Visit with Miriam and Phil
 

We just got home from a visit with Miriam and her husband Phil.

I had picked up an ancient Domestic treadle with most of the bottom, top and most of the coffin, she'd seen over here on CL. She had a couple sewing machines I wanted, and a couple we'd won on GW she picked up for us. So we did a bunch of swapping.

I now have a real purty metallic blue Precision HA-1 / 15 clone for my collection. :D I also got another Kenmore we have to hunt up cams for, it was cheep so we didn't get hurt. A nice blue Sewmor 606 and a metalic silver Sewmor 404. :) :)
She also had a couple of cases she gave me. One was more or less complete except the bottom had been termite fodder, and the other the bottom was OK but the top had come completely unglued. I'll have them fixed in due time. Thanks Miriam.

She's also got two Dressmaker 7000s just like mine. So I took mine over there and compared them all. Mine isn't as bad as I thought because both of hers do the same things mine does. I still have to tinker with the cam follower system. It doesn't fully fill out the patterns. But I'm closer to getting it to cooperate.

We also tried to diagnose what in the world is rattling inside my last Singer 413. Couldn't find it. Since it sews, I'm just gonna sell it and be done with it. ( I hope )

We parted out an old Singer 5 drawer treadle. I got the top part the hinges mount to for my 9W-7 treadle and some screws.
That will come much closer to getting that machine back in it's treadle.

Got some motors to mess with and gave Miriam a genuine J Miller Whacky bag.

It was fairly cold in the shop house so we retired to the back of the house and gobbled up some home made chile. Emmmm, emmm gooood. It hit the spot on this cold brrrrrrrr day.

After that I went over to the blue house and visited with Phil. He showed me all the work he'd been doing on the house.
WOW, I can see the huge amount of work he's already done, and yet he's still got a long way to go. It will be a really nice place when he gets done, that I can see.

On the way to Indy we saw a really nice coyote in the median looking like he'd just woke up, and on the way back just outside of Indy we saw a whole heard of dear down in a field.

All in all we had a great visit and a nice trip.

Joe and Elaine

Sounds like a great New Year's Day!

Wow. That sounds like a perfect day! Friendly people, good food, common interests. Fun.

Caroline,

As soon as I get our disaster organized from unloading the Pathfinder last night I'll take pics of all my new acquisitions. Especially the purty blue clone. It doesn't have a light though, so I'll have to scare one up.

The size of the squares makes no difference. I just had a 3.5" plastic template and used that. The bags are pretty much the same size as the old paper grocery bags. Mater of fact my wife tests my Whacky Bags by taking them shopping and filling them with canned goods. So far so good.

The Whacky bag consists of 83 pieces. 80 3.5" squares, the inner bag, and two handles. Here's a pic:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...swackybagr.jpg
I do my handles a bit different now, I start out with a 4" wide strip 28" long. Then fold it in thirds lengthwise. It makes three layers and is good and strong that way. I run a 1/4" SS seam down each side, then I take the over-edge foot on the 500 or 401 and run a tight ZZ stitch down both edges. My wife could do it in about 30 seconds with her serger, but I enjoy plucking along with the 500.
The way I double fold them at the ends when I sew the top of the bag I loose about 5" in length. The handles actually come out close to 23". Just about right for the plastic bag handle racks they use at WalMart.


Joe

Joe dragged home a ton of projects. That treadle machine was found in the wild under a tree. The top was pretty de-laminated. Joe swiped the part that was under the lid - it was ok. The treadle seems ok - I haven't looked to see what is missing. Maybe Joe did. At any rate he brought a top of a treadle - should hold something some time. He should be busy for at least a day - keep him out of Elaine's hair so she can sew. While Joe was at the blue house, Elaine and I tested out making words on an old Kenmore electronic machine my sister gave me. We had a good time with it - I hope that thing lives a while - I don't want to work on it.
We have a house we bought in a tax auction for cheap. When we bid on it, it appeared to be in good shape. Due to flooding in the basement - no electric to activate the sump pump... it filled up pretty good with water - the people that had the place left a ton of junk down there - all of it wet. It has been a long ride getting that house ready to live in. I hope some day it is worth it.

Miriam,

The bottom of the treadle we parted out was complete and all four of the wheels rolled I think. They were all there at least.
Oh, and I wanted to see that Kenmore monogramming machine too.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I've got all four of the machines we brought back checked out and diagnosed for any parts or repairs needed. Only two of the four needed parts and those were / minor.

Initial report on these machines:

SEWMOR 404:
>Dirty and grungy inside, but not as bad as the Singer 127 I've been working on. Miriam had a "to do" note on it about cleaning and checking the top and bottom tension and the cords, so that got done.
>I had to clean some lint and crud out of the bobbin area to get the oil where it was needed.
This machine looked like it had oil on it, but was dry where it counted.
>The screw head on the little screw that holds the slide plate spring in is broken, another piece for the next Sew-Classic order.
>I put a light on it, an old singer fish eye light. Found there was already a screw for it under the rear inspection plate. I might order in a new one from Sew-Classic and try to paint it to match.
>Checked the motor cord, it's OK.
>Put in a new top spool pin.
>Oiled it top and bottom and threaded it up.
>Test sewed: Sews very nice even stitches. I didn't do anything to the top tension, so when I take it apart to really clean it, I hope it works as good when I get it back together.

I'm seriously considering ordering a spoked hand wheel and putting it in a treadle. I think it would make a dandy treadle machine. When I get a chance I'll stick it in one of my treadles and see how it works.

SEWMORE 606:
>Oiled that one a bit, it didn't really need much at all.
>Checked the belt and cords, they are OK.
>Threaded it up and that's where I ran into problems. I couldn't get it to sew properly by threading it in the way it looks like it should go. Elaine rethreaded it differently, skipping the hook on the tension body and it works fine. There's something about the thread check spring / hook relation ship that's not right. I'll get back to that one in due time.
>Test sew: With it threaded like it should be the machine made about 2" worth of too tight stitches then broke the top thread. After Elaine rethreaded it the other way, it sews really nice stitches.

Once we get the bugs out of it, it will be a really good machine.
I need an owners manual for it. Relics has a reprinted one for $17.00 but I'm looking for a freebee.

KENMORE from GW.

This is one nice machine.
>I pulled the top off and it's CLEAN inside. Tilted the head back and it's clean underneath. One of the cleanest machines I've seen to date. That's almost scary.
>Oiled and greased everything. There is two what look to be fiber gears in it so those and all the steel gears got Tri-Flow grease.
>Ran it for about 5 minutes and just suddenly the machine quieted down and started running quieter as the Tri-Flow oil reached the needed places.
>Test sewed with it. Nice, nice, nice. The SS and ZZ are really consistent.
>Took it to our LSMG for cams, he didn't have any of that style. Found some on eBay, but our user name and password wont work any more.
>Put two nice new read spool pin felts on it.

BLUE DRESSMAKER HA-1 / 15 CLONE from GW:
Nice little machine. Caroline, I'll get pics up today sometime.
>Replaced the petrified belt (an old fabric type belt) with a used one I've had on about three other machines so far. Will have to get some from Sew-Classic next order, the LSMG is out of that size.
>Oiled everything. It was dry inside also.
>Found out the thread check spring on the top tension is broken so I'll have to order another one from Sew-Classic before I can test sew with this machine. :(
>It runs nice, feeds the fabric nice, and with a new needle makes nice straight lines of holes.
>I have a light I'm going to put on it. An old metal one that was originally on my 66 Treadle #2.
Although I might get a new one from S-C and paint it to match too.



Well, yesterday was a long day of tinkering with the machines. Now I've got to find somewhere to put them so I can have room to walk through the house without stubbing my toes. :(

Some of the machines will stay in my collection, others may get re-homed after I'm through "experiencing" them.

Joe

I need to get rid of a few more...

Joe,

Which Cams? I picked some up at the local thrift store, because I thought someone might need them. They came in a pattern cams box that looks like a book. I think they're for the 158 (Jaguar / Maruzen) model machines.

There's one missing in total. I just wanted the box.

Tammi,

Here is an eBay link to a set of those cams.
{ http://www.ebay.com/itm/KENMORE-SEWI...item53eecf90b8 }
There is only 7 cams to the set of this machine.

The model number for our new Kenmore is 158-15000. It is a Maruzen / Jaguar machine, but there is a lot of different cams for the different models.

Joe

Those are really neat looking cams :) The set I have here work on a 158.19142 and probably others. Darn.. I was hoping that these had already found a home.
I have another kenmore here, C877.782 that takes cams too, but I've never seen the cams for it. I can't even figure out who the manufacturer is of those C877 machines.

Does it have any J- A or other J- numbers on it? With that you can "usually" find the makers.

Joe

I saw no Js at all. I know the model number is correct, and it's the second one I've had with the C877 as the first set of numbers. I found a chart once that showed most of the numbered ones (158, 385, etc) but I've never seen this one referred to by a manufacturer name. I had to get a needle plate for a customer for the same model, but the replacement plate could fit almost all of the manufacturers (necchi, riccar, white, brother, etc) so it didn't narrow it down at all for me. :)

Miriam, I'd love to take on some of your re-homes! Caroline's loft is full of creativity and Tango the cat is simply an anchor for many projects. I just have to get over there for some lessons.

Joe, it would appear that you have an excellent sense of adventure. Clearly, you understand those of us who just want to treadle on with stitching our quilts... :-) I'm still looking for a solid zig-zag that works well in a treadle. No perfect machines have shown up in our area that are affordable. The Necchi BU I purchased for just that purpose is no longer going to be a candidate. Her cabinet is much too adorable for the scrap pile. I just have to figure out how to remove and restore that knee controller.

I am amazed at how many machines are capable of treadling. I'm looking for a decent machine will decorate and that can hand crank. Those 3 machines Joe and I tested out would hand crank but aren't all that decent with the stitches. I don't have patience for that. I think those were early junk. Lots of stamped metal. What the cams ride on or read with isn't all that good. All three machines worked about the same as far as that goes. One of mine wasn't feeding fabric consistently. I haven't really had time to go over them much though. I would hate to see a beginning sewer try to use one of those machines - probably write off sewing forever.

Miriam,

Besides being "early junque", I think the design is off or flawed in some way. I can think of nothing more annoying than a machine that surges as it tries to make stitches. None of my other cam ( built in or removable) machines do that. Since all three of them do it, it's got to be something to do with the design.

I'm gonna play with the one I have as time permits, but it will never get used seriously.

Joe

Too frustrating to use much - one of mine was in like new condition except for all the black stuff on the inside of the machine. I don't know if someone used graphite or if it just is filthy. It is crummy to sew with. It is possible that Wilbur and a screwdriver would be a fun show on one of those machines. I had first thought I would pass that on to someone in need. Now I'm thinking it would be a dis-service. There ARE lots of great parts on those machines, Joe. You shouldn't need to go looking for a slide plate (or is that one hinged), throat plate, motor, case, foot control, needle holder clamp, tension, spool pins, springs, presser foot, screws, bobbin area parts, PARTS!!! Lots of PARTS!!! Hurray for parts! Maybe something more worthy will stay alive because of that stupid machine!

Well, if it doesn't cooperate that is a possibility.

Joe

Caroline, Here is a front view pic of the blue Dressmaker clone. The face plate is from another clone I have because this one had a broken thread check spring. It sews as nice as it looks too.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o.../DMBCfront.jpg

Joe

She's pretty! I'm glad that you finally got a blue clone. I love my little blue 15 clone.

All blue clones are not equal - I have one turns beautifully another was gummy - go figure

Now I want a red one ...... :) My wife thinks I'm nuts.


Joe

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Valspar-12...00000003260430
here you go Joe - this should do it

WOW! That would get the job done.


Joe