Machine: 1957 Singer 201K Electric
So, after enjoying much of my 1951 201K restoration, I decided it was so nice I'd do it again. I looked around town and my charity shops had nothing, and the one antique store had several machines in very poor condition with very high prices.
My local classifieds showed exactly three machines: an industrial, a modern embroiderer, and a mysterious brown Singer! I called and discovered it was still available, so I arranged to go and see it as soon as I could.
So, I bought the machine, but I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Today the machine I picked up for my next project is a 1957 Beige/Brown aluminium-bodied 201K with a belt drive (201K23?). I had been prepared to learn how to re-wire the machine, but the nice lady I bought it from said she had last used it 6 months earlier, and sure enough, we plugged it in and it went fine.
The machine is is fair condition. Lots of rust, and I think the lady was a smoker, sometimes I detect a whiff of something when I am close to the machine... but I'm not sure. My deep cleaning of the machine will sort out any odours, I hope. I will get a new belt for the motor, and also a new tyre for the bobbin winder. The spool pins are rusty, but so is much else... I wondered where do you start/stop with replacement parts?
The Singer table is a different story. It is the little table with no side drawers, just a drop down front drawer and a curve to the front underside. The leaf hangs down too far when I open the tabletop, I will have to investigate the missing spring-loaded arm and make a new one. The entire table has been crudely painted light brown, and then later white, and then some patterned contact film has been stuck to the top. It will be quite a job to get the table back to its original finish, as from what I can tell the veneer is intact - someone just didn't like the wood colour. The worst thing: the table has an odour... it is unpleasant, and I'm thinking possum. Gag. If I can't get that odour gone, the table will be relegated for potting plants outside my laundry.
My local classifieds showed exactly three machines: an industrial, a modern embroiderer, and a mysterious brown Singer! I called and discovered it was still available, so I arranged to go and see it as soon as I could.
So, I bought the machine, but I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Today the machine I picked up for my next project is a 1957 Beige/Brown aluminium-bodied 201K with a belt drive (201K23?). I had been prepared to learn how to re-wire the machine, but the nice lady I bought it from said she had last used it 6 months earlier, and sure enough, we plugged it in and it went fine.
The machine is is fair condition. Lots of rust, and I think the lady was a smoker, sometimes I detect a whiff of something when I am close to the machine... but I'm not sure. My deep cleaning of the machine will sort out any odours, I hope. I will get a new belt for the motor, and also a new tyre for the bobbin winder. The spool pins are rusty, but so is much else... I wondered where do you start/stop with replacement parts?
The Singer table is a different story. It is the little table with no side drawers, just a drop down front drawer and a curve to the front underside. The leaf hangs down too far when I open the tabletop, I will have to investigate the missing spring-loaded arm and make a new one. The entire table has been crudely painted light brown, and then later white, and then some patterned contact film has been stuck to the top. It will be quite a job to get the table back to its original finish, as from what I can tell the veneer is intact - someone just didn't like the wood colour. The worst thing: the table has an odour... it is unpleasant, and I'm thinking possum. Gag. If I can't get that odour gone, the table will be relegated for potting plants outside my laundry.
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| The 1957 201K, advertised for $100AU, "as is". |
Updated with a photo of the cleaned machine:
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