Singer 12 Sewing Machine

My latest purchase is a birthday present for a family member similarly interested in sewing machines.  I won this machine on ebay (my first foray into the world of bidding) for the sum of $70 but only paid $60 as I had an ebay voucher.  I did not know for certain what the machine was when I bid on it but trusted my memory and instinct that it was a 12 and I was correct.  The listing also said that it was missing its shuttle, which it isn't, I was ever so pleased when I discovered that.
I have limited time to look at it as I have to wait until its intended recipient is out for a while.  However, in the two brief looks at it that I've had I have ascertained that the belt guard is sheered on the front (I have no idea how that is possible without it being severely damaged in some other way.), it is completely seized and I can't get a single screw undone.  I am doing well!  It will now have to wait for another few weeks before I get an opportunity to investigate it again but here are some pictures to be going on with.

Belt guard showing broken section in front

Bobbin winder detached

Underneath

Singer Featherweight 222K

About a month ago I had the most incredible stroke of luck.  I managed to obtain the highly sought after Featherweight 222K for only $350.  The 221's fetch more than that here normally.  For those who are wondering what I am going on about, a Singer 221 Featherweight is a very collectable, very small, portable flatbed machine.  They are very popular amongst quilters and fetch a very good price.  However, they were making them for a number of years and made quite a few.  The Singer 222K, on the other hand, was made in very limited numbers, I think they only did about three runs and they are very, very collectable.  The 222K has a few added features that the 221 lacked.  It is a convertible, free-arm machine and drops the feed for darning.  Mine also came with its original instruction manual, box and accessories.  Unfortunately, as I discovered when I got home, it didn't come with a bobbin winder.  This is an extremely irritating fact and I will have to look into buying one to complete my machine.  When I bought it, I was informed that the machine itself was seized, although the hand wheel turned freely.  Further investigation showed that it is missing the stop motion bushing screw, which attaches the bushing the hand wheel sits on, to the main drive shaft of the machine.  If the machine were not seized, it would probably be almost unnoticeable due to the friction between the parts.  So far I have been unsuccessful in locating a spare.

I have given her a slight clean and oiling but she will have to wait until I have more time before I really get to look at her.  She has a name too; Gina, which has always been one of my favourite names.

Various attachments in their metal tray inside her box

Stitch length and feed height adjusters

From front with flat bed attached

Without flatbed

Gina is incredibly small.  When I first saw her I could not believe my eyes, she was almost toy-like.  You can see her size in relation to an average size computer mouse above.  I cannot wait to have enough time to get her cleaned up and stitching.

Interestingly, whilst typing this post I was listening to T. Rex and have just discovered that today is Marc Bolan's birthday.

Elna Contessa 400

One of my colleagues has an Elna Contessa 400.  Elna Contessa's are not exactly my favourite machines but that does have something to do with the fact that ours has a 'pot' metal part, which has disintegrated leaving the machine useless.  This one had a seized bobbin-winder and to be honest, I suspected the worst and thought it too, would disintegrate on me.  With plenty of oil and a lot of nail bitingly brutal force however, it freed up and is now working fine.  Originally my colleague wanted me to sell it and get her another but on my advice decided to keep the Elna when the bobbin-winder was freed.  From what I could see this machine had metal cams and gears and was in very good condition, although very dry.  I told her that she would not find a modern machine with either of those attributes.

In these pictures the bobbin winder is missing.  Where I work is very dark so when I photograph I have to use a flash, sadly white machines and flashes don't exactly work together!  I have included a picture of the stitch selector to give you an idea of the range of stitches.

Lemair 1781

I have had this machine sitting in the lounge waiting for me to have another look at it for a while.  Now that studies are finished for the year I decided to drag it out again.  It is made in Korea and extremely heavy.  Originally I brought it home because it needed a new pedal but then when I took it apart I realised that there was a problem with the bobbin winder.  The casting that has a groove cut into it for the spring to sit in is a trifle dodgy, as can be seen below.

This machine is, for the most part, well made but there are some hopeless blunders (cost cutting exercises?), obviously the casting on that piece for the bobbin winder is one, however there are two plastic pieces that I really don't like.  One is cracked and can be seen in the picture below, it is under the side cover, and the other is the cam follower on the rod that connects the top to the bottom of the machine, I'm sorry, I forgot to take a photo!

For some curious reason the inside of this machine is full of blue tinsel!  I have no idea what it was used for, sewing Christmas tree costumes or something??  Judging by the number of needle tips I also found, the machine didn't like it!  Another good thing about this machine is that it has metal cams and has one of my favourites, a side loading bobbin.  I would argue that a side loading bobbin gives greater precision for zig-zag stitching, however that is just a theory based on the fact that the bobbin moves with the needle and thus the hook always intercepts the needle at the same point in the rotation.

The tension assembly on this machine is woeful. There is one coarse spring inside and the discs have very poor surfaces. 

When actually stitching this machine is incredibly, beautifully quiet.  I love the stitch and it feels really lovely to use.  For $25 someone will have a bargain!  I wish I needed another sewing machine....

Tomorrow I'll see if I can post the manual for this.  I also had a real treasure waiting for me at work today which I'll share tomorrow.  Anyone who is obsessed with machines will love it!