Joe,

I can email you a zip file with all of these date charts in it. It is large at 4.7MB.
I you would like it PM me.

Cathy

I am trying to find out how to determine what I'll call 'sub-numbers' on the various singer models. I.E., 15-91, etc. I have my g'grandmother's restored singer table/case that I'm trying to find a machine for. I have the ismac's site but only get model 66 / 15 / etc. with no -##. When looking at - can't remember if it's the ismac or sandman site - as to which machines fit into which tables, it is very specific as to machine model. Can anyone tell me where I can get more specific model info or how to tell? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

NJ Quilter,

The sub number (-#) does not affect whether or not the machine head will fit in the cabinet. I does affect whether or
not it is operational in the cabinet. An example is the Singer 15-91. The handwheel on this potted motor model won't
take a treadle belt, so it won't work as a treadle in a treadle cabinet. The 15-88 (treadle model), the 15-89 (the hand crank model) and the 15-90 (the belted motor model) all have motor bosses so all will accept an bolted on motor or hand crank or a treadle belt. If the power source is removed (handcrank or bolted motor or treadle) these three heads are identical.

I can't help much with the 66 sub numbers without a little research. I do know that the sub numbers on the 66 also won't affect whether or not they fit the cabinet. It can make a difference in whether or not the bobbin winder will work on the treadle models or if it has a motor boss to take a hand crank or bolted on motor.

Have you used this feature of Sandman? http://www.sandman-collectibles.com/...r-machines.htm

I hope I didn't just confuse you more,
Cathy

I just gotta laugh with the Sandman site. I followed all the prompts and fooled it big time. I was looking at our 401A and it said I had a 203. So it's not always reliable.

Joe

What is the difference between the machines 301 and 301A and a 401 and 401A? Also what is the difference between the same model 301 and 301A. I hope that makes sense. Are there attachments that can be bought for them. I have been looking at some older machines. Apparently these are good machines to buy.

MistyK,

The A designation on both the 301 and 401 is to indicate the they were made in the Anderson, SC plant.
On the 301 there is no difference between the ones with the A and those without as all 301s were made at the Anderson plant. This may also apply to the 401s.

Both take the slant shank attachments and will work with most of the attachments. The exception is the slant shank walking foot. It works well on the 401, but doesn't work well on the narrow feeddogs of the 301.

Cathy

Thank you for the info on the difference between the machines. What is a slant shank? I know next to nothing about machines. The shank sounds like the thing that holds the needle tho. Is that correct? What kind of walking foot would be used with that. After reading around some on the board it sounds like a walking foot is something that you need to actually quilt with. Do you know why the feed dogs on the 301 are narrow. Is that supposed to help the material move better somehow.

MistyK,

"The shank sounds like the thing that holds the needle tho. Is that correct?" No. The shank type indicates how the feet attach to the machine. The slant shank is only for certain Singer machines. Most feet will be low shank, high shank or slant shank. There are also other type of attachment.

"After reading around some on the board it sounds like a walking foot is something that you need to actually quilt with." A walking foot that fits the machine properly is nice to have for the quilting, but not absolutely necessary in most cases, and usually never needed for the piecing part of quilting.

"Do you know why the feed dogs on the 301 are narrow. Is that supposed to help the material move better somehow." No. It's a design thing. Older straight stitch machines (301, 221, 201, 15, etc) had no need for widely spaced feetdogs, as the neeedle only goes up and down in a straight plane. When the zigzag models came out the needle moved side to side and would hit the feeddogs if they had not been moved farther apart. The new electronic machine with the very wide zigzag have dogs even farther apart.

Jenny at sew-classic has a lot of info the you need to read try these two blogs of hers.
http://shop.sew-classic.com/What-sha...hank-Style.htm (good drawings)
http://www.sew-classic.com/uploads/W...structions.pdf (good description of what the WF does)

Cathy

Thanks! I am sure that I will have more questions, but this will be a start. I have not owned a sewing machine but my family did have treadle. I decided I wanted to do something with fabric and making a quilt sounded like a good project. So I have been reading around the board to see what others are doing. I saw a post, can't remember where I read it, that some guy on here sells machines and fixes them. May try and find him again and see what he may have. I am pretty sure I want an older machine rather than a new one.

He's been ill and has some issues getting machines out to those that have sent theirs to him or purchased from him. Mizkaki is the one that you want to talk to about getting a vintage machine...she's an excellent person to do business with. :)