Congratulations on your White treadle and I bet the 'tiny' 1908 Singer is a Model 28, which is a 3/4 sized machine.

Nancy

I don't know if the Touch and Sew has all metal parts, I thought the 500's (I have a Rockateer 503a from 1961) were the last all metal machines, but I could be wrong! I have read mixed reviews on the Touch and Sews. The very first Touch and Sews were not reliable, the later versions were better according to the web. Some people swear by them. What year is your machine?

Here is a web site I visited with questions about the Touch and Sew machines.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2190815AAhh1Ax

Nancy

It's got nylon gears that crack over time.
The repairmen often called them Touch & Throws, its hit or
miss whether you get one that works properly. My Mother had a 758 Golden T&S. My sister & I hated that machine.
The earlier Singers are much better. If you want a zig zag machine, the 401,403,500,503 are great machines with all metal gears. The old straight stitch machines are good too.
Sharon W.

Only the 600 and 603 Touch and Sew machines have metal gears. All the other models have plastic and you don't want them. It's not much fun to change out the gears (if you can find them) and retime, etc., and there are much better machines out there. (Sharon's right--it was nylon gears. They literally crumble.)

You are so correct, I look at a lot of vintage machines, and personally only want metal gears.
:-D :-D

Thank you for the responses. I'll let it go. I don't need it, though I may look at it later when I get a new car just for the desk. I totaled my car Monday. Kind of puts a cramp in my mobility.
My 1974 Elna sews perfectly, my 1952 Singer 128 will sew well after a cleaning and the 1960ish Kenmore buried in the sewing room sewed okay with a few tension problems when she was my only machine.
I reallly want a 1950s White, not another Singer.

Geeze, I hope no one was hurt when you totaled your car!

I just ran into a gal in the repair shop with a Touch and Sew. I don't know the year of her Touch and Sew, but she had been using it since high school. She looked to be in her late 40's early 50's. She brought it into the repair shop because it had no feed dogs! The feed dogs were plastic and had completely worn off! I didn't even know Singer made machines with plastic feed dogs! Anyway, she wanted it fixed. The repair guy wanted to sell her a new machine, but she loved that Touch and Sew so she wanted it fixed. She talked the repair guy into fixing her machine so she left it with him -- I don't know if the new feed dogs will be plastic or metal?

I am so glad I ran into this lady as now I know what 'not' to buy when I find vintage machines!

Nancy

My knees are banged up and one lung hurts, but nothing too serious. The airbags activating was terrible, but I guess I should appreciate them. Luckily, no one was in my car except me and the driver of the truck wasn't injured either. The big Ford 4x4 sustained more damage than my Buick.

I know where there's another Singer 128, only in a cabinet and with a bobbin instead of a shuttle for $75, but I really don't think I want two such similar machines. Mine is in the curved case and has a shuttle.

Ouch! Glad you're all right.

I had a gold colored touch n sew and the gears kept breaking. I put about $200 worth of repairs into it (not personally-I took it to a shop) and finally gave up. My dh got rid of it but I wish now that I'd kept it for parts or something.