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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The 1907, model 66 Singer restoration.

I am still amazed at what was available 105 years ago. I recently had the opportunity to work on this very old machine and after a lot of cleaning, oiling and polishing, it sews beautifully. Singer continued to make the model 66 for years. They even made a re-issue in the 80's. There were several things that were obsolete and irreplacable on this machine.

The bobbin winder had changed and parts are no longer available. The needle plate is different than the norm along with the feed dogs. The bobbin case holder has changed from the "normal" model. I have been able to get every thing back in working order. It did take some fabricating but nothing extreme. This is a "Lotus" decal set available from 1907 -1920.

It was obvious that this was a treadle machine. It did not have a motor mount screw hole. Singer made an attachment that made "electrifying" an older machine possible.
The screw on adapter includes the light mount.
Even though this was an upgrade to the 1907 machine, I still needed to rewire everything.
This adapter could also be used to mount a handwheel. 
I finally found a bobbin tire that would fit the oversize winder wheel, but it was too thick. 
I spent some time with the belt sander which makes it look like a racing tire and now it works perfect. The distance from the tire to the hand wheel is not adjustable on this model bobbin winder.
My first sew test and a small amount of tension adjustment produced some acceptable stitches for any machine, not to mention one that is 105 years old.

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