RAGS........ 192K

I think it's such a clever acronym - RAGS. It stands for Rotary Auction Garage Sale. And fortunately for me, it is an annual event, held in the Kitsap Pavillion.

So there we were, the lovely wife and myself, aimlessly wandering the aisles. My wife spotted a sewing machine case on a table. A lady had her arm on the case so we wondered if she was buying it. She took her arm off it and moved on. Ok, time for me to dive in. Twenty bucks. A little outside my price range. I popped the top and it was a Kenmore, about 1970 vintage. I wasn't interested. But wait, there are two more next to it. Hmm, they look like 70s vintage, a couple Singers. Both $5, and after a little inspection, both in need of repairs, as in they had things broken off. That put a damper on it for me, even though the $5 price for each would probably still be a good buy since they both had motor controllers and they may not take much to get them going. I put up a good fight with myself in my little pea brain though, and persevered. I walked away from them all.

Being just a slight bit disappointed, I started looking around again and just then the dear wife called out my name from a couple tables away. Oooh, what has she spotted but two more sewing machines on the floor under a table and out of people's sight. I like it.

I zipped over and had a look at the cases. They were quite the worse for wear. Here's the first. You can't see it but behind the handle is a large hole. There are also a couple large cracks across the top of the lid. Not to worry, though.

Let's have a look inside the case, shall we? Well, looky there. A Spartan model 192K. And it was only $5. I was smitten.

 These were made by Singer in Great Britain and were a 3/4-size, like the Singer 99, but the Spartan was a lower-cost version. They didn't come with the gold decals on the bed like the 99, or the automatic bobbin winder release. I'm sure many also didn't come with a light, but this one happens to have one.

 Here's a shot of the motor bracket:

 And the lamp on the back:

When I got home I plugged in the machine and it ran ok, a little loud but nothing some oiling won't cure. And the lamp bulb still worked! I notice the wiring needs some attention but that's not a big deal. A cool little gem of a sewing machine for 5 bucks. Enough for now. It's getting late. You'll have to wait until next installment to see what else was in store for me.