RAGS........ 401A

This is sort of a continuation of the last blog posting. And the title probably gave it away (for those sewing machine nuts out there - you know who you are). Here is my second purchase at RAGS.

So there my wife is, standing guard over two sewing machines on the floor at the Rotary Auction Garage Sale, one of them being the Spartan I blogged about yesterday, and the second one is today's subject. A Singer 401A from the late 1950s.

You see, a 401A is one of those sewing machine models that many people think is one of Singer's finest machines ever made. It has many features that make it so desirable, such as a direct-drive gear-drive motor, steel gearing (not belts or cams), rotary hook, hardly a plastic part to be found on it, a host of stitch patterns, and many more. So let's get to the one I picked up for $5 at RAGS.

The outer case is quite a mess, and one latch is broken, so I think this case is a total write-off, but that is one reason it was so cheap. I can look beyond the carrying case.

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.

Merry Christmas 2015!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

So, today started out a little hectic. The wife and son are in the emergency room. Son has either appendicitis or (hopefully) something less serious. Blood work seems to indicate it isn't the former, praise the Lord.

Now on to things less important. A good friend's daughter is renting a place and offered to clean out the basement for the owners. She ran across the items below, which made their way to me via a Christmas present. How cool is that!

All these things are for a Class 301 Singer, of which I just happened to pick up not too long ago.
(click here)

First up is a Buttonholer:

Broken timing belt? We have a solution - Singer 111W155.

When I arrived at the 111W155 sewing machine seller's home to take a look at it, she said right off that "the belt broke". I naturally thought it was the main drive belt, not the timing belt. But alas, it was the timing belt. I assumed the upper main shaft had to be removed from the machine to get a new belt onto the shaft. I was taking a bit of a chance buying the sewing machine, not knowing how difficult (or easy as was the case) it would be to replace the timing belt, but I decided to take the leap. Below is a photo of the broken belt.

I ordered a new belt from an eBay seller for $19.95 with free expedited shipping. I got the new belt in 5 or 6 days.

Industrial Strength - Singer 111W155

It's been a long time coming but I finally got my first real-life honest-to-goodness industrial sewing machine. And as the title states, it's a Singer 111W155. This machine weighs in at a portly 61.5 pounds. Yes, that is only the sewing machine head unit. The table/motor is probably another 80 or 90 pounds, although I didn't weigh it. Here she be in all her glory ('scuse the previous owner's dust).

I've sewed through a lot of heavy duty things on my domestic machines such as leather and canvas, and they do quite well, but having a true industrial..... well, it's just cooler to a sewing machine nut such as myself.

Singer 301A LBOW

Another Singer followed me home from a garage sale a couple weeks back. And a model that I haven't owned before, to boot. A Singer 301A. Oh, and the LBOW, you ask? Those that are into the Singer lingo know that it stands for Light Beige / Oyster White, that once-ubiquitous two-tone color combination Singer used so much.

As you can see, this sewing machine needs a bit of cleaning. The lady I purchased it from said it was probably good for parts (!). I was thinking that it seemed to be in pretty nice condition to just become a parts machine.

Singer Golden Touch & Sew Deluxe Zig Zag Model 630

The title says it all. Ok, so maybe it doesn't, but we do know from Singer's name for this machine that it does zig zag stitches. What we don't know until we delve into it is that it has an electronic motor control, which has an automatic needle-up park feature. That's kind of cool. And it has very similar stitch controls to the much-revered Singer 401/500 series. And it has a built-in bobbin winding feature. You simply leave the bobbin in the machine, flip a lever, hit the gas, and don't let up until the bobbin is full. But enough of this. On to the photos, which by the way, were taken before I did anything to clean up the machine.

The carrying case leaves a little to be desired. Instead of gluing down the loose flaps, someone decided it was easier to just rip off the offending flaps. Bummer. But the big S is still proudly displayed.

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:

Elna Carina - Together at last!

I had left this poor Elna apart long enough. Time to get all its bits back in place. If I can remember where they all go. The first photo below is the shot that I showed in the previous blog post. I had taken the machine apart to this level to try and sort out a slow-speed jerkiness but didn't get the problem sorted. It's just a minor inconvenience, so back together it goes.

Necchi-Alco A709-4

Ok, so I'm a little delinquent on posting new stuff to this blog. It's been a busy 4 months. Below is a photo I took this morning of my sewing work bench, with a poor Elna that's been all ripped to pieces for 4 months or more, patiently waiting for me to reassemble it. I just hope I can remember where everything goes...

No Grasshoppers here - Elna Carina TSP cl. 56

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted something here (March to be exact, and now it's July). That's what happens when I don't stop at Goodwill stores. So, guess what? I stopped at the local Goodwill last night. And what did I find? Well, there was a Singer 404 for $19.99, some other generic plastic thing for $19.99, and this wonderful *Swiss Made* Elna for a paltry $12.99. As soon as I saw the price on the Elna, I promptly had to take the machine to the closest 120v outlet to see if it worked. Since the "air" foot control was missing its friction end plug, I could only get the machine to briefly go while I held the end of the tube against the air intake and simultaneously pushing the air bulb. The machine showed enough life that I felt confident that my $14.12 (after tax) was well-spent.

Yet another Kenmore - model 385.17928090

There's a reason there are so many older Kenmore sewing machines still floating around the thrift stores these days. They're built well (in my humble opinion) and just seem to keep on going with minimal upkeep. I've been sort of lax on my hunt for sewing machines lately but last night we stopped at the local Goodwill on the way home from dining out (hot date, huh). This Kenmore model 385 had just been put out on the shelf (Goodwill dates their price tags) and at $12.99 I couldn't pass it up. I could have waited a few weeks for the half-off sale but it wouldn't last that long at the low regular price. I have a couple other model 385s and they are both good machines so I figured, hey, one more? Why not.

How to wire in a motor controller

I have a 50s vintage Morse zig zag sewing machine in the basement that has the two plugs coming off the machine, one for the motor and one for the light. Here's what the plugs look like, along with the $2 motor control I picked up at Goodwill to connect up to the machine:

Mini Kenmore - reminds me of tax time coming up - Model 1040

I've heard of these miniature (well, maybe not that small) Kenmore sewing machines but haven't had one in the stable (actually, my basement) until recently. It's probably a 3/4-size machine. Cute little thing. Actually I saw one of these at a Goodwill a month ago but didn't buy it because the outer case was fairly trashed. I ran across the one pictured here last week and decided to take the plunge. It is missing its small tray for accessories, which the other machine had that I didn't buy... Oh well. Can't have everything.

This is a Kenmore 158.1040. Yes, it reminded me of the 1040 tax form. So I'm weird. Deal with it.

Something else has consumed my time lately... a car.

Not just any car, mind you. On the contrary, this is something you don't see every day. A 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury.

Ok, so maybe I should have changed pants for the photo... Just don't tell my wife I'm publishing a photo with "those pants" in it. The pants have since gone to that great pants fantasy land in the sky, much to my wife's delight. But I digress (I seem to do that a lot).