miriam

I haven't fiddled with it yet but I dragged it home. I haven't shot pics of the cabinet and legs yet. 1892 is the date.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462033[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]462034[/ATTACH]

miriam

I took a road trip on Monday. That Singer 15 was a one family owned machine passed from generation to generation. The guy I got it from said the lady was going into a nursing home and it was her great great grandmother's machine - not sure how many greats though. Lots of merit badges. The treadle and machine turn very nicely. The cabinet is in fair shape - the front top drawer was dropped but the jigsaw puzzle pieces are still there - some missing veneer. The slide plate is still there, too. I'm thinking it must have been stored in a shed or a barn by the looks of it. I need to spend some time on it.

ThayerRags

It looks like a Singer 15-30. I had a 1913 model that I sold. It was the only 15-30 I've ever found, so I should have hung onto it. Mine had the Tiffany Gingerbread decals on it though, and they weren't quite as good as yours.

CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

The owner of the machine is proud of it and asks “Don’t you think it looks like a Buick?”. After I pointed out her “special” bobbin winder tire to her, I think that she may be all the more convinced that it may have some Buick blood in it.


CD in Oklahoma

miriam

I REALLY like this machine - I can see why you would regret selling one. I had another one I sold on a whim. I regretted that, too. This one does look a bit nicer. Mine is supposed to be 1892. It is cleaning up pretty well except for 3 stuck screws - two on the throat plate may just have to stay another 120 years... I have spent hours trying to get the tension post unstuck. I tried to get the post out when the tension was still in the plate but the whole thing just started turning. I pulled out the whole tension from the plate. Everything is clean now. The spring is broken. I have used oil, heat, solvent, I put the nut on the end and used a screw driver, done various things to hold the little pot in one place but it keeps slipping. I don't want to use too much force and break it. It just isn't coming out. There is no replacement for this one. It has to come out in one piece and not scar up the little cup so I can replace the broken spring. Right now it is soaking in Naptha. It's been in other solvents and nada. I am out of tricks. Any tips? This machine has had the hardest dried black oil everywhere. It was gross. I'm pretty happy with the rest of it. I am thinking I'll put on a different nose plate and see how she sews. I'm also thinking that may not work because the tension pin does not go down the middle of the post - it goes next to the tension through the plate and hits the foot lever to go in and out. This is a has to be fixed right kind of thing.

ThayerRags

I believe that the NP screw holes go all of the way through the casting on that model (am I right), so make sure you have some penetrating oil applied from underneath so it can try to soak back in from there. I use either an offset screwdriver or a super long regular screwdriver to attack problem NP screws. I try not to horse them too much, because they will break, and when they do, it’s usually just one side of the screw head, and then it’s “Dremel N’ Drill” from there on out. Let it soak for as long as you can.


The tension post can get a burr on it from someone turning the unit hard with the screw still set against it. You may be trying to overcome a burr. Can you get a punch into it from behind? (I wish I had one here to look at.)


CD in Oklahoma

miriam

I can see that it is made with a screw in post threaded all the way down so it will not punch out like the 'newer' posts - I can see a ding in the bottom of the post so a burr in the bottom of the post is a possibility. I gave the whole thing time out in Naptha since it is what seems to dissolve the rest of the dried on black stuff. It is in a very tight space so it might take a while to penetrate. I do not want to use a lot of force for the above reasons.
Tension post stuck in the little cup:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462708[/ATTACH]
Bottom of the little cup - I can see threads and I can see a post - this is not a hollow post:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462709[/ATTACH]

miriam

This one is different. Most tension posts have a little pin in the center - the foot lever is made so that the little pin moves in and puts pressure on the tension disks. This one still is controlled by the foot lever but the disks work from an external pin - you can see it between the disks and the thread guide:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462710[/ATTACH]
and the under side - you can see the hole the pin goes through to the right above the big circle thing:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462712[/ATTACH]

miriam

Yippie!!! we got it!!! The inside was very full of black goop - DH to the rescue! He used heat, vice grips, a chunk of inner tube and a screwdriver:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462726[/ATTACH]

miriam

I'm beginning to think I know why they quit threading the post in and went to set screws to hold them in place.