sewhatforu

Hello everyone,
I'm new here and found the site when I was looking for information about my sewing machine. It was given to me, by a dear old friend who never learned to sew.

I am a seamstress and had never heard of an Amica but could tell it was a good machine. She bought it from a door to door salesperson. In 1973 the sales receipt said she had paid over $800, so then I really was interested in it. It has been one long slow learn. There is not much out there about them and my info has come in bits and pieces. But what a wonderful piece of equipment.

The two most interesting things about it was that the maker made it to last a lifetime. And with normql use it would, no doubt. The second was that it has a tangle-free bobbin. Yes I said tangle free. You can put your foot on the pedal with no fabric under the pressure foot and it will not tangle. Now being a seamstress who sews for a living, I cannot begin to tell you the hours that feature has saved me, over the years.

When the maker came to this country, the Singer Co tried to buy the technology from him but he would not give it up. In his attempt to patent it, Singer went to court to stop him. They were ruthless and tied him up in court proceedings for years. They had deep pockets and eventually they were able to bar him from selling his product for years,which finally put him out of business. He went in business with several other europeon companies but never got his product to see the success it deserved.

This machine is as good as a Bernina if not better. I have used mine many hours everyday and just kept it clean and oiled. The smoothest, quietest machine ever. Would sew leather to chiffon with ease. After almost 30 yrs of constant use, I have simply worn some of the metal part down so that they are loose and cannot find replacements that fit properly. It is like losing an old friend. I will never buy a singer, out of respect to my "AMIY",

The only draw back about my Amica is that it does not fit into a standard sewing cabinet. The toggle brackets are set wider apart on it and I had to have my husband drill new holes in the cabinet that I use with it. I saw in a thread here where the sister had given away the cabinet that her Amica had come with and wondered if the they found themselves in the same situation.

Sorry so long, but just love it when I hear that someone else has had the privilege of sewing on these wonderful machines that so few have ever heard of.

Mickey2

You have to post a picture. I have never heard of it before. Sewing machines were made to last a lifetime until some point after 1960. Nylon gears were widely in use by the early 50s, and they can be a weak point decades later. With service and a replacement parts when needed the better models can be used for decades.

The older models still in production stayed all metal until the early 60s. There odd all metal model turn up now and then after this date too, but very few and far between. I once noticed a flat bed 1970s Taiwanese made machine, all metal, straight and zigzag only, but it ran well and was of solid build. It's possible to have replacement gears made, but it just cost too much to be worth it. The other option is to hunt down a parts machine.

leonf

Sounds wonderful.. Mystery to me too. Thanks for sharing and welcome aboard.

OurWorkbench

Welcome sewhatforu,

We like pictures! Especially of a tangle free bobbin.

I have googled Amica before (in relationship to the below links) and noticed that Riccar, Vigorelli and Nelco are affiliated with the name Amica. Nelco was an importer that trademarked the name here in US about 1965.

I'm guessing you have read
Nelco Amica
Red Orange..Yep.
Vigorrelli ZZ/A Robot

I'm wondering if your machine is like any of the above. I'd still like to see the 3000 in person.

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