut on a slant with a knurled center.

piney

My puzzle box is the one that has the shuttle bobbins, and they are held by a set of 5 or 6 sets of points that hold the shuttles in. I have only 3 shuttles, and have no need for them at this time as I have machines that use the round bobbins. But they do look cute in the box anyway. I was wondering what all of the flat things with spokes, etc did, and then I realized they hold the different things in the box. Dumb me! I also have the spoke thing like in the top left of AZ's box, and now have it holding the right things down. The only things I think that are missing in my puzzle box are the two screwdrivers.

Singer puzzle box questions
 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...SzteE/$_57.JPG
Is the attachment foot that holds the hemmers on here? @2nd from the right down towards the bottom, under the middle finger of that holder? What's the squiggle thing on the left, and the thing on the lower left. I would like to find a set to put with my 127 in the treadle drawer. Did these come with the machine originally or were they an optional accessory. Thanks! above post is from a currect ebay listing

The foot is there - but you are missing the screw (I'd say that happens about 75% of the time) that squiggly thing is not part of the original set. It also looks like the shirr plate that attaches to the ruffle is stuck under the tucker, and I can't tell if the bed mount shirr plate is there, it does not appear to be. You are missing the quilting foot and guide, and one other but I cant think of what it is right now.

If anyone out there needs bits and pieces (other than screwdriver/stilettoes) to complete a puzzle box, contact me. I've got a rather large assortment of puzzle box items that I've gotten along with other attachments, and I have no use for them. I've got three complete boxes and have no desire for more. You'll almost never see one that is fully complete on eBay - most will be missing some items, though many have other fun stuff tucked in there too. I always check them to see if there is a neat foot hiding in with the regular box items.

There are plenty of pictures of original instructions for the puzzle boxes, showing what they contain, and there are several different styles (based on age and if they are for 15 or 27 style machines - there are some very rare ones for the 24 out there too).