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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/20/2010 8:18:57 PM   
ThatDamnedPanda


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

I have been after a sewing machine for quite a while now, and as chance would have it, in conversation over the weekend, it was mentioned, and now I have been given a sewing machine. Now, as I am kind of apocalyptic in my mentality, I was particularly after a hand cranked machine, and boy, did I get one. An old Singer 28k, built in 1914 in Scotland, and I believe it still works, not that I would know, I have not got a clue how to use it, so all I have done, is lubed the thing up and made sure everything that is supposed to move moves.

But does anyone still use these old machines, and can anyone point me in the direction of somewhere online that will show me how to string the thing up and use it ?


I haven't used a machine in years, but from what I remember, it's not the sort of thing that's easy to learn online or from reading a manual. You're a good cook, right? I thought I saw you mention that once. Perhaps you could invite someone over to teach you how to use it while you fix a nice dinner. I don't know about you, but if it were me, that's the only way I'd really learn anything.


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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/20/2010 8:52:11 PM   
Aneirin


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From: Tamaris
Status: offline 		No, I am not a good cook, I can burn water, but the sewing machine I have sorted it now, it sews, the worst bit was working out how to set up the shuttle, and after I had worked that out, I found a manual online, doh !

But I just tried it out, and managed to sew a tea towel into a bag, don't ask why, it was the only available bit of material hanging around, so it got sewed. Anyway, I am impressed, fantastic little neat stitches and it was easy to guide with one hand. This thing will do me, for what I have it for. I do have material for a job, but am not going to bugger that up with my experiments. Oh, and I also found out, it is pretty good at sewing thin leather, well it sewed it, that bloody needle is sharp !

After putting it away, I just could not resist but cleaned up the wooden case and re-applied shellac to it. Tommorrow it gets a good polish, as shellac is wonderful stuff, fab for french polishing, and just right for this piece of ancient technology.

But, just to think, the thing is 96 years old and still working perfectly, I even found a bit of newspaper under the machine, dated at 1936. I love old technology, things from a time when they were built to last.


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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/20/2010 9:08:06 PM   
Termyn8or


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Status: offline 		I started responding but somehow knocked the cord out of the wall. DAMMIT !

Threading the machine can be a chore. On the bottom is a bobbin, the housing or whatever is attached to a cam which pulls the thread from the top all the way round to make a stitch. The bobbin just has a simple tensioner, not all that hard to deal with.

On the top is where it gets interesting, and trying to follow what it does goes a long way in helping to learn how to operate it. There will probably be two tensioners on the top. Note the placement of the spool. There is also an arm that moves, with the thread threaded through it. That snugs up the stitches.

What it has to do is supply enough thread to go down in the bottom and all the way around the bobbin, to form the stitch. Then it must pull it tight.

Once you figure out how to thread the thing, keep the tensioners set low and go slow. Get an idea. Soon, you'll figure out how to adjust the tension to your liking. But too high is not good. Thread breaks and then you have the PITA of threading it again.

Most machines don't seem to have a provision for adjusting the tension on the bottom. But the top tension is quite important. Of course you want the stitches tight, but only so tight. Since the tension is applied to the top thread, increasing it pulls the bobbin thread up more, and then it uses more bottom thread, off the bobbin. This is not a big factor, but how the stitches come out is. They have to be tight.

Other sewing machines exist, like for leather. Wouldn't mind having one actually. But when you get to that, it is a matter of alot more tension, a stronger and thicker needle and much stronger and thicker thread. The process is pretty much the same.

One very important thing to learn, after getting it to work in the first place, is how to tie off the work. When you get done, if you don't tie the extra thread off and trim it, a simple tug could unravel it. There are special machines that don't have this problem, but I don't think that's what you have.

Good luck. Make a quilt. I'm not kidding. Those worn out jeans and who knows what else, cut them into uniform pieces, and start sewing them together. You get something totally unique, and you have actually found a way to keep something out of the skip.

And if you find the time I want a tutu. Dark blue would be nice. My measurements are 38, 41, 38.

Best of luck.

T

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/20/2010 9:39:15 PM   
Aneirin


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From: Tamaris
Status: offline 		This is what I have , except mine is  in a bit better condition

And it doesn''t have the optional motor as shown in the pic

Also mine has what is called the victorian pattern decoration.

But someone I know also aquired a sewing machine to make some stuff for a car restoration, and ended up designing and making his own fashions. One masterpiece is a pair of jeans made up entirely from jeans pockets.

Edited due to dead link

< Message edited by Aneirin -- 12/20/2010 9:51:21 PM >

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 4:38:55 AM   
PeonForHer


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

This is what I have , except mine is  in a bit better condition


Hell, they're magnificent-looking things, aren't they?  I saw a German one recently in a charity shop, from the same era.  It looked like this:

http://www.neeshen.com/?p=2304

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 4:44:36 AM   
PeonForHer


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quote:

ORIGINAL: TreasureKY

If you're mechanically inclined, you can find an old treadle base and convert from hand-crank to treadle.  I used one for years and loved it.  Firm and I finally got rid of it just two years ago when we moved... with all the cast iron, it weighed a friggin ton!



Here in the UK you can often find pubs whose tables are all adapted from these Singer treadle-tables.  They usually still have the treadles on them.  Perfect recycling idea: there were thousands of them, they were very strongly-made and so heavy that they're difficult to steal. 

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 5:01:52 AM   
LadyConstanze


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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

This is what I have , except mine is  in a bit better condition


Hell, they're magnificent-looking things, aren't they?  I saw a German one recently in a charity shop, from the same era.  It looked like this:

http://www.neeshen.com/?p=2304



Buy it, those things are collector's items now

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 5:09:19 AM   
PeonForHer


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Status: offline 		Beyond my pocket, unfortunately. The manager of this particular charity shop is quite canny - she has a host of people to consult as to the value of various articles. 

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 5:44:32 AM   
mnottertail


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Status: offline 		The thing is about those old hand crank singers is that they command quite a price here in the states for those who go to quilting meets and whatnot.

Buy two, sell one here, and get your treadle. Typical americans, we threw those old treadles out in droves. 

what are the auto ones though 1/4 to 1/3 hp?  no handimen about?
you could make wooden treadles almost exclusively with a steel rocking shaft.  

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 11:05:12 AM   
Aneirin


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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

quote:

ORIGINAL: TreasureKY

If you're mechanically inclined, you can find an old treadle base and convert from hand-crank to treadle.  I used one for years and loved it.  Firm and I finally got rid of it just two years ago when we moved... with all the cast iron, it weighed a friggin ton!



Here in the UK you can often find pubs whose tables are all adapted from these Singer treadle-tables.  They usually still have the treadles on them.  Perfect recycling idea: there were thousands of them, they were very strongly-made and so heavy that they're difficult to steal. 


Yeah, I have experienced the pub tables, they leave the treadle functioning, so someone gets to play with it whilst drinking their pint.

But a point on the treadles, again, a wonderful piece of technology, which follows both form and function at the same time, all that beautiful ornate iron work from a time when manufacturers cared abaout the appearance of their product.

I have seen old sewing machine treadles adapted to run things like lathes.


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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 11:49:33 AM   
PeonForHer


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

I have seen old sewing machine treadles adapted to run things like lathes.



That's an intriguing thought.  I like the eco and exercise angles of it. 

Some kind of band saw might be both possible, and of a lot of use, too.

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 12:36:28 PM   
Aneirin


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From: Tamaris
Status: offline 		I like the fact that anything human power costs nothing more than time.Electricity is becoming expensive, and a friend of mine already a seamstress uses the old hand cranked sewing machines for her private work, again it costs nothing but human energy and skill. I personally would welcome a return to skills as opposed to do it all machines running on electrickery and perhaps then, we will work out the true value of the things we take for granted. Like I said, I am kind of apocalyptic in my mentality towards skills.

But, as I will be requiring a workshop in the near future, electricity I will have to use, but as little of it as I can get by with, so am planning a belt driven workshop, like the workshops of the industrial revolution.


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Everything we are is the result of what we have thought, the mind is everything, what we think, we become - Guatama Buddha

Conservatism is distrust of people tempered by fear - William Gladstone

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RE: Sewing Machines ? - 12/21/2010 1:07:10 PM   
hlen5


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Status: offline 		After reading this thread I went looking online for a pic of my Mom's singer machine. I have yet to find a picture of it. Someone who cleaned and oiled her machine told her never to get rid of it because they don't make them like that anymore. It had no plastic parts and it would last forever. I think she got it as a wedding gift (1954). It was that pinky-beige kind of color and looked like it belonged in that space-age 50's era.

I'm sure it's still at the family house, somewhere.

< Message edited by hlen5 -- 12/21/2010 1:08:17 PM >

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