Friday, August 22, 2014

Vibrating Shuttle Machines

Anyone who reads my blog at all hears me talk about my love for vintage sewing machines. Well, I was gifted with TWO vibrating shuttle machines on Sunday. One of my "adopted kids" has a mom who sews and is thinning her sewing machines, and two of them came my way :-)

 
 
This is my first White. It's a 3/4 machine, and is in great shape. I've not been very successful finding information on this machine so far. The manual that came with it does not have a model number, nor can I find a model number on the machine. I am thinking it may be a number 8 which was a Singer 28/128 knockoff. I know the shuttle bobbin that came with it is the same as a Singer, but I haven't had time to see if it fits correctly. I'm hoping it is a number 8, because if it's not, finding the correct shuttle and bobbins will be difficult. The paint is in great shape. I've read that I can call Husqvarna/Viking and they can tell me the approximate age of the machine by the serial number. I plan on doing that. It was made in Japan, so my guess is it's early 50's. I'm not sure when vibrating shuttle machines stopped being made, but I can't imaging much later than that. I have so much to learn about vintage machines!

 
 
This is a Singer 27 or 127. The sphinx decals are in rough shape, but the machine moves easily, and I'm hoping will be a good one. Singer has better dating methods than White, so I know this machine is a 1911. The side plate is completely plain, no scrolling, no grapevines, no striation, nothing! I'm seriously doubting this machine came with a motor. By the date and the spoked wheel, I'm thinking treadle or hand crank. 


The spoked wheel sits so far from the machine, maybe it was a hand crank? Does anyone know? I'm thinking I'd like to look into turning this into a hand crank. I have a hand crank that is a Singer 12 with a beautiful fiddle base. The downside to a Singer 12 is they take special needles that are no longer being made. The needles are very expensive when you can find them. The Singer 27 takes a normal 15x1 needle. If I convert this to a hand crank, I could have a hand crank I could use more frequently since I needn't worry about needles.

I need to spend some time learning about my new toys! Researching new machines is a fun thing for me, and the more I learn the better I can use them. What a blessing to be given two machines! I am anxious to start sewing on them.

1 comment:

Katie M. said...

I older machines were so pretty... I don't know anything about your machines, but lucky them for being given to someone who will treasure them.