treadle in pieces?
 

Would it be feasible to buy a treadle head and cabinet separately and try to put them together? I know NOTHING about a treadle (except that I want one).

Best bet is too keep a sharp lookout on Craigslist, Goodwill, and local ebay and buy near home. If this is impossible Singer parts are readily available to "build" a treadle.

Jon

It is important to be sure the head, cabinet, and irons are all "compatible" and from the same company or they won't fit. Browse online and you'll see which sets go together. I suspect you'll find a complete treadle sooner or later on Craigslist or Freecycle. Spruce it up, or then look for individual components if necessary- a better drawer or prettier head. Warning- treadles are addictive!

Thayer Rags has done it he calls it a MUTT Mulit-Use-Treadle-Table. His is made to hold several different machines.

I have a Singer 401G - it is German made and can treadle. My husband took the top off a regular sewing machine table and mounted it on a set of treadle legs and yes it does work. The machine hinge holes have to line up in the treadle hinges, then the machine has to fit the hole and the machine and treadle wheels have to line up square.

I found a treadle table on CL already 'altered' just recently. She threw in a Touch 'N Sew which is what I thought they had altered for... never mind why??? However, it looks more like it was altered to fit a Kenmore. I haven't matched anything up yet. I have a couple treadle bases I bought to put Singer 306s and 319s onto. I will need to adjust a normal table to fit. It will not look cool or have drawers but it will treadle. I have a "Margarette" table and base but the machine was missing - the machine is a fiddle base. I can keep the top and wait for a fiddle base machine that fits or put something else on top of the legs. I Google searched and could not come up with a Margarette sewing machine.

It's easiest if you stick to the same manufacturer - but not always necessary. It's also best if it's the same size machine so you don't have to alter the size of the hole - but again not necessary.

Also if fitting a head to a different cabinet you'll need to make sure that the wheel of the treadle and the wheel of the head line up plumb so the belt can travel in a straight line. This may require some alteration of the cabinet.

Another option is to get a set of treadle legs, build your own top with a hole cut to fit your machine lined up with your treadle legs, then pop a coffin top over it as a dust cover (instead of building the top with a drop mechanism).

I've got a few treadle bases that the tops were either too far gone to restore, or no tops at all. For one we purchased a butcher block top ... well just because we thought it would look nice ... we still need to cut the hole and set it to the irons. I first need to decide which machine I'm going to put in it though .... that would help!!

I have a set of Wilcox & Gibb's irons that are gorgeous and we're waiting to find the right top and machine to pair it up. Sometimes good deals like those W&G irons come along and you can't pass it up and yes I'll probably pay more than I would have otherwise for the head and top but will make out in the long run as the irons were only $2.00.

I have what would be termed a "franken-treadle". It has a top from a Singer coffin top and the irons are Elgin, the drawers had to come off so that the top would fit the wider irons. It all works very well together and is very easy to treadle.
If I recall correctly Elgin was made by The Free sewing machine company and has ball bearings in the treadle somewhere.
Sharon in Texas

Thanks folks. Sounds like not a good idea for someone who is not experienced with treadles. I'll keep looking.