Singer 12K 1879 spares machine
Was looking for a couple of missing parts for my nice 1880 12K & I did find the parts on Ebay. Trouble was the chap wanted £45 + £5 shipping for it! I was missing the spoon bobbin thread guide + its little spring/guide. The item he was selling was the Bobbin Winder, but not even complete.
So I left it there, but later came across a 1879 12K machine on a charity website, without a case & it looked scruffy & came with no guarantees! But it had my spoon-guide. I got it for £40 delivered: )
So I remove the spoon-guide & its little spring & fitted it to mine; )
Finished off my machine nicely: ) The point with the spoon guide is that you can use a 12K without the spoon guide, you just need a thread supply from above. Like a table thread stand. Mine is now as it was originally & I don't need to use the Thread Stand to wind a bobbin: ) It is independent. My problem solved & I still have this spares machine to play with.
Some wear to the front decals, a broken Hand Crank & a couple of small details needed. It's a good project for someone? Could be parted & sold as spares, or used in a treadle?
This is the problem with the hand crank:
One of the arm fixing lugs is broken off. It had been used before with a rivet through the good side & the winding arm... Not a big deal to fix it? I won't be doing that personally. You can see on Ebay now a Hand Crank/Belt Cover assembly for £160!!! Not for me. A basic shuttle is £30/45. Bobbins £5 each. A simple needle plate £50 on Ebay currently. A good wooden base on its own £30/45!
Lots of other parts are saleable on this machine though.
I'm going to try getting this one sewing & see how it goes: )
Disaster struck this morning!! I spent a good bit of time yesterday fixing the immovable stitch regulator. Must have been 'glued up' for years. But I freed it & it's working fine now.
Then I freed the foot control adjuster which was well stuck. Fine threads & quite delicate, again never been moved ever, probably. Took ages but I got it free & working. Then I managed a temporary fix on the broken hand-crank handle & put it all back together. Thinking I'll see if it will stitch now: )
As soon as I turned the handle, intending to spin it over a few times, (for the oil to circulate & free it up a little before I threaded it up) it was a little stiff, but the hand wheel was wobbling! I couldn't believe it!!
It's been dropped on the hand-wheel end. (Hence the broken handle on the hand crank...)
Reality dawned slowly. I knew the heavy cast-iron hand wheel was NOT bent. Couldn't be. The shaft itself must be, has to be, bent! You got to see it to believe it! Check the little clip below.
I didn't swear, I just had to laugh. It's amazing it still turns over on the hand-crank if you ask me: ) It'll probably sew! But I'll be spending my time on the Superba from here on in.
I have a Singer 12 from 1881. My bobbin winder looks different than yours, and I don't have that spoon thing. I don't have any decals on mine (but it was free at the Michigan TOGA). Mine is a treadle, not a hand crank.
ReplyDeleteI believe the treadle versions are much more common in US than here in UK, which are mostly Handcranks. You don't necessarily need the spoon guide, especially on a treadle, but on a hand crank it makes the machine transportable (If you can lift it) without using a table stand! They had several bobbin winders over the years, but the one on mine is quite intricate & it fascinates me: ) It produces perfect, full width layers on the bobbin. Which can only help with smooth, evenly tensioned bottom thread for consistent, perfect stitches.
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