A quick progress report on the 1902 Singer 15K treadle sewing machine that came into our lives the other week, rather than ending its life at the local tip. Once we got it home, I took a few photos (still covered in dust) to get an idea of body work and state of the wooden table.
A couple of things jumped out at us. The treadle table, which has the flaps so machine can be folded away inside, is missing the wooden flap that folds back over. At some time in the past, drawers were lost. Base was also removed from the wood and reassembled back to front. Plus the dress guard is on the wrong side of the wheel.
Also . . . this model has a wooden pitman rod which is broken. And worse . . . the rod/shaft thingy that attaches the pedal to the base is missing. So hmmmmm . . . more work for the husband than we originally thought. Anyway, undeterred, the husband set to work dismantling the machine (no small task because of the decades of accumlated rust). He also made the executive decision to remove paint. On closer inspection the machine had been painted in black paint, covering the original paintwork & decals.
As black paint came off, we could see traces of the original black body and decals. Looks like it was a Sphinx, which corresponds with model and date.
The husband now needs to get all the insides out from the main body, to do a thorough clean and plan is to strip bodywork right down to bare metal and give machine a brand new paint job IF it looks like it can be restored to working condition. For the treadle problems . . . we’ll worry about that further down the line.
Since we’re talking about a 1902 machine here, I thought I’d share a family photo, which dates back to the same era. Taken in 1907, this is a family photo of the maternal side of my heritage. The baby is my grandfather. Making the adults, my great grandparents: George & Margaret Ann Miller.
