World Rotary Restoration
 

My DH just picked up my first vintage treadle, a World's Rotary. The serial number is FR 7030586. The guy he got it from says its from 1912. It has been sitting in his shed for about three years, but before that it was very well kept. We are planing to restore it this year. How to you suggest getting the rust off and what's the best type of grease to use? It needs a new belt. It came with at least eight bobbins and an instructions manual, plus many attachments, some of which I don't think even belong to this machine. I'm very excited but almost nervous about restoring it! I've never restored any machines before. I would love any suggestions!

Use oil on this model, no need for grease, and you might as well start right away. If that's the result of three years in a shed, it was this machines worst years ever. Poor thing! You have to take off all plates and covers, start polishing and scrubbing. There are various rust removing products available, but they can be a bit cumbersome to use since you can't have it touch the paint or decals. The chrome is gone in places, but the metal will shine up reasonably well with a good metal polish. When you start to oil, clean and use the machine; rust and grime will gradually dissolve and flush out from gears, joints and hinges. Some people would pick it completely appart, but it can be difficult. You will get far with steel wool, polish, dremel with felt tip, etc. Then start oiling, use the machine and keep on oiling and cleaning. Gradually it will improve. For cleaning and fixing up the exterior the sticky thread on restoring the japanning is a good one.

What pretty decals! A whole lot of sewing machine oil will do wonders for it.

Wow, 1912! That is two years before my parents were born. I hope you will be giving updates with pictures.

Congratulations. Fantastic that you have the manual, bobbins and accessories. My guess is that it probably is closer to a 1921 machine, but that is totally a guess.

It kind of looks like some of the decals may have silvered and consequently the finish coat is possibly compromised so be careful around the decals.

The decals on the bed look like
http://needlebar.org/cm/displayimage..._display_media
Another similar
http://needlebar.org/cm/displayimage..._display_media

Take lots of pictures if/when you take metal pieces off to polish. Do one area at a time. I have been known to not heed that advice and wished that I had. If that needle bar area is like the White machines of that era, I have heard rumors that it can be problematic getting it off and back together.

Lots of oil and plenty of patience are in order to bring it back to working order.

Other good resources for tips and hints can be found at
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...v-t167789.html
Cleaning and Reviving furniture(Sewing cabinets)

Enjoy the process. It really is a great feeling to get it all cleaned up and sewing again.

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

Thanks for the suggestions! Does anyone know how I can find out the model # so I can buy the correct belt? I was looking around online last night and I didn't seem to find out anything. I feel like this is going to be a huge project! It's such a shame it was stored in a shed.

There's only two types for treadles as far as I know, one slighly wider than the other. Domestic machine tend to run best on the more narrow leather belt according to some info, some times both types will work. You buy one length, cut it to size and clip or stitch it together; some carefully wind thread around the joint or use tape to make it run more even.

I would google your machine to find the belt. Also, someone on the board told mentioned Sewclassic at shop.sewclassic.com - they sell a lot of accessories and parts for vintage machines. I just bought a 1/4 foot and a few other things for my Singer Featherweight. Good prices. Everything is by email, no phone number listed. You can communicate by email and tell them what you need. The shop I used to get info on greasing and oiling my Featherweight is The Singer Featherweight Shop - they had a neat you tube. I know you don't have a Featherweight, but you could google on youtube on how to grease and oil your 1912 machine. I'm a visual learner and the youtube was a great help. Your machine will look beautiful once it's all done - just take it a step at a time.

This is a terrific machine! The FR serial number indicates a Family Rotary machine, and mine is my favorite machine out of 14 others. You may consider soaking the (non decal) rusted parts in vinegar overnight, then brushing off with water and a toothbrush, followed with a nice oil bath.

The bobbin case cover appears to be a replacement; they are often missing on FR machines. I eventually just started making them out of 1/16 plexiglas (easy to work with and lots of fun to watch the machine work).

I would Not recommend trying to remove the handwheel; it may be flared at the right end. An article on Treadle On mentioned a gentleman using a gear puller (!) to remove one, only to find out the wheel is not designed to come off the shaft left-to-right.

I love these machines. In spite of already having 15, I want another FR...I would gladly trade a Singer for one in decent condition!

I've seen several FR machines with square plates like this has, and then there is a wood insert that fits into the cutout instead of the more typical T shaped plate. I'm pretty sure I've got one of those wood inserts around somewhere.

I'd also lean more towards this being a 1920's machine instead of a 1912 machine. There is info somewhere about when White started using the "FR" in front of the serial numbers. Addiction -you come to SD and I'll give you one (or two) and you don't even need to trade for it.

Here is a picture of the wood insert - the cover plate on yours looks the same as on this one. The notes say this is from 1916 and the number is later than yours, so that makes 1912 could be correct. Looks like the same decal pattern as yours has too.

http://needlebar.org/cm/displayimage..._display_media

According to http://www.treadleon.net/WhiteSM/whites.html the FR came out in 1890 and continued into the 1930s. That site also lists serial numbers. I don't know if you can still get dating from 800-446-2333 but it might be worth a try. If so you might want to try a couple of times as according to https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...e-t133924.html they have been known to give the wrong date. I'm wondering if that is what happened on the needlebar reference.

Sew-classic does have the belt at http://shop.sew-classic.com/Belt-Tre...ter-P60013.htm and for installing check out http://www.shop.sew-classic.com/medi...STRUCTIONS.pdf and http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...eadlebelt.html

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

My White Family Rotary is also my favorite machine. It is smooth, quiet, and strong. You may find when you rotate the hand wheel (always clockwise, or away from you in a family rotary, unlike singer and others) that there is a point where it feels like it is binding or even stops. I could not get mine smooth until I took off the faceplate and oiled the needle bar mechanism. It looks intimidating but really is not hard. Also, when tightening the screws on the pillar side that hold in the faceplate, if I tightened down all the way it would bind again. Just a SLIGHT loosening was all mine needed. Here is a great link from treadleon about removing the faceplate.
http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...aceplaste.html
This is the machine that started my addiction. It was so satisfying to get it beautiful and smooth that I started looking for more!
I would also recommend starting by removing the needle and slide plates to get full access to the feed dogs and bobbin area. My WFR had more thread and link jammed in those areas than any machine since (and they all have had some). It is a wonder the machine could turn at all!

Thanks SO much!! I was just wondering about the binding or stopping when I turned the wheel! I was busy giving the machine an oil this morning, trying to get the wheel to turn smoothly. It now runs pretty smooth, considering I haven't taken anything apart yet. I will take off the faceplate and oil it nicely. Thanks for the link on how to remove it; I'll book mark it for sure.

I was wondering what this knob on the wheel does? Occasionally while I was turning the wheel (away from me) it would slip into place or something (?) and then the wheel turned VERY freely but the needle would not move. I'm guessing it has something to do with winding up the bobbin, but I don't know why it would do it on its own, without me "telling" it to. It would then take several times spinning the wheel to make it engage and control the needle and feed dogs again. Any ideas?

Thank you all so much for your advice, everyone! I'm feeling some confidence that I can bring this girl back to life:)

Thanks for the pictures, Macybaby and OurWorkBench. I'll see if I can find the wooden piece that goes by the needle plate. The guy who gave it to me also gave me three bins of random craft stuff, so maybe it's in there.

I'm glad to hear that others treasure their White Rotarys. I was originally told it was a Singer before I had seen it, so I spent the weekend learning everything I could about every treadle Singer made! I was disappointed to find something else, but after seeing what you all think of it, I'm pleased.

The last patent date on the needle plate is September 12, 1905. I know that the exact year doesn't matter, but I guess I love old things and was wondering if this means anything?

Thanks for all this infomation! I'll try calling the White Company and see if they will tell me. I read somewhere online yesterday that they will no longer give out that information.... But no harm in trying I guess.

I just called them; nope, they can no longer give out that information sadly. What a shame, more history being forgotten.

NZ quilter,

You have indeed found the reason for that arm. It is designed to let you spin bobbins without turning all the hardware in the machine. But, it should be up to you when you use it. I'd clean around the grove with a toothbrush. I suspect a bit of debris is not letting it slip down and click (?) into place. I'd tell you more but my FR's are across town.


Leon in E Kansas.

I was afraid of that regarding 800-446-2333. Thank you so much for letting us know. I think there were at least couple of different mechanisms for releasing the hand wheel to wind the bobbin. You might want to check out http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachi...itewheels.html and one John did for White 11 which he posted about at https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...h-t265423.html Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

I found my wooden insert for the needle plate:) Yay!

Just in case you want another one, there is one on KC marketplace on facebook today for $25.00 Pretty rough, but it has a cabinet that will help lift the machine up.

Congratulations!! What a treat. A good sewing machine oil and a soft cloth will shine her up in no time the decals are great, wipe softly only with oil. I don't have many vintage machine but I for one am here to tell you once it gets a good clean up and a bit of a tune up if necessary, you are going to just love sewing with it. How exciting.