Domestic 69 Hi Speed

This is an update of my blog post from a year and a half ago, of a Domestic model 69 Hi Speed sewing machine.
(click here to read it)

I'd mentioned in that posting that I was in need of motor parts to get my machine running. A kind man (thanks Keith) emailed me saying he had a 69 that he was getting rid of. He unfortunately lived on the other side of the country so shipping the machine to me would be nearly $50, a cost I wasn't ready to incur. So I asked if he'd want to part with some pieces. We came to an agreement that anything he could fit into a USPS flat rate box was mine for the cost of shipping plus a couple bucks for his time and effort. Here's what I got:

 With the "new" motor, I could now focus on getting the machine to sew once again. After oiling it up, it ran great and sewed like a sewing machine should.

Wondering what was meant by "Hi Speed" on the machine, I decided to see how fast it sewed using my handy dandy Craftsman speed indicator from Sears.

Before oiling, it was 690 stitches per minute (or RPM on the indicator), and after oiling, it was 732. Not blazing fast but I'd say average speed for a vintage sewing machine. Certainly not Hi Speed like they advertise prominently on the front of the machine. The machine had been fairly well taken care of so it wasn't very dry, thus not speeding up to any great degree after oiling.

These old sewing machines are fascinating to work on and think back how much they cost at the time and the time they saved... Ok, maybe more so for a "nut" like me than the normal run of the mill person.

Here's one last photo, showing how to thread one of these. Through the needle the thread goes from left to right.

And for you diehards that made it to the end of this posting, here's a link to a video I did of this machine after installing the new motor.