gale

My son works at goodwill and this machine came in today. He bought it for me as a late birthday gift and paid $14. Is that a good deal? It looks very clean. It has a foot pedal along with the case. The serial number is KE901224. Is there a way to determine a date with that? thanks.

bkay

Yes, it's a good deal. It looks like it's in great shape, and it's a pretty color.

It's what's commonly referred to as a 15 clone. They are clones of the Singer 15. They were manufactured in Japan after WWII. The US gave them the plans so that Japan could start some non-military manufacturing.

There is no way to determine it's age, as the records were not kept. I would guess it's from the mid to late 50's. (Someone may have a better idea than me.) I'm guessing that because they are beginning to add features to the basic 15. It has the drop feed dogs knob on the deck, which is a nice feature.

Happy belated birthday!

bkay

wesing

Happy birthday. Yes it was a fantastic deal. You can get a manual for it on the Singer site or a number of other places if you search the board. Look in the thread titled, "Will the Real 15 clone please stand up." You should be able to remove the tape on the bed with sewing machine oil without damaging the gorgeous color.

OurWorkbench

... and some patience. Maybe a little bit of hot air from a blow drier.

The manual for the 15 clones can be found at http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mach...ion-manual.pdf One difference is the way the needle is inserted and threaded. There are some Singer 15s that thread the same as the clones, such as the 15-30.

The thread wesing referred to is Will the Real 15 clone please stand up

These are fine straight stitch machines. Another thread Can you please explain "Clones?" Actually, a clone would have the round stitch length plate, tension on the nose and the shape of the Singer 15s. Some machines are considered class 15s that take a 15 class bobbin and 15x1 needles but shaped differently.


Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

gale

Thanks everyone. I'll download and print the 15 manual and start checking this one over. I hope it works but even if it doesn't, it's great eye candy! I am hoping to get an old vintage typewriter stand today to set her on.

Mickey2

These are bullet proof machines, you can alway get them running again. There's usually some cleaning and oiling needed to make them run as they should, and if there's any other issues I'm sure you will get help here. If anything is missing like the bobbin case or bobbins they can still be found. Some times the pedal needs a bit of sorting out, but it's all within doable.