DarkVio

Hello!


This is my first post here. I recently acquired a Singer in good condition, I believe it's a model 15K.
Does anyone know if the bobbinwinder is original? Because the engaging lever sure is bent and crooked and doesn't work that well.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]549380[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]549381[/ATTACH]



Also, the bobbin assembly looks very different from anything I've ever seen before in that it doesn't use a bobbin case! Instead you have to turn the machine over (almost impossible to get access to the mechanism otherwise), flip open a hatch and place the bobbin inside. How common is this assembly and is it called anything? I think it's possible to install another kind for using bobbin cases, am I right? Or perhaps the whole machine is designed around this specific assembly?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]549382[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]549383[/ATTACH]



This is a swedish sold machine with serial number P456795 which according to lookup tables tells me that it's a model 15K manufactured around 1901. Could that be about right?

//Joel

Tom W

I would have to see more pictures or get my hands on this machine. There are many things that just don't look quite right. Not least of all a 115 year old machine with Memphis/Sphinx decals that aren't original, the 'interesting' bobbin winder and a bobbin case/race that I've never seen. Doesn't make it completely wrong but does raise a number of questions. The plating is too shiny, the paint too fresh, the decals are a bit garish... so many questions. At best this is a heavily restored machine...

Here is a picture of a machine of the period that belongs to a well known collector, note the differences:

Skyangel

The bobbin assembly is like my IF and I don't know of any others like it. The bobbin winder does not look like mine but it could be a replacement. My IF is 1886 and a fiddle-base. It was made into the 1890s, and the sphinx decals started in the 1890s so it could be a late IF design exported to Sweden?.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]549391[/ATTACH]

jbj137

***
*** Hi! Y'all from the upstate of South Carolina.
***

elnan

In the past year, I think there was a discussion on here about sewing machines made in China to look like this. That sure is a nice, new looking base the head is sitting in. Are the last two photos showing aluminum parts?

elnan

On 8/29/2013 slsurz started her post with "Singer Treadle Sewing Machine Question". That opened up a discussion about visual differences in the original Sphinx machines and the newer Chinese reproductions. I have better luck finding posts on here if I go outside the site and google. There has been a discussion on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville, and on Artisan's Square where Sew Classic weighed in, those were treadles. BUT, what you have could be a hybrid put together by a talented tinkerer.

OurWorkbench

Joe,
Welcome to QB -- Nice looking machine.

Having a few 15's I have done some research on some of them. There were many Class 15 models manufactured by Singer. It is sometimes difficult to confirm the sub-model. My guess would be it would be an very early model and might be what is called a "long beak shuttle" If there are numbers on the parts you might be able to identify which sub-model it is. For me it is kind of hard to read and go back & forth in this pdf - http://parts.singerco.com/IPpartChar...3_80_to_85.pdf

It looks to be a very nice refurbish. My guess is that it was repainted and new decals put on. Also it appears that it is in a 'new' base. The reproductions that I have seen have a drop feed on the bed under the pillar which I don't see on yours.

I know that some of the 27's had a bed mount bobbin winder that needed to be moved when it was electrified. I'm thinking that the 15s bobbin winders were near the handwheel to begin with.

Some other sources would be ISMACS, Needlebar and yahoo groups. I agree with Elnan that it is easier to google than search QB function.

Good luck.

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

Macybaby

my assessment would be the same as Janey - this is an older IF machine (the precursor of the 15) that has been refurbished and electrified.

Bobbins for these are a bit harder to find, they are not the same as the class 15.

I have two early IF machines, the ealiest does not have a bobbin winder as it would have been mounted on the belt guard.

Here they are side by side - both long beak shuttle machines.

OurWorkbench

Joel. (sorry I forgot "L" previously)

I'm guessing that it might be a 15k3 or 15k4 If you search for a manual - you might want to double check that it is a manual and not just the parts list pdf that I linked to above. I found a 1908 catalog that showed the "K" models and descriptions on the Smithsonian site http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollect...2753/index.htm The line drawing of the early 15K and description (pretty cryptic - my opinion)

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

Macybaby

Another interesting item with the OP - notice there is no motor boss. Instead there is a shim put between the pillar and the motor mount. I've run across many older machines with no mount unless they were specifically made for hand crank. I've seen some interesting shims created to put a hand crank/motor on a Singer with no boss - but it does require drilling a hole or two through the back of the pillar.