"Reproduction" and "rebuild" Wha???
06-14-2014, 11:00 AM
#2
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 1,382
Singer was known to refurbish machines and paint them with the godzilla paint and slap a generic Singer tag on them, and they had reproduction machines that were made in Taiwan and China.
The reproduction machines usually have a feed dog drop knob on top of the bed, and the decals are extra colorful.
Alphasew sells a made in China ripoff of the Featherweight.
The reproduction machines usually have a feed dog drop knob on top of the bed, and the decals are extra colorful.
Alphasew sells a made in China ripoff of the Featherweight.
Last edited by mlmack; 06-14-2014 at 11:03 AM.
06-14-2014, 11:47 AM
#3
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Mendocino County CA
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Ok that's good news on the "reproduction" then. I recently got a Singer 99k in really good shape. Even though it has a serial number that dates back to 1955, it's so fresh I was starting to wonder if it was a "reproduction".
06-26-2014, 02:20 PM
#6
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
Singer was known to refurbish machines and paint them with the godzilla paint and slap a generic Singer tag on them, and they had reproduction machines that were made in Taiwan and China.
The reproduction machines usually have a feed dog drop knob on top of the bed, and the decals are extra colorful.
The reproduction machines usually have a feed dog drop knob on top of the bed, and the decals are extra colorful.
I don’t think that it was Singer that was refurbishing machines, painting them with the rough texture paint, and slapping a generic Singer tag on them. Most of the rebuilding of sewing machines took place during and after WWII, by shops other than Singer. I don’t know that Singer re-built any machines at all. Singer had re-tooled to manufacture munitions during the war, but they were also setting on a large stock of brand new machines that they didn’t sell during the depression preceding the war, and weren’t selling very well after the war ended. People didn’t have much money, so rebuilt older models were more attractive to most post-war budgets. The rough texture paint was popular during the 40s on all kinds of things. That, and it being easier for the small independent shops to apply than the Japanning process made it a go-to re-finish for the little shops. And why would Singer slap a generic Singer tag on a rebuilt machine? They didn’t have to use generic. Other brands of machines were also rebuilt using the same process. Generic name plates were available also for White, Domestic, Davis, Eldredge, Standard, Free, National, New Home, and Wheeler & Wilson that I know of.
On the reproduction machines, if it says Singer on it, it’s likely to be a genuine Singer. The name and rights to make the older wasp-body style of machines was sold to an Asian company years ago, so the machines are actually real Singers, even though they’ve been made just recently.
If I have my facts screwed up, line me out.
CD in Oklahoma
06-26-2014, 04:21 PM
#7
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Mark, I’ll have to disagree with you on some of this, unless you can point me to some information that I haven’t seen yet.
I don’t think that it was Singer that was refurbishing machines, painting them with the rough texture paint, and slapping a generic Singer tag on them. Most of the rebuilding of sewing machines took place during and after WWII, by shops other than Singer. I don’t know that Singer re-built any machines at all. Singer had re-tooled to manufacture munitions during the war, but they were also setting on a large stock of brand new machines that they didn’t sell during the depression preceding the war, and weren’t selling very well after the war ended. People didn’t have much money, so rebuilt older models were more attractive to most post-war budgets. The rough texture paint was popular during the 40s on all kinds of things. That, and it being easier for the small independent shops to apply than the Japanning process made it a go-to re-finish for the little shops. And why would Singer slap a generic Singer tag on a rebuilt machine? They didn’t have to use generic. Other brands of machines were also rebuilt using the same process. Generic name plates were available also for White, Domestic, Davis, Eldredge, Standard, Free, National, New Home, and Wheeler & Wilson that I know of.
On the reproduction machines, if it says Singer on it, it’s likely to be a genuine Singer. The name and rights to make the older wasp-body style of machines was sold to an Asian company years ago, so the machines are actually real Singers, even though they’ve been made just recently.
If I have my facts screwed up, line me out.
CD in Oklahoma
I don’t think that it was Singer that was refurbishing machines, painting them with the rough texture paint, and slapping a generic Singer tag on them. Most of the rebuilding of sewing machines took place during and after WWII, by shops other than Singer. I don’t know that Singer re-built any machines at all. Singer had re-tooled to manufacture munitions during the war, but they were also setting on a large stock of brand new machines that they didn’t sell during the depression preceding the war, and weren’t selling very well after the war ended. People didn’t have much money, so rebuilt older models were more attractive to most post-war budgets. The rough texture paint was popular during the 40s on all kinds of things. That, and it being easier for the small independent shops to apply than the Japanning process made it a go-to re-finish for the little shops. And why would Singer slap a generic Singer tag on a rebuilt machine? They didn’t have to use generic. Other brands of machines were also rebuilt using the same process. Generic name plates were available also for White, Domestic, Davis, Eldredge, Standard, Free, National, New Home, and Wheeler & Wilson that I know of.
On the reproduction machines, if it says Singer on it, it’s likely to be a genuine Singer. The name and rights to make the older wasp-body style of machines was sold to an Asian company years ago, so the machines are actually real Singers, even though they’ve been made just recently.
If I have my facts screwed up, line me out.
CD in Oklahoma
06-26-2014, 04:56 PM
#10
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
My understanding from reading here is 3rd party companies rebuilt the old machines and Singer basically made them repaint them and add the generic tag because they were no longer considered to be original. I think of it as being kind of like the difference between buying a brand new car alternator and a remanufactured one. The reman is just as good but can't be sold as a new item anymore. The rebuilds generally had things like an electric style handwheel and bobbin winder assembly along with a motor added and many of them had aftermarket reverses installed at the same time like the Revco ones we see from time to time. Old Singer redeyes may have also had their backclamp needlebars replaced with side clamp ones to make them more modern as well.
My 2 cents,
Rodney
My 2 cents,
Rodney
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