I got this 1920 Minnesota A (Sears knockoff) from my SIL and I have been using Billy's tute to dismantle and clean it up. It appears to have been a treadle machine retrofitted with a motor, and not very nicely done either. My question is, what is the purpose of the long skinny bar that is attached to the motor and slants down to the bobbin winder. It moves freely between the attachments and as far as I can see, does nothing for the machine. Any ideas?

Second question, what do I do with it now? It is not in very good cosmetic shape but does sew and I do not want to keep it.

Thanks for any ideas.

Linda

what does the skinny bar do when you are winding a bobbin on it?

Looks like maybe when you wind the bobbin the rod is there to get traction from the turning wheel so it can wind the bobbin.

Yep that's what mine does!!

OK, after your clues and really studying the above picture I think I have it figured out. The belt for activating the bobbin winder does NOT go on the hand wheel and the bobbin pulley wheel as I was doing before. There is no clutch on the handwheel that releases the machine, so when you wind the bobbin that way the machine "sews" away and the motor was getting too hot, too much drag. The belt actually goes on just the motor pulley wheel and the bobbin pulley wheel, under and bypassing the hand wheel. After you get the belt on, you push the whole bobbin winder mechanism up, which pushes the bar back, which pushes the motor back and off the hand wheel. Then the motor turns just the bobbin winder and not the whole machine. Phew!

As I said before, this is a treadle that was retrofitted. My question now is, did the factory do this or did a private party figure out this complicated, jury-rigged system. Does anyone else out there have a set up like this?

Thanks to everyone who gave me clues to figure this out.

Linda

That is a very nice Minnesota you have and judging from the decals it looks like it was really cared for.

Billy

Billy:

Pictures don't necessarily show the truth!! If you look in VSM photos there is a picture of the Minnesota A from the front, AFTER I used your tute to clean it up and polish it with Liquid Gold. The decals on the base are not in good shape at all, the clear coat is crazed, cracking and missing in chunks all over the base. Liquid gold turned the decaying clear coat from a yellowish to a matte finish so it at least looks a little better, but there is no shine. It is my ugly duckling!

Linda

Yeah but she is loved and that is all that matters!

Billy

I have this setup on my White Number 8.

The long skinny bar is to push the motor back so that the friction wheel doesn't come into contact with the balance wheel. You should have a separate belt that runs from that notch on the end of the friction wheel to the notch on the end of the bar on your bobbin winder. You'd put the belt on, push the bobbin winder up, and that in turn will use the rod to push the motor/friction wheel back, keeping your needle from moving while the bobbin winds.

I'm in the process of trying to get a new friction wheel for mine, since the one on mine has an indentation in it from sitting in the cabinet. Make sure that if you put the machine down in the cabinet, that you put a couple of layers of batting between the rubber on the friction wheel and the balance wheel.
:)

Charlee:

My friction wheel has the same problem, where are you obtaining a replacement? Do you have to replace the entire motor or just the rubber friction part?

Linda