When my father in law passed away late last year my wife gained a lot of very old sewing machines.
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When my father in law passed away late last year my wife gained a lot of very old sewing machines. Today she's seeing if she can get one working.
Its really interesting to see the differences with modern machines. The ways it's threaded, the ways the controls work etc. The build quality though is spectacular modern machines can't hold a candle to it.
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When my father in law passed away late last year my wife gained a lot of very old sewing machines. Today she's seeing if she can get one working.
Its really interesting to see the differences with modern machines. The ways it's threaded, the ways the controls work etc. The build quality though is spectacular modern machines can't hold a candle to it.
@emily_s As with all the episodes, the Secret Life of the Sewing Machine is great.
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When my father in law passed away late last year my wife gained a lot of very old sewing machines. Today she's seeing if she can get one working.
Its really interesting to see the differences with modern machines. The ways it's threaded, the ways the controls work etc. The build quality though is spectacular modern machines can't hold a candle to it.
We keep having to remind our selves that this is a 70 year old machine and they still hadn't figured out things like having a slit in the thread take up lever, so you have to thread the thread though the hole rather than just flick it in like we are used to with modern machines.
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We keep having to remind our selves that this is a 70 year old machine and they still hadn't figured out things like having a slit in the thread take up lever, so you have to thread the thread though the hole rather than just flick it in like we are used to with modern machines.
This one has been modified with a motor after it was built, the cabinet still has the manual foot treddle, but it has been rewired for an electric motor and has a lamp (which thankfully still works, god knows what kind of bulb it needs, all I can tell is its a fliment one.
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This one has been modified with a motor after it was built, the cabinet still has the manual foot treddle, but it has been rewired for an electric motor and has a lamp (which thankfully still works, god knows what kind of bulb it needs, all I can tell is its a fliment one.
@emily_s IIRC, it's a fairly standard bulb (either screw in or bayonet). Just don't take the foot pedal to pieces; they're not as well built as the machines and the control mechanism is best described as 'basic'!
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@emily_s IIRC, it's a fairly standard bulb (either screw in or bayonet). Just don't take the foot pedal to pieces; they're not as well built as the machines and the control mechanism is best described as 'basic'!
@DawnBlackbirds I've had modern ones apart and they are quite the pain in the butt. This thing seems cruder.
Though it does seem to be working. At least it stitches. Tenison is way off but it seems to draw a stitch at least.
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@DawnBlackbirds I've had modern ones apart and they are quite the pain in the butt. This thing seems cruder.
Though it does seem to be working. At least it stitches. Tenison is way off but it seems to draw a stitch at least.
@emily_s If it's creating a stitch it probably just needs lubricating and a bit of adjustment. I started sewing on these machines, the modern self-adjusting one we bought recently was quite a revelation!
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This one has been modified with a motor after it was built, the cabinet still has the manual foot treddle, but it has been rewired for an electric motor and has a lamp (which thankfully still works, god knows what kind of bulb it needs, all I can tell is its a fliment one.
It lives! Bit of cleaning, bit of oil, sorting tension, and it makes a stitch still 70 years later.
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When my father in law passed away late last year my wife gained a lot of very old sewing machines. Today she's seeing if she can get one working.
Its really interesting to see the differences with modern machines. The ways it's threaded, the ways the controls work etc. The build quality though is spectacular modern machines can't hold a candle to it.
@emily_s These old machines are lovely, and so robust. They make me wish that more household appliances were made out of cast iron!
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@emily_s These old machines are lovely, and so robust. They make me wish that more household appliances were made out of cast iron!
@gammapeak yeah. Agreed. Hard to think of many other machines that have as common 70 year old working examples, at least that are anywhere near as complex.
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