What's up with these hemmer feet...the 'same' but 'different'
 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]533107[/ATTACH]I have two hemmer feet that are supposedly the same, but they aren't

Foot #1 is marked 35857, with no other words. It is wider and seems a bit heavier than Foot #2. It is dull nickel color and the clamping area is a bit shorter than Foot #2.

Foot #2 is marked 161671, SINGER, GT. BRITAIN. It has a shiny chrome finish. The needle slot (the area the needle passes through?), is much wider than the slot on Foot #35857.

The #161671 is the hemmer foot recommended for my FM 252 in both the 1971 and 1974 versions of its instructions manual. The #35857 is the foot the shop actually included with the machine.

What is the difference in these two feet?

(It will take me a minute to add photos since they are in my iPod.)

Age mostly - and one was made in G Britain.

Singer made small modifications to attachments over time, as styles and fabric changed.

One neat item - Singer included quite different sets of attachments with machines normally sold to other than US markets. Some attachments are rare and valuable in the US that are quite common in other countries.

BTW - Singer did make some hemming feet with wider hems - but I believe those are stamped with the width on them, and they are quite rare. Most of what you see was what was included with the basic set for that era, but a basic hemmer foot included with a 1900 machine is not the same foot as the basic hemmer foot included with a 1940, and things really changed after the influx of outsourcing after WW2. And the improvements in machining tools.

It amazes me at some of what was produced when the work was done without the aid of computer driven anything.

Is there any way to tell when the older #35857 would have been made?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]533114[/ATTACH]

The newer (?) Gt. Britain for is on the left. This shows how it is shorter than the #35857 foot on the right.

Hard to tell unless there are any data that states start end end of production. I would expect it to be 1930s and older. Even though chrome details on the machines were standard (knobs, levers, face plate, ect), the feet were often nickle plated, or other type nickle coating I'm not sure how they did it. By the 40's and closer to the 50s all original accessory boxes I've seen have been chromed, and the basic stitch foot hinged. In the 1930s I think it still was one piece metal and nickle finish.

I'm sorry my posting is so convoluted. I have to switch back and forth from the desktop to the iPod.

Here are the soles.

As Macybaby mentioned age, where they were sold to, or where they were made. I have a variety of places that I go to look for parts and numbers. I did find the 35857 listed as a 1/8" hemmer from the parts list for 115s dated 191. I found 161671 listed for a 185 which would have dated it approximately 1960. One place I saw that the 161671 might be for 5/64" hem which would make it a tad narrower than the older one. Perhaps the slight height difference would be so that it could accommodate the path behind the needle where three layers of fabric are traveling after going through the hemmer and being stitched. Years ago (when I only had one narrow hemmer) I was impressed with the narrow hem it made. I think I read once that even the ones that are the same width will sometimes make better stitches and hems on one machine over another. One of these days I would like to try the different ones I now have.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

They might be two different sized hemmers. If you can, try them out to see if on has a wider hem the other. Kinda looks like it in the last photo??

This link has some good info on hemmers.
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/...emmer-part-one